The Oracle

CHAPTER FOUR: MARRYING MY PRINCE CHARMING

(Two weeks later... )

Synthia’s POV

Six months seemed like such a short time, right? Well, it was not. I would know, because it felt like a lifetime since my marriage with Aiden was fixed. Finally, the day I was waiting for arrived. Today, I would get married to my Prince Charming.

I couldn’t stop smiling. After all, I was going to marry the love of my life. I never thought that I would get married at the age of eighteen, but it just felt perfect. It would be the happiest day of my life.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I wore the strapless floor length white wedding gown with crystal embellishments. My black glossy hair was twisted into an updo with a few curls artistically framing my face. My violet eyes were lined with black eyeliner and my lips were painted with shimmery red lipstick.

“Wow! You look so beautiful, just like an angel. The Alpha won’t be able to take his eyes off you,” Sophie squealed.

I blushed and fiddled with the veil which I was yet to put on my head while looking at my gorgeous best friend who was wearing a blue gown with her blond hair let down in waves.

“Aww! The blushing bride!” she continued teasing me.

"Sophie, leave the poor girl alone."

We both turned to see Aiden’s mother and my Mom standing in the doorway.

My mother gasped seeing me, then came and engulfed me in a hug. She began sobbing.

"You look so gorgeous! It feels like it was just yesterday that I got you as that teeny tiny little girl. Now look at you! All grown up and going to start a family of your own. I am so proud of you, my baby," she choked out.

I held back tears of my own and groaned.

"Mom! Don’t make me cry and mess my makeup. I don’t want to like a Bridezilla on my wedding day!" I tried to lighten the mood.

Everyone laughed, and then Aiden’s mom came over and held my hands.

"You are such a lively girl, full of energy and love. My son is so lucky to have you as his life partner," she said.

I blushed at her compliments.

"Thank you, elder Luna. I am the lucky one," I stammered out.

She smiled at me.

"Synthia dear, I always saw you like a daughter. But now that you are going to be my daughter-in-law, don’t you think that it is time that you start calling me as Mom?" she replied.

I felt so happy to get such a loving mother-in-law and nodded my head while smiling. "Yes, Mom," I said enthusiastically. 

"Since your marriage is going to be done in the human style, we have to do it the proper way. We need ‘something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue and a sixpence’," Sophie announced.

She removed the bracelet from her hands and put it in mine. "That is ‘something borrowed’," she said.

Then she placed a blue butterfly clip with crystals on my hair. "And that is ‘something blue’.”

I put on my new silver high heels. "That would count as ‘something new’, right?" I asked?

They all nodded and then came the question. "Now, what about ‘something old’?”

My mom went and took my gold chain from the drawer. "This would be perfect," she said.

I smiled and put it on my neck. I felt warmth radiating through me. I couldn’t go through this day without it. I had a feeling of completion when it was around my neck, and I needed it for the most important day of my life.

Then Sophie gave me a sixpence and settled the veil on my head. Now, it was time for us to go to the church and all of a sudden, I felt nervous. There was no need to be nervous since I was still going to be living in the same house and was marrying the man I loved. But still, marriage was no joke, and it was such a life-altering event and I couldn’t help but be nervous.

It was decided that our marriage ceremony will be held in the church with just the family members and close friends attending, since for the pack, the ceremony to be held in the night was more important. Aiden’s mom left since the bride and groom’s party were to go to the church separately.

Since it was a small function and Sophie was the only close friend I had, she was, without doubt, my Matron of honor and I didn’t have any other bridesmaids. And Jared was decided as Aiden’s Best man.

It was time for me to walk down the Aisle. My Dad, who looked handsome in his suit, came to me and his tough persona as the Beta cracked and tears welled up in his eyes. He then smiled proudly and held my hands and we walked down the Aisle together so that he could give me away. I concentrated on keeping one foot in front of the other and not fall down and make a joke out of myself during my big day. On reaching the Altar, I looked up. Seeing my groom standing there looking divinely handsome in his tux, I felt my breath hitch and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He looked at me and our gazes locked. For a moment; it felt as if he too was mesmerized by me. Then, the moment was over and he looked away while I felt my heart soaring in happiness since it was the first time I felt that I was admired by Aiden.

Then, the ceremony began, and finally, it was time for us to exchange the vows. While I wanted to profess my undying love for Aiden, and say personalized vows for our wedding, I felt that it would be too much as Aiden didn't even know of my love towards him. So, I chose to just go with the standard vows, but I meant each and every word of the promises. After the “I do’s”, we exchanged the rings. And finally, the minister pronounced us as husband and wife.

At last, it was time for the Bride and Groom to kiss. I looked up at Aiden nervously. It was going to be my first kiss, and I was excited as well as a little apprehensive.

He looked at me, and before I could even realize what just happened, he leaned over, pecked my lips and it was over. My first kiss, my wedding kiss, was over just like that. I didn’t know if I should feel happy, relieved or disappointed.

I pondered it over and decided that he must have known how nervous I was and spared me the humiliation of being kissed in front of my family and friends. That must be it. I was a bit disappointed, but then I touched my lips, which were still tingling after such a brief peck. How would it be like when I am truly kissed by him? I smiled dreamily and gazed at my love, my husband, while he was already focused on completing the formalities. I shrugged and followed him. I promised him that I would be by his side, and I wanted to keep my promise. I was a good girl like that. I giggled, and he turned and looked at me impatiently. I zipped my lips and kept walking silently.

We didn’t have the wedding dance and the wedding cake like in a normal wedding because instead of the reception, we would be having the ceremony in the pack house.

We came back to the mansion and somehow, everything felt different. I am now a married woman! I wanted to scream and squeal, but I didn’t give into the urge.

