“Ready to do this again?” Alex asked, standing back to admire the twisted black metal tiara she’d set into my hair.

I stared back at my reflection. The scar above my eye from where Sally cut me had been expertly hidden by Alex’s deft hand. The rest of my makeup was similar to the last wedding – the smoky eyes, the lips a slice of jet blue. The only thing different this time was that my skin glowed with the promise of love.

“It gets easier the second time.” I grinned back. “Especially when this time you know you’ve got the perfect partner.”

“You had the perfect partner last time,” Elinor reminded me. “You just didn’t realise it.”

“Well, even people as awesome as me are allowed to make mistakes.” I stood up and smoothed down the front of my dress. “Bouquet, please.”

Grinning, Alex handed me the short viking sword Willow had ordered in special from a blacksmith in Prague. “Here you are, my warrior woman. Willow promised she’d get some swords in the wedding this time.”

“That girl is going to make someone an incredible wife one day.” I checked out my reflection in the mirror, giving the sword an experimental swing. Robbie and I were going to present each other with our rings on the blade, the way they did in traditional Viking ceremonies. Later, we would use the sword to cut the epic cake Belinda had made us.

Yet another awesome thing about having two weddings. Two cakes!

Willow poked her head around the edge of the door. “Bianca, we’re ready for you.”

I expected butterflies to explode in my stomach. After all, this was it. I was getting married. The only thing that wasn’t real was the paperwork. We’d already got that bit sorted. But this time, the rest of it was for real. I was chaining myself to another human being for the rest of my life.

I couldn’t bloody wait.

I flung open the Rose Room door and practically ran down the staircase. “Bianca, wait for us!” Alex cried, as the girls crowded down after me.

I picked up the hem of my dress and tried to slow my pace. To distract myself, I glanced around the walls Robbie and I had painted together. This time, every wall of the house hung with new art. Each piece depicted the artist’s interpretation of “family.” Above the staircase hung my second-favourite piece – a wedding present from Alex and Ryan, who worked together on a scene of two foxes and four cubs playing together in the forest.

Other artists had contributed sculptures to line the sides of the driveway and front gardens. Robbie’s piece – my favourite of the whole collection – stood proud right in the centre of the lawn. It was an amazing sculpture – a mother wolf and her cub made from scraps of furniture and crockery and some pieces of an old camera. The two wolves stood proud, ready to fight off any intruder who might come to harm our pack, our family.

I couldn’t believe that piece had come from my Robbie’s brain. He had real talent. We’d already had three offers to buy the piece, but no way in hell was I going to part with it. I told Robbie he could make a living as a sculptor, but he’d decided to get himself a building apprenticeship. “I want to help other families to build homes for themselves,” he said, as he struggled his way through filling out the paperwork. “I never had a home until I came to live at The Prim. I’d like to be able to help others to create their own space.”

I patted my smooth stomach as I took my place at the top of the stairs. Just this week, Robbie and I had decided to stop using birth control. Perhaps it wouldn’t be long now until we had a cub of our own. At first, the idea had been terrifying to me, but now I couldn’t wait to be a mother, and define my relationship to my son or daughter on my own terms.

But that was in the future. Now, all I had to do was walk down the aisle.

“Bianca,” Willow whispered in my ear. “This is your cue.”

Here we go.

The music swelled. I descended the stairs as slowly as I could manage, and glided into the ballroom. My eyes cast around the room, meeting the gaze of a hundred joyous faces, each one bringing a pang of recognition and love. How lucky was I to have this amazing family. There was Caleb, looking dapper in black tails, Rosa smiling from under his arm. There was Cole and Belinda, each with black raven feathers woven through their hair. My parents stood stiffly beside the bar, frowning at all the faux skeletons and fairy lights hanging from the priceless chandeliers.

Even Rolf stood alone in the corner, his handsome face daring a shy smile. He’d apologised to both Robbie and I for the way he acted, and even confessed he was a bit jealous of Robbie. Apparently, Rolf had been treated pretty badly by his parents, too, and as an only child, he always envied the way both Angus and Caleb stood up for him. I think Robbie’s head swelled to twice its normal size that day.

At the end of the ballroom, Robbie stood proud, looking as handsome as I’d ever seen him in his Maclean family kilt, with a new sporran to replace the one Hans had stolen at the last wedding. Behind him stood his mother, her face beaming with the same gorgeous smile I so loved in her son, my husband.

I don’t know how she was able to be here, but Irvine had left for Aberdeen three days ago and returned with her. Robbie was Irvine’s biggest fan after that.

I reached out to Robbie, and he took my hands in his. His eyes locked with mine, so full of love it made my chest tighten. Robbie’s whole face broke out into a wide grin, the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen in my life.

Robbie tore his gaze from mine, and nodded to Clara. She began the ceremony, much the same way as she had before. Only this time, the words soared through the ballroom, lifting everyone up with the force of our vision.

We’d written the ceremony ourselves, taking out all the stuff about honouring and obeying, and replacing it with words that had meaning to us – about the kind of marriage we wanted. About how we’d fight by each other’s side and give the other person the space they needed to conquer their own challenges.

How we would love, and be loved, and how it was this that set us free.

“We will now exchange rings,” Clara said.

I held the sword out to her, and she slotted our rings on the tip of the blade and offered them to us. As I slipped Robbie’s ring on his finger, the words flowed from my mouth, so simple, so perfect.

“With this ring, I bind my life to yours. Wear it, and know that I love you.”

Robbie’s eyes never left mine as he slid my own ring back on my finger. “With this ring, I bind my life to yours. Wear it, and know that I love you.”

“Always,” I whispered back.

Clara addressed the room. “Bianca and Robbie, you have reaffirmed your vows today. In front of your family and friends, you’ve declared your enduring love, and from your bond, created a new and thriving family. While it’s a little odd for me to be doing a vow renewal a mere three months after the wedding—”

At that, the guests all tittered.

Clara continued. “I believe strongly that when a couple goes through a bad experience together, and that experience helps them to grow stronger, then this should be celebrated. Marriage is a choice – it’s not a choice you make once, but one you make every single day. How wonderful it is to be chosen by someone you truly love, and to be able to love them in return. Bianca and Robbie, you’ve chosen each other today. Go now, with the love and support of your friends and family. You may seal your union with a kiss.”

Robbie’s grin lit up the whole room. He cupped my neck, bending toward me. His lips met mine, and the whole world exploded with pleasure.

I used to think marriage was for people who were weak, who were too afraid to make their own way in the world. But as Robbie’s tongue brushed mine, I realised I’d never felt stronger in my whole life.

With this man at my side, there’s nothing I cannot conquer.

* * *