A Wedding (2)

Chapter 6: A Wedding (2)

Werewolves don't essentially need weddings. Once a wolf meets its mate, and they acknowledge each other, then they are a couple. During the once in three years' Purple festival, where all wolves return from wherever they stay to come thank the Moon mother for her blessings, all the couples that are formed before the festival will be presented before the Moon mother for her blessings on the same day. Therefore, the winter weddings are for those wolves who couldn't find their fated mates. It is believed that once the pack accepts their union, the Moon mother will also accept it. After these weddings, during the Purple festivals, these newly wedded will also join the fated couples to present themselves to the Moon mother at the shrines all over the realm. 

The wedding is a basic occasion. After everyone had arrived, the two wolves presented themselves to the pack's shaman, who then said some incarnations before using a red rope to join them. Thereafter, they kissed each other and were presented to the crowd as newly wedded. 

Following that was the merriment and that is when the one among the couple who is originally from the pack where the wedding is taking place, will take their new mate around to greet all the prominent families and their friends. 

Once the merriment started, Megan waited until the couples had come to her family's table and had left before excusing herself. It was time to sneak out. Sneaking out was easy. Nobody cares about what she does. Yes, they admired her beauty and her dressing, but that was about it. The fact that she had no wolf was more important. 

But today, there were lots of guests who knew of her but had never seen her. Even though they looked down on Megan, they didn't share the disdain her age mates in her pack shared for her. 

Of these guest wolves, there were two brothers, Ethan and Eden. They were from the Green crest wolf pack. They were sons to one of the most powerful Alphas in Green crest and were popular for their lecherous and unrestrained activities. Even though Ethan and Eden already have their fated mates, they also share a harem of concubines with their father. These were women who couldn't find their mates and willingly become their concubines, or women they kidnapped from other places and forced to submit to them. 

As Megan made her way out of the hall, these two infamous brothers watched her leave. Their lecherous glares were there for everyone to see. When their father saw their actions, he signaled to his Beta to bring them to him. 

The two young men met their father in a private room, where he was having his fun. After excusing other people, he gave his sons a terrifying glare that made them feel cold on their fingertips. 

“Father, what is wrong?” Ethan, the eldest, asked. 

“I saw you two disrespecting the daughter of Oliver Williams.” He snarled at them. 

Confused, the two boys shook their heads, about to deny the accusations, but their father held up his right hand, shushing them instantly. “I have never stopped you from doing what you like as long as you don't cross certain boundaries. Even in this Blue-Mist, you are free to have any woman you want, as long as you are careful enough.” He paused and gave them a deep look.

Ethan and Eden's eyes sparkled when they heard these words. They bubbled their heads up and down at their father in excitement. They came here for fun, after all. “But you see that girl…” Their father continued, “…she is out of bounds.” Their father enunciated his words carefully and slowly so that his unrestrained sons would understand the seriousness of the situation. 

On hearing these words, Ethan and Eden's smiling faces became stern. 

“Why, father?” Eden couldn't stop himself from asking. He was already having designs on Megan and couldn't wait to force her to submit before crushing her under him. 

Ethan's father laughed bitterly as he shook his head at his son's naivety. 

“That is Oliver Williams' daughter. She isn't just his only daughter, she is also the replica of her mother. If anything should happen to her and her father should trace it back to us. You wouldn't even know what killed you.” He snarled at his son. 

“You are afraid of her father?”

Eden was flabbergasted at his father's words. This was a man who doesn't give even their pack Alpha a lot of face. How could he be afraid of another wolf from a weak family in the Blue-Mist pack? Eden couldn't wrap his head around it. 

“Pah!” 

“Arrrrggh!”

Instead of a verbal response, Ethan's father gave Eden a heavy slap across his face, sending him flying across the room. Eden's body didn't stop until he hit the wall and slid down. By the time he reached the floor, he had already fainted.  

“Father!” Ethan, who wasn't expecting this sudden turn of events, screamed. 

“I will not repeat myself. Make sure your brother stays away from that girl…” he left his words hanging as he briskly walked out of the room. 

Ethan, still in shock, walked over to his brother who was now waking but slowly. “Stay still. Let me check your face.”

When Eden, with eyes filled with trepidation, saw that the person before him was his elder brother and not his father, he relaxed and let him check his wounds. The slap had broken Eden's jaw and if not that he swallowed it, his mouth would have been filled with blood. 

“It's just a small crack. Rest here for a bit, it should soon heal.” Ethan said empathetically. 

After like 30 minutes, Eden's jaw was totally healed and the two brothers sat in silence, thinking about what just happened. This was the first time their father would act this way. 

