20. Zain

TWENTY

zain

T hank you for coming," I said, clearing my throat as I stared at my brother, who looked completely human standing there in his three-piece tuxedo, which was so at odds with the ceremonial suit I'd pulled on.

"You're getting married," Damien said, shrugging his shoulders with that nonchalant air he'd always had. "Of course I'd be here." An eyebrow raised high. "Plus, you asked."

"Right." I dipped my head.

"Does Luna know?" My brother asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Know what?"

"Everything you did this week."

"Of course not."

Willow was with Luna, helping her get ready, which I supposed was part of it. I'd taken a trip to the witch town, seeking her sister's help with my other surprises.

"You should tell her. All the secrets…" Damien shook his head. "There were other ways."

"I didn't kidnap her if that's what you're implying. She came willingly." I gave her a choice .

She'd always had a choice. And she always would have one. If she didn't want to be here with me, I'd let her go. It would hurt, but I'd do it. No matter what I'd said.

Because her happiness was the most important thing to me. She was my light in the dark, even if I'd grown accustomed to living in the shadows all these years.

My brother clenched his fists. "You went behind my back, even though you assured me I had until the end of the month?—"

"I couldn't wait." Huffing out a breath, I interrupted him. "Fuck, but I needed…" Her . Couldn't he see that? My desperation? "Time was running out."

His fists balled up in his hands. "You didn't see Willow's face when she realized her sister was missing. She was terrified. That look of devastation, not knowing if I could fix it…" Damien ran his hands through his shaggy black hair. "If she hadn't forgiven me for the role I played… I don't know what I would have done. She's my everything , Zain. Truly, I…" He looked away, voice rough. "I never expected to find her."

I knew that. Because finding your mate wasn't guaranteed in our world. And finding them was a bit like learning there was another half of your heart living outside of your body. No matter what happened, you had to keep them safe.

"Then you understand why I needed Luna."

Damien sighed, his blood-red eyes flashing with resignation. "Yeah. I guess I do."

"I don't want to fight. Not today." The day I was marrying the woman who would become my queen. The one the fates chose for me. "Would you ever consider coming back?"

My brother's red eyes connected with mine. "You know that I never asked for this. Any of it."

I narrowed my gaze at him. "And I did ?"

"You're the Crown Prince. This is your legacy. I'm nothing more than a bastard child who's been dragged around on his leash his whole life. Now that I have Willow… I don't know." Damien shoved his hands in his pockets. "I don't want to force her to uproot her entire life."

He wasn't wrong, and maybe that was the worst part of all of this. If I didn't have this obligation, this role, would I still choose to be here? Or would I have also run away to be with my mate?

"You don't have to. But once he's gone…" I looked over at the crown that sat on my desk. "One day, when the kingdom is mine, I hope you'll come back."

Damien nodded. "Willow wants to live in Pleasant Grove for a while yet. But eventually, I think we'd be back. After he's gone." He sucked in a sharp breath, violence clouding his eyes. I knew he shared my thoughts about our father, and it was easy to see where his mind had gone. "That asshole doesn't even deserve to breathe the same air as her." He slammed his hand on the wooden desk. "Bringing her here…"

"I know," I agreed. "But now I can end this. Take him down." My voice shook as a bolt of lightning struck outside. "It's time."

He looked over at me in surprise, red eyes meeting my gold. "You mean…"

"Now that I have her, there's only one thing stopping me."

Damien hummed in response, leaning against the edge of my desk. "How much longer?"

"Soon, I hope. Once she's ready." That was all I could offer until the final puzzle pieces were slotted into place.

My brother nodded, and I changed the subject. Not wanting to dwell on the topic, even if this room was guarded with magic and the chances of us being spied on were low.

"What was it like? Claiming her?" My canines ached even now, the delayed mating driving me mad with need. "I know what they all say, but…"

"It's nothing like when you experience it," my brother offered, his tongue darting out to swipe over his lower lip as if he was thinking about it. "The need, the want—it feels like you're blinded with lust. But after…" His hand slid over his chest, resting over his heart. "You feel whole."

"And it was… pleasant? For her?"

My brother pinched between his eyes as a strangled sound left his throat. "I cannot believe we're having this conversation right now."

