Chapter 8. The Elder

* Ivan *

"How long have you known this wolf, Princess?!"

The horrified question came from the old man, whose age showed in how white his hair and beard were, looking at me up and down, judging me in silence. But his question was for Dorina to answer.

"The name is Ivan, old man. And I have met the Princess for more than a year." I couldn't help but tell him a lie.

He furrowed his brows as he looked at me, pretending not to hear me, while he move his intense gaze on Dorina, demanding her explanation. She looked calm and had already thought this through.

"Elder Mardok," she took a glance at me clearly reminding me not to call the elder just an "old man" again before she continued talking.

"Ivan saved my life from the rogues a year ago that was the first time we met. And from then on we had to meet secretly. Because I have to hide everything from my father. You know how he is."

"I know His Majesty would never approve of this Princess so I can't do it. I hope you understand that it is my life that would be on the line if I give you this marriage ceremony without his permission."

I watch the Princess close her eyes for a few seconds then he choke a sob and immediately walks closer toward me before her arms stretch to hug me. She wraps her arms tightly around the waist, pressing her soft body against mine. I sucked in air for breath when hear surge through my body.

"Oh! I think I would die Ivan, my father will surely kill me if he knows that it's been a few months since I was delayed. If only we had done it safely."

Her words came as a shock to my ears, this was not part of our plan. She didn't give me a heads-up before resorting to this facade but I had to support her when I saw from the corner of my eye that the old man stiffined.

"It's alright sweetheart if elder Mardok refused to give us this ceremony then we have to go and meet with someone from another place."

"Princess Dorina!? Are you telling me that you both came here seeking marriage because you, you are with a child in your womb? Are you certain about this?"

She sniffles and removes her arms from me. "Yes, and we are afraid to tell my father because I am certain he won't approve of Ivan."

The elder man again let his eyes survey me for the third time. "I could only imagine how shocking it would be for the Alpha King to hear this news, Princess. And you are right, this man right here could lose his head."

"You can't tell him anything Elder Mardok, we plan to go home to the Palace when you finish giving us this ceremony. So that my father won't kill him."

The old man fell into a deep thought while looking at her; she was in it for real. I could almost believe the expression on her face.

"Oh, elder. Please help us."

Elder Mardok took a long time to decide. The small vacation house fell into silence, and all I could hear was the wind in the pines outside his small stone chapel.

His eyes went from Dorina's face, her red-eyed, sniffling, a perfect picture of a ruined princess, to my hand, which had found its way to her lower back on instinct to steady her.

"Oh, Moon Goddess forgive me," he muttered finally, his shoulders slumping. "I have delivered this Princess since she was a pup. I cannot have her cast out or shamed. And I cannot have an innocent's blood on my conscience."

He pointed a shaking finger at me. "If the Alpha King takes my head for this, boy, I will haunt you."

"You have my word, Elder. He will not," I said, trying to sound like a man worthy of a princess's love and not a man who's just playing along with her to convince an elder.

Dorina squeezed my hand hard. Play along, her nails said. Elder Mardok hobbled to the small altar. On it sat a single white candle, a shallow bowl of moon-water, and a cord braided from silver thread and wolf's hair.

"Come here, both of you."

We stepped forward. Dorina wiped her eyes, but left her hand locked with mine. Her palm was already sweating. The same went for mine.

"Kneel," he ordered.

We knelt on the old fur rug before the altar. From this close, I could smell her scent, pine and wildflowers, and that faint, sweet lie of fear she was wearing so well.

Elder Mardok lit the candle. Its light flickered against the stone walls.

"Princess Dorina of the Royal pack, daughter of Alpha King Daemon. Do you come here of your own free will, without coercion, to bind your life to this wolf named Ivan?"

Princess Dorina lifted her chin, her calm returning like a cloak. When she looked at me, her light brown eyes were steady.

"I do," she said, her voice clear. "With my whole heart, Elder. Ivan saved my life once, and I have chosen to give it to him in return."

The old man grunted, still not approving of me but he had no choice. He then turned to me.

"And you, Ivan Cross, no pack mark I can see. Do you come here of your own free will to take the Princess as your mate, to protect her and what grows within her, under the eye of the Moon Goddess?"

What grows within her. There was nothing. But the way she had said it.

"I do," I said, my throat suddenly dry. "More than a year I have loved her from the shadows, Elder. I will not stop now that we are in the light."

Her breath hitched, and for a second I wasn't sure if it was part of the act. Elder Mardok dipped his fingers in the moon-water and flicked it over our bowed heads. Cold droplets ran down my neck.

"Then by the old ways, before there were kingdoms and crowns, only wolves and the moon."

He took the braided cord and looped it around our joined hands, binding my wrist to hers. The silver thread was cold.

"Blood of the moon, bone of the earth, two paths now become one. What the Goddess has joined under this roof, let no Alpha, no King, no law tear asunder."

He placed his weathered hands over our bound hands.

"Speak your vow, boy. Then you, Princess."

I looked at Dorina. The candlelight made her dark hair glow. This was supposed to be a trick. A fake ceremony to force her father's hand so he would let her choose her own guard, me, instead of marrying her off to a certain Alpha that she doesn't like. That was our plan.

But why did my heart hammer like it was real?

"I vow," I whispered, "that no rogue, no king, no beast will come near you again. My teeth, my claws, my life, they are yours, Princess. Now and Always."

Her eyes widened, just for me. Her lips parted.

Then it was her turn, her voice barely above a breath but every word shaking.

"I vow that I will not hide you anymore, Ivan. I will stand beside you, not behind palace walls. Wherever you go, my home will be. My, my heart is yours."

Elder Mardok tightened the cord once, then let it fall away.

"Under the moon, you two are mated. Under my roof, you are married. Rise now, husband and wife."

My legs felt numb as I stood up, pulling her up with me. The cord slid to the floor.

Dorina was standing so close I could feel her trembling. Her brown eyes flicked to my mouth, then back up, panicked and questioning. The final part is the seal of fate.

The old man smiled at us, tired and fond. Then he said something, something that I thought we could escape but couldn't.

"Well, you two. Seal it with a kiss, then, and be gone before I change my mind."