Re was as loyal as my Froekn Prince, as wise as my Norse King, as compassionate as my Death Angel, as amusingly arrogant as my Dragon King, as ferocious as my Black Lion, and as steady as my Water God. He was romantic and protective; a loving father and a husband who had been true to his wife for centuries after her death. And when Re had finally let go of Lusaset and given me his heart, he did so with complete conviction. I tried to let him go—to free him from the bonds we'd made in that terrible future—but he had refused. Re fought for me in every way he knew how, and when my husbands refused to allow him to join us, he had walked away vowing to never love another woman again.
In the end, it was my lioness who saved him—who saved us. She threatened to tear me apart if my husbands didn't relent. She was in love, and my lioness is a fierce mate. She's prideful and greedy, but she's also violently protective and deeply kind. She couldn't let Re walk away into a hell that we had helped to create. She loved him too much for that. And I loved him too much to resent her manipulative way of securing him in our life. I would never tell my other husbands this, but I was glad my lioness had torn me apart that day. I was grateful to her; especially now, at this moment, when Re was truly mine. Truly ours.
“Your face,” Re whispered as he laid a hand to my cheek. “I've never seen this expression before. What are you thinking, Lala?”
I told him; confessed all of my thoughts to him. Because Re deserved to hear them. He had earned that honesty from me. Re's eyes widened as he listened and then they started to shine.
“Don't start that again,” I teased him as he blinked away the tears.
Re laughed. “I've never cried so many happy tears.”
“You're beautiful when you cry,” I said. “Not because of all of this.” I waved my hand at his handsomeness. “But because of this.” I laid my hand over his heart. “I get a glimpse of you in your happy tears. I hope they're the only type you'll ever shed.”
“Just keep looking at me like that, and they will be,” he promised.
“May I dance with the bride?” A deep, resonant voice interrupted us.
We both glanced to our left and saw Anubis standing there. I looked from Anubis' dark, deadly attractiveness to Re's golden, shining glory and lifted a brow at my husband. He lifted one back at me, and I nodded subtly.
“Of course.” Re gave Anubis my hand. “But no chains, Grandson.”
Anubis and I both grimaced at Re, but I did so without my previous resentment; without the ache that it used to cause.
“Too soon?” Re asked and then chuckled as he walked away.
I followed Re with my eyes; watching him head over to where my lovers and Lesya sat at a table, having dinner. The men were giving me grim looks; none of them had forgiven Anubis for what he'd done to me. I looked back to the Egyptian God of the Dead and realized that I had. Oh, I've said that I've forgiven him before, but there had always been a shred of pain buried within me. It's hard to free yourself of bitterness after someone has treated you intimately cruel. Cruelty is bad enough, but when someone digs into your soul and uses the secrets buried there to hurt you and weaken you, it's far more traumatic. The pain stains; it spreads out through your soul so that even after you think you've got it all cleaned up, there are still dark marks that you can't scrub out.
But I had. Or rather, the Wolf had. Love and lust for my wolf had bleached the stain that Anubis left on my soul. It had allowed me to fully forgive Anubis. I smiled up into his ebony eyes and watched the colors swirl over them. Once, they had frightened me and for awhile, they had even haunted my dreams. But now, they were simply beautiful.
“I've let you go, Miw-sher,” Anubis murmured even as he held me tighter. “I have. You gave me that freedom, and I can never thank you enough for it. So, don't take my next words the wrong way.”
“All right,” I whispered.
“It hurt to watch you marry him—my grandfather,” he said. “It hurts now to dance with you; here, at your wedding. But I know I must welcome this pain if I'm ever going to move on.”
“I'm sorry, Anubis—”
“No. Stop,” Anubis said gently. “I wasn't trying to make you accountable for my wounds. They are all self-inflicted, as I'm sure you know. I just want you to know why I need this dance; why I need to hold you and see you up close; witness your happiness with Re.”
“I understand.”
“And there's one more thing that I must ask forgiveness for,” he said.
I lifted a brow at him.
“That day when I took you and your friend to lunch—”
“You drugged me,” I cut him off.
He blinked in shock and then whispered, “Yes; with magic. You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“I'm sorry, Vervain.”
“It's okay, Anubis,” I said serenely. “I forgive you. Now, let's dance away the possibility of us and move forward.”
Anubis gave me a bittersweet smile as he led me around the dance floor;