I thrust my hand into my hair—probably messing it up, but fuck if I cared about that. "I don't want to hurt her."

"You won't." He shook his head. "If you love her…" Damien paused, giving me a look. "You do, right? Love her?"

Did I? Love wasn't something I deserved. Besides, she might have been fated for me, but it wasn't like she loved me, either.

I cleared my throat. "It's been a month."

He shrugged. "I knew after those first two weeks. Even if she hadn't been my mate, I still would love her. She makes me feel alive in a way I never did before. And all those silly human things she makes me do…" His lips tilted up in a dopey grin, and then he cleared his throat. Refocused. "You'd know."

"I do care for her. More than I've ever cared about anyone else."

"That's a start." My brother slapped a hand on my shoulder. "Just focus on her—making sure she feels pleasure and not pain." A fang popped out over his lip. "And I don't just mean with your teeth."

I groaned. Of course, I'd always known that it was sexual, but the desire had been practically blinding the last time I'd taken Luna to bed. I couldn't wait any longer .

Which meant it had to be tonight .

"Are you worried she won't accept you?"

I ran a tongue over my canine teeth. "No. Before, maybe, but now…"

She'd been so eager the last few days. Asking me questions about demons, our culture, and traditions. Neither one of us mentioned Damien and Willow's mating, but I knew she was aware of it. Would she be open to it? The bond would connect us even deeper, and while I knew I could never complete it without her consent, it was getting hard to wait any longer.

"Then what troubles you?"

That I won't be able to keep her safe. I couldn't voice the words, even though they were right there on the tip of my tongue. That she won't want to stay.

I rubbed my hand over my smooth jaw.

How would she react when I brought up my need for an heir? A child that looked like the two of us. We hadn't talked about a child between us, and yet…

I found it was all I wanted. Desperately.

To keep her by my side, no matter the cost.

I'd been waiting for her for a lifetime, but the moment she entered the hall, I knew I would have waited for the rest of my existence for her. For just a moment in her light.

Her moonlit colored curls tumbled around her shoulders, dressed in a gown of stark white, my crown resting on her brow.

There she is. I could see Luna's mouth tilt up with just the hint of a smile as I stood at the front of the room. Damien stood by my side as my only groomsman—one tradition I'd borrowed from the human world for the evening .

Demon weddings weren't the most elegant of affairs in nature, but this was our future queen. I wanted her to be respected and admired, for them to worship her like I would. There would be more onlookers outside, waiting to get a peek at my queen, but that would come later.

And just as I'd calculated, all eyes in the room were focused on the beautiful woman coming up the aisle. A long, tulle veil trailed behind her like a sea of stars spilling from her back.

My wife.

"Hey, handsome," Luna whispered as she reached me, the bouquet in her hands featuring dozens of purple flowers, including some small sprigs of lavender and lilacs nestled among the white lilies and roses, as well as flowers that didn't exist in the human realm. It felt representative of us—demon and human.

I'd had them all picked from the palace gardens specifically, thinking of the dried flowers that had previously hung on the wall of her apartment. The one I'd cleared out this week.

She wouldn't be going back, after all, not after this.

"Beautiful," I murmured, brushing a stray curl back behind her ear.

Luna beamed, her green eyes filled with such hope, and I hoped that spark would never fade. She turned slightly to hand her sister the bouquet before looking back at me.

"So… We're doing this?" Her eyes strayed from mine for a moment to survey our audience. Except for the horns and tails and wings of the demons in the audience, I liked to imagine this place could have passed for a wedding hall on earth. It was what I'd asked for, after all.

"If you still want to," I chuckled, though the sound felt more like a rasp as I took her hands into mine.

She nodded, and that was all the confirmation I needed. Signaling to the demon in charge to start the ceremony, the words flowed over us, the magic of the ceremony binding us together for eternity. Light flowed out of us, forming two overlapping circles on the floor beneath our feet—symbolizing connection, unity, and balance.

Our bond, in corporeal form, was visible for all to see.

