But I did believe in fate.
I looked over at mine. He was fucking beautiful, and at the moment he was laughing with Sarah as he held up the scarf she’d knit for him. It was… interesting.
“I really do love it, Sare,” he insisted. “It’s… creative?”
She smacked his shoulder, rolling her eyes. “Okay well, it was my first attempt. Second, if you count the disaster I made for Luke. But we won’t mention that.”
“Well, I’m honored that you, um, thought of me next,” he said, gamely wrapping the monstrosity around his neck. Good thing he didn’t get cold, I thought, biting back my own smile.
Seeing him so happy warmed me more than my dragon’s fire ever would, and as I looked around the room at the circle of friends and family who had come together to celebrate with us, my heart suddenly felt too big.
“I have a present for you, too, baby,” I said to Dev, standing up abruptly and grabbing a little box off the mantle. I’d been saving it for Christmas day, but suddenly I didn’t want to wait.
“I’ve already opened one,” he said, holding up one end of the yarn-disaster to prove it.
“One present, uncle Maks,” Elise told me seriously, patting my knee. “Daddy said not two.”
“Well, I haven’t opened one yet,” I told her. “And really, this is more a present for me than for Devin.”
She looked up at me skeptically, then finally nodded in approval.
I handed the shiny package to my mate, clamping down hard on our bond as I had been doing for weeks to try to keep it a surprise.
“Okay,” Devin said, pulling the paper off and blushing at the attention. “What is… oh. That’s pretty.”
He pulled the little diamond-studded golden egg out of the satin box that it had been cradled in, turning it this way and that and looking a little confused.
“Where did you find that, Maks?” Anik asked, smiling from across the room. “It really does look like one of ours.”
“Ours?” Dev asked, looking up curiously.
“There was a time when our hatchlings really did come from eggs, before we’d been joined with humankind. But that was a long time ago.”
Devin smiled, his hand moving to his flat stomach and his eyes finding mine. “I’m glad things changed.” Then he looked back at the little egg in his hand. “Oh… does it open?”
He found the subtle seam as he said the words, popping it open with a thumb.
I knew he was mine. My dragon had claimed him with fire, but I wanted to claim him in a more traditional way, and as his eyes widened I dropped down to one knee in front of him.
“Devin, I love you, baby. I know how much marriage means to you, and I—”
“YES!” he said, cutting me off as he tackled me. His enthusiasm knocked me on my ass, and I could hear Dane and Ty laughing behind him.
“Wait, love,” I said, for once trying to dodge his kisses. “I have… all these… words… I—”
I finally gave up trying to talk when I realized he wasn’t going to stop kissing me.
“Come on, Ty,” I heard Ben say. “Let me show you how to get these little ones to sleep.”
“Is that even possible?” the soft-hearted soldier asked, following my friend out of the room with Zach in his arms.
Anik and Mikkel were right behind them, and our other friends herded their children to bed with promises of dancing sugar plums and stockings to open in the morning.
“How do you always know everything I want?” Devin asked once we were alone.
Snow was falling outside the dark window, and Luke had flipped the lights off when he left, leaving us bathed in the multi-colored glow of the tree. It felt magical.
“You didn’t even let me ask properly,” I said, pulling him against me.
“You know I get a little impatient sometimes,” he admitted, blushing. “And as soon as I saw the ring, I heard what you were going to say.” He tapped his temple, letting me know that my attempt to block our bond had failed. “It was romantic and sweet and perfect.” And now his eyes were tearing up, and he held my face and looked into mine, letting me see into the deepest part of him.
I loved him.
“I love you, too,” he said, reading my mind. “And the answer, to everything—always—is yes.”
~ THE END ~