You may now kiss the bride.

Alpha Hades

Ah, if only I could put his facial expression in words. The best comparison I can think of to how the Old Alpha Silver looks now is a child who had a chance to grab and taste a lemon for the first time in his life.

Someone's not happy about giving his son away. No one asked him for such a deal; it was his idea, not mine. 

Yet now, while his pretty little son stands in front of me and I hold his hands, the old bastard keeps throwing me death stares. 

I wonder how he'll react when he finds out I'm taking his precious son away from this territory. Arranged marriage or not, I can't let anyone put my almost-husband in danger.

I grin at the older Silver when Zeno, I believe that was his name, tugs on my hand. Immediately I avert my gaze from the pouting, overgrown kid and look down at my bride. He's so short and petite; the label bride suits him perfectly. He's also dressed all in white, which again fits the role.

"Nero, pay attention to the priest," Zeno growls. Although his words are too quiet to be heard by others, I catch onto the irritation in his voice. 

"Sorry, darling," I whisper, winking at him to play the part of the loving groom. 

To be fair, I don't think I've ever seen a grown man blush as much as my bride does. The redness reaches his ears and goes all the way down his neck. 

When the priest speaks up and draws Zeno's attention away, I have to restrain myself from snapping his damn neck. The priest stares at my bride as if the wolf had grown another damn head. 

Throwing occasional glances in my direction, the priest carefully nudges Zeno's side, "Alpha Silver?" 

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Zeno laughs, turning back to me. It's starting to annoy me how much I like his stupid laugh. I squeeze his hands as he takes a deep breath and clears his throat, "I, Zeno Silver, take you, Nero Hades, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part." 

Wow, his whole pack is a bunch of grumbling assholes; no one, but my men, cheer at his words. They should be happy for their Alpha; he's getting married, for fuck's sake!

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Damon holding up his phone. Though everyone knows this wedding is a show, my men still stand by my side and act like they're truly happy for me. 

Who knows, we might need the wedding video later. It's not like we can predict the future. I definitely won't be the one to rule out the possibility of whatever this clusterfuck is working out. 

I turn to my best friend, grin to let him know that he'll enjoy my following words, and turn back to my bride. "I, Nero Hades, take you, Zeno Silver, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to hold and fuck, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. With or without lube, whichever you prefer, wifey." A wave of gasps is the only reaction Silver's pack bothers to show.

The look on Zeno's, the priest's, and old Silver Alpha's faces is sheer horror. I have to restrain myself from bursting out laughing, and it seems that Damon, along with the rest of my men, has the same problem. 

The priest quickly pulls himself together and speaks again, "You've declared your consent before the Goddess. May Selena strengthen your consent and fill you both with her blessing. What the Goddess has joined, man must not separate." Rather angry, he turns to me and avoids meeting my eyes. A bright red blush appears on the priest's cheeks as he adds: "Alpha Hades, you may now, ehem, kiss the bride."

I can feel Zeno trying to pry his hands from my grasp, but I'll be damned to pass up such an opportunity, especially in front of his father. 

I pull him closer to me, quickly grab the sides of his head and lean in until our lips finally meet. For a split second, he's frozen, but as soon as my lips brush his, Zeno gives in. I run my tongue along his lower lip, and finally, my now-husband grants me full access to that snarky mouth of his. 

I've kissed many people in my life, well, women, and honestly, I never thought another man's lips could be as damn soft and inviting as Zeno's. For a split second, it feels like I'm kissing someone who matters the world to me, not my fake husband.

As the crowd starts howling like a pack of horny dogs, we part, and I grin at my masterpiece. Zeno's lips are swollen, and some bits seem to have bruises forming on them.

 "Gentlemen, please exchange your rings," the priest chimes in, obviously embarrassed. 

Damn, I knew he forgot something. He can't blame that on me; he was the one who told me I could kiss my bride. Did I go a little overboard? Maybe. Would I kill the fucking priest if we were standing on my land? Hell, yes!

Zeno's hands tremble as he slips the gold ring on my finger, and I'm quick to return the favour, but I'm the only one who's confident in doing so. Though we're officially married, except for that stupid paperwork, he keeps avoiding my gaze. 

Normally I'd throw an arm around his shoulder, but today I opt for wrapping it around his waist and pull him closer to me. 

Bad idea- the impact nearly makes me wince in pain. How could I forget the damn injuries?

As usual, Damon quickly follows up with the situation and leads the crowd towards the seating area where old Alpha Silver is about to give a speech to the guests. 

I hold Zeno back while everyone follows the signs and chats without giving us more unwanted attention. I lean closer and whisper, "We have some paperwork to sign, my dear spouse." 

Zeno nods and looks at the priest, who quickly places a few stacks of paperwork on the desk and gestures for us to join him. I stay behind and wait until he has signed everything, and only then do I leave my signature next to his. 

Once the priest is satisfied with everything, he packs up his belongings, wishes us luck and hurries away, leaving the three of us behind. 

I can feel the desperation radiating from Damon as he watches the servant of the Goddess close the door behind him. Damon stands frozen for a good three seconds before rushing toward me. I barely react before he has my arm around his shoulder, and he's supporting my weight. 

My head hangs low as I finally let out a low, somewhat loud curse of pain. "Fuck, shit, damn it!" I can feel the blood dripping from my wound and slowly running down my chest. 

I expected many different outcomes for this ceremony, but one I didn't even dare think about was my fake husband standing in front of me with nothing but fear and worry in his eyes. "Oh God, what's wrong with you? Nero? Are you in pain? Sorry, I don't recall your name, but can you tell me if he's okay? What happened?" 

Zeno mumbles more questions until Damon finally interrupts him. "Your husband will be fine, Alpha Zeno, but we should get going. The drive back to the main territory will take at least six hours. You'll have plenty of time to ask questions." 

"You're not taking my son. He will leave Silver Moons only over my dead body!"