Page 81 of Wedding the Werepanther

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Shadow

Dawn barely lightens the windows the next morning when a double pulse of magic awakens me. It’s so early that my beautiful witch has not yet begun her morning ritual of silencing her alarm multiple times. I lift my head and spy her through the open connecting door, loving how peaceful she always looks in sleep.

Wisp blinks up at me from only a few inches away and yawns, all curling pink tongue and tiny fangs, then goes back to sleep. All three of the kits curl on my chest, too little to sleep alone. At the den, they stay with their parents half the time and spend the other nights rotating through the pack. It not only reinforces pack bonds, it also gives their parents some much needed alone time. Since I’ve been away, the kits demanded to spend last night with me, falling asleep on my chest. Their littlepurrs filled my heart, joined by those of my mother and cousin as we formed our own small harmonizing.

Cradling them to me, I sit up slowly, then turn and lay them on the pillow.

Slate lets out a tiny mew of protest at being disturbed, no more a morning person than my wife. Then Dawn wiggles closer to him without even opening her eyes, and they all settle.

In sleep pants, I pad downstairs to find Jace and Luke standing in the foyer speaking with Victoria.

“I let them in,”she writes.

“We found something,” Luke growls, bypassing all normal greetings. I don’t take it personally since it’s simply his way, and the grumpy dragon has proved his friendship time and again with his actions.

“Let’s go into the kitchen so our voices don’t carry up the stairs.”

“As if I wouldn’t feel the approach of dragons,” my mother says, her tone wry. Although wearing casual human clothes, she descends the stairs with the dignity of a monarch.

I make introductions, then link my arm with hers and lead her down the hallway. “Ah, but the kitchen has this magical thing called coffee.”

Victoria opens the appropriate cupboard as we approach, and I pull out the coffee as Luke begins to explain.

“The information on cat sith mating rituals was buried deep in the stacks in an area Skye and I haven’t organized yet. My fiancée used her magic to highlight any books about your people, which sped things up, but as you can imagine, there were still quite a few volumes to skim through to find anything pertinent.”

“Luke has the largest magical library in all of Faerie,” I explain for my mother’s benefit as I start the coffeemaker.

“Yes, well, Jacendeverner’s the one who found the information.” Luke’s wing reaches out to tap against the blue dragon’s.

“I found an ancient text documenting the mating of an elf queen with her cat sith consort. It claimed they performed two ceremonies, one for each of their peoples,” Jace says. “There weren’t any details about the cat sith one. The author simply referred to it as ‘the chase.’”

“Not a problem. We know what that is.” The memory of Kayla running from me, begging me to chase, fills my mind, and I have to force my thoughts away, since these thin gray sleep pants will do nothing to hide an erection.

“As we suspected, the other ceremony was a traditional elven handfasting.” Jace reaches into his invisible pocket and pulls out a piece of paper and a long ribbon beautifully embroidered with silver filigree. “Here are the typical vows of the time and an official handfasting ribbon. However, I should warn you that the official ribbon has been spelled to make the ceremony binding.” He pulls out a plain silver ribbon. “This one contains no such enchantment and can be safely used for a fake ceremony.”

A cupboard door bangs, making us all look at Victoria’s translation parchment as she spells out:“Read me the vows! I want to know them.”

Jace carries the paper over to read the vows to her, his voice a deep rumble of background sound as the coffeemaker finishes brewing. I pour several cups, adding sweetened chocolate syrup and milk, which I learned from watching Kayla. It cuts most of the drink’s inherent bitterness and makes it more palatable for most fae.

The first alarm sounds from her room upstairs, and I cock my head and grin when it falls silent. I’ll wait a couple more rounds before I take her a coffee.

When Jace finishes, my mother addresses both dragons. “Thank you for helping us to regain a piece of our lost traditions. Unable to shift, the cat sith have been reduced to relying upon oral history.”

Luke grunts his pleased grunt, and Jace offers her a courtly bow. “It is an honor, Alpha.”

Once they’ve left, promising to return for the ceremony this evening, my mother wraps me in her arms. “Thank you, son of mine. You do your people a great service.”

“I’m doing it for me, too, you know.” Grinning, I wave a hand to take in Victoria and all of Earth. “I want all of this. I want to know how to live like a man. I want to walk all the realms.”

“Of course your actions are also selfish.” She chuckles, batting me on the shoulder. “I expect nothing less from a cat sith. It means you’ll do an excellent job.”

“What I want most of all is Kayla.” My smile fades, my tone growing serious. “This goes beyond the regular courtship game. I think she’s my fated mate.”

A hint of sadness flashes through Mother’s eyes. “You’re never moving home again, are you?”

“This is my home now.” Just as soon as I convince my witchy beauty to be mine forever.