HUNTED-Chapter 374: Wedding under the Moonlight (2)

The guests were settled into their places on the wooden benches, created and carved within the week from their own trees to be smooth and comfortable for those wanting to watch the Alpha King and Queen get married. Though the aisle was long with many log benches, there needed to be more space for the entire pack to sit down. Many stood behind the rest, in human and wolf form.

Those in wolf form were still on patrol, guarding the pack territory, and the pack members were taking turns to switch and watch. The entire pack was connected in the mind-link, sharing their views of each other, so those who could not attend could still see while on guard.

Along each row were a set of candles and oil lamps to light up the petalled path to the end of the aisle. Fairy lights were along the benches, and in the trees, with white roses decorating them and tied on the side of each log where the bride would walk. The spot where they were set up was still in the woods, but there was a slight opening providing light from the full moon.

Scattered around the gathering for the wedding were arched windows, like that from a church, dangling from branches with candles flickering light behind them, causing the coloured glass to shimmer the multicoloured sparkles across the rows, making the scene more fairytale-like on top of the romantic lighting.

The décor was everything they wanted, and it still provided a part of that ’church wedding’ vibe, minus the time of night and the rest being in the woods.

It was perfect.

At the far end, where Alpha King Damon now stood with Beta Kane, Ajax and Gabriel by his side, was half a circular arch in the shape of a crescent moon, and on that arch was decorated with fairy lights, white roses and other greenery. Behind the décor and Damon was the lake where Aila had her ritual and met the Moon Goddess.

The lake sparkled under the starry night sky, the full moon providing silvery hues along the water’s surface and the slight reflection of the moon. Like Damon’s proposal, this lake was full of the same floating lanterns, though the colour scheme of silver and white remained.

With the soft golden hues of the candles and fairy lights, as well as the silver lighting, it shone brightly on Damon’s back, revealing those ethereal steely silver eyes more. The Alpha had only been standing there for five minutes; a mask of calmness settled in place, ignoring the eyes of everyone. There was only one pair of eyes he wanted to see, and he hadn’t seen her in so long.

That was how it felt to him, anyway.

"It has been too long," Darius grumbled. "Far too long to be without our mate!"

How did they go so long without her before this? It didn’t matter because its the last time they’d be apart like that.

Damon nodded once in agreement with Darius, remaining quiet, eyes fixated on the other end of the aisle, waiting until Aila arrived.

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He’d already spoken to the priest, Father Andrews, who had seemed a little shaky after all the news about the supernatural creatures coming into existence. Damon and Nairi were the ones to search for a suitable priest. Father Andrews was the first to regain his shocked expression and smile gently when they approached him, accepting who they were and calling it the will of his lord.

The others deemed them to be demons cast out from hell. Each to their own. Damon shrugged it off. The priests couldn’t exactly do anything to them, especially with their seemingly unexercised bodies. Many merely spoke verses from their bibles, signing the cross until they left the premises.

Father Andrews remained kind and gentle even now, smiling even at the overly large wolves whose eyes flashed back in the darkness.

"How are you feeling?" Beta Kane asked in a hushed voice. He’d been quietly standing behind him after the Alpha proved pleased with the décor they worked so hard on. Kane didn’t really understand the whole process. They were mates. What else did they need? But he hadn’t lived among humans.

That was most likely why he was a little standoff-ish. Those who didn’t know him were fearful of his deadly expression unless they saw him with Nairi.

His hard gaze moved to his missus now, her wild curls pulled back into a messy bun with floral diamantes pinned in her hair. Instantly his eyes softened, and a small smile tugged at his lips. She was walking down the aisle towards them, holding a white floral arrangement.

Nairi was stunning, as she always was. Her smooth, olive skin stood out more under a long dark green strappy bridesmaid dress. The middle delved deep into a ’V’, revealing a little too much of her gorgeous breasts for Kane’s liking. It almost made Kane drool, and he knew he would be ripping that away from her later that night.

His wolf, the soppy bastard, was already whining about being beside her. Kane couldn’t help it, though. He and his wolf were utterly obsessed with Nairi. Somehow, a woman such as her, a woman so kind and cheerful, was with his grumpy ass. How blessed he was to have someone brighten his life in such a way.