It wasn't a long, drawn-out affair—unlike some of the human weddings I'd made Willow describe to me. We repeated the ceremonial words when asked, the ancient demon tongue sounding clumsy on Luna's tongue, but she didn't falter. Though we demons spoke the languages of humans now, we still used our own language for ceremonies, like coronations and weddings, but also to celebrate birth and death.

"And now, the two will drink from the ceremonial cup," our officiant announced to the room. There was no religion in the demon realm—unlike the humans, we didn't pray to Gods—but there was training to carry out important rituals such as these. "An offering to the fates, for guiding them through this next stage of their lives."

Luna eyed the goblet suspiciously. "I don't have to like, drink your blood or something, do I?"

"Don't be silly. We're not vampires."

"Wait." Her eyes widened. "I thought they were just a myth."

I grinned, my lips dipping down to brush against her ear. "Are they?"

But now wasn't the time to talk about the other creatures that lived in our worlds, hidden behind their own veils and wards.

My hands closed over hers, guiding the cup into both of our grasps before I bent and took a long pull of the dark wine. It wasn't like the sparkling demon wine she'd tried at the party—but something deeper .

Holding it out to her, my hands remained wrapped around hers as she tipped the cup to her own face, drinking it deeply just as I'd done. I watched her throat as she swallowed, the line of her neck begging for my tongue.

Careful, I thought to her mind. Too much will make you sick.

Her tongue darted out to catch a stray drop. What's in it? Her eyes widened as she scrunched up her nose. It's almost… spicy.

I didn't bore her with the list of ingredients. It's believed to deepen the pathways between the souls. Maybe it was all just a pretense, some romantic fabrication, but it was a tradition I would not squander. Or so they say.

She hummed in response, and then the goblet was taken away, our hands clasped once again. Now that my people's traditions were fulfilled—mostly—I had another tradition to complete.

The demon officiant nodded at me to continue. I'd filled him in on my somewhat unconventional plans beforehand, wanting to keep all of it a surprise from her.

"I, Zain, take you, Luna, to be my wife. My queen. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life, for as long as the fates shall allow us. Till eternity do us part."

It was a declaration. An intention. Me claiming her as my everything.

I pulled the wedding band out of my pocket, slipping it on over her moonstone ring. Another human tradition, but one I was happy to comply with.

Luna's face softened as she held up her hand, admiring the diamond-encrusted eternity band. "Zain, I…" Her breath caught. "This is too much."

I raised an eyebrow as if to say, look where we are. "Nothing is too much for you, Moonbeam. "

She blinked at me. Your turn. I gave her a small mental prompt.

My bride inhaled roughly before letting out a shaky breath. "I, Luna, take you, Zain, to be my husband. My… King." Fuck, I liked that word on her lips. Maybe I could get her to say it again later. "I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life, for as long as the fates shall allow us. Till eternity do us part."

Willow nudged her, placing a dark band in my bride's palm. This time, it was me who was surprised. I hadn't mentioned rings to her. When had she had time to get this made?

"It's tungsten," she explained. "The strongest metal on earth. And it has obsidian inlaid in it, which the witches say is good for protection."

"Did you get me a ring that would help keep me safe?" I rasped in her ear.

Her cheeks were pink as she slid it onto my ring finger before her hand slid back into mine.

"You made me a promise," she said. "We have a deal. So you can't go getting yourself hurt and go back on that."

An appreciative hum vibrated in my throat. I liked that she worried about me. Though I couldn't find a single thing I didn't like about the woman standing in front of me.

The one who had just become my wife.

"An eternity wouldn't be long enough with you," I said, voice low so only she could hear. And I meant it. I meant every word. Thank the fates that they'd brought her to me.

She squeezed my palm in response, her eyes rimmed in silver.

The officiant cleared his throat, distracting me from our moment. We'd been in our own little bubble, truly not a care about the rest of the beings in the room.

"I now pronounce you, Prince Zain and Princess Luna, as husband and wife. You may seal your vows with a kiss."

My hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her body in tight to mine before dipping her. Our faces were only inches apart as she cupped my face, holding me there.

"I'm going to kiss you now, wife," I whispered against her lips, and then the rest of the world faded away as we came together.

As I kissed her like no one was watching. Like no one else existed in the world.

Nothing would ever feel as right as this.