His jaw flexed, like he was swallowing back emotion. “I’ve fought battles for you… Some with my fists, most with my demons. I’ve bled for you. I’ve broken for you. And I’d do it all over again without hesitation.”
My throat closed.
“I’ve wanted you for so long, Mine, I forgot what life was before you. And now, standing here, knowing you’re about to be mine in every way a man can claim a woman…” his voice cracked slightly, “…it feels like I’ve finally won the only war that’s ever mattered to me.”
A tear slid down my cheek before I could stop it. He noticed-of course he noticed-and his jaw clenched, like it physically hurt him to see me cry.
“I’m not perfect,” he went on, his thumb brushing lightly over the back of my hand. “Hell, I’m not even good most days. I’m possessive, I’m jealous, I’m selfish when it comes to you. But I swear to you, I will use every ounce of that to protect you. To make sure you never go a single day without knowing you’re loved. Wanted. Safe.”
God, my heart… it was breaking and swelling at the same time.
“We’ll get it wrong, most times… We’ll also get it right. We still have a whole lot of tears we’ll have to cry. We still have a lot to learn. And I am willing to become your raw clay… Mold me into the kind of man you desire, Kasmine.”
I couldn’t breathe anymore. His eyes glistened. Oh, God…
“You are my first thought in the morning. My last at night. And when I’m gone from this world, you’ll still be the center of whatever comes after. I will never stop wanting you, Kasmine. I will never stop chasing you. I will never stop choosing you even if you stop choosing me.”
The lump in my throat was so big I could barely breathe.
“You are my mate. My Luna. My reason. The last breath in my lungs.” His voice dropped lower and rougher. “So here, before everyone, I vow this-your life is mine to guard, your heart is mine to hold, your body is mine to worship. I will burn the world to keep you. And I will never let you go, no matter how many lifetimes we get.”
“I will love you until there’s nothing left of me to give. And when there’s nothing left…” His voice cracked, and he leaned in slightly, eyes locked to mine. “…I’ll still find a way to love you more.”
The world blurred in my vision. My chest hurt from holding back the sob that wanted to break free.
“Kester…”
He swallowed hard, “I love you, Kasmine. God knows the best thing I’ll spend my life doing is loving you. And I swear I’ll prove it every damn day until my last breath.”
I thought I’d been ready for this moment. I thought I’d heard every declaration Kester could give me in the months we’d been together. But this… this stripped me bare.
All I could do was squeeze his hand and whisper through my tears, “I love you too.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
I’ll be making a video of Kester’s and Ksmine’s wedding in a few days. Who wants to see this moment come to life?????
KESTER.
Again… Who said men don’t cry?
Because, fuck. I was doing all I could to hold back the tears. This was unreal. This was a dream… And I didn’t want to wake up from it.
Reading my vows to Mine made me more emotional than I thought I was capable of. And seeing her cry that way? It ripped me open. Never knew I could be a romantic. But, hell, Kasmine brought all that out of me.
She looked even more perfect than I thought in that wedding dress. I knew it’d be perfect on her, but nothing prepared me for the kind of perfection standing before me.
She looked so fucking perfect today.
Ain’t I a lucky bastard?
The priest turned to her.
“Kasmine, do you wish to share your vows?”
She took a slow breath, her fingers tightening in mine.
“Kester…” She said my name, and I swear something inside me twisted. My name had never sounded so delicate. “If you had asked me years ago if I could ever stand here… I would have said no. Not because you didn’t deserve it, but because I was too scared. Scared of you.”
Her voice wavered, but she kept going. “I almost let that fear rob me of the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I almost let my doubts and people’s opinions take you away from me. But I didn’t. And I will thank the moon every single day for the rest of my life that I didn’t.”
I swallowed hard as I felt my chest tightening.
She squeezed my hands. “You’ve loyed me when I didn’t deserve it. You’ve fought for me when I wasn’t even fighting for myself. You held me when I was too stubborn to admit I needed it. And even ked at me when I was convinced I would only break your heart… You never let go of mine. You’v like I was your world… even when I was trying to run from you. And now-” her voice cracked “-now I want to spend the rest of my life giving you that same love back. I will love you the way you’ve always deserved to be loved. Without fear. Without hesitation. Without holding a single thing back.”
My throat burned.
Back
She gave a small, shaky laugh. “So today, I am promising you what I should have promised you from the very beginning every plece of me. My heart, my body, my soul. I promise to be your wife. Your Luna. Your lover. Your friend. Your safe place, every role you ever want me to play. I promise to be the hands that hold you when you’re tired of holding the world up. I promise to be your mother when you need comfort, your mistress when you crave sin, your anchor when you’re lost, your wings when you’re ready to fly. I will be every single thing you ever need in this life, Vester Hamilton, for as long as I breathe,”
Fuck. Stop. Stop. Fuck it.
She was ripping me open with her words. Her words were sinking straight into me. She was touching the depths of my very existence.
“I promise you will never go a day without feeling desired, without feeling wanted, without feeling like you are enough. I will fight for you like you’ve fought for me. I will protect you, love you, feed every part of you-your heart, your soul, your ego, and even the darkest corners you’ve kept hidden.”
She squeezed my hands. “I will give you children who will know their father as the strongest, fiercest, most loving man to ever live. And I will make sure they know that their mother adored him… from the first moment she truly saw him, to her very last breath.”
I couldn’t even pretend to hide the tears now. My vision blurred, and my jaw locked, because if I didn’t hold it together, I was going to fucking lose it in front of everyone.
Her voice dropped to a whisper that still somehow hit me like a damn punch to the chest.
“I am yours, Kester Hamilton. Always. And I will spend the rest of my life making sure you never doubt it again.”
My knees almost buckled.
I didn’t give a fuck that people were watching. I didn’t care about the priest, either. I leaned forward, pressing my forehead to hers because I needed her close. I needed her scent in my head, her warmth against me, before I completely came apart.
“You’re going to kill me, Mine,” I murmured, my voice shaking so badly it barely sounded like mine.
She smiled through her tears, and I broke. One tear slipped free, then another. And when she reached up to brush them away with her trembling fingers, I caught her wrist and kissed the inside of it like I was starving.
She was worth the ruin, worth the humiliation of my tears, worth the ache in my chest, worth every fight I’d ever bled through just to get her here.
The priest was still speaking, but my focus was locked on her on the way her lips trembled from her sobs, the way her eyes shimmered with love so deep I could drown in it.
And maybe that was the problem.
Because when she said my name again so softly, something inside me snapped.
Fuck waiting. Fuck procession. Fuck the priest and his rehearsed words.
I moved before my brain could even pretend to argue. My hands were on her face, cradling her cheeks, my thumbs catching the tears as they fell. Her gasp was small and barely audible, as I tilted her head and crashed my mouth onto hers.
Zeth growled in satisfaction at the back of my mind as I kissed her harder, until I felt her melt into me, and until she was breathing me in like she needed me to survive.
Somewhere behind us, the priest cleared his throat awkwardly, but I didn’t fucking care.
The crowd erupted in applause.
When I finally pulled back, I kept my forehead pressed to hers.
The priest gave a strained smile and cleared his throat again. “Well… I suppose you may now kiss the bride though it appears you already have.”
The crowd erupted in laughter and applause again, but I didn’t take my eyes off her, even for a second.
Because as far as I was concerned, the ceremony had ended the moment I claimed her in front of every witness we’d ever need.
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