and family, please form a circle around the couple.” Zander gestured the group forward. Chloe saw Izzy standing with Elsie and her brother, Cian. The little toddler looked exactly like his mother with brown hair and clear blue eyes, but his expression was as serious as his father. His tiny eyebrow even lifted to his hairline as he watched everyone move into place.
The rustling of wings distracted her from the royal family. Her jaw hit her chest and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. Raphael and Michael had just joined the event. What were the archangels doing here? Were they there to stop the proceedings?
Dante gripped her hand in his. “Are you here to stop this?” His words echoed the fear consuming her attention.
Michael shifted his gaze from her to Dante. “No. We came to support Chloe.”
“And offer her wings back. You can have your position back. If you want it,” Raphael added.
Ramiel chuckled and clapped the archangel on the back. “You really do have a thing for mating ceremonies. Don’t you, Raphael?”
Raphael shook his head as he smiled. “I told you, uniting a couple in love is one of the greatest blessings in life.”
Chloe’s mind spun in a thousand different directions while the angels bantered. Dante cleared his throat and addressed Raphael. “Can we discuss this after the ceremony? This is something my mate should think through and right now I want her focused on nothing but us.”
The corners of Raphael’s mouth twitched, and he inclined his head. Her father and brothers were joined by Raphael and Michael. Together, they formed the five points of a star with her and Dante in the center. The Angels spread their wings, so their tips touched, enclosing them in a colored cocoon of red, black, and white.
The second the multicolored wings joined, Chloe felt energy flow through her and watched as a veil snapped into place just outside the open patio. Dante lifted their joined hands to his mouth and kissed the back of hers as the energy built around them. Each of the Angels surrounding them held out a hand and called a weapon of Light to their palm. Chloe’s heart was full at the same time she ached from the loss of her wings so long ago.
Raphael extended his weapon above their heads and each Angel touched their Light to his. A flash of white light blasted throughout the sky, bringing tears to her eyes.
Holding Dante’s gaze, Chloe bared her feelings for all to see. “Fate brought you to me when I thought I’d lost it all. From day one you captured my heart. It took nearly dying to make me realize I love you and wanted to make you mine. Now that I have, you have me, heart and soul. I hid from my mistakes for so long I forgot what it meant to truly live. You walked in and jolted me back to life. I want to say I’ve learned my lesson, but I wouldn’t change a thing if it meant not finding you. I love you, Dante. You are my choice.”
Dante wrapped his arms around her and kissed the life out of her. Her mind swam with desire for him while her heart raced in time with his. Her body liquified and she was a second from collapsing in a puddle.
Zander cleared his throat. Dante pulled away from her and they watched as the Vampire King lifted his hands. “We have gathered here in this beautiful place, under the eye of the Sun and the glow of the Moon. Let the circle be blessed and consecrated with Fire and Water.”
Bhric parted from his mate who was cradling a very pregnant belly. His twin sister, Breslin joined him. They’d been introduced to her as the Fire and Ice twins. With a flourish, fire shot forth from Breslin’s outstretched palm. It streaked to the ceiling with the angels’ power. Chloe cringed wondering if the massive house was going to catch fire, ruining her mating ceremony.
Before her breathing reached hysterical levels, the flames arched over their group and down the side to flow around the outskirts of the circle then outside. The fire rose from the earth in the clearing to join the star-filled sky above. Bhric smirked at his sister before he raised his hands and water shot straight up through the center of their group, sizzling as it touched the Light weapons before zipping outside and fell in a sheer waterfall, extinguishing the fire.
Zander thanked his