Fate Stained - Part Two
Chapter 43 - Be Still My Heart

I’d never really pictured what my family would look like when I was little. I’d pictured my wedding, I’d pictured my house with a white picket fence and I’d imagined a happy, joyful life, surrounded with the people that loved and cared for me.

But I’d never really pictured my family. The image of my future husband and the little munchkins that would one day run around my feet all had faceless bodies. It was just an idea, a hope that these people would one day materialise from my imagination and fill my life with the joy I felt I’d deserved. And now that they had faces and were no longer just figures in my imagination…well, I couldn’t have been happier.

I sat outside, the warmth of the afternoon sun basking my golden skin and the sounds of birds singing and children laughing filling my heart with with an overall sense of completeness and love.

I let my eyes caress the scene that played out around me - Blake and Cameron rolling around on the grass with the triplets squealing as Felix snoozed peacefully on the picnic rug beside them. Dominic and Mason wading in the creek up to their knees while they tried to untangle their fishing lines that were snagged on a nearby floating log. Flynn and Fern lying under the large tree, unable to keep their hands off each other and hoping no one would notice as they snuck off into the trees for a second time; and then there was Jayce, lying on the grass beside his daughter as he looked down at her, every now and then poking her in the ribs, which would result in the most adorable and hysterical giggle I’d ever heard.

This was my family. Everyone here, everyone within this compound, everyone that had touched my life and helped mould me into the person - the woman - I was today. They were my family; and I couldn’t have been happier.

The sound of footsteps in the grass drew my attention back to the present moment and I smiled as Jayce plopped down next to me.

“Someone is getting a bit hungry I think” he chuckled, “She is doing that bloody cute thing with her mouth again where she looks like a goldfish”

Laughing, I reached over to Jayce and plucked Claudia gently from his arms before lifting my top and shifting her until I could feel her little mouth latch on to my breast.

“Problem solved” I replied, lifting my head so Jayce could plant a kiss on my eagerly awaiting lips.

Over the last three months, since Claudia’s arrival, I’d seen such a change in my mate. It seemed becoming a father more than agreed with him and he’d developed a level of patience that I didn’t know he could possess.

I could sit and watch Jayce be a father all day long. The way he looked at his daughter, the way he held her in his giant arms, the way he smiled when she did and frowned when she cried - he was absolutely besotted by the child and it filled my heart with joy knowing I could give him what he deserved.

“Have you thought about the coronation yet?”

I looked up at Jayce, my eyebrows knitting together as I tried to work out what he was saying.

“Kyanite’s coronation…” he added.

“Oh. Yeah. We should go”

“Are you sure?”

Two days ago Onyx had paid us a surprise visit. She wanted to finally meet Claudia but she also had an invitation to Kyan’s coronation as King of Panthera. I’d been surprised that the process hadn’t happened a lot earlier but Onyx mentioned something about ‘unforeseen circumstances’ having delayed the proceedings and when I’d pushed her on the subject she said it wasn’t her place to tell.

“Yeah. I’m the Queen of Shifters after all, I should be there for when he receives his title, regardless of our history”

Jayce nodded and ran the tips of his fingers through Claudia’s hair as she fed.

“Of course. It’s just that you haven’t even heard from the guy since he ran off with Flynn for the Alpha challenge—”

“Do you blame him? I was his ex-mate and heavily pregnant to you. Severed bond or not…that’s got to sting. Maybe he’s finally over it”

Jayce nodded his head again.

“You’re right. I’ll send word that we will attend. Flynn and Fern are going too. It’ll be fun”

I snorted at Jayce’s emphasis on the last word but the fact he was willing to go at all just showed how much he’d grown.

“It will be fun. Don’t forget about tonight either” I replied.

“How could I? Our first night child free - candlelit dinner and a house to ourselves…I can’t wait”

“Good” I laughed, “like I said, I’ve got a few things to do first and I’ll drop Claudia off with your dad. I’ll meet you back at the pack house at six”

Jayce leant down, nuzzling his nose into Claudia’s hair before giving her a kiss on the forehead.

“I’ll be waiting”

Jayce POV

My stomach growled and my wolf huffed and puffed impatiently as I waited for Quinn at the pack house. I’d intentionally had a smaller lunch because my dear mate demanded that I didn’t ruin my appetite - but now she was late to pick me up for a dinner she’d organised and I was close to raiding the fridge and eating absolutely everything in sight.

A soft rat-a-tat-tat sounded from the front door and my brow furrowed as I made my way towards it. Quinn wouldn’t knock and I couldn’t smell her. Who I could smell though was—

“Cam” I said opening the door and looking my Beta up and down, “What are you doing here? And why do you look like that?”

Cameron sighed and played with the cuff links on his dusty blue shirt.

“It seems your dinner tonight is now a double date. Blake and Quinn are waiting for us in the hall, they were too busy gas-bagging and asked me to come get you. And my! Don’t you look cute!”

I fiddled with my own cuff links, feeling like the shirt I was wearing was cutting the circulation off at the seams.

