“Fine.” I muttered and calculated in my head. The bullet was about six millimetres off to the left. I took aim according to that and hit bullseye all five times. Or fish’s eye would be more appropriate.
“Yay!” Ava grinned, high-fiving me.
The man, who looked bored earlier look shocked.
I smirked at him smugly and asked Ava, “which toy do you want, Love?”
“The wolf!” She pointed at a soft toy in the shape of a black coloured wolf.
Both of us chuckled at that.
It was big but Avalyn looked more than happy to hold that.
Most of the families were leaving by this time and a lot more couples were enjoying themselves on the various rides that were probably on for the last time.
Most rides weren’t a good combination with pregnancy so I led Ava towards the ferris wheel instead. It was safe and hopefully we would reach in time.
By the time we reached the entrance, we saw the guy shake his head and a pair of couple leave dejectedly.
I walked towards him and showed him a hundred dollar bill. He immediately plucked it out of my hand and yelled at the person controlling it to take one more round.
Grinning, Ava and I walked inside and sat beside each other on the bench.
It was slow but as we rose higher up, we could see all the lights of the carnival which made it look pretty. And the ocean was on the other side. The dark water reflected the silver glow of the moonlight. The whole view was a sight to see.
Ava was looking outside with a child-like happiness.
“Is it your first time, Ava?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t.
“Yes!” She said, nothing looking away from the view. She didn’t sound upset about it one bit.
I decided then and there and I’ll start a carnival at Imporia every year on Avalyn’ birthday. Or maybe coming out here was better, it gave is a reason to get out the palace and work zone to enjoy life a little.
This could be our birthday ritual.
If Avalyn lives.
“Avalyn?” I called her.
She turned her head to look at me. It was a bit windy and we were almost at the top so her hair was flying all over. The silver of her hair was even more prominent under the moonlight. She pushed her hair off her face and grinned, “what?”
“I love you.”
She leaned in and kissed me, exactly when we were at the top, “I love you too.”
Avalyn
Our original plan was to stay at the beach house and spend the night there, but for some reason, Nik insisted on going back to the palace.
“Surprise!” I heard thousands of people scream in darkness and I jumped in shock. The lights turned on and I saw that almost the entire pack had gathered in the palace compounds for what looked like a mid-might party.
This was the reason Nik insisted on coming back home. But from the surprised look on his face, I was sure that he wasn’t aware of this party either.
Fairy lights were strung across the trees that lit up the entire area, various peculiar sculptures that were clearly made by our woodsmen were used to decorate the entire area, small aesthetic booths were set up to take pictures, a stage was set up to the side upon which a DJ booth was set up and besides that were numerous musical instruments sat. I was sure the talented musicians of our pack would be playing them later on. Tables littered the corners of the grounds and a large buffet was set up which smelled absolutely delicious.
“Happy birthday!” All of them started singing the birthday song unanimously and a grin spread across my face.
The crowd gathered in front of us parted and our family came into view. They walked forward, pushing a cart that carried a huge five tiered cake. And on the cake, it was written, Happy birthday Avalyn & Nikolai and on too of it sat two figurines of Nik and I in our full royal outfit. I knew this was their way of apologising to Nik and making up for the brunch. I really am so lucky to have such an amazing family.
Nikolai caught my hand and I squealed when he spun me around. His hands rested on my waist and a soft smile played on his face, “it’s 11:59. Happy birthday, my Love.” And then he dipped me before covering my mouth with his own.
“Happy birthday, Love,” I smiled when he straightened both of us up. It was his birthday now.
“Thank you,” he smiled.
“It’s time to cut the cake!” Max announced and handed us a knife.
The entire pack broke into cheers while Nikolai make me hold the knife and covered my hand with his own before we cut the cake together.
Nikolai fed me the first bite and I smiled as I chewed before I cut another piece and it to him, “this is the best birthday ever.”
“Mission accomplished,” he grinned, swiped a little cream of the cake and put it on my nose. I scrunched my nose as he did and laughed lightly before he kissed, effectively wiping the cream away. “Had to do it. It’s tradition,” he winked.
“DJ, start the music,” Max yelled before he popped open a bottle of champagne, “and let’s get this fucking party started!” And that started a raging party.
Nikolai led me to the dance area with a wide grin on his face. His happiness was contagious. I couldn’t stop grinning and singing the lyrics of the songs the DJ played at the top of my voice alone with the rest of the crowd.
In the mood to tease, I pulled Nik into a kiss before trailing my fingers down the side of his face up till his pants before I turned around and ground my ass into his front.
“Fuck.” His hands came to rest on my waist and his nose dug into my neck where he placed open mouthed kisses.
I lifted my arms and loosely wrapped around his neck and tilt my head to the side, giving him more access to do as he wished. Both of us swayed to the music that had adjusted to our sensual pace. My body was heating up with need and I was growing wet by the second.
Nik let out a soft growl and spun me around before pulling me in a toe-curling kiss that also sent currents zapping throughout my body.
Goddess, I love this man.