Cici Anderson looked at herself in her ice blue dress, standing next to her best friends, Melody, Stephanie and Meredith, as they helped her new friend Sunshine with her gown.

Cici was honored to have been asked to be a bridesmaid at Sunshine’s wedding. It was the second wedding she'd been a bridesmaid for in the last month. Cici loved weddings, but she couldn't help but think of that old expression, “always a bridesmaid, never a bride”.

Sunshine had just come to Fate Valley a few weeks ago for Melody’s wedding, and she’d immediately found her mate Harrison. Together, Sunshine and Harrison had solved the mystery of the Fate Rock Chapel fire. Since then, Cici, Melody, Meredith and Sunshine had become quite the squad. Nothing could compare to having a strong group of girlfriends, and Cici definitely had that. It was one of the best things in her life. With so many shifter girlfriends, she’d signed up for Mate.com a long time ago, but still hadn’t had any luck finding a mate.

Sunshine's mother Juliet fussed over her veil and cooed about how beautiful her daughter was on her wedding day. Cici had to agree. Sunshine had long, cascading umber brown hair, big amber eyes and tawny skin that seemed touched by the sun. Compared to a girl like Sunshine, she felt short, round and pale. But she knew that she had her own assets. Her jet-black hair contrasted beautifully against her porcelain skin, especially when she wore her favorite shade of red lipstick. Like today.

Sunshine’s father Levi peeked through the door into the dressing room of the Fate Rock Chapel and asked if everyone was ready. Sunshine grasped her heart and a blush rose in her cheeks. She gripped her belly and patted it. Cici knew that Sunshine was already expecting. It was really quite the happy occasion.

Everything was working out for Sunshine. Cici really couldn't be happier for her new friend. She loved being a bridesmaid at her wedding, and having the chance to dance all night long with her friends.

She remembered what fun they’d had at Melody’s bachelorette party. Cici giggled about the stripper they'd hired to dance for them. She’d told the girls she and the stripper were going to run away together, but of course, that had never happened.

Sunshine started toward the door with Melody close behind her. Juliet slipped out and took her place in the pew at the front of the chapel. The bridesmaids moved out into the hall and took their places with the groomsmen. Cici was walking with Harrison's good friend, the uber handsome Grayson Baxter, who everyone called Baker Bear.

She knew he’d made the wedding cake and couldn't wait to taste it. Melody’s cake had been to die for. Grayson patted Cici’s hand with his tattooed fingers as she took his arm. He smiled down at her. Too bad Grayson wasn’t her fated mate. He was so cute, and a wizard in the kitchen, but she knew he wasn’t the one for her.

The wedding march started, and she walked down the aisle with Grayson until she took her place on the rise near the minister. She watched Harrison as he watched Sunshine glide down the aisle with her father, Levi. Sunshine really was a sight to behold. She wore a flowing, tulle skirt with billowing layers, a cinched bodice with intricate beadwork, and a veil that flowed down her back over her long brown hair. Melody took Sunshine's bouquet as she stepped up on the riser beside Harrison. They held each other's hands and gazed into each other's eyes.

It was a beautiful ceremony and there wasn't a dry eye in the house when it was done. The two of them really were perfect for each other. Later at the reception in the Fate Rock Wine Cellar, Sunshine's father, Levi gave a moving speech about his love for his daughter. It made Cici think about her own parents. They'd had a lovely Christmas dinner just a few days before and she really couldn't ask for a better family. She sat at the bridal table and watched Sunshine and Harrison dancing across the floor, Sunshine’s skirt sweeping over the polished stone as the lights glistened in her long brown hair. Cici sighed and rested her cheek in her hand.

"What's the matter?" asked her good friend Melody.

"I guess I'm a little melancholy," Cici admitted. "I still haven't found a mate. And maybe I never will."

"Nonsense, Cici. I'm sure you'll find the love of your life very soon. It's Fate Valley and fate has a way of working out for good people like you."

"I hope you're right," Cici said.

She stood from the bridal table, walked over to the bar, and ordered a glass of champagne. The bartender poured her a glass and she took a long sip as she watched the bride and groom dancing, gazing into each other's eyes. Their love was palpable and obvious to anyone who looked at them. Suddenly her phone buzzed in her clutch, and she pulled it out to check what it was, thinking it could be a shipment notification from Amazon. But instead, what she saw almost made her choke on her champagne.

