The Marriage Ceremony

The wind swirls the skirt of the emerald dress around my ankles as I walk to the temple with Lucia at my side. She is somber and silent. I think she has finally accepted the inevitable. Rafe isn’t here, and my father will have his way.

Marcus stands at the door of the temple, looking just as somber as Lucia. He is wearing Longclaw black and silver and looks quite nice in it. It should be Lucia approaching him now in a dress suited to her. But instead, it’s me, and my father, standing at the other side of the door, is the only one who looks happy about it.

“You don’t have to be here, Lucia,” I whisper to her. “This is going to be terribly difficult for you.”

She squares her shoulders. “I would walk through fire for you. Do you not remember the temple where you saved me? I know it’s been a long time, but you hid me in a spot just like that one over there.” She points to a little area near the back of the building where there’s a statue of the Moon Goddess that sort of reminds me of the place where she hid.

“King Rafe caught you in that temple when you could have hidden somewhere safer, like where I was,” she goes on. “We didn’t know he was good then. So I’m here to walk through fire with you like you did for me.”

My eyes sting. “Thank you.”

As I approach the temple, Marcus holds out his hand stiffly. I reach to take it.

“Stop!” a voice bellows.

I snatch my hand back out of reflex and turn to see Alpha King Karl Striker marching over the lawn, his traveling cloak billowing in the wind.

“Karl?” my father gapes.

Karl storms straight over to him and plants himself in front of him, arms folded over his chest. “Howard, you will stop this nonsense this instant, or I will have Warfang declare war on Longclaw.”

I groan and begin to sag. Marcus catches me, locking worried eyes with Lucia. “No more wars,” I whisper.

“Goddess, Howard, look what you’ve done! She’s sick to death,” Karl says, staring at me.

“Yes, and I’m going to fix it,” my father replies. “You got here just in time to see the marriage ceremony.”

Karl snorts. “Like that’s going to help. Howard, get your head out of your ass. Her true mate is on the way. Marcus is clearly true mates with that young lady there.” He points at Lucia. “You’re making a mockery of the Moon Goddess’s will.”

My father glances around at all of us, his face going pale, then red with anger. “This will fix everything!”

“I will not let you weaken our alliance with Shadowglade. I will not stand beside you if there is a war between you. And I may just send my troops to help Shadowglade instead. I will certainly accept their help when I declare war on you,” he snaps.

“This is all because you’re fucking one of the bloodsuckers!” my father growls. “Have you forgotten what they did to Longclaw?”

“I have not forgotten. But I have forgiven, and you should, too. King Rafe is not King Axel. He is a good and fair leader, and you should be proud to have him for a son-in-law,” Karl says.

“I will never acknowledge a bloodsucker as my son-in-law.”

Karl’s eyes narrow. “You have one chance, Howard. You will sit, and you will speak with Rafe, with an open mind. If you speak with him and still think he’s unworthy of your daughter, I will not stand in your way, and Warfang will not attack. But I won’t let you do this without at least talking to the man first.”

With a low rumble, my father finally gives a sharp nod of his head. “I will speak to him for the sake of my people, but he will not change my mind.”

“Fine. I ask only that you speak with him.” Karl steps back. “Ainslee, go lie down somewhere. You’re going to keel over. Marcus, can you carry her?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll take her back to her room,” he says, lifting me in his arms.

The two Alpha Kings are still staring each other down when Marcus and Lucia hustle me back to my room.

Marcus lays me down on the bed and puts the back of his hand to my forehead. “She’s too cold.”

“I’ll get the healer,” Lucia says, running to do just that.

He pulls back the covers and tucks them in around me. He leaves me in my bridal dress, not bothering to strip it off me.

This is probably a good thing as it is a heavy dress and provides a good amount of warmth under the covers.

He sits, watching over me until Lucia returns with the healer. She helps me drink a tonic of some sort. I then lie back down. She says there’s nothing more she can do and leaves.

“I hope King Rafe can talk your father into coming to his senses,” he says, standing. “Otherwise, I fear we will have another war.”

“Karl promised not to wage war if Rafe can’t convince my father,” I reply.

“I don’t know how much of a promise that was. King Karl did not look particularly happy,” he mutters.