The time went by with everyone rushing around in preparation of the ceremony and I changed into yet another white dress which was simple and of a sheer material. The pack was in full on celebration mood. The ceremony had to be altered for us since the traditional mating ceremony included adding the girl to the pack bond if she was from another pack. The mates would be making a shallow cut in their palms and exchanging the blood by keeping their palms together, and from then on, it would solidify the mate bond. After that, it was the werewolf tradition that both of them would change into their wolf forms and have their first run as mates together in the full moon.

There were very rare cases where the mate was a human. In such cases, after the blood exchange, the werewolf may bite his mate and the turning process would begin. The bite was only used for turning one's mate and it was not required to mark the mate by biting as described in werewolf stories and movies.The turn was a painful process and not instantaneous. It may take up a few hours and in some cases, even 2 or 3 days for the turn to complete. The turning process only worked on humans if they were the mate of a werewolf and normal humans couldn’t go through the transition and in the past, when humans were tried to be turned to wolves, they either didn’t make it or was changed into a twisted form of wolves who had lost their mind and was filled with bloodlust. That is why no one ever tried to turn me, even though I had asked. When Sophie changed into her wolf after her fourteenth birthday, I demanded to be turned too, claiming that I too wanted to be just like them. It took a bit of convincing for me to realize that I just had to accept that I was different from them and it didn’t matter in any way. Everyone loved me just the way I was, and I learned to be grateful for it.

There were no ceremonies conducted between wolves and humans when the humans were not the mates of the werewolves, so there was confusion regarding how to proceed in our case. It was decided that we would just follow the blood exchange ceremony as usual, even though no mind link or bond would be formed. Then, we would be officially announced as mates and me as Luna of the pack.

The elder who was conducting the ceremony presented the ceremonial dagger embellished with gemstones. Aiden made a cut on his palm and held out the dagger towards me. I took it gingerly from him and turned pale, thinking of cutting myself. I heard him sigh in impatience and closed my eyes tightly while making a cut on my palm. I shrieked and looked at my hand. The cut was bleeding already, and it went deeper than required. I held back tears of pain and held my hands towards Aiden. It was worth all the pain to be bonded to him.

Our hands touched and when our blood mingled, I felt as if something changed and I swear, I heard a voice calling 'Mate'. I turned to see if anyone spoke to me, but found nothing and then turned to Aiden. He was looking confused and grabbed my hands tighter for a moment. The feeling I had of being powerful, vanished. Everything went back to normal, and I had a sense of being muted. I thought that it must be the effects of the blood exchange since no one knew what exactly to expect since everything about this function was different. A mix of human and werewolf traditions, just like me. It was perfect, and I loved every bit of it.

Aiden shrugged off my hands, and then the elder announced us as mates. Afterwards, I was proclaimed as the Luna of the pack and the ceremony was finally over. Everyone cheered and started congratulating us.

Instead of the traditional run of the couple together, Aiden changed into his wolf form and ran into the woods with the members of the pack following him in honor of us.

My family remained to keep me company and since we didn’t have the wedding dance, I danced with my dad and then with my brothers. It would have been nice if I could have a dance with Aiden too, but we had a lifetime for it.

After the celebrations finished, Aiden’s mom and Sophie took me to the Alpha’s wing, to Aiden’s room. That was another big change. I would be sharing this room with him from now on. I blushed when Sophie began teasing me about the wedding night and mercifully, Aiden’s Mom saved me from her relentless attack. Both of them left me in the room decorated with roses and candles, and I turned around in awe. It was painted a bold blue and black and looked masculine, totally suiting Aiden’s personality.

The queen-size bed was covered in a black bed sheet and was decorated with rose petals. I blushed and went to the closet to see half of it filled with my clothes already. I wiped the makeup off my face and took a shower. I used Aiden’s shower gel and shampoo. I loved smelling like him. Then, I changed to the red nightdress which was more of lingerie than a gown. It was a wedding gift from my naughty best friend Sophie. Though I was somewhat conservative, there was no need of being shy in front of my husband. Regardless, I felt quite doubtful after wearing the dress. What would Aiden think? Will he think it is preposterous of me or would he love it?

I went and sat in the bed and thought of seductive poses to do when he enters the room. Then, shook my head; with my luck and lack of experience, I would look more like a clumsy moron than the seductive vixen I was hoping to pose as. I was most definitely not a temptress.

I decided to just sit normally and wait for my husband since he would be back any minute now. I sat and smiled, feeling content. I couldn’t believe that I am married to the man I have loved from my childhood. It felt so unreal. Sometimes, happily ever after happens without any drama.

I smiled dreamily and waited. Minutes, then hours passed by. Goosebumps formed on my hands and I hugged my bare shoulders. The euphoria I was feeling began to slowly fade into gloominess and I couldn’t help but feel abandoned on my wedding day.

 At first, I thought that he would be busy with the pack matters and would come after settling it. The hope that I felt turned to confusion and finally sadness when I thought about how there can’t be matters that are so urgent that he couldn’t even come to his room on his wedding night. There was no denying it; I was definitely stood up by my husband.

Tears began falling slowly from my eyes. And when finally the dawn arrived, I wiped my tears and stood up. Then I braved a smile. "Well Mr.Husband, Synthia Williams, oops, Synthia Black is tougher than you think. I may be a lovesick fool for you, but that doesn’t mean that I would just sit by and let you be when you decide to abandon me. Now, my new mission is to get my husband to love me back!” I declared to myself. 

Well, I guess marrying my prince charming was not what it was cracked up to be. But I promised myself I would be getting my prince charming soon. Too bad it was a promise I couldn’t keep.