Considering the plans for my wedding were rushed, I couldn’t have asked for a better ceremony.

Cassandra proves to be a blessing I can’t even begin to enumerate. She really stepped up to organize all the elements we needed as dragons to make our union official without asking uncomfortable questions.

She shrugged it off as her boss being eccentric.

Although I didn’t need it for the ceremony, she offered to stand in for me as a best woman. I guess she feels bad that I’m such a recluse that I have so few friends and family in attendance.

By the end of it, I think I consider her as a friend, too. It’s a good feeling. She’s someone I feel I can really rely on. One day, when I feel secure with her, I can share my secret. Until then, it is a discomfort for me to feel like I’m holding back on her.

I have to trust the Fates to know when is the right time.

The Ring of Fire proved to be tricky and she tried to talk me out of it. I told her that it is strongly symbolic of my union with Taran. That we will be together through good times, represented by standing inside the ring, and bad, represented by standing outside.

She rolled her eyes in that way she does when she thinks I’m being ridiculously sappy but didn’t complain. She rose to the challenge and made it work.

And nothing caught fire.

If the fire chief hears of it, I’m sure we’ll be shut down.

Thankfully, the gathering was limited to immediate family, the few shifter friends Taran and I both have, and a small handful of humans, so if word gets out, the snitch will be on a short list.

I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.

Now I have a gold band on my finger, one that matches my husband’s, and our union as mates is recognized in the shifter community as being unbreakable.

I almost start crying every time I look at it.

While the ceremony happened at the gallery, the reception is on the beach. Taran reserved a remote section for a private party. From tuxedos to swimsuits. From chamber music to Sako’s unusual selection of songs as he acts as DJ. From dancing to beach volleyball.

Clams and fish and hotdogs and marshmallows and copious amounts of beer.

Except for me. Taran plucks the bottle from my grip every time I try to sneak one and replaces it with water.

I frown as yet another disappears from my grasp. “Moderation, Taran. You have heard of it, right?”

He drains the bottle before giving it a toss to the pile we’ll collect to recycle before we go. “I have, and that’s my baby you’re carrying. You’re not going to turn him into a lush.”

I try to act annoyed. It doesn’t last long because the kiss on my nose is enduring and makes me the sap that Cassandra accuses me of being.

“So, tell me again why you’re not going on a honeymoon?” Nyve says as he weaves his way towards us.

Taran props his hands on his hips to stare his best man down. “Mumble mumble shop is busy, mumble mumble tourist season is ramping up. Christ, Nyve, it’s like you have selective hearing from the last three times I told you.”

“Right. Right. I remember. I still think it’s stupid. We can cover while you and Nosko head up north to the mountains to get a little nature time.”

I appreciate Nyve’s concern and wrap an arm around his waist to hug him. He’s a mountain of a man, even more so than Taran, but a much bigger teddy bear on the inside. “When things slow down for the both of us, we’ll take time to get away. I promise. Annika’s show is going to open soon and I don’t want to lose focus now.”

“You have a hell of a manager working for you, Nosko,” Nyve points out with one finger. Cassandra is chatting with Taran’s parents, who made it all the way from the south of the territory. “Let her take on some of the responsibility.”

“She already has her hands full. Trust me, I’m working her. I can’t abandon her now. Besides, Annika’s my pet project. I can’t dump that on her.”

Nyve squeezes me before letting me go. “If you say it’s alright, then it’s alright. Just keep this guy in line,” and he pokes Taran in the stomach with his finger.

“That may be a full time job, right there.” I snicker at Taran’s face as he tries to grab Nyve’s finger and misses. “So I’m going to need everyone’s help.”

“You got it. All of us,” and Nyve gestures around at the gathered, specifically pointing out the guys at the shop, “think you’re the best thing to happen to him. We got your back, Nosko.”

“Hey now—” Taran starts to protest and I silence him with a kiss.

“Can you go see if Bronaz is done with the ribs? I’m starving.”

As the party winds down, I say goodbye to my parents, who need to get back to the farm. We’ve never been super close but their approval and acceptance of Taran is still important. They give their blessing to us both and leave me with a very contented feeling.

“My folks are in town for another few days and want to take us shopping for any last minute baby things. You okay with that?” Taran wraps his arms around me while the guys clean up the area so we can leave.

“I don’t think we really need anything…” But parents are parents. Something tells me they won’t take no for an answer and it would hurt their feelings. “But I’m sure we can find something we wouldn’t buy ourselves.”

“Thanks. They want to have lunch with the two of us before they go. They really like you.”

“They’re good people. They raised a fine son.” I lean into his hug and rest my ear against his chest.

“I think he’s pretty righteous myself.”

“You are such a jerk.” I poke him in the ribs and discover to my delight, it’s a ticklish spot. I hadn’t found one until now. He dances away with a laugh.

At the cars, I stop the guys while they’re loading. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

They gather around me and I’m suddenly struck by how big they all are. Varos and Sako are not Red Skull dragons like Taran, Bronaz, and Nyve, so they’re not as large, but still. It’s all relative because they’re not slight like me either. It’s a little intimidating.

