Chapter 82: I Choose You

The morning of my wedding began with Rhea yelling. "The flowers are wrong!" I sat in front of the mirror while Tessa worked on my hair. "What is wrong with them?" "They delivered white roses." "I like white roses." "We ordered moonflowers." "Use the roses." Rhea stared at me. "But the symbolism—" "Rhea." She inhaled. "Fine." Tessa smiled at our reflections. "Marriage has already made you powerful." "I was Alpha yesterday." "Not against wedding planners." Fair.

Mom pinned the willow hairpiece into my hair. No veil. I wanted to see everything. Outside, wolves gathered beneath the cedar. Lunaris filled the front clearing. Nightvale stood farther back. Friends and invited family sat close to the tree. No throne. No raised royal platform. Just two places beneath the branches. Rowan waited there. When I saw him, everything else blurred. He wore black with silver embroidery. No Supreme Alpha crown. No ceremonial armor. His eyes found mine. The bond between us warmed. But my feet moved because I told them to. That distinction mattered to me even now.

Dad walked beside me. Not giving me away. We had specifically removed that language. He simply walked with me because I wanted him there. Halfway down the path, he whispered: "Still happy?" I laughed softly. "Yes." "Good." At the cedar, he kissed my forehead and joined Mom. Rowan held out his hand. I took it. "Hi," he whispered. "Hi." "You look—" "If you say beautiful, I'll allow it." "Terrifying." I narrowed my eyes. He grinned. "Beautifully terrifying." Better.

Rhea officiated. That had been Rowan's idea. I initially objected because giving Rhea ceremonial authority seemed reckless. But she was Keeper. My cousin. One of the people who understood exactly why these vows mattered. She began with Lunaris history. Briefly. I had threatened her. Then she read Seraphina's amendment. "No bond, however sacred, shall extinguish the independent standing of either wolf before Pack law." A murmur moved through the crowd. Rhea looked at us. "Today, Nessa Arden and Rowan Vale do not merge identities, offices, territories, or legal authority." Traditionalists probably fainted somewhere. "They make a personal promise." Simple. Perfect.

Rowan went first. "Nessa, I loved your voice before I knew your face." My eyes burned. "I loved the way you argued about game strategy, the way you pretended you weren't sleepy, and the way you always healed everyone else before yourself." He smiled slightly. "I later learned that last habit wasn't always healthy." People laughed. "I cannot promise to protect you from everything. You would hate that promise anyway." Correct. "I can promise that I will never knowingly make your world smaller so I can feel bigger inside it." My tears escaped. "I will tell you the truth even when I'm afraid of losing you. I will listen when you tell me no. I will celebrate every version of you that you choose to become." His thumb brushed my hand. "And I choose you."

Then my turn. I had written the vows three times. The final version was shortest. "Rowan, when I first saw you, I thought you were a liar." Laughter. He sighed. "Romantic." "I wasn't finished." More laughter. "I thought love was something I could secure if I became good enough, pretty enough, useful enough." The clearing quieted. "You taught me something different, but not by loving me perfectly." His eyes held mine. "You made mistakes. So did I." I smiled. "What changed my life was learning that love could survive truth." My voice shook. "I don't need you to complete me. I don't want to disappear inside your name, your title, or even our bond." I squeezed his hand. "I want to stand beside you as myself." My wolf pressed warmly against the bond. "And I choose you."

Rhea presented the rings. Mine matched the engagement ring. Rowan's was plain silver with a tiny cedar engraving inside. We exchanged them. Then came the final line we had written together. Rhea said, "Speak freely." Rowan and I faced each other. Together: "I choose you freely, and I will keep choosing while love remains freely given." The cedar leaves moved overhead. A warm breeze crossed the clearing. Somewhere behind us, a wolf howled. Then another. Then hundreds. The sound rolled through Lunaris. My wolf rose inside me and answered. Rowan's joined. Not claiming. Not conquering. Recognizing. Rhea smiled. "Then by your vows, your bond, and the law of Lunaris, you are married." Rowan leaned closer. "Can I kiss you?" I laughed through tears. "Yes." He kissed me.

The celebration afterward became chaos. Orion ignored the gift limit by claiming his present had "sentimental value." It was a sports car. I rejected it. He left the keys anyway. Lady Celeste danced with Adrian. Petra argued trade policy with Maeve during dinner. Eli shifted and ran around with younger wolves. Mira visited after sunset when the crowd thinned. Knox came alone. Elodie came alone. They spent most of the evening together anyway. Tessa caught the bouquet. She immediately threw it at Rhea. Rhea dodged. It hit Cassian. He looked terrified. Best moment of the night.

Much later, Rowan and I escaped. No photographers. No speeches. We sat beneath the cedar in wedding clothes, eating leftover cake from one plate. "Mrs. Vale?" he tested. I stared. "Try again." "Alpha Arden." "Better." "Husband of Alpha Arden?" "Excellent title." He smiled. I rested my head on his shoulder. I had imagined this kind of day once. Not this exact wedding. A different boy. A different version of myself. Back then, I thought the happiest ending would be someone looking at my thinner body and deciding I was finally worth keeping. I had been wrong. The happiest part wasn't being claimed. It was being asked. And answering yes.

When the last guests left, I changed out of my dress but kept the willow hairpin on for another hour. It connected Willowmere, Lunaris, my mother, and a grandmother who never knew how strange my path would become. Rowan noticed and didn't ask me to remove it for photographs or tradition. There were no more photographs. The ceremony was finished. What remained was simply our life.