“Quinn’s orders” I grumbled, “I fucking hate dressing up”

My Beta chuckled and nodded his head in the direction of the hall.

“Come on Fabio, let’s go before our women send a search party”

As we arrived at the hall I picked up several other scents apart from the ones that should have been obvious, being Blake and Quinn’s.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Cameron’s body language had changed and my wolf was quickly picking up on the nervous energy from his.

“Nothing” he blurted, fiddling with his cuff links again, “Alphas first—”

Cam gestured towards the closed door of the hall and I narrowed my eyes on him before gripping the door handle and pushing the heavy thing open. Something was going on and my Beta knew I fucking hated surprises, but what greeted me on the other side was something I had absolutely not expected.

“What in Goddess’s name?”

The hall had been completely transformed. Hundreds of fairy lights hung from the rafters like glistening icicles and soft pink lanterns decorated the space, bathing the room in a warm, romantic glow. I looked down at my feet, then let my eyes track along the ground in front of me; where red, pink and white rose petals were sprinkled thickly, creating a floral carpet from the door all the way to a wooden arch at the back of the room that was also adorned in flowers.

Under the arch stood Moira, the biggest fucking smile plastered over her face as she stared back at me. Then my eyes were drawn to two rows of wooden pews on either side of the rose petals - and on those pews sat the nearest and dearest people in my life.

“We should probably go stand with Moira” Cameron whispered, nudging my arm, “If we don’t follow the instructions, Blake will kill me”

“What makes you think I won’t kill you? What is all this?”

What do you think it is? - Moira linked as we reached the arch - You look absolutely dashing by the way.

I looked around the room again and noted the way Cameron stood off to the side of me. It was pretty bloody obvious what this was and my heart hammered frantically in my chest at the idea of it.

After proposing to Quinn months ago and having the whole thing dramatically shot down in flames, I hadn’t had the courage to bring the subject up with her again. I’d just imagined that perhaps marriage wasn’t for her, even though I knew she’d dreamt of this day as a child. But now, looking around the hall and all the glassy eyed people that stared lovingly back at me…perhaps marriage was for her after all.

Quinn organised all this?

Cameron turned to me and smiled, rocking back and forth on his feet and looking smug as all get out.

With a little help from her friends.

And you managed to keep it secret from me? Your Alpha?

Another smug look and a wink in my direction.

Cheeky bastard.

The room suddenly fell silent before the sound of a beautiful, gentle melody filled the air. I knew this song, I’d listened to Quinn hum it to Claudia every night as she rocked her to sleep. The piece was called ‘My Little Love’ and hearing it like this, played on my mother’s piano in the corner of the hall by my father, was enough to bring a tear to my eye.

“Here they come” Moira whispered, nudging me softly and nodding her head towards the doorway.

Blake entered the hall, her dusty blue dress matching Cameron’s shirt. She looked beautiful and my heart swelled as I saw Claudia sleeping peacefully in her arms instead of a bouquet of flowers. but as she reached the end of the rose petal isle, my eyes were instantly drawn to the vision that stepped through the doorway after her.

Be still my beating fucking heart.

Quinn. I knew she was the most stunning creature in the world, I’d always said it. There was no other beauty that could ever match up to her’s, she was perfect in every single way from her ice blue eyes to her long, toned legs. But I’d never seen the woman like this before.

Quinn stood at the end of the isle, her eyes locked firmly on my own. Her make up was simple, natural, perfect. Her hair styled loosely on top of her head with stunning soft curls framing her face in a way that made me want to run my fingers through them.

Her dress, Goddess her dress! The garment hung from Quinn’s body as if it was made for her. The white lace almost gave the illusion that the gown was completely transparent but was so stunning, so glamorous that she looked like she’d just stepped out of a magazine. Thin straps held the dress to Quinn’s body and the most intricate pieces of laces hung from her arms like stunning white vines that matched perfectly the beautiful designs of the lace.

I was speechless and If you’d told me in that moment that my heart had stopped beating, I would have believed you. Swallowing, my throat bobbing as I struggled even with that action, I smiled warmly at Quinn as she joined me under the arch; and it wasn’t until my breathtaking mate reached forward, her thumb sliding gently across my cheek, that I realised I was crying.

“Surprise” she breathed, smiling back at me.

“You look— Quinn. You look—”

I sighed, unable to form the words that could possibly describe the stunning woman before me.

“So do you” she whispered, tugging playfully on the front of my shirt.

The familiar, intoxicating energy crackled between us and Quinn’s eyes slowly rose to settle on mine again. My arms twitched at my sides and it took all my strength not to reach forward and grab my Luna, to press my mouth firmly against her’s, letting the whole room know she was mine and only mine. But I knew before the kiss came other proceedings, so instead I steadied my breathing and pushed the thoughts of peeling that dress from her body to the back of my mind.

Moira cleared her throat and shot me a look to suggest she knew exactly what I was thinking.

“Ok you two…are you ready for this?”

I looked back to Quinn - my mate, my Luna, my soon to be wife and mother of my child. The woman that had single handedly made me the luckiest fucking guy in the whole world.

“I’ve never been more ready in my life”