I watched Emma disappear behind the massive oak, her silhouette momentarily visible against the midnight blue of her gown before she vanished into shadow. My body hummed with anticipation, Aeson pushing against my consciousness with unprecedented eagerness. Two centuries of waiting, and now my mate would emerge in her wolf form—a sight I had imagined countless times during those long, solitary nights. My hands tingled with that same spark that had ignited when she touched me, but I felt a warmth in my chest, an expanding heat that I recognized as joy—pure and uncomplicated in a way so little in my life had ever been.
"Before she comes back out, my King, you need to know something."
Elijah's voice pulled me from my reverie. I turned to face him, raising one eyebrow in silent question. In