Nairi stood on the other side of the altar, a bright smile on her lips. She slowly turned to face the guests, waving at a few and mind-linking others. Kane refrained from shaking his head. It was only then he realised the violins started playing when Nairi entered.

"I’m alright. It’s odd to feel a little nervous, but to human men, it is strangely normal," Damon commented, pulling the Beta’s attention back to his Alpha, answering his original question.

"They must wonder if their bride will turn up," Kane replied, making Damon smile at how his opinion was the same as his.

"It must be normal among their kind to get ’cold feet’. How awful it must be to exist like that," Damon murmured back before straightening his back after Ajax clutched his shoulder, quietening him.

Gabriel chuckled at the gesture. His hair gelled back, revealing more of his sharp features. He had been quietly listening to Damon and Kane discuss the human wedding rituals. The vampire agreed their lives seemed a little fleeting yet full of so much heartache. Many divorced, but to have a mate was something indeed.

Gabriel’s eyes had remained locked ahead the entire time, anticipating when his girl would walk the aisle. He’d already seen a glimpse of her by reading others’ minds. She wore a peachy-pink dress, the same style as Nairi’s; the colour made her caramel skin almost glow, especially under the candlelight.

Esme preferred to wear a lot of blacks, he never complained, but now she seemed to light up the room.

Maybe he was biased? Nope. Gabriel glared at a few men ogling her as she walked down the aisle, the slit up her leg revealing far too much skin. He wanted nothing more than to glide his hand up it until he found her hidden sweet spot and let others know she was his.

From the paling looks on the men’s faces, they were starting to understand whose she was. The added smell of fear sent a shiver of delight down his spine.

Seeing the vampire’s gleaming eyes, and sharp-fanged smile, Ajax then spanked Gabriel’s ass lightly. "Stop it, you naughty boy!" The shapeshifter said in his mind, smirking as the vampire’s eyes widened, then turned to look at him murderously.

"Now, now. This is a wedding. No need to draw any blood." Ajax held his hands up, grinning.

"Not worth it," Gabriel muttered under his breath, his eyes back on Esme.

Her hair had been pinned back, long neck looked delicious to kiss and bite. Gabriel cleared his throat after the she-wolf smirked at him like she knew exactly what he was thinking.

Esme stood beside Nairi, her height much shorter than the warrior she-wolf, but she stood out even more. Esme moved her hand from the bouquet of flowers in her hands, gliding it along her neck, stretching her head to the side as she hummed teasingly before ’adjusting’ her necklace.

"Careful, dear," Gabriel whispered, knowing full well the little she-wolf could hear him.

"Hmm. But I do like to play." Oh, didn’t he know it? Gabriel smirked in response.

"Guys, seriously. Calm down, our Queen is yet to arrive," Ajax mockingly scolded them, waving his hand.

The shapeshifter’s hand stopped halfway as his eyes landed on the last bridesmaid. Chiara. In a dark navy strappy dress clinging to her in all the right places, his Gamma looked ravishingly beautiful. Chiara’s short, bobbed hair was sharp, like her deep blue eyes that glittered under the moon’s glow.

A sparkling hairpiece was fitted on one side of her head, pulling her hair back and revealing more of her features.

Ajax always thought this, and it was expressed once more when he openly created a heart shape with his hands aimed at Chiara, but the scarring on her neck was a part of her, making her all the more beautiful, and he knew not only he believed it. The Gamma was one of the strongest women in the pack, besides Esme and Aila, but she wore her scars with pride and grace.

"Ajax!" Chiara whisper-shouted, eyes wide as she waved him off, silently scolding him with her eyes to stop acting in such a way as she stopped beside Esme.

"What!? Can’t I express my-" It was Gabriel’s turn to scold Ajax, and he did so with a murderous glare instead, cutting off Ajax’s words.

A giggle startled everyone, and that was when all eyes turned to the other end of the aisle. Alpha Queen Aila had arrived, but her mate hadn’t paid any attention to their childish ways. He spotted her instantly and couldn’t look away.