Talking To The Moon | Complete |

With This Ring...

Alessio POV

A dark shock of hair. Freshly plucked Italian eyebrows. Bright, almost butterscotch colored eyes. Stern, well-defined jawline. Soft, pink lips. Snugly fitted tuxedo. Red rose boutonniere. Anxiously pounding heart. That was me.

Blowing out a breath, I ran a careful hand through my even more carefully styled hair and glanced back into the mirror. If there was even one hair out of place, Mary would kill me; of course, she would with good reason. After all, you only got married once; or, we Shifters with Mates, only got married once...

Was it really my wedding day?!? Already?!? I'd only asked her last month, how had time flown by so quickly? I guess the saying is true then: time flies when you're having fun! Or getting ready for a wedding; not to mention the arrival of your first child... Goddess, had it only been a month since I'd asked her to marry me?!?

"Siete pronti, figlio mio?" My father's eyes were bright as he gazed at me through the mirror, lips pulled into a smile. His hand was a gentle yet insistent weight on my shoulder as he brought me in for a hug, the whiskers on his face scratching my own cheek. Pulling away, he pressed a quick kiss to each of my cheeks with a smirk. "Ho avuto modo di andare affrontare l'ira della madre e la sorella per non radersi questa vecchia cosa fuori... Sarò sicuro per accompagnare la vostra sposa prima, naturalmente." With another hug, Papà disappeared to go find Luna. ((Are you ready, my son? I've got to go face the wrath of your mother and sister for not shaving this old thing off... I'll be sure to escort your bride first, of course.))

Smiling as my office door shut behind him, I sent a quick prayer of thanks to the goddess for giving me such a compassionate, loving father; he'd promised to escort Luna down the aisle before she'd even asked him, bringing tears to her eyes as they'd hugged. Her own father was obviously out of the question to even consider, so I was glad that mine had offered, and especially encouraged to see that it took no time at all for my family to accept my Luna as their own. Who said the in-laws were always so horrible?

"Alex, ya ready in there, man?" Dino burst through the door with a grin and charged at me, attempting to throw me into a headlock; clearly, he hadn't felt the wrath of my sister in a long time... He frowned as I neatly dodged his advances, but continued to try and catch me. "Awh come one, man, one last hoorah before my new little sister drags you away!"

"And face the wrath of my own sister, I don't think so!" Smirking, I then caught him in a headlock as he sputtered on about how unfair I was being. "I mean, you're not the groom, so I can mess your hair up as much as I'd like!"

"You can not! Alessio, let him go right now and get down to the meadow before we have the wedding without you!" Had my sister always been so demanding and bossy?!? Practically shoving me out the door, she managed to swipe a quick kiss to my cheek. "You're welcome for not letting you miss your own damn wedding!"

~000~

Tale As Old As Time drifted to my ears from the speakers that hung in the surrounding trees as Dino, Kara, and I walked down the aisle to await my bride; Kara was Filomena's newly found Mate from one of our neighboring Packs. He was already so in love with her, and she him, which made us all glad for them. He was an agile fighter, and quickly ascended the ranks of my best Pack fighters right to the top below Dino.

As we stood waiting for the ceremony to begin, my mind wandered, and I could help but question my sister about how she'd managed to find an instrumental version of Tale As Old As Time; I was glad she did, because my little Mate really loved her Beauty and The Beast... Still, it was already playing, and it would replace the traditional Wedding March when my bride came down the aisle, so how would I know when she was on her way?