Chapter 9
At the dinner table, every dish was something I loved.
Even the after–dinner fruit was my favorite–strawberries.
He never got it wrong, not once.
I looked at Alaric and suddenly spoke up.
“Our pup still doesn’t have a proper name. Do you have
any
ideas?”
Alaric immediately perked up with interest.
“How about Celeste? It means ‘heavenly‘ and ‘of the stars.“”
“Or maybe Seraphina–‘fiery angel‘ and ‘divine messenger.“”
“There’s also Aurora, Iris…”
For every name Alaric suggested, he explained its beautiful meaning. He truly saw our pup as his own daughter.
A smile crept into my eyes.
“Alright then. Our pup’s full name will be Celeste Hawke.”
“Perfect, Celeste-”
Alaric suddenly froze.
Then his eyes turned red as tears began streaming down his face, his voice trembling.
“Hawke? Sera, are you saying yes?”
“Hey, come on, don’t cry. This is happy news, silly.”
I frantically searched for tissues to wipe his tears.
Love breeds love in return. Alaric’s devotion was everywhere, and/unlike with Luca, my heart was responding.
Alaric pulled me into his arms excitedly.
“Thank you, Sera. Thank you for giving me this chance.”
Warm tears fell onto my neck.
I wrapped my arms around him.
“Alaric, I’ll work to heal from the shadows, and then… I’ll love you properly.”
I couldn’t let one worthless bastard stop me from moving forward.
Our mating ceremony wasn’t grand, but it was warm and intimate.
The day Alaric officially marked me, he held me and cried for a long time.
He transferred all his assets into my name.
“Sera, vows can be broken, but if I ever treat you badly…“.
“Take everything and leave. Destroy my hands and leave me with nothing.”
I smiled and agreed.
Walf Chaptert
apter
But I believed that day would never come.
Alaric was someone I could trust with my life.
Ever since we completed our bond, Alaric walked around glowing with pride, bragging to everyone that he had a mate and pup.
When I teased him about it, he’d use Celeste as his shield.
“Celeste, sweetie, tell Mama how awesome she is. Daddy’s doing great, right sweetheart?”
Celeste waved her little hands: “Yeah!”
The two of them were like a real father and daughter, perfectly in sync.
Alaric lifted Celeste, testing her weight.
“Sera, let’s throw Celeste a first moon celebration.”
“That sounds perfect.”
I never expected to see Luca at Celeste’s first moon ceremony.
