Thorns And Roses

Chapter Thirty-five

"I Theodore Mateo vow to keep Demitri Rose protected from anything and anyone. To always love and cherish him in the darkest moments of our lives. To keep him and love him as an Alpha does. As his one and only mate."

Theo nearly choked from the lump in his throat as he held his tears away. He let one of Demi's hands go to wipe at a tear that fell down his mate's cheek. Demi leaned into his touch with a content smile.

"I Demitri Rose vow to hold Theodore Mateo close to my heart. To love and cherish him in the darkest moments of our lives. To make him happy and feel validated as an Omega does. As his one and only mate."

Demi spoke as Theo kept ahold of his face. One hand was interwoven with his and the other pressed softly against his cheek. Theo fucking loved him with his very heart.

"With these vows, I now pronounce you as mates. You may kiss." Theo pulled Demi in by his cheek and kissed the hell out of him. They pulled away from each other after a couple of small kisses and faced the crowd of their loved ones. Well close enough to loved ones.

A round of applause went up in the air as Demi and Theo started back towards the manor for the reception. Theo noticed that Demi's parents stayed behind and talked to one another but he wasn't too worried about it.

"They look pissed." Theo glanced over at Demi to see that he was staring at his parents too.

"Why do you think that?" Theo asked. Truly curious as to why Demi's parents were unhappy.

"Probably because I threatened my so-called mother while I was getting ready and now she's telling my father." Theo couldn't hold back the pleased grin that twisted his mouth. Demi mirrored his smile. The how and why weren't that important. What Theo was really proud of was Demi. How he finally stood up for himself.

Theo nuzzled his face in Demi's throat as they walked and licked up the side. The Omega groaned and then pushed Theo's head away from him. He wiped the slobber from his neck and glared playfully at Theo.

Once everyone was back at the manor, food was served and soft music could be heard. There was no cake to be cut but there were a lot of pictures taken by River.

The dining room had been reverted into their reception area. Tables were pushed around enough to seat everyone and a small dancing floor was cleared. Theo softly chuckled as he watched Quinn dance with Layla. The little girl stepped on her daddy's toes every time she moved and Quinn would pretend that it hurt. Resulting in an infectious laugh to leave Layla.

Theo smiled fondly at them a little twinge of want in his heart but he pushed it away. He wouldn't, couldn't feel that way. It wasn't fair to Demi. He didn't lie when he told Demi 'maybe' about kids. He wanted them, Theo really did. He just didn't want to put that type of unwanted pressure and pain on his mate.

"There you are." Demi slid up next to Theo where he was sitting and watching the duo in the middle of the dance floor. His Omega kissed his cheek and smiled sadly at Quinn and Layla. Theo took his hand in his and lifted it to kiss. Demi pulled his gaze away from them to grin down at him.

"I'm going to grab something to drink." Demi slipped his hand out of Theo's and the dragon watched as his mate walked away. Theo could only sigh at the retreating form.

"Congratulations." Theo put on a real smile as Elizabeth and Everett came over to speak to him. Theo stood and offered his seat to the pregnant Omega who gladly sat and let out a puff of air like he's been on his feet all day. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her brother. Then she searched around for her other brother.

"Where's Demi?" Well, Theo has never heard any of Demi's family refer to him using his nickname.

"He went to get something to drink." It was a little awkward not having Demi there as a buffer but Theo tried to put in some effort.

"Where's Robert?" Theo knew the oldest Rose sibling was a safe if not hate-filled conversation. Demi hated his oldest brother. He's told Theo multiple times.

"Probably talking some poor saps ear off while Caitlin hangs off his arm getting drunk just to drown out his voice." So it wasn't just Demi that didn't like Robert. Elizabeth hated him too.

"And where is Oliver?" He turned to look at Everett. The Omega jumped a little as Theo had roused him from a nap that he was taking apparently. Who could fall asleep with all this noise was beyond Theo.

"Off getting me something sweet. I really wanted lemon pie but you didn't put that on the menu so I settled for chocolate. I thought he would be back by now." As Everett was talking, Theo's nose was filled with the disgusting scent of burning smoke and dried dirt. A hand slid across his lower back, making him freeze up.

Theo's breath caught and his heart pounded loud in his chest. Blood rushed in his ears but it didn't cover the whisper of a voice he long since thought dead;

"Hello, Angel. Don't you look delicious in all black? Oh, how I've missed you." Theo knew he was on the verge of hyperventilating but he didn't call out for help. He didn't want to draw attention to himself. Would die if people found out what was really going on. Everett stared at Theo, obviously noticing something was wrong.

"Are you okay Theodore?" The hand that was on Theo's lower back dug into his skin with sharp nails. Theo gulped and held in his whine of pain.

"Yes. I'm okay. Please excuse us. One of my men needs me." In a display of defiance, Theo ripped away from Joseph's grip. He scanned the crowd for Demi but didn't see his mate. Instead, he was herded away from the crowd by Joseph pushing him. As soon as they were out of the dining room, Joseph had Theo pinned against the wall with a clawed hand around his throat.

It wasn't a hard press of his hand but Theo felt like he couldn't breathe all the same. As he stared at Joseph, Theo felt himself start to shake. A little voice, one that was far from the voice that told Theo to obey Demi, whimpered. That eight-year-old voice started to cry.

Theo fell back into his mute state from when he was in the orphanage and could only stare at Joseph with fear-filled eyes. He flinched when Joseph lifted his free hand, untucked Theo's dress shirt from his black slacks, and ran his claws down the dragon's side.

He felt the blood flow and thanked whatever God was watching him that he was wearing all black. It would hide the blood well. It would come in handy after Joseph got done with Theo.

"Congratulations by the way. I never actually thought you would ever get mated." Theo gasped as the hand left his side to rip at the buttons on his shirt. Exposing his chest and stomach to the chilled air. Joseph fingered at the mating mark on Theo's neck that sat below the hand around his throat.

"You're as weak as ever I see." Joseph spits at him as he leaned into Theo's personal bubble. Theo didn't even try to fight him off. His body instinctively froze and just went along with whatever this man wanted. Theo hated that eight-year-old inside of him that took ahold of the reins.

When the hard press of chapped lips landed on his mouth, Theo instantly felt sick. He wanted to push, hit, kick, or do anything to get Joseph away from him. But he couldn't.

Months of therapy went down the drain as Theo felt himself crumble as he was kissed against his will. Joseph let his throat go, knowing that Theo wouldn't fight him. The dragon saw no point in it.

All Theo could do was wince as Joseph felt him up. And pray that Demi would come to his rescue.