08: The blood oath ritual

Ria's POV.

I went inside the dining hall and my heart skipped when I saw alpha Damien sitting at the far end of the table.

"Why do you look scared?" He asked, which made me snap out of my thoughts and my legs started working, as I walked to the table and picked the seat that was the farthest away from him.

"I'm not scared," I said and forced a smile at him. He studied me for a while, before we both dug into our meals.

For the first ten minutes, neither of us was saying anything. The hall was awkwardly silent, with just Damien and I alone in it.

I raised my head and stole a glance at him, only to see that he was already looking at me.

"Is...something wrong?" I asked, as I wiped my mouth.

He looked at me for a while, before shaking his head. "No." He said and averted his gaze from me.

I cleared my throat, and tried concentrating on my meal but I just couldn't. I had a few questions that I wanted to ask him, but I didn't know how to start.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" He said and I was a bit shocked.

How did he know that I wanted to say something?

I shook my head and continued eating.

He dropped his fork and cleared his throat. "If you have any questions for me, you should feel free to ask me. I don't bite."

I looked up and bit my bottom lip, before speaking. His eyes got dark a bit but I ignored it.

"You are Alpha Damien, Alex's uncle." I started saying, while he just watched, waiting for me to get to the point.

"Alex told me about one of his uncles that killed his two mates and drank their blood. Is..is that you?" I had finished speaking, before I realised how stupid it actually sounded.

I quickly shook my head and grabbed my fork. "Don't worry about it, it was silly of me."

Without saying anything, he moved his chair backwards and started walking towards me. With every step he took, my heart clenched against my chest.

I wondered what he was going to do. Will he drink my blood too?

He stopped when he was just a step away from me and moved my chair backwards, as he turned it to face him.

I shivered in my seat, and held my breath. He crouched down, and with his index finger under my chin, he raised my head to see him.

"Well, Ria. Since we would be getting married real soon, it's only fair I tell you the truth." He started saying, and squinted his eyes.

I slowly nodded and waited for him to say something.

"It's not true, I don't drink blood. I'm not a vampire, am I?" He said and chuckled before he stood up and took a step back.

I didn't know what to say. The answer I got wasn't exactly what I was expecting. But I quickly mumbled an, "okay," under my breath.

"Don't worry, when we are married, it'll all be clear to you." He said and started walking away with his hands in his pocket.

What he said didn't make sense to me, so I stood up and went after him. Just as we were about to reach the door, he suddenly stopped. I stopped too.

"Where are you going? You can just leave me here. I don't know what to do!" I complained.

"Don't worry, the maids know what to do. Just get enough rest for tomorrow." He said without turning around.

Tomorrow?

"What's happening tomorrow?"

"Our wedding. We'll be joined together tomorrow. You should be excited." He said and left without waiting for a reply.

I sighed and turned towards the table. Even though I just arrived at Damien's house, I was surprisingly missing Alex's pack. I wasn't lonely there.

*

*

*

I laid on my bed, and stared at the ceiling, hoping, just hoping something exciting would happen to me soon.

Just then, like the moon goddess had heard my thoughts, I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" I said, as I sat up on the bed.

Two maids walked in with different bags in their hands. Amaya wasn't here.

"What's happening?"

The maids smiled at me and said, "we are here to get you ready."

I got off the bed as a frown was etched on my face. "Get me ready? For what? The wedding is tomorrow, isn't it?"

One of the maids moved closer with a smile that was too wide to be genuine. It made me feel weird.

"Well, yes. But the blood oath ritual is tonight. It is usually the night before the wedding day. That's how it's been with alpha Damien." She said and I got even more confused.

"What? How many women has he done this with?"

Immediately I asked, they stopped smiling and stepped back away from me.

They started taking out the things that were in the bags. There was a beautiful red and black dress, boxes of jewellery, a box of shoes, and a brand new dagger. That made my heart skip.

I walked towards it and carried it. It was big.

"What is this for?" I asked, still looking at it.

They took it from me and put it back into the bag. "You'll know in a few hours, my lady." They said and I didn't know what to say.

For the next three hours, the maids got me ready for this blood oath ritual. As they worked, so many thoughts ran through my head.

Was this the ritual that made him kill his two previous mates? Or did the ritual entail him drinking his mate's blood?

I had so many questions in my head, with no specific answers to them. I wanted to leave, to run away. But if I did, he would definitely kill me.

By the time we were done, I no longer looked like myself. Everything that was on my body was red and black, and it made me look like a goth.

"It is time, my lady." One of the maids said, and stepped backwards to look at my reflection.

I sighed, and breathed through my mouth. My heart was racing, and my hands were shaking.

I wondered what my fate would be in the next few minutes.