The ceremony started at sunset which meant I had exactly thirty minutes to stand there in ceremonial robes that Morgana had insisted were traditional and also incredibly uncomfortable while two hundred people watched me try not to trip over the hem.
Kael stood at my back, solid and certain through the bond.
Riven to my left, his calm bleeding through our connection.
Draven to my right, controlled precision anchoring me.
Thorne in front—barely cleared by healers but refusing to miss this—his feral protectiveness wrapping around me like armor.
All four of them. All four bonds thrumming steady and strong. All four of them believing I could do this even when I wasn't sure I believed it myself.
The visiting Alphas stood in the outer circle—Marcus and Sienna and Thomas and Chen—with their packs arranged behind them in formations that probably had strategic meaning I didn't understand.
