Proven Heart

Thirty-one: Thank Me

It finally came. The day finally arrived and yet Selena didn’t find herself dreading what was about to happen. She found comfort in the fact that wolves like Elder Rosewood had her back and understood the place she was in.

The walk to the venue was a short one. Talon had arranged wolves to clear out a portion of the small woods and build an outdoor pavilion with a marble cement pathway decked with decorative flowers, towering hedges, and a water fountain made of marble.

“Looks magnificent.” Nathaniel chimes in as he scoped the area. “And there are too many wolves.”

She wrapped her arms around him and chuckled deviously.

“That’s how weddings are… or did you not know what?”

Nathaniel turns to her with an amused grin on his face.

“Talk to me like that again, I implore you. Please.” He warned playfully. “This is not a place to toy or flirt with me. Prepare your wolf, my love.”

“You sound like we’re about to step into a battlefield.”

A humming tone gently escaped from him.

“We are, kinda. We’re entering a maze of sharks eager to take a piece, moon. Stick with me and do not stray too far away.”

Selena understood what he meant.

As of now, she was yet to experience and see Nathaniel be enshrouded by hawking wolves ready to commit proposals. Unlike Pack Albrich’s dinner, an event where business dealings were explicitly forbidden, the wedding was a free-for-all.

Knowing that made her heart shrivel.

A wedding open for business transactions were not that common and truth be told, it only happened when people are desperate. Now she had no other reason than to believe Lively.

The glowing reviews uttered by wolves outside of pack Highcliff were all but lies.

Wolves carpeted the ground like a swarm of flies to a light. The wolves of pack Highcliff were all invited, but all of them had sequestered themselves to their seats and the only ones on their feet were Alphas and Lunas.

Their smiles brought a sickening sheen of fondness but all that failed to arouse a feeling of friendliness for Selena.

She knew that they were there for one exact thing and it infuriated her.

In the corner of her eye, a wolf stalked them. A man, tall with a pale complexion. The wolf’s eyes focused as he walked towards them. Selena tugged her mate’s arm, causing him to stop.

“Ah, Nathaniel. Hello, cousin.” The wolf greets.

A shock coursed through her body, her eyes turning wide.

“Cousin?”

The wolf chuckles, his face lighting up with a smile. Only then that Selena found the similarities he had to a certain wolf, especially the color of his golden almond eyes.

“Adrien,” Nathaniel spoke. “You’re here in place of uncle Andre?”

The wolf nodded.

“I am, but I’m also hunting prospects of my own. Although, I am quite disappointed that your fair mate here has not been informed of my existence.” Adrien took the back of her hand and kissed it. “Adrien Casimer M. Bently, a pleasure to meet pack Highcliff’s moon-kissed daughter.”

He was warm and kind. Even his wolf didn’t give any aura that would lead her to believe otherwise. She took a quick glance at Nathaniel, seeing that he was wearing a calm, stoic mask.