The Savage Wedding Rite

Dravin's POV

I walked about ten steps before I eventually heard the hesitant footsteps of my bride follow behind me.  

It took a bit of restraint to resist the urge to roll my eyes as she intentionally trailed a good distance behind me, and I could almost taste her fear. It exuded out of her like an untamed current.  

My eyes searched across the hall to see the confused look on Soren's face just in time.  

I hid a smirk at that.  

I warned him that he was in for an unpleasant surprise.  

In a few more strides, I reached the massive pool in the middle of the hall and stopped. It was a massive 20 feet on all sides and 20 feet deep.  

There were no stairs leading into it. All there was to do was jump.  

I stared at the 20-foot drop and waited until my bride came to stand beside me.  

Elora.  

The name truly was a beautiful one. It was a shame that it was wasted on this hideous creature.  

Turning to stare at her, I could almost feel pride swell in my gut at the work of my workers. The maid assigned to her did a lot more than I imagined possible to make her look good.  

The scar was almost impossible to cover, but the maid did her best to make it a lot less noticeable. Her brunette hair cascaded down her shoulders in beautiful waves, and her jewelry adorned her as best they could.  

Her gown was long and flowing, a beautiful red, adorned with pearls and gemstones at the hem to make it glimmer. A corset was obviously doing its utmost best to tuck in her stomach and waist, giving her the semblance of an hourglass shape, which surprisingly wasn't hard to pull off with her voluptuous thighs.  

She was like a ruined masterpiece. A wasteful investment.  

Yet...  

Yet, I couldn't seem to help the lust I felt at the sight of her. The desperation deep in my being to own her.  

To possess her.  

Mine.  

Shaking off those confusing thoughts, I decided to get this ritual over with.  

"Elora," I called as I stared at her with a bored expression.  

She didn't reply, but she lifted her head in acknowledgment.  

She wouldn't meet my eyes.  

"Elora," I called again, making sure she understood that I didn't acknowledge her first response.  

"Yes, Alpha," she replied in a quiet voice.  

"Look at me."  

Her body tensed at my order, but she slowly lifted her head until her eyes met mine.  

Those eyes...  

The only beautiful thing about her.  

Those beautiful blue eyes.  

"Jump," I ordered.  

She stared at me blankly for a few seconds and then her eyes narrowed in confusion.  

"Excuse me, what?"  

Once again, I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.  

Everyone asks this question.  

Why are they all so monotonous?  

Irikah would have jumped...  

Once again, I shook off unnecessary thoughts.  

"You heard me, Elora. I'm not a fan of repeating myself."  

She still stood frozen beside me, obviously refusing to believe her ears.  

"But—"  

I pushed her in before she could get the words out of her mouth, and she sank.  

Quite literally, sank.  

She came up for a few seconds and went under again.  

"Alpha!" Soren hissed about thirty seconds after she went under again, jolting me from my shock.  

"Fuck," I hissed as I dived into the water after her.  

She seemed to have almost passed out; her struggles were growing weaker already, and she had sunk about ten feet in the few seconds, going even lower at an alarming rate.  

Using all of my expertise, I reached her in no time and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her up easily as I made for the surface.  

Breaking through the surface, I dragged her over to the edge where Soren was waiting to help me pull her onto the floor.  

I came up after her, doing chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, as she had already passed out.  

It took a few minutes of relentless resuscitation before she breathed again, violently coughing up a lot of the water she had swallowed.  

It took a few minutes of coughing and spluttering to finally get her under control from her frenzy.  

Once she regained herself, she recoiled the second she found herself in my arms and inched away so fast— a lot faster than I thought her capable of.  

"W-What the hell is wrong with you?!" she yelled, her eyes glaring at me with a mix of hate, fear, and anger. "Are you trying to kill me!"  

Once again, I was dumbfounded at the fierceness of her anger.  

In that moment, she didn't seem like prey. She was like a fierce predator herself.  

"Um, Princess," Soren said soothingly. "It isn't what you think it is."  

"Then, what the fûck did it look like?!" she yelled, turning her glare at him. "He pushed me. He fûcking pushed me!"  

"Um, yes," Soren nodded, still trying to soothe her. "But he wasn't trying to kill you."  

"Then what in hell's name was he trying to do?!" she hissed. "And who the fûck are you?! What the damn is wrong with you people?! Standing there and letting him drown me!"  

"I can assure you we weren't doing that, Princess," Soren sighed. "I am his Beta, and he wasn't trying to kill you."  

"He pushed me!"  

"What kind of princess can't fûcking swim?" I asked calmly, my gaze still fixed on her.  

Her glare swiveled back to me with renewed intensity.  

"What kind of man just pushes a woman into a pool without warning?!"  

"He thought you could swim, Princess," Soren offered again. "We all thought you could swim."  

"He could have known I couldn't if he just asked me!" she retorted. "Who pushes a person without warning?!"  

"I asked you to jump," I reminded her.  

Her glare was even more intense now, but she said nothing, as if daring me to say more.  

For some reason, I didn't feel inclined to say anything else as I rose to my feet.  

Her glare followed me, meeting my eyes like she needed me to know that she wasn't intimidated by my presence.  

"If you're done glaring, you should stand up," I said as I looked and walked away from her. "There is still more to do with the ceremony, and we're already behind schedule thanks to you."  

"Are you—"  

"Please, Princess," Soren soothed. "I promise that you will get your pound of flesh, but wait until after the ritual."  

"What is up with you all?!" she yelled.  

"Please, Princess," Soren insisted. "Let me help you up."  

"I can do it my fûcking self!" she hissed and clambered up to her feet.  

The sound of her heels clicking against the floor was unrefined and lacked almost any shred of elegance as I listened to it.  

How is this supposed to be a princess?  

What did her parents teach her?  

Who lives all her life as a princess and doesn't learn to swim?  

That was basically one of the first things a member of royalty was supposed to learn.  

She soon caught up to me and walked beside me once more as we headed out of the hall.  

I spared her a glance, but she wasn't looking at me anymore. Her glare was fixed ahead of her, and I almost felt sorry for the maids and guards that were victims to it.  

They visibly paled at the sight of us both, especially when they met her eyes.  

I stopped at a huge double door at the end of the hallway, and the guards immediately pushed it open to reveal another empty hall with a raised pedestal being the only furniture within.  

On the pedestal stood a golden chalice with runes and symbols engraved into it. On either side of the chalice stood two identical ornamental daggers. Both had blades of silver, hilts of gold, and diamonds embedded in them in identical fashion.  

"Fûck," she said weakly. "You are still gonna kill me, aren't you?"  

"There are two daggers," I said as I walked into the hall.  

"So, what?" she asked. "A fight to the death? That's also a death sentence."  

"No, Princess," Soren said, once again soothing her. "This is simply a ritual. There will be no killing. You're both gonna be performing the ritual together."  

"I refuse to stand in front of that pedestal unless I know what exactly I need to do for this ritual."  

"How does that change anything?" I asked. "I could still kill you where you stand."  

"You can't," she replied, her voice calm and firm. "You need me in front of that pedestal."  

"We simply need you both to get a taste of the other's blood, Princess," Soren explained. "You will be cutting your palms with the daggers and mixing both your blood in the chalice."  

"Then we drink it," she completed. "That isn't half as bad as I thought."  

"No one asked you to believe I would kill you."  

Standing on the right side of the pedestal, I stared back at her.  

"Come seal your place in hell with me, Demon Luna Queen."