Royal Elite Epilogue (Royal Elite 7)

“And my girlfriend.” Xan grins.

I’m about to jam their faces into the wall when they burst out laughing and mocking me while Nash smirks in the background like the little bitch he is.

The door opens again before I can ask them how she looks. Not that I should. I want to see how she is for myself.

Levi hobbles in, leaning on his crutch. He had a small injury during a game, but he needs to rest for a bit before he can resume practice. Despite the crutch, he appears his best in a tux and with his blond hair styled.

“Looking good, little Cousin.” He approaches me and squeezes my shoulder in a hug, then releases me. “Ready to join the marriage train?”

Not really. This isn’t about marriage for me. It’s about being with Elsa for as long as possible. It’s about the life we’ll have together and the memories we’ll make in the future. It’s about becoming one.

Am I ready for that?

I smile in the mirror.

Abso-fucking-lutely.

Half an hour later, I’m standing in front of the aisle in Ethan’s house. That’s where Elsa wanted the wedding, and Jonathan wasn’t the least bit pleased about it, but he’ll live. This day isn’t about him, it’s about her.

Cole is on his best behaviour at my right, which has to do with the girl who’s sitting a few rows across from us with her parents. Silver smiles at him but quickly averts her gaze because they’re still at the stage where their relationship is a secret.

Teal is hanging on to Ronan’s arm as he whispers things in her ear, then grins like an idiot. Xan is sitting with Knox in the front row and sulking like an abandoned kid because Kimberly is standing opposite me as the maid of honour.

I’m focused on anyone but myself because my impatience is getting the better of me.

Just when I’m about to send Cole to look for Elsa, the music changes. I straighten as Ethan appears with the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.

It’s like a recurrence of those times when she first found me in that basement — when her eyes met mine, and she told me she’d save me.

She did in more ways than one.

Now, she’s doing it again.

Her full white dress outlines her soft curves and its hem sweeps the floor. She didn’t pull up her hair like I expected her to. Instead, the blonde strands are intertwined with flowers as they fall to the sides of her face. She has no veil, and her expression is bright, soft, and so alive, I want to run there and place my ear to her chest in order to listen to her heartbeat.

When her electric blue eyes meet mine, the world stops moving for a second.

It’s only the two of us, like when we were eight and she told me she’d marry me. When she made me promise her the same.

We’re both making that promise a reality, and because of that, today is another beginning of our lives together.

Elsa’s lips pull in a smile and I smile back.

She’s always been mine, when we were eight and when I reunited with her again at sixteen and when I finally got her at eighteen.

I was lucky to find her and I’ll spend the rest of my life making her feel like the queen she has always been.

Now and forever.

8

Xander

Age Twenty-one

When Kim said she wanted to get married in this place, I thought she was joking.

But I should’ve known better. There’s no joking about such things with my Green.