Chapter 302 - 303 Will you marry me?

Chapter 302: Chapter 303 Will you marry me?

Damian’s POV

The second house was set deeper in the trees, tucked away on a winding drive that was easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it. Older, more established. A stone facade softened with climbing ivy, wooden beams exposed in the interior, wide fireplaces ready to crackle.

This time, when Aria walked through the rooms, I watched her slow down. Watched her pause in the kitchen and run her hand along the wooden island like she was imagining the meals she’d cook there. Watched her stop by the big picture window in the living room, staring out at the trees with a contemplative look on her face.

"This one feels different," she said quietly.

"Different how?"

She was quiet for a moment, then: "It feels like a real home."

Something shifted in my chest, in a way that made it hard to breathe. A real home. That’s all I’d ever wanted, and I hadn’t even known it until she’d said those words.

"I’m glad you think so," I said, coming up to stand beside her. "Because I already put in an offer on this one."

She turned to face me, her eyes wide. "You what?"

"Last week. Before I even brought you here." I reached up, trailing my fingers down her cheek. "I walked in and just... knew. This was the one. I didn’t know why at the time. But now I do."

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She was completely speechless, and I found myself smiling at the sight. My beautiful mate, rendered silent. A small victory.

"There’s one more thing I want to show you," I said, taking her hand. "A bit of a drive. If you’re up for it."

I could feel her tremble slightly as I laced my fingers with hers. "Show me."

The drive took us past the outskirts of the organized land, up onto a ridge with a view that swept over the valley below. I turned off the engine and we got out, standing in the cool morning air with the whole world spread out before us.

"What is this place?" she asked.

"My family’s land. The original holding." I looked out at the valley, at the rolling hills and the river that wound through the trees.

She stepped into my space, so close I could feel the warmth radiating off her skin. "I like this place. It feels sacred. Bare but not empty."

"My grandmother used to say this was the spot where the Moon Goddess first spoke to our ancestors." I paused, letting the weight of the words sit between us. "Where she forged the first bond between mates. The first Alpha King and his Queen."

Aria’s fingers tightened around mine. "That’s a legend."

"Legends are just truths remembered by the people who love them most." I turned to face her fully, catching her gaze with mine before I continued. "I brought you here because I wanted you to see where it began. Where it will never end."

I released her hand and reached into my pocket.

When I pulled out the ring—a simple band of gray-black metal, with a stone in the grip of several prongs, one that caught the light and seemed to shimmer like moonlight on water—her eyes went wide.

"Damian," she breathed.

"I’ve carried this ring for two weeks. Since before I marked you. Hell, since I’d even told you how I felt." I dropped to one knee in front of her, the grass cool against my calf, the ring held between us like a prayer. "I should’ve done this the right way from the start. I owe you this."

"No, Damian—"

"Let me finish." I took her hand, my thumb brushing over her knuckles, and I felt her trembling. My voice dropped low, rough with everything I didn’t know how to say.

"It isn’t just the bond. It isn’t the pull or the mark or what the Moon decided for us. I loved you before any of that. From the first second I saw you, I knew. And you’ve been patient with me when I didn’t deserve it. You stayed when I gave you every reason to walk away."

My chest tightened. The words came out raw, stripped of every wall I’d ever built. "I’ve spent my whole life in the dark, Aria. And then you walked in, and suddenly there was light. You were the light. You still are."

I held the ring up between us, my hand steadier than I felt.

"Will you marry me?"

She was crying. Silent tears tracking down her cheeks, and she didn’t seem to notice. Her hands were pressed over her mouth, her shoulders shaking.

"What’s the matter?"

"Everything. Nothing." She laughed, watery and high-pitched. "Damian Blackwood, you are the most infuriating, wonderful, impossible man I have ever met, and I’m crying because—because I thought I’d never have this. I thought I was destined to be someone’s shadow forever, and then you—" She stopped, taking a shaky breath. "Yes."

"Just yes?"

"Do you want me to write you a speech?"

"Yes," I said gruffly, standing up and pulling her into my arms, the ring pressing between them. "I want you to write me a speech. Every damn year, I want a new speech about why you say yes to me. And then I want you to wear this ring and tell me you’re mine, every morning, every night—"

"Damian."

"You started it—"

"I love you." She cut me off, her voice steady, her eyes clear and bright. "I love you, you ridiculous, stubborn, gorgeous Alpha King. And yes, I’ll marry you. Forever. In every way that matters."

I kissed her then, hard and hungry and full of all the words I couldn’t say and the fear that if I let go, she’d slip through my fingers.

I was hers.

And she was mine.

*She’s ours,* my wolf said, with all the quiet certainty of a truth that had never been in question.

*Yes,* I agreed, holding her closer, feeling the world settle into something resembling right.

*Ours to love. Ours to protect. Ours to keep.*

I was the Alpha King.

And I’d finally found my Queen.

I pulled back just far enough to meet her gaze, sliding the ring onto her finger with hands that—I was ashamed to admit—trembled just a little.

She looked down at her hand, then back up at me, a smile breaking across her face like dawn over the valley below.

"You’re stuck with me now, Your Majesty."

"Best thing that ever happened to me," I said, meaning every word. "And I’m never letting go."

She laughed, bright and free, and I pulled her into my arms, breathing in the scent of her, feeling her heartbeat against mine.