~~

Dietrich

~~

Shawn had taken the lead, he had taken me, and he had marked me. What more could I want out of life right now? Oh, I know, to marry him. I still couldn't believe that he had asked me out of nowhere like that.

Truth be told, I had been planning on asking him to marry me sometime very soon. But he had beat me to it. I even had the rings and everything. Now to just show him how much I have been wanting this.

I snuck out of bed early, hating the fact that I was leaving him warmth, and went to get the rings I had hidden in my closet. I wanted to surprise him with them when he got up this morning.

I had ordered the rings before we went to France, with hopes of using them sooner rather than later. They were nearly twin platinum bands. I had done something similar with them that I did with the suits for Trinity and Reece's wedding. The band on my ring was trimmed in a stormy gray, Shawn's band was trimmed in a pale, light, icy blue. The stripes of color on either side of the platinum was thin and barely noticeable in most lights, but we would know they were there, after I showed them to Shawn that is.

These rings would work as engagement rings and wedding bands and I couldn't wait to slide the one for Shawn onto his finger.

I had something else I wanted to do before my fiancé woke up. I grabbed my phone and tiptoed out of the room and into the bathroom. The number I had been calling picked up after just two rings.

"Dietrich?" He sounded groggy and still half asleep but Shane was more than alert enough to worry about his brother. "Is Shawn OK? Did something happen?"

"Ja ja, bruder, he is fine." I heard him heave a sigh on the other end of the line.

"You had me worried when you called so early." I could actually hear the tension leaving Shane's voice. He may pick on his brother a lot, but he loved him too. That's just how their relationship was. "What's wrong? Did you need something?"

"I would like to go see your parents sometime soon, with you there if that is possible."

"Well, you already met our parents, twice, but if you want to do it again, then that's fine. I can get something ready for tomorrow or the day after."

"Thank you Shane."

"No worries, I will text you when it's all set."

"I will be waiting."

I wanted to officially announce our engagement to his family, and of course to his Alpha and Luna. I don't have any family left, but I will announce our engagement to our people. Ha, it's going to be a trip for them when they hear me through a mental link.

When I snuck back into the bedroom Shawn was still sleeping. I crept to his side and knelt on the floor beside him. With a quick kiss to his cheek I roused him from his sleep. The sleepy look in his eyes was so sweet and endearing.

"Hmm, Dietrich? What's going on."

"I wanted to be the first thing you saw this morning, my love." I kissed him again.

"When we get married you will be the first thing I see every day."

"Sometimes, the things you say are just the sweetest things in the whole world."

"They might stay sweet, as long as you have a good reason for waking me up so early." He was so cute when he joked like that.

"I have something for you my love."

"What's that?"

He was blinking the sleep out of his eyes now, waking more fully. Without another word I took the ring from my pocket into my right hand and grabbed his left hand in mine. I pulled his hand toward me and slid the ring onto his ring finger all in the same smooth motion.

"What's this?" He said when I released his hand.

"The ring I was going to use to propose to you with. But you beat me to the punch."

"You were going to ask me to marry you?" He looked so surprised, too surprised, to hear those words.

"I wanted nothing more than to marry you, Geliebte, and I am beyond ecstatic that you asked me. You may not have been as prepared as me, but you love me just as much as I love you, and that is what matters."

"I was just happy that you said yes." He looked away from me sheepishly then, seemingly worried about what he was saying.

"Did you really think I would say no?"

"For a minute I did."

"I love you too much for that, Liebling, I love you more than life itself."

"I love hearing you say that."

Our morning went wonderfully, with a little extra dessert that we must have had left over from the night before. And I had received word from Shane that we could meet with their parents in a few days, after the funeral.

When we finally went to see them, to tell them that we were getting married, it went better than I could have expected. Shane was more supportive than Shawn had thought he would be, which was good. He didn't even crack a joke that day. And they were all quite accepting of Shawn having become a Hybrid. Given that it was either I could change him or I could let him die it was a pretty convincing sell.

Honestly, what surprised them the most was that I was no longer the Vampire Emperor but now the King. I was really happy, all things considered, that day had gone very well. And we were set to get married the first weekend of August.

We were planning a simple ceremony. Something small with just Shawn's family, Trinity and Reece, and Gabriel from the Sentinelle acting as the justice of the peace. It was going to be small and intimate. And we were getting married in the mountains at our spot. I couldn't wait for that day to come.

Also, the house I was having built for the two of us to live in would be done sometime in the next month or so. We should be able to move in shortly after our honeymoon.

~~

Shawn

~~

Things were all coming up aces for us right now. Since the battle with the Warlock and I had almost died. Ever since that day I was a changed man, literally. I had asked Dietrich to marry me, I lost another form of my virginity, and we had set a date for our wedding.

Now all we had to do was make the preparations.

We were having a small, intimate wedding so there wasn't much to plan. But there was a small reception being held at the pack estate afterward.

Dietrich was ordering new tuxedos for us, and I just about died when he told me that they cost over forty thousand dollars each, which was apparently twice as much as the suit I had worn to Trinity and Reece's wedding. If I had known that I was wearing something so expensive at the time I probably would have had a heart attack. But strangely, I was getting more and more OK with it. I mean, I had already done it once right.

We were at a bakery now though, trying to find a dessert for the wedding reception. And for some reason, Shane was with us.

Shane had been relatively better since I became a Hybrid, he didn't joke about me as much, and he was truly happy for me when he found out Dietrich and I were getting married. But I just knew something was going to give soon.

This bakery was owned by pack members, thankfully, and we were the only ones in the building at the time. Dietrich, Shane, Trinity and I were all in there together. I didn't care what we got for the dessert, it wasn't what mattered.

Allison, one of the chefs was prepping a pie while we waited for Jenn to bring out an array for us to see. Allison was putting whipped cream onto the pie at that moment that Shane couldn't hold back anymore.

"Hey, Shawn, does that cream remind you of anything?" Shane's laughter was more than I could handle at the moment.

"Shut up." I growled quietly at him. "Just don't go there."

"Come on. I see you're both marked. I know what you've been up to." He was still giggling.

"I swear, Shane, don't do it. Don't go there."

"Come on. I know you've done it. Did you enjoy the cream he gave you?"

I lost it then, my patience snapped and I just had to retaliate. I focused on the room and where the shadows were. Thankfully, there were a lot of them. I concentrated on the pie, the one that had started this whole joke for my brother. Then I focused on my stupid brother's annoying face, that one that was no longer identical to mine.

With just a little bit of effort I lifted the pie with my mind and sent it through the shadows. In less than a second the pie reappeared, in the shadow that was laying across Shane's face.

The pie landed cream side against his face, splattering him and the wall behind him with the fluffy white cream.

"What the hell?" He yelled at me after wiping the cream away from his mouth. Trinity and Dietrich were both laughing hysterically next to us.

"I told you not to go there." I laughed at him. "Did you enjoy your cream, Shane?"

"You're an asshole." He laughed as he licked the cream off his fingers. "A fucking asshole." He took a step toward me then. "Come here." Now he was running at me, and we weren't that far apart to begin with.

Shane ended up smearing the pie's filling across my face, making us even. But I have to admit that it was fun throwing a pie into his face to begin with.

And in case you're wondering, we got an array of pies for the reception. All thanks to Shane.