A MAZE OF GREED

Thea stepped out of the small room in the mysterious cave, along with Ida. They both wore black dresses, only Thea's dress was more detailed as she was the bride tonight.

Manoeuvring through the dark paths, they left that room long behind. After one more turn, Thea halted in her steps. Her body froze, and her mind went numb.

With wide eyes, she stared at the very large space. It looked like an auditorium with the capacity of accomodating hundreds of people. Men and women of all age groups along with young kids- none of them younger than sixteen years of age- were sitting in the space.

The sitting arrangement was descending that made every person presentable to see the raised long platform at the end and centre of the space.

"It is going to be fine, Thea!" Ida whispered in her ear, sensing her shock.

Thea was told that many members of the pack along with all of Rees's family would be there. But she had not expected that many people in her wildest dreams.

Before Thea overthinks the situation, the silence prevailed in the circular space as a man in a white shirt, and black pants walked steadily and confidently to the raised circular platform. He ascended the few steps and stopped only after he reached the very centre of the platform.

As soon as he looked up with a raised chin, his hands crossed behind his back and his chiselled face set in serious expressions as it was most of the time; every person- young and old- stood up quickly.

Thea was confused. Why did they stand up like that after seeing Edwin?

They all kneeled down on one knee and put their fists on their chest. They bowed their heads and cast down their eyes.

Thea turned to see Ida, but she was not there.

"Where-"

Before she completed her question, her eyes caught Ida kneeling on the ground like everyone.

Now more confused than ever, Thea contemplated if she was also expected to do the same.

Before she came to any conclusion, she saw Edwin raising his hand, his palm towards the crowd that surrounded him from all the sides.

Thea heard the rustling sounds when everyone straightened up to their full height.

Edwin then turned his wrist so that his palm faced the roof of the cave, his all five fingers directed in front of him.

That was the permission given to everyone to take their seats.

"What was that?" Thea whispered in Ida's ear.

"Thea, you must have seen it before, or Rees might have told you about it. It was a gesture of complete submission. It symbolised our loyalty and faith in our leader. It also means that every pack member is ready to walk on the path shown by our leader. We all are ready to fight wars and sacrifice our lives if needed for him.

That gesture was the symbol of utmost respect. We werewolves like to talk less and show everything through our actions. You will learn with time." Ida explained.

And that made Thea a little more left out. She was new to the werewolf world, she did not know their ways and practices. Would everyone accept her as one of them wholeheartedly?

"I, Edwin Walter O'Dell- the alpha of Vincardine pack and the leader of the werewolf breed- welcome you all respected pack members to this holy place and to witness the rare event of a human and a werewolf blood bonding ceremony.

I wish and hope that you all will bestow your love and blessings on the couple who have conquered all the odds and are now ready to tie their souls in a tight knot for the rest of their lives."

Wow! Edwin was one good speaker! Thea was so impressed by his words that she raised her hands to clap but stopped when she heard the most terrifying and dangerous sounds coming from all the men and women present there- the howls of the wolves.

She saw them turning their head towards the roof and howling like wolves. Their loud sounds were reflected back after colliding with the circular stone walls of the space that made them louder and intense.

"Shhh... do not get scared." Ida held Thea's shaking hand in hers and intertwined their fingers.

Ida was concerned that Thea might not handle all of this and might faint like the human brides in the past. She had heard the stories from the pack members about that.

~"Master, pardon me, but Thea... she is scared and cold."~ Ida immediately reach Edwin through the mind link.

Edwin raised his eyes at the top, where Ida and Thea stood in one corner. With his abilities, he could see every detail of Thea's facial expressions even from that far distance.

He did not reply to Ida with words but raised his hand again, and that made the crowd silent again.

"Without wasting more time, I announce the initiation of the ceremony. If any of the present members have any objection then I call you to stand here and present your case." Edwin's cerulean blue eyes swept over the crowd that remained silent.

"O-objection?" Thea looked at Ida alarmingly.

She thought once the werewolves find their mates, there was no denial of that, and nobody could object to that.

"This is a new tradition that we had to begin. Before the great war, some werewolves used humans for their benefits claiming that they were mates. They hypnotised the humans and made them believe in that lie.

Then there were a few cases of jealously and treachery. The siblings fall in love with the same person kind of things. And some humans tried penetrating our world using the werewolves. To avoid all of that, the originator- George O'Dell Sr decided to include this part in the ceremony."

Thea waited in anticipation for any sound, but when she heard nothing, her heart fell at ease. There was no objection!

Edwin then said in his loud and composed voice. "Let's call the groom- Rees Welby."

Thea watched as Rees- wearing black pants and only the black pant- climbed the steps.

She even heard gasps and whispers from the crowd at his form and shape. Thea got angry. Why the hell did he choose this time to flex his muscles like this?

"Thea calm down. He did not do that to flex his muscles. That was how the groom should be dressed for the ceremony."

Thea pursed her lips in a straight line. Was she that loud that Ida heard her thoughts?

Whatever!

As Rees stood beside Edwin with his shoulders broad and muscles taut, she felt the emotion of pride overshadowing her anger. He was tall, handsome and showed the scars that he got during the battles confidently. He was just perfect in her eyes, and she was sure the majority of the female crowd shared the same feeling.

"Now let's welcome the human who has willingly accepted one of us and our world as hers- Thea Welby."

Edwin's words made a strange wave of emotions erupt in Thea's chest.

Thea Rees Welby!

That sounded strange yet very right to her ears. Before it dawned upon her, she was dragged forward to step down through the crowd by Ida. She had made sure to not leave Thea's hand, and Thea was very grateful for that.

Because the weight of the stares she received from every pair of eyes suffocated her. Another thing that Thea realised was how many werewolves lived in Vincardine as humans.

She dared to steal sideways glances at the crowd and found some familiar faces. Thought of them being werewolves never crossed her mind. She now got why Rees did not tell her who were the other pack members living in Vincardine as humans. He did not want her to get frightened at the number. Because it was almost half the population of Vincadine present there.

They were all dressed in black, but their attires were very untraditional and... inappropriate according to societal norms of that period.

"Why are they wearing such exposing clothes?" Thea whispered in Ida's ear as they slowly descended the stairs.

Ida smiled, awkwardly because no matter how low Thea whispered, every ear in the space had caught on her words. She even saw some people frowning at her.

"You should be glad that we have learned human ways after all this time or you would have to witness a large crowd with naked bodies."

Thea's eyes widened as she flustered.

Shaking her head of those thoughts, she observed the surroundings. She saw the Welby family sitting in the front row and near the raised platform. She caught Elsie's eyes and smiled at her. Lester, who stood beside her, cocked his one brow at her when their eyes met. Thea knew they were happy for her and Rees.

But why were there three empty places?

Rees had told Thea about the ceremony before and mentioned that when the ceremony was taking place in the Vincardine pack, the O'Dell family attended it. But Rees doubted that they would in this case, and Thea saw his doubt coming true.

"All the best!" She heard Ida whispering in her ear as they reached the foot of the platform.

Before Thea got a hold of reality, she was left alone to climb the stairs.