The Element: A Shift in the Water (Completed)

Chapter 51- Wedding Crashers

Love, it will not betray you
Dismay or enslave you, it will set you free.
Be more like the man you were made to be.
-Mumford and Sons

Zeke

"Who pissed in your cornflakes?" Pop asks, claiming the Adirondack chair beside me. His sudden appearance on the dock jolts me from my internal torment.

I ran for hours after Everly's rejection. Unsure of how to proceed with her unwillingness to bond, I raced through the woods. As if I was escaping her heart-stomping denial, I fled my emotions until my wolf gave out and misery collided into me.

Returning to my empty cabin was bitter. Discovering that I needed to get ready for the bonding ceremony of Charlotte and Logan, was like salt being poured into my open wound.

Now, I am dressed for an occasion that I had imagined would be mine. The starched white collar feels like it might as well be the lunette of a guillotine, since the queen of my heart said off with my head. And along comes Pop to poke a stick at my already bruised ego.

"You're aware that this is a bonding ceremony, right?" he asks.

"Yeah, Pop. I'm aware."

Leaning over and resting his elbows on his knees, he looks over at me. "Then why do you look like you've stepped in a pile of shit?"

Releasing a hallow laugh, I look out at the lake. The sun has begun its descent behind our mountains and soon darkness will invade our valley. "I asked Everly to bond and marry me. She said no."

From the corner of my eye I catch Pop's shoulders twitching from muffled laughter. 

"Something funny, Old Man?"

Reclining in his chair, Pop tilts his head back and chuckles. "Just history repeating itself is all. Do you know how many times your Gram rejected me when I asked her to bond? Twelve."

"She said 'no' twelve times?"

"Twelve times."

"Why?"

"Boy, you're asking me to interpret the female mind, something I can't nor do I want to do." He turns his head and looks at the water.
"A man who ventures into that territory doesn't stand a chance."

"Why'd she finally say 'yes'?"

"Because I'm irresistible," he says, his white mustache twitching in amusement.

"You're hilarious."

"I do have my charm." Pop takes a deep breath before he continues, "I reckon Gram was afraid at first. Her granddad was killed by a poacher during a shift. She was with her grandma when she passed. Seeing the true commitment a bond takes scared her. I also reckon Everly might be experiencing that fear too. She didn't grow up like she should've, in the Pack. You gotta keep in mind that all of this is a new world for her."

"So what do I do?"

"I've heard folks say that love is patient. And while that's true, love is also persistent. Don't give up. Show her that you're in it for the long haul. She needs to trust your love."