Chapter211 The Ring, Again

Chapter211 The Ring, Again
Third Person POV
The Golden Moon Pack headquarters was already busy early that morning.
Steven walked into the study with a folder and set the ceremony itinerary on Klaus's desk.
It had everything laid out: the tailoring team roster, venue layout diagrams, seating arrangements for guests, and the full security plan for the perimeter.
Klaus sat down, opened the folder, and flipped through two pages.
He didn't sign anything. He closed it and slid it to the edge of the desk.
"Pull the original marriage file from the archives," Klaus told Steven. "I want to look at it myself."
Steven nodded and left.
Ten minutes later he came back with an old document and placed it in front of Klaus.
The edges of the paper had worn soft with age, but the two signatures at the bottom were still perfectly clear.
Klaus stared at them. His finger came to rest on the page, the pad of it settling over Emma's name and staying there.
The study door opened. Emma walked in.
Klaus was behind the desk. The old document sat in front of him, and beside it was a small black velvet box.
Emma stopped in the doorway. "You wanted to see me?"
Klaus stood and came around the desk to her.
He took her wrist and walked her to the edge of the desk.
"We were already married." He looked down at her, his voice quiet. "But back then, I never gave you the place that was yours."
He picked up the old document and held it where she could see it clearly.
Then he opened the black velvet box.
Inside were two custom platinum wedding bands.
"I want to do this right," Klaus said. "From the beginning."
Emma looked down at the rings.
Her eyes went warm and her vision blurred at the edges.
--
The preparations for the bonding ceremony moved fast.
Every affiliated pack across the northern territory received word that the Golden Moon Alpha was holding a formal ceremony.
But the thing that quietly undid Emma wasn't the crates of flowers arriving at the estate, or the guest list growing longer by the day.
It was watching Klaus go through every detail himself.
Klaus took Steven to walk the ceremony site in person. He sat in Emma's designated seat and tested the angle of the chair back. He walked the steps she would use and ordered the guards to remove every sharp-edged decoration along both sides of the approach.
When he found out Emma was pregnant, he immediately rejected the tailoring team's original dress design and sent it back with instructions to let out the waist. Nothing was to press against her stomach in any way.
Back at the estate, Klaus set a wooden box in front of Emma.
Inside was the metal seal that represented the authority of the Golden Moon Luna, along with several thick ledgers recording the family's core holdings.
These had never been handed to Emma before.
Klaus took them out one by one and placed them in her hands.
--
That evening, Emma sat at the vanity in the bedroom, wearing the final revised version of the dress.
Klaus stood behind her, holding a diamond necklace.
He reached around her neck and fastened the clasp. In the mirror, their faces were very close.
Emma looked at his reflection, at the concentration on his face, and asked him something.
"Are you doing all of this because you feel guilty, or because you love me?" Her voice was soft.
Klaus's fingers paused on the clasp.
He lowered his hands and leaned forward, wrapping both arms around her from behind. He set his chin in the curve of her neck and met her eyes in the mirror.
"Emma, every morning I wake up, the first thing I do is check that you're still there." He held her gaze. "What does that sound like to you?"
Emma looked at him in the mirror. The corner of her mouth curved up.
--
The afternoon before the ceremony.
Klaus took Emma's hand and led her into one of the estate's smaller sitting rooms.
In the center of the table sat the updated marriage documents and the two platinum bands.
Klaus picked up Emma's ring.
"The first time doesn't count." He looked her in the eyes. "I didn't let anyone know who you were. I didn't put you where you belonged."
He took her left hand and slid the ring slowly onto her finger.
"Let me ask you again," he said quietly. "Properly this time."
Emma looked down at the band on her finger. Tears slipped down her face and dropped onto the back of Klaus's hand.
She wasn't going to let the moment get too heavy.
She took a breath. "Then don't lose me again."
Klaus pulled her into his arms and held on.
--
The day of the bonding ceremony.
The plaza at Golden Moon Pack headquarters was filled with people.
The Elder Council, every affiliated pack leader, old family friends and relatives, all of them were there.
Emma walked out from the far end of the long corridor in her white dress, the waist let out just enough.
Klaus stood at the top of the steps in black formal wear.
From the moment she appeared, his eyes went straight to her and didn't move.
Grace stood to the side of the steps, watching Emma climb them one by one, her eyes full of tears she wasn't bothering to hide.
The ceremony went without a single problem.
Klaus stood before everyone and lifted the family crest that marked the Golden Moon Luna's identity.
He leaned forward and pinned it to the left side of Emma's dress himself. Then he cupped her face in both hands and kissed her.
The crowd went quiet for one beat, and then the applause broke over the plaza.
Emma was no longer the woman who had been kept in the shadows, unacknowledged, unnamed.
She stood in the sunlight and everyone saw her. The Alpha of the Golden Moon Pack had brought her home himself. She was their Luna.
After the ceremony ended, Emma stood on the platform. She raised her hand and touched her stomach, an instinct more than a decision.
Klaus noticed immediately. He looked down at her.
"Tired?"
Emma shook her head.
He didn't look away. He brought his hand to the small of her back and pressed it there, his arm taking on just enough of her weight to steady her without making it obvious.
--
That night, after the banquet wound down and the estate finally grew quiet, Emma sat at the vanity and took off her makeup. She changed into a loose sleep shirt, walked to the bed, and leaned back against the headboard.
Klaus sat on the edge of the mattress. He pressed his palm flat against Emma's stomach. He stayed like that, not moving his hand, just feeling the warmth against his palm.
A knock at the bedroom door.
Andrew came in carrying a new prenatal report.
Klaus looked at him. "Something in the results?"
Andrew handed the report to Klaus. There was a small, clear smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Thought you'd both want to know early." He looked at them. "It's not one. It's two."
The room went silent for two full seconds.
Then Klaus froze completely.
Emma stared at him. "What do you mean, two?"