Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
It was a miniature galaxy—diamonds and sapphires and some twinkling pale blue stone that was framed by a platinum band.
“It’s good that you’re my Mountain Mistress. That’s great.” He nodded. “But I want you to be my wife.”
The breath left my lungs in a rush.
The fur coat fell from my shoulders and dropped to the ground.
My mind raced, trying to catch up with the moment. The garden, the fireflies, the ring, the man kneeling before me. . .it was too much, too perfect, too overwhelming.
I stared at him and my heart pounded in my head.
His gaze never wavered as he gave me a nervous smile. “Say something, Moni. . .don’t leave me hanging. . .not now. . .”
Chapter twenty-four
Rings and Revelations
Lei
I knelt before Moni.
My heart boomed in my chest like a war drum.
This wasn’t just a proposal—it was a lifetime claim.
A blood oath.
A vow to God.
A promise that no one else would ever touch her, hold her, or have her.
Not in this life or any other.
She was mine.
She always had been. But as I looked up at her, my chest tightened with a fear I hadn’t expected.
What if she says no?
The thought was a jagged blade, slicing through my confidence and leaving me terrifyingly raw.
The idea of her rejection was unthinkable.
If she refused me—if she even hesitated—I wouldn’t know what to do.
Would I be able to let her walk away without wearing my ring?
No.
That answer was immediate.
Primal.
I wouldn’t let her go.
Couldn’t.
Tonight, I planned to fight for her, to bleed for her, to sacrifice everything to have her peacefully by my side.
The depth of my possessiveness, the way it clawed at my insides, made me feel like a man barely hanging onto the edges of sanity, it wouldn’t let her not wear my ring tonight.
I loved her so fiercely so much that it bordered on a maddening obsession, and that terrified me.
Moni’s eyes widened and her lips parted as if she wanted to speak, but no words came.
For a few seconds, she just stared at me with her chest rising and falling rapidly.
Each second stretched into an eternity and my nerves frayed further.
Two fireflies flowed around us, and I wanted to shout, to demand an answer, but instead, I stayed still, my hands gripping the small box so tightly my knuckles ached.
And then, finally, her eyes shimmered with tears.
I tensed.
One tear slipped down her cheek, and she let out a shaky breath. “Yes. . .”
I swallowed. “Yes?”
She nervously nodded. “Yes, baby. Of course.”
Relief crashed over me like a tidal wave, dragging the breath from my lungs. “What the fuck took you so long?”
She chuckled. “Would you calm down?”
“I thought I was going to have to force this ring on your finger.”
“Lei. . .” She wiped the tears from her cheek. “You had me speechless. . .”
“And you had me terrified.” My hands trembled as I pulled the ring from the box. “Goddamn it.”
More tears spilled from her eyes, but there was a smile on her face—a soft, beautiful smile that I wanted to burn into my memory forever.
“Sorry,” she said, wiping at her cheek with the back of her hand. “I wasn’t expecting you to propose tonight.”
Then, she extended her hand, and that’s when I saw it.
What the fuck!
A ring was already on her finger.
Not the ring finger, but there it was nonetheless—a gleaming band of silver with a huge sapphire set at its center.
My relief turned to ice, freezing my veins.
Are you fucking kidding me!
I’d seen that ring before.
It had belonged to my mother.
Rage pounded through my body, swift and unrelenting. I forced myself to rise off the ground slowly, careful not to scare Moni, but inside, the fury was a living thing, roaring and snapping at its cage.
How dare he? How fucking dare he?
My father’s audacity knew no bounds and now he was marking her—my woman—with something so personal, so intimate.
“Lei?” Moni’s voice was soft, pulling me back to her. “What’s wrong?”
I didn’t answer right away.
My gaze locked on the ring like it was a venomous snake, coiled and ready to strike.
Slowly, I reached for her hand. “When did my father give you this?”
She hesitated. “Before we went to the feast.”
The words sent another jolt of fury through me.
My teeth clenched, and my jaw ached as I fought to keep my voice steady. “And what did he say?”
Her brow furrowed as if trying to remember. “He said. . .it was what he gave your mother when she became Mountain Mistress.”
Not exactly true.
I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply through my nose as the realization settled over me like a dark, suffocating cloud.
How many times had I seen that same ring on my mother’s finger?
And now, my father had placed it on Moni’s finger like a brand.
A declaration.
The past rushed in yanking me into a memory I hadn’t allowed myself to visit in years.