“Who is that Oliver Williams, brother?” Eden asked.

Ethan shook his head thoughtfully, “I don't know. This is what we have to find out before we leave. If he is so powerful that our father is this scared of him, then maybe he is someone we should know.”

“True.” Eden nodded. “If father doesn't want to make an enemy of him, then he will be happy if we make friends with him.” Eden said, completely understanding his brother's words. 

Meanwhile, Megan had slowly made her way to the bamboo grove. There were so many guests in their pack today, and they wouldn't start leaving until after three days, as weddings last for two to three days to confirm that the new couple have a successful bonding. In case of a failed bonding caused by rejection, the marriage would be called off and the Alpha or stronger wolf would be punished for forcing things. This situation is very rare. It only happens when the family of the bride is forcing her, and she has decided to give up her life. The second case of rejection can be caused by the werewolf's spirit. In this situation, the man and woman want to be together, but one of the wolves is unwilling. If this should happen, the shaman will perform a ritual that will subdue the said wolf, and they will redo the bonding. Once the bonding is successful, the couples will present themselves to their guests again. Another day of merriment will ensue and subsequently, the wedding will come to an end. 

Knowing this, Megan was extra careful as many strangers would be walking around the pack either exploring it or just having fun. 

When she got to the grove, Ryan was already waiting. Because they were yet to bond, Ryan and Megan couldn't sense each other. But as she was approaching, Ryan, who was on the lookout on a tree, was able to spot her from afar. And he was dazed. His jaws were practically on the floor as he watched her approach. At that instant, Ryan had the urge to pick Megan up and put her away in his pocket. She was so beautiful and cute. Unlike Megan, whose fate was still attached to Jake's, Ryan's fate bond had been removed for a very long time and his heart was free to love. Ryan was completely in love with Megan and wished for nothing more than to claim her. The thought that her devotion was still to Jake was quite infuriating for him, but he reassured himself that as long as Jake kept rejecting Megan, he would have his chance. 

Just two more months and it will be spring. Then we can leave. He thought to himself as he jumped off the tree and landed in front of his woman. 

Megan was so focused on where she placed her foot and wasn't aware of Ryan's presence. When he suddenly appeared in front of her, she was scared shitless and screamed. Ryan instantly regretted spooking her. He wrapped his hands around her and covered her mouth with one of his big hands, instantly cutting off her scream. Once Megan was in Ryan's arm and his scent enveloped her, she relaxed and returned his hug. 

Not waiting to see whether anybody heard her scream or not, Ryan scooped Megan into his arms and ran off. 

They were lucky that he made them leave because not up to two minutes after he left, three men arrived at the place where Megan had screamed and started looking around. They were sure they heard a scream, but since they found nobody and no sign of a fight or struggle, they soon gave up their search and went their own way. 

The cave was beautiful. Most importantly, it was big and went quite deep into the mountain where it was formed. This made it a good hiding place. 

“I have explored the second tunnel, it is longer and leads to the other side of the mountain.” Ryan said as they strolled hand in hand through the first tunnel. 

According to Ryan, the cave was buried deep in the mountain and has three entrances. He had explored the first one, which was the tunnel that led him to the cave in the first place, and had waited, so he could explore the second and third tunnel with Megan. It would be more fun, as the things they got to do together as a couple were quite few. 

“You slept here again?” Megan asked. 

Since Ryan found this cave five days ago, he had been sleeping there and said he might move in permanently. It was close to the forest where he can easily hunt and the pack's lake is also close by.

“Yes. But I didn't sleep much. I was running all night. It took me 4 hours to get to the end of that tunnel, even at full speed.” Ryan signed. 

“What?” Megan came to a stop, shocked at Ryan's words. Among her generation, Elvira was the strongest wolf, followed by Jake. To be candid, her brothers were probably stronger than both Elvira and Jake, but their father had forced them to conceal their strength so that they would not draw too much attention. 

But since Megan and Ryan started dating, he had shown her his power. Ryan was stronger than even her own eldest brother, who was away on training. Ryan's wolf was a big, 3 feet (0.91 m) tall wolf with terrifying jaws and ice-cold eyes. He has silver furry that shimmers in the sun. When she rode on him at full speed, it was like flying. For Ryan to run for 4 hours at full speed before getting to the end of that tunnel, it could only mean one thing, wherever that end was, it wasn't in their pack territory and very far away. Megan's eyes were like saucers. The balls almost popped out. “What does it look like on the other side?” She asked with quickened breaths. 

Ryan noticed this sudden excitement and looked at her suspiciously.

“You want to see the place?” 

“Yes” Megan bubbled her head, excitedly.