"Congratulations, we’ve found your fated mate."

The message was from Mate.com. She smashed her thumb into the cellphone, opening the website to see who she'd been matched with. When she saw his picture, she almost dropped her glass. Cici had to sit down on the stool in front of the bar to keep her legs from buckling underneath her. She coughed, choking on her champagne, her eyes going foggy from the gathering tears. Once she had cleared her throat and caught her breath she read the gorgeous man's biography. His profile name was Celebration Bear. He had shaggy black hair, big brown eyes and a stubbled, square jaw that she wanted to run her tongue over.

"Oh my God," she wheezed scrolling down the page.

He was an electrician and a pyrotechnician, whatever that meant. He was called Celebration Bear because of his love for celebrations of all kind—holidays, parties, birthdays and even funerals. She couldn't believe her luck when she read that he had just moved to Fate Valley. Just a moment later, a message came up on her screen.

"Hello sweetheart," it read, “I’m your fated mate, Thorian Reed."

"Hi Thorian," she typed out, still not breathing that well.

"I'd love to see you. Can we meet tomorrow night?" he asked.

"Tomorrow night, as in New Year's Eve?"

“I have a gig that night, but I would still like to see you.”

"I would love that."

"I can show you all the fireworks,"

"Fireworks?" she typed, wondering if that was code for something sexy.

"I'm a pyrotechnician. I'm running the fireworks display this year."

"Oh, that's what a pyrotechnician means," she said, blushing. "I thought you meant something else by fireworks."

"What else could I mean by fireworks?"

"Never mind," she said and then added LOL with a winking emoticon.

"I can show you those kinds of fireworks too," he said.

"Well, it is New Year's Eve, and I don't have anyone else to kiss."

"Then you can kiss me. I'd be honored to oblige."

Cici felt the heat rising all over her body, and she had to fan herself with her clutch.

"It's a date then. I’ll meet you at the Fate Valley Resort. That's where they shoot off the fireworks, right?"

"That's right. There's a big party. We can have our celebration, and I can show you the fireworks," he said with a wink emoji.

Cici was positively flushed and sweating from her every pore after that conversation. She scrolled through his photographs. A picture of him in a military uniform with his hair cropped. A picture of him with his shirt off in the water that almost made her faint dead away. A picture of him in his coveralls, fixing some wires in a building. A picture of him chopping firewood.

Her friend Stephanie walked up beside her at the bar and ordered a glass of champagne. Stephanie was also a shifter girl like Melody, but she hadn't been matched with a mate yet.

"What's that all about?" she asked.

"I found my mate," Cici said, breathless.

"You did?" Stephanie asked, her voice whining and obviously jealous.

"Don't worry Stephanie. It'll happen soon for you too. I promise.”

"That's what everybody keeps telling me. Well, let me see him."

Stephanie leaned over Cici shoulder and gazed down at the phone as she scrolled through the pictures of Thorian.

"He is freaking hot," Stephanie said, her lioness tongue lolling out.

"I know. Can you believe it? He’s so handsome. I can barely stand it. I think I'm going to need another glass of champagne to calm down.”

The bartender filled her glass and she downed it as she continued scrolling through his photographs, opening them up, enlarging them and focusing in on the more delicious aspects of his physique.

“I like the cropped hair look," Stephanie said.

"Are you sure? I like him with it longer," Cici said.

"Either way, he's handsome as heck," Stephanie said, leaning against the bar.

"I'm sorry that you haven't found your mate yet, Stephanie," Cici said.

"It's not a big deal. I just have to wait for the hands of fate to give me good fortune," she said. "Maybe my mate is a billionaire or a famous athlete or something equally amazing."

"That's the spirit," Cici said, her grin too huge to be contained on her face.

"I'm happy for you though, Cici. It couldn't have happened to a nicer girl.”

Cici leaned in and put her arm around her friend’s shoulder, giving her a big smooch on the cheek.

"Well, I'm off to mingle," Stephanie said, taking her champagne glass with her.

Cici hoped that her friend would find her own mate soon, but she was so happy that she’d found hers that she couldn't be too sad about anything at that moment. She wanted to proclaim it from the rooftops. She wanted to jump up on the stage, grab the microphone from the singer, and scream to everyone, “I found my mate and he is freaking gorgeous.”