I groan and close my eyes. “This is a terrible mess.”

“I think we should just mark one another and get it over with, Marcus,” Lucia says softly. “He can’t do anything then, now can he?”

Marcus frowns. “He said he’d banish you.”

“So? It doesn’t mean you can’t come with me. We could go to Warfang or Shadowglade.” She puts a hand on his chest. “I know it will be difficult to reconcile with your sense of honor, but there is no honor in Alpha King Howard forcing you to marry Ainslee when he knows full well your fated mate is right here.”

“I promised to stay by his side and protect him,” he responds miserably.

“And he promised to be a good king to you. If he’s not keeping his promises, why should you?” she asks.

He looks stricken, conflicted.

She cups his cheek. “Just think about it.”

He nods and walks out of my room.

She drops to my bed with a heavy sigh. “I’m asking a lot of him, aren’t I?”

“You’re his mate. You’re allowed,” I reply.

She lies down next to me, taking my hand. “You have to last until tomorrow at least. He’s getting closer. You’ll be together soon.”

“You’re right. I need to hold on.” I give a bitter laugh. “I thought for sure I was going to die today.”

“Given how cold you were when we got you here, I would have agreed with you. I think the Goddess does not look favorably on Alpha King Howard’s plans at all,” she says.

I smile sadly. “The awful thing is that, if I die, my father will either blame Rafe and declare war, or he’ll blame himself and be absolutely shattered. He already lost my mother to another man.”

“You should point that out to him,” she suggests. “Tell him mating you to Marcus is just like your mother marrying your stepfather. It will destroy both you and King Rafe, and will break his heart when you die.”

It hadn’t occurred to me to try to make that plea to him, but she might have a point. Unless he just assumes the only reason he isn’t in severe pain is because my mother remarried. He might not remember the pain he was in when he was away from her because of his head injury. It was worth a shot. “You’re right. I should tell him that way.” I struggle to sit up.

She pushes me back down. “Tomorrow,” she admonishes me. “All of this can wait until you’ve had a good, long rest.”

“All right.” I sigh and close my eyes as she hums to me, sending me off into sleep.

Almost immediately, Rafe is in my dreams.

“I think I fell asleep in the carriage.” Rafe yawns. Then his gaze sharpens. “Ainslee, you look like hell! Is it time for the marriage ceremony now? Is that what’s going on? But then, how are you asleep?”

“Karl managed to convince my father to hold off on the ceremony until he speaks to you,” I reply. “But I have no idea what you’re going to say to change his mind. And I fear Warfang is going to go to war on Shadowglade’s behalf if I get mated to Marcus.”

“I’ll send some troops along to help,” he says.

I frown at him. “Rafe Poe, you will do no such thing. In fact, you will try to convince Karl not to start a war. There has been too much bloodshed. I don’t want there to be any more.”

“You’re my wife. He’s basically kidnapping the Luna Queen of Shadowglade. That must be answered for,” he insists.

“Rafe, I agreed to come. He did nothing wrong. He gave us the troops we needed to defeat Rallegrad and Tormentia, in exchange for me. That was always the deal,” I remind him.

He growls. “It’s not fair.”

“Is life ever fair?” I ask.

“It damn well should be!” he shouts. The noise resounds in my head almost loud enough to wake me up.

“Listen. I am going to try to live long enough to have our daughter, but the Moon Goddess seems to have other plans,” I say sadly. When he tries to interrupt me, I hold up a hand. “If today is anything to go by, the Goddess is going to strike me dead if Marcus marries me. It’s inevitable. So if you can’t convince Father to let us be together, you have to be prepared to lose both of us. And I fear you will die as well. Is there someone to look after Drake?” I choke on the last words, thinking of our poor son losing all of us.

He takes a deep breath. “I met a nice lycan named Scott during my journeys. He is a big, burly man with the spirit of an angel and he takes very good care of Drake as his nanny. And Zeke and Annamarie would teach Drake everything he needs to know in time.” He looks pained. “But I don’t want to lose either one of you. If Howard decides to kill me, that’s fine, but I want you and our daughter to live.”

“Rafe,” I whisper, “if you die, it will kill me, too.”

“Then,” he declares, “I will have to have one hell of a speech ready for your father.”