NIRVANA “Let’s get married today.” Shock should be forthcoming, despite the fact we talked about getting married soon. Still, the towel almost fell into my grasp. “What? Why?” “I wanna marry you today,” he said with determination, as if getting married were just a walk in the park and then buying Boba tea. I barked out, laughing. The shock was wearing off. “It’s not possible. We have to register and get our marriage certificate.” “Then we’ll do it online.” “Wow.” I was even more surprised that he wanted us to get married today and that we only had to register online. I tightened the towel around my chest and strode towards him. “What’s the rush, baby?” He cupped my head and kissed my lips. “I want to marry you. I mean, why wait, but I promise I will give you the grand wedding you deserve. I wanna be your husband and call you my wife.” “Why, being your mate isn’t enough?” Teasing, I squinted my eyes. “I want a government legal document proving you we are married. I want to we
NIRVANA “No fucking way. We’re getting married tomorrow.” So, no cold feet and no backing out. I was really going to get married to the man I loved. “Then what’s this call all about?” “Use the card, buy anything you want. Do you want me to call any friends of yours?” “Kailin and the guys are my family and friends. Just call Grandpa and Dylan for me. Shadow and Zarah should be at my wedding. And who’s your best man?” “Mac.” “Good. Now let me go shopping, and don’t call me every five minutes if it’s not an emergency.” “I love you, Nirvana. And I can’t wait to be your husband.” “I love you, too.” Two hours later, I felt terrible for Dane. He waited patiently for us while we were having a complete spa package. We grabbed lunch, and then we checked out some bridal gowns. “I can’t believe I’m doing this. I always dreamed of a beautiful wedding, but not at twenty-one. I mean, come on. I only met Knight three months ago. I don’t even know his birthday. How old is he anyway?” Kaili
NIRVANA “Wow. You look like an angel, honey.” He strolled his gaze at me from head to toe. He almost had a teary eye. “Thank you, Grandpa.” I hugged him lightly so I would not mess up his suit. “I hope I didn’t disappoint you for getting married at a young age.” “You are an adult, and you’re marrying a responsible, handsome, and well-established man. And I have no doubt he will take care of you and treat you like a queen.” “It means a lot you feel that way for him.” “Honey, your mom and dad will be proud of you. You’ve grown up into such an amazing young woman.” I looked up when my eyes started to water. I blew a breath as I fanned my face with my hand. “No, no, no. Don’t ruin your makeup.” Kailin rushed towards me to inspect the glam team’s final work. “You can cry later after the ceremony.” “I’m fine. Thanks.” I breathed to control my emotions before I sat on the chair. “Vana, can I come in?” It was Lennox. “Of course, please come in.” Kailin and Grandpa left the room as L
KNIGHT “Nirvana, unless you wanna be late for our flight, you need to hurry up, sweetheart.” She’d been in the bathroom for the last ten minutes. I had to go with her plans since she wanted to experience a regular flight without a portal. I picked up the book Alpha Frye gave us and tore off the wrapper. I might as well read a book while waiting. Nirvana didn’t usually take time in the bathroom, but this was my life now. A little patience for my wife wouldn’t do any damage. “Just a minute!” my wife said. It sounded surreal. I was still wrapping my head around that I was married to the most amazing person I’d ever met. The wedding band around my finger and my father’s ring caught my eye. My father’s ring was an heirloom with a head of a wolf engraved on it, and I felt proud that I got the chance to wear it. I opened the book. Evelyn was not joking. It still looked old, though, and it had been translated into English. I found the page that said something about the Guardian. It had
NIRVANA “Vana!” I was startled at Kailin calling my name. I wiped the tears on my face before walking out of the room, feeling my world crashing down on me. Kailin was standing in the living room, confused. When she saw my face, she had a thousand questions brewing in her eyes. “We just heard the alpha’s howl, and I saw Knight almost bumping into me in his wolf. What’s wrong?” “Everything is wrong.” I shook my head, throwing my arms around her shoulder, and started sobbing. “He read the book and figured it out.” “What book? What did he figure out, Vana? Knight looked so lost. I can even feel his pain.” She rubbed my back while throwing a hundred more questions my brain could not process, and I had no strength to answer them all. I pulled away from her and went back to the room to change into a T-shirt and jeans. “What the hell is going on, Vana? You better give me some answers.” She looked down at Knight’s shredded clothes. “Oh, my Goddess. He just shifted in the room. This
KNIGHT I knew I was freefalling. I dropped, crashing every bone in my body in a devastating impact, rattling my inside, cracking my skull, snapping my spine, and blood began flowing in my nose, from my mouth, from my ears. I felt all the pain in every cell in my body— it was indescribable, unfathomable. The impact was like an earthquake— it shook everything around me, and the shockwave had the dust flying. At that moment, I knew I would not make it. Today, I was going to die. And I was going to die without saying goodbye. One thing in life I learned was that death is inevitable. But I was not ready. I would not accept my fate. Struggling to move a finger, I silently howled in pain, but I was still grateful to be alive. My healing process seemed not to work anymore, or I was already dying, and no one could stop it. They said you could not see your reflection in boiling water. Similarly, you could not see the truth in a state of anger. Now I saw the truth. The clarity came. I let
NIRVANA Asina is badass. I would never have thought it was possible, and she did it without my permission—the gift I had inside me, sometimes a curse. The pain I had felt was indescribable. It felt like an agony exploded in my entire body, but that is what I traded for— for Knight to survive. The moment my chest constricted, I knew something terrible had happened to him. “Alpha, we have a problem.” I heard Kaleb come in with urgency in his voice. My eyes were closed, and my body seemed awake but dormant, like I was hibernating to regain my strength. I heard them talk, their heartbeats, and the anxiousness in their voices. I smelled their fear, too, but feeling the warmth in Knight’s hand against my own was soothing. “What’s the problem?” Knight’s hand was gone, and his heartbeat was racing. “A group of werewolves are attacking us northeast of the vineyards, clawing the barrier and trying to get inside the walls.” “That’s impossible. I put a shield around us,” Zarah said. She
KNIGHT “What repercussions?” I repeated when Nirvana hadn’t given me an answer. “It’s done. You can’t do anything about it anymore.” She took the clean shirt Kailin gave her while Zarah was cleaning her healing wound. I was a bit surprised she healed faster than any of us, but she still got hurt. “What you did earlier was reckless. You’re putting everyone in danger because you are too eager to save people’s lives.” “West could have been dead by now if I was two seconds late.” “Thank you, Luna,” West said. “Shut up!” I pointed my finger at West, still focused on my mate. “You may have power, but you can get killed, Nirvana. You were just lying an hour ago, and the first thing you did was jump to the battlefield. That was impulsive and stupid. And what repercussions were you talking about?” She put the shirt on, too calm to piss me off even more. “You were dying. You were not healing.” “And?” “I traded—” “You what?” My voice raised. The infirmary went silent. Everyone seemed t