Aira’s POV
Finally, I had my mother’s beautiful dress on for the real thing—my wedding day. Emotions stirred inside me, a strange mix of joy and happiness, excitement, a nervous knot in my stomach the size of the moon, and sheer terror that I might trip and fall in front of every single dignitary from every pack in the lands.
I took a deep breath, something I’d been repeating at least every hour on the hour to try to stay calm.
Mother fussed on my hair, much to Chione’s obvious dismay, though, of course, she didn’t say anything about it. I finally decided to spare her the worry.
“Mother, I think my hair is just about set now.” I smiled at her, and Mother pulled her hand away as though she hadn’t even realized what she was doing.
“Oh, yes, it’s fine,” she said. She looked up at the mir