“After I finish up with Annika’s premiere, I want to open another segment of the gallery to showcase the artistic talent of tattooists in Stelline City. I was hoping that all of you,” and I look up at Taran specifically, “would contribute some art.”

Sako strokes his chin as he thinks. “You don’t think that’ll be a turn off for your client base? I mean, not that I think it’s a bad idea but tattoo art is kind of…”

“Specialized,” Bronaz says.

Nyve nods. “Specific.”

“Unique,” Varos agrees.

“I know,” I say, but I’m firm that I want to do this, even over the now diminishing objections of Cassandra. She’s been helping Annika get ready for the show and has shown signs of softening her stance. “It’s still beautiful and I think it’s a shame to keep it hidden behind doors that say ‘tattoo’ in neon. Let the public see what’s coming out of the street art movement.”

Nods of assent all around with promises to start pulling things together give my heart a lift. I believe in this passionately.

Another dream of mine is coming to life.

By the time we get to Taran’s townhouse, my home now, my feet are swelling and I’m dead tired. I flop onto the couch and stare at the far wall. “I could sleep for a week. I ate so much, I think I gained twice the weight I’m supposed to at this stage of the pregnancy.”

“I think you look beautiful,” Taran says, flopping next to me. He gathers me in his arms and I sag against him. I could go to sleep like this. “And I’m glad to see you eating. It worries me that you’re not eating enough.”

“I’m eating enough,” I protest.

My phone chimes. It’s a text from Annika.

Taran reads over my shoulder. “Does she say why she wasn’t there for the reception? You did invite her, right?”

“I gave you the invitation to get to her. Was it delivered?”

“Varos ran it over the day you handed it off to me.”

I sit up to read the text and my blood runs cold. “Oh my gods, Taran. She was mugged.”

“She what?” Taran sits up and cranes his neck to read the text. “Morton Street. That’s right up the road from the shops.”

I dial her number. It takes a few rings for her to pick up. “Hey Nosko,” she says. She sounds as tired as I am.

“Annika, are you okay?” I try not to sound frantic. I’m not sure I was successful.

“I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the reception. I was at the police station filing a report. When I was done, I just wanted to go home.”

“Oh my gods, that is so fine. Taran’s here, can I put you on speaker?”

“Sure.”

I hold the phone so we both can hear. Taran leans in. “When did this happen?”

“About three hours ago. I was closing up the shop early to hop on the bus out your way when this asshole grabs me and drags me in the alley. It pretty much happened just like it did for you.”

“He called you a lizard?” I glance at Taran, who looks as worried as I feel.

“Something like that. It all happened so fast.”

“But you’re okay? He didn’t injure you or anything?” The impotent anger is rising in Taran’s voice. This is not good for stress levels. I put a hand on his arm to remind him to stay calm.

“He grabbed my working wrist and squeezed it pretty hard. I don’t think there’s damage but I’m going to take the next few days off.”

“We’ll keep an eye on your shop,” Taran offers.

“Thanks, Taran.”

“I’ll let you go. We just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“Sorry I missed the party. I’m sure it was a blast.”

I smile. She is such a sweet person. “You can make it up by taking me to lunch.”

“You’re on. Congratulations, you two.”

“Thanks, Annika,” we both say in unison before I kill the call.

I drop my phone on the cushion next to me and crawl closer to Taran to cuddle against him again. His arm drapes protectively over my back. The lub-dub of his heart helps to calm my nerves. “This sucks so much,” I whisper against Taran’s chest.

“That pretty much cinches it, though. She’s a shifter of some kind. Not a dragon,” he says, dropping into thought. “But a mythical one, if the research you and Varos are doing is correct.”

“Why don’t you think she’s a dragon?”

Taran shifts on the couch to stretch out and pulls me along to splay on top of him. “She’s not dragon-y.”

“That’s not very scientific. So what do you think she is?”

“Unicorn?”

I lift my head. “There really are unicorn shifters?”

He snorts. “Probably. But if she were, you wouldn’t be able to see her.”

I jab him in the ticklish spot again and he squirms with a laugh.

“Griffin, maybe?”

Taran rubs at the jab site and settles down again. “Harpy?”

“Nah.” I shake my head. “She’s not bitchy enough.”

“Minotaur, then.”

“You’re not even trying to be serious now.”

Taran laughs. “I got it, garden gnome. Her gnome form is hideous, which is why she’s so pretty in human form.”

I’m laughing pretty hard now as well.

When the silence descends, I realize just how sleepy I am. The ceremony and reception all in one day has sapped my energy. “I could use a nap.”

Taran wiggles and wraps both arms around me. He rests his cheek on top of my head. “So nap. I’ll rest with you.”

It takes a few turns for me to find a place comfortable enough that I can drop off into sleep.

The baby flips once and settles down inside me, content for the nap as well.

It’s a perfect end to a mostly-perfect day.

I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.