I stood in the corridor outside the ballroom doors, my hand tucked into the crook of Theo's arm, and tried to remember how to breathe normally. The massive oak panels loomed before us like sentinels guarding the moment when my life would irrevocably change. My fingers trembled against the fine fabric of Theo's sleeve, but I felt a warmth in my chest, an uncomfortable heat that I recognized not as fear but as destiny finally catching up to me.
"Ready?" Theo murmured, his voice a gentle rumble against my ear.
I wasn't ready. How could anyone be ready for this? Two days ago, I had been simply Emma Maxwell, gamma of the Blood Moon Pack. Now I was mate to the Lycan King, about to be presented as Queen to a roomful of dignitaries who had, until this moment, seen me as little more than a diplom
