The Beast's Substitute Bride

Chapter forty-three

I walked slowly through the center of the guests to meet with Brayan. He had a charming smile on and I smiled in return.

He held his hands out for me and I took it. We were now standing beside each other and the crowd cheered.

"You look beautiful" he whispered in my ears and I blushed.

"You look handsome too" I returned the compliment. Gwyneth moved towards us and the other women followed. They each had small clay plates in their hands.

The guests went silent. The final ritual was about to start. The women moved silently around us, holding the plates to their chests.

They hummed a traditional tune and we just stood still.

"Hold both hands" Gwyneth commanded and he took both of my hands. We were facing each other, his eyes still looking down at me.

The humming continues until I started to feel strange.

The women stopped and in a single file, they walked over to his family, handing each of them a clay pot. His family came in a single line too, and repeated the same thing the women had done. Dakarai and Elowen then exchanged pots, Winry and Dryden did the same. Elowen and Dryden exchanged and Winry did the same with her father.

This exchange made me confused. But I didn't say a word. They returned back to the women and gave the pots back to the women they each collected from. The women nodded and stacked the pots on top of Ramona's pot. She moved away with the pot and the other women sat down. Ramona returned shortly and sat with the women.

I looked back at Brayan who was looking at me already. We stood in this position for a long time while everybody looked at us.

"What's going on" I whispered.

"The mating ritual" he answered simply.

I rolled my eyes. I knew that already but I didn't understand why we were standing in this position while others looked at us.

"I know that. I mean why is nothing nothing happening"

"Something is happening. We just can't see it" he said in a light voice.

A slow music came on and he pulled me into him sharply. I got breathless for a short while and then I looked up at him.

"What was that?"

"We are having a dance" he started moving us slowly to the rhythm of the song and I looked up at him still tensed.

I eventually relaxed and began to move with him, enjoying the slow music, our closeness and the love in his eyes.

The music suddenly came to an end and he pulled away. I frowned. Just as I was starting to get into it. He seemed to read my mind because he smiled at me.

"We'll get so many other chances to do that" I smiled at him. He continued holding me and the women came to us again. Gwyneth had a sharp knife in her hand and Saoirse had a wider clay pot in her hands. The other women just flanked them.

"This final mating ritual comes in two stages. The first is the blood bond and the final is the marking"

Marking?

"For the blood bond, the two of you will cut each other's palm and let the blood fall into the pot. After which you'll hold your cut palms tightly" Zaniyah explained.

"For the marking, Brayan's wolf will emerge and he'll sink his canines into your neck" Ramona pointed to my neck.

I panicked. It will cause a lot of pain. What if I died?

"The pain will only last for a short while" Ramona explained relieving my fear a bit. I nodded at her and Brayan squeezed my hands tightly.

"We shall proceed" Gwyneth said and the other women moved back. She handed the knife to Brayan and collected the pot from Saoirse.

"I'm sorry" he whispered and then he cut the center of my palm with the sharp knife. I winced at the stinging pain. He moved my hand to the pot and the blood dripped into the pot. When a good quantity had dropped into it, she took the pot away from me. I stared down at the cut willing it to disappear but nothing changed.

Brayan handed the knife over to me and I cut his right palm. He didn't even flinch or make a sound. I moved his palm to the clay pot and let it drip. Gwyneth moved the pot away and we joined our cut palms together.

I felt a surge of electricity starting from where our hands were joined, straight to my heart. The women wrapped a blue thin cloth around our joined palms and then they moved away except for Gwyneth who placed the pot on a high stone and came back to us.

"I applaud you for completing the first stage. We will move on to the next stage after ten minutes have expired.

As she moved away, Brayan pulled me in for a kiss. I responded eagerly, wanting to wrap both of my arms around his neck but that was impossible.

"Congratulations" an excited voice said and we pulled away.

It was Dakarai and Elowen. They both looked excited.

"Thank you" we said simultaneously.

Nouria and Dryden came up and also congratulated us. Other couples came also to offer their congratulations and I noticed something.

It was only couples who came up. Those who were not mated did not come to congratulate us.

"Only mated wolves are allowed to offer their congratulations on this first stage" Brayan said.

"Why is that?"

"It's custom. I'll explain better to you once we are done here. That and other confusing rituals you have gone through up until now and the future ones you may see"

I nodded. I wanted to learn more about them.

The ten minutes ran by quickly and Gwyneth came up. She untied the thin clothes from our hands and stepped away. I noticed Brayan's palm was totally healed.

"Wow" I said in amazement.

"You'll be able to experience this once the bond is complete"

"Really?" He nodded. I couldn't wait. No more long healing or scars for me.

"It is now time for you to complete the mating ritual by marking your mate" she moves back to her seat and everywhere goes silent as they wait for him to mark me.

"It'll only hurt for a while. I'm sorry" he said. It was endearing the way he said 'sorry' before he did something that was going to cause me pain and discomfort.

I watched his eyes changed into a darker color and his canines extend. He grabbed me and placed his teeth against my skin.

"Stop" an oddly familiar voice screamed.

Everything went still and we all turned to see the intruder.