Ariana“YOU WHAT?!” Lorenzo’s mother reacted the way I was just about to. I knew exactly what happened between me and Lorenzo while I was going through my heat and just thinking about it made me damn well blush like an innocent girl, but what he was asking was a little bit more than what I wanted right now!“I want you to arrange the wedding as soon as possible.” We were all sitting around the breakfast table staring at him while he stuffed his pretty face!“But you haven’t even gotten engaged yet!” His mother exclaimed, making me choke on my toast! All eyes turned to me as I put the piece of toast down and took a sip of tea.“Lorenzo, I’m not ready to get married yet.” A soft growl escaped his lips and a deep frown formed on his face. “Just hear me out before you go all Neanderthal and bump me over my head.” I could actually imagine him doing that! “We still have things to do before we can move to the next step and I’m not talking about us. You have to declare the slaves free and bef

AFTER THE BALL, we went to Lorenzo’s office and we were joined by the priest, his parents, and two other witnesses. Lorenzo’s mother suggested we do things this way, in the hopes that it would be less intimate and we wouldn’t try to push things further. I felt the nausea push up because I was so nervous, but when Lorenzo pulled me into his arms, my entire body relaxed.“Just keep your eyes on me,” Lorenzo whispered as I tried to swallow, but my throat had suddenly gone completely dry! I nodded and heard the priest talking, but I was so focused on Lorenzo that his mother had to remind me I had to answer the question!“Ariana, are you here willingly and do you willingly agree to be marked?” The priest asked again and I swallowed before nodding. “I’m afraid I need you to use the word.” He leaned forward as if he was trying to whisper.“Yes.” My breath caught in the back of my throat as I looked at the priest, but I instantly returned my attention to Lorenzo. I searched his eyes for that

IT STILL SOMETIMES FELT like I had to pinch myself to believe that this was now my life. I was about to become the queen of the werewolves. My mate was the king. I was living in a huge castle and had people doing things for me. Hell! People even helped me to get dressed! I could take a warm bath every day. I was given three incredibly delicious meals a day … On the boat, I was lucky if I got one meal every three days and I only got the chance to wash when I had water left after cleaning something on the ship. The people that went through the same were free and had their own homes. Some of them returned to their packs, but most of them no longer trusted anyone. They stayed because they trusted our king. They trusted the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with. That strange feeling was slowly growing less, but it was still there. When I arrived at breakfast, Lorenzo looked excited and I couldn’t understand why. After breakfast, he asked me to join him in his office for a meet

THE CLOSER THE WEDDING DAY CAME, the more intense things became around the castle. People were no longer smiling as much. You could feel the excitement, but everyone was focused on the job at hand.I had one more dress fitting to attend before we got married and the only events remaining after everything were the rehearsal in the church and the rehearsal dinner. In two days, I was getting married to the king of the werewolves. I was going to become the queen. I had three ladies-in-waiting, and one girl who helped me the same way Lesley used to in the beginning.I had spoken to Lesley about being the first in line to find a husband and she was over the moon, but she felt a lot like I did when I first heard about this so-called program of the queen. Nervous. Finding a husband was a nerve-wracking experience. It wasn’t like finding a mate, and Lesley also didn’t know how that felt, since she hadn’t seen her mate yet.Her main concern was how she would feel if she saw her mate after she g

All those agonizing nights I spent imagining what his touch would feel like was finally over. Lorenzo’s hands softly stroked the very thin material of my night dress. He walked around me, staying close as his hand slipped over my body. It felt as if the air was so thin that I could hardly take a breath.“You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen in my entire life.” His voice was filled with a hunger I hadn’t heard before. It sent shivers down the back of my spine. I gasped as he stood beside me and pulled me so close that I could feel his arousal. I was still wondering how that would fit inside me when he slowly started to pull my night dress over my shoulders and let it drop to the floor.He kissed my shoulder and I shivered as his hot kisses burned my neck, but I was lost. I was completely lost in him. His hands slipped down my arms and up my sides. It was torture. It was utter torture to let him touch me without doing much, but I was lost in him. I didn’t want to stop hi