Chapter 35

Lumae and Dominic made it to an entrance with the sign, "Mortez family. Private farm & estate". The rocky roadway was incredibly long before they made it to the estate.

There, a person in formal riding clothes waited for Dominic and Lumae. "Mr. Mortez, how lovely to see you again after so long. I've prepared Nella and Frost for you. Shall I bring them?"

Dominic smiled. "Yes please, Stuard. I would like to take an evening ride with my fiancé."

"Very well, sir." The man disappeared into the stables and left Lumae and Dominic alone.

"So. Uhmm, mind telling me what we're doing here?"

Dominic once again gave his iconic cocky smirk. "You'll see, just wait."

The man then came out with two of the most beautiful horses Lumae has ever seen. A gorgeous, black, female, Friesian horse as well as a pure white, male, Arabian horse. Lumae was in total awe of the beauty of these horses and walked right up to the Friesian horse, gently rubbing her on her muzzle. The horse then slightly leaned into Lumae's hand.

"She likes you." Dominic walked closer to Lumae.

"She usually only lets me or Stuard touch her. That's quite rare."

He then walked over to the Arabian horse. "I'll take Frost. You can take Nella." He patted Frost on his side then mounted him flawlessly.

"You do know how to ride. Don't you?"

Lumae looked towards the saddle worriedly. "Kind of I learnt about two years ago, but I have a tendency to scare off the horses."

Dominic chuckled. "Don't worry, everyone on this estate knows about werewolves. They've trained these horses to be calm and collected around predators, which allows us to ride smoothly."

Lumae smiled and also mounted Nella. "That's quite interesting. I've never really heard of horses that aren't scared of us."

Dominic chuckled and nodded his head for Lumae to follow him. They then followed a trail through a beautiful part of the farm, covered with trees and interesting plants. "This used to be my mother's favourite trail. She'd take me with her on her weekly rides and tell me all about how her family would come out here and hold a picnic under the stars. And I promised my mother that I'd one day give that to my family."

Dominic started wandering off the trail. "Uhm, Dominic, where are you going?"

Dominic looked back at Lumae and didn't say a word. He then turned back and continued wandering and all Lumae could do, was follow him.

They eventually made it to some sort of fairy light trail, leading into a wood-like area. Dominic then disappeared into the trees and Lumae lost track of him, but she kept following the fairy light trail as the sun started to set. Just as Lumae was about to call out to Dominic, a hand reached out towards her ear and placed a pretty, white flower at the back of it. It was a rare flower that only grew when winter was close.

They continued to follow the trail for a little while longer, until they finally got to a gorgeous opening in the wood-like area. It was as though the trees gave way for the heavens to be seen and grass to be laid upon to inspect it. A picnic blanket was laid down right in the centre of the opening with a lantern as well as a picnic basket.

Dominic then sprung off his horse and walked over to Lumae, extending his hand to help her down. Lumae accepted his hand, but didn't expect it to slip to her hips once her other foot slipped over to dismount. Dominic carefully and flawlessly placed Lumae on the ground, still holding onto her hips.

"Well, what do you think?"

Lumae looked around her in awe, then looked back at Dominic's eyes. "I love it."

Lumae wrapped her arms around Dominic's neck and gave him a huge kiss. "You know, this might just be your best idea yet."

Dominic chuckled. "Yeah? Is that so?"

Lumae nodded, joking, teasing Dominic a little. Dominic then went silent for a moment, still smiling, then picked Lumae up and swung her in the air.

"Have I told you that you're beautiful?"

Lumae chuckled. "Yes, I believe you have."

Dominic dramatically brought his fist to his chin. "Hmm. Well then. I guess I should call you... Spectacular."

Lumae giggled. "Spectacular? And why is that, Dominic Mortez?"

Dominic smiled, took Lumae's hand and gently kissed her knuckles. "That, my lady, you'll have to find out another time."

Dominic then gestured towards the picnic set up. "After you."

"Ooo, how gentlemanly of you."

They then sat down and enjoyed the gorgeous, peaceful night, looking up the stars from time to time, enjoying their dinner. To them, at that moment, it felt like the entire world only existed for them and them alone. They didn't want this moment to ever come to an end. They were happy and carefree in that little moment.

Little did they know that they would probably hardly ever find themselves in such a situation again, as Jackson was finally undergoing a huge transformation. He started learning how to fight, shoot and protect. He lost his glasses, got a few of tattoos, including the family emblem, and grew out his hair. He was preparing to fight, no matter what it took.

Meanwhile, Lumae still went to work without Jackson. She managed to get quite a lot done, but due to Jackson not being there, it felt like the heap of work never got smaller. Not only were both Dominic and Lumae busy, but Dominic's heat was coming up the next day, as well as his birthday ceremony, which they could not miss.

Dominic's entire remaining family would be there. Lumae would be announced as his mate and Luna there. Some of the alphas of incredibly strong packs would also be there. Lumae knew that she could not mess this up for Dominic, and Dominic knew that he had to protect Lumae from the ridicule Lumae was going to go through. They were both worried for each other and they both had an awful feeling about the next day.