The Werewolf King's Bride

I knew he was strict with orders, but I did not think it would be this much that even this minor mistake would lead to this.

My mind was hazy all the time for some reason. At this point, I did not even understand what I was thinking about. It was like different unbearable thoughts were flooding in my mind, but too hard to recognize each of them.

He led me out of the castle in the dark of the night. I did not seem to notice where we were going- all I could think about was if I would be able to survive tonight. I did not understand why I was feeling like I was going to die as if I was counting down.

"Why would you die?" he asked all of a sudden.

"Eek!" I almost jumped in surprise. "Sorry. Well, you know what?"

"What?"

"Get out of my head."1

"I can\'t. You know that," he said, shaking his head innocently.

"Then pretend you don\'t know what I\'m thinking."

"Will it change the fact that I know what you\'re thinking?"

"No, but at least, let me believe that you can\'t read my mind," I said, irritated. I thought it would not disturb me this much, but now his mind-reading ability was being too much for me. It was hindering all my privacy that I felt like a naked soul exposed in front of him.

"Alright, I will try to ignore your thoughts," he sighed. "Anyway, you didn\'t look at me the whole time. Do I look okay?"

My eyes slowly met his appearance. Indeed... he indeed looked even more handsome. The tuxedo he was wearing was black as well and I wondered if the shade of my dress was the same as his. I could not quite see if I was right because of the darkness of the night.

I could not meet his gaze, rather my eyes seemed to roam over his body as if measuring every single part of him. My heart was racing inside my chest and blood was boiling inside my cheek. I felt too warm, too shy...

"How do I look, my bride?" he asked smirking.

"You look_ good," I muttered.

"Just good?" he asked with a hint of playful dissatisfactory in his tone. He was teasing me on purpose!

"Um... very good, I guess."

"I see," he chuckled. "I got myself a very shy bride it seems. It doesn\'t matter. I prefer you this way.1"

"Can you not talk like this now?" I asked, almost pleading.

"Why? What\'s wrong with it? I\'m talking to my bride after all."

"Yeah, but..."

"Your heart," he said, suddenly bringing his head down, "Your heart is beating loudly. Is it for me?1"

"Eh? What do... Please let\'s go now. It\'s get_ting late," I said quickly, averting his gaze carefully.

"You don\'t have to be shy."

"Just stop talking already," I muttered under my breath.

He just laughed, shaking his head. He was being unbelievably difficult at this moment and he was teasing quite a lot too. Was this his real self? Was this how he was going to be with me after our marriage? If he could cut the possessive vibe, he was not bad to get along with.

He led us to another huge structure that looked a bit like a church. The walls were off-white and for some reason, I did not like the decoration of the place. But when I went inside, I was proven wrong instantly.

The place was dazzling and very big with hundreds of seats, occupied by perfectly dressed people. Someone announced our presence and opened the huge door for us. After that, all I could see was a well-lit long path, and all I could hear was gasping and giggling, laughter, but they were not loud at all. But for some reason, the place felt cold, a lot colder for a place filled with people.

Glancing beside me and seeing the expression on Demetrius\'s face cleared my confusion. The temperature did drop because of him. It was supposed to, especially when he had that kind of strict and scary expression on his face.

At the front row, I found his family. Ava waved at me, giggling adorably, showing her two slightly bigger front teeth, and even though I was nervous, I could not help but smile at her. She was way too adorable to exist... unlike the man beside me who was handsome, but too intriguing that I could not help but get chills running on my skin.

"Am I too intriguing?" he asked, leaning at my side.

"I thought you said that you will pretend not to know my thoughts," I said.

"Oh right, I forgot," he said smiling. Why did he have to smile so handsomely? My heart was not in a stable condition anyway.

"Will Ruby be alright?" I asked, remembering about her again.

"I told you not to worry about anything else."

"I\'m just..."

"You\'ll meet her tomorrow," he said, cutting me off. "And I don\'t lie_ to you."

What was that supposed to mean? Not lie to me... Then did he lie to others? His words were always strange and it made me worry if I would ever be able to understand him properly.

The ceremony was weird- a very old werewolf in a long black cloak muttered something in a strange language. All I could do was stand dumbly beside Demetrius who had his gaze fixed ahead.

Suddenly he faced me and was looking intently down at me. Not only just him, everyone was looking at me. The atmosphere was awkward. I had no idea what to do or what to say.

"It\'s time," he said.

"For what?" I asked dumbly.

"To make you mine," he replied with a smile.

"Are you going to bite me?" I asked him through my mind. For some reason, asking it aloud seemed to be a bad idea.

"It will hurt, but the pain will go away soon."

I flinched. How much was this going to hurt? Would it be more painful than the beatings I used to get from Father and Draven?

"Don\'t think about them," he said firmly.

"Right," I mumbled.

"So shall we do this now?"

Even if I said no, he would surely do it, wouldn\'t he?

"I will," he confirmed.

I sighed. There was no point in telling him not to read my mind anymore. He kept doing it no matter what.

"Alright," I said, "I think you should do it now."

He touched my right shoulder with his fingers. His fingertips felt very cold suddenly. Was it just his touch or was I too nervous?

"If you keep flinching like that every time I touch you, there would be a problem now and tonight and the time ahead of us," he muttered.

"I\'m not used to a male\'s touch," I mumbled.

"A male\'s touch?" he asked and for some reason, I felt I could trace anger in his voice. But what was he angry for? I did not say anything wrong, did I?

He just gave me a little smile and brought his face to my shoulder. The fear started to creep inside my body again.

"Hold onto me if you have to," he whispered into my ear, his warm breath falling straight on my ear and the crook of my neck.

I grabbed his forearm tightly. Wrapping my arms around him in front of that many people seemed to be a very embarrassing choice.

"What should I call you after our wedding?"1 he asked all of a sudden.

"Eh? What should you... Of course, my name. You should call me by my... Arg..."

His teeth sank into my flesh and a burning pain erupted from that place. The pain was unbearable, just like fire, creating a blank whiteness in my head. I was worried if I would be able to survive this pain. In my eighteen years of life, this was the most painful experience of all.

I was trying not to scream and before I knew it, I had already buried my face on his shoulder. I felt the blood being pulled from the wound. This time, the pain was different, starting from my toes, it spread throughout my body. But it was still severe.

"It\'s over," he whispered into my ear and licked the wound, cleaning the blood up.

A loud shot of claps erupted in the room, but I could not see anyone\'s face. My head felt heavy. Even though the pain had left my body as soon as he moved, I was still feeling bad. For some reason, I still wondered if things were going to be like this- would I be able to survive in this world?