“Oh god,” she breathed, flour-dusted hands flying to her cheeks. “What time is it?”
“Time to make you a queen,” Liora’s mother said with a knowing smile. “We’ll handle the finishing touches. Go.”
Faith’s gaze swept over the cake one last time, her artist’s eye cataloging every detail. It was perfect. More than perfect—it was everything she’d envisioned, a sugar-spun love letter to the man who’d changed her world.
Liora grabbed her hand, tugging her toward the kitchen doors. “Come on. Time to transform you into the most beautiful bride Nova Aurora has ever seen.”
They hurried through the palace corridors, their footsteps echoing against polished marble. Laughter bubbled up from Faith’s chest, bright and breathless, tangling with nerves and pure joy. The palace that had once felt impossibly vast now felt like home.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Faith gasped as they rounded a corner, her heart hammering against her ribs. “Three weeks ago, I was measuring flour in a failing bakery, and now?—“
“Now you’re about to marry the most powerful shifter on Nova Aurora and become queen of the Auryx pride,” Liora finished, her blue eyes sparkling.
Faith laughed, the sound echoing off the vaulted ceiling. “When you put it like that, it sounds completely insane.”
“The best love stories usually are.”
They reached Faith’s old chambers—the suite that had been her sanctuary during those first uncertain days. Liora pushed open the doors, and Faith stepped inside, her breath catching. The room felt like a threshold, suspended between who she’d been and who she was about to become.
Her wedding gown lay across the bed like something sacred, a creation that had taken the pride’s most skilled seamstresses weeks to complete. Layers of silk and luminous fabric, the bodice intricately beaded with crystals that caught the afternoon sun streaming through the windows. It was a dress fit for a queen.
“Breathe,” Liora reminded her gently, closing the doors behind them. “This is the good part, remember?”
Faith nodded, pressing a hand to her racing heart. The weight of the day settled into her bones—not heavy but significant. In less than an hour, she would speak vows that would bind her to Kovrak forever. She would accept a crown that would make her responsible for an entire people. She would become someone new while staying true to herself.
The thought should have terrified her. Instead, it filled her with a fierce, bright certainty.
She removed her baking clothes, flour still dusting her skin like stardust. The simple cotton fell away, and with it, the last traces of the uncertain woman who’d arrived on Nova Aurora clutching a contract and a single suitcase.
The gown whispered against her skin as Liora helped her step into it. The bodice hugged her perfectly, the skirt flowing around her in waves of shimmering fabric that made her feel like she was wearing captured moonlight.
“Turn around,” Liora murmured, her fingers working the intricate lacings of the corset. Each tug was firm and grounding, pulling Faith into her new self.
When Liora finished, Faith turned toward the full-length mirror, and the woman staring back stole her breath. Gone was the uncertain outsider who’d fainted at her first royal ceremony. In her place stood someone radiant and steady, someone who had chosen love and been chosen in return. The gown transformed her into living art, but it was the light in her eyes—confident, joyful, utterly unafraid—that made her truly beautiful.
“You look like a tiger’s queen,” Liora whispered, her voice thick with emotion.
Faith touched her hip where Kovrak’s mate mark lay underneath the silk fabric, feeling the mate bond pulse warmand strong. Through it, she could sense Kovrak’s anticipation, his fierce love, and his unshakeable certainty that she was his and he was hers.
Today she would marry the love of her life. Today she would become queen of the Auryx pride. The realization didn’t steal her breath—it filled her lungs with fire.
“I feel like one,” she said softly, her reflection smiling back with quiet power.
The door exploded inward without warning, and Gerri swept into the room with the force of a perfectly dressed hurricane. Her eyes flashed gold as she took in Faith’s transformed appearance, a triumphant smile spreading across her face.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Gerri declared, hands on her hips as her gaze swept from Faith’s luminous gown to her radiant expression. “Twenty years I’ve been waiting for that stubborn tiger to finally settle down, and I wouldn’t miss seeing my greatest success crowned queen for anything.”
Faith’s nervous laughter bubbled up as she crossed the room in a rustle of silk. She threw her arms around the petite matchmaker, gratitude rising thick in her throat, threatening to spill over in tears.
“Gerri,” she whispered against the older woman’s perfectly styled hair. “Thank you. For pushing me to take that leap. For seeing something I couldn’t see myself.”
Gerri waved her off with characteristic dismissiveness, though her eyes remained suspiciously bright. “Just doing my job, sweetheart.”
Faith pulled back, studying Gerri’s face. “How’s Ariana settling in? How’s my old bakery?”
“Oh, that sweet girl is absolutely thriving,” Gerri’s smile turned genuine and warm. “Already has regulars asking for her lavender honey scones, and she’s planning to expand the catering menu. Your dream is alive and well, just in new hands.”
Relief flooded through Faith. She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling something inside her settle. She hadn’t lost her past—she’d passed it forward to another worthy dreamer. Her dreams now stretched far beyond a single storefront in New Jersey. They encompassed an entire kingdom, a crown, a future she’d never dared imagine.