The Crown’s Entrapment

After all was said and done, the Hindman Manor descended into a night of partying and music as the newlyweds took to the reception. While the great hall used for the wedding ceremony itself was already large by itself, the manor still held a few others like it, and one of them was surely going to be used for the reception party itself.

All in all, Bartos made sure that the journey from one hall to the other was as short as it could be.

“Are you having a good time, my wife?” Bartos asked to his side, towards his still blushing bride as she held onto her glass of wine.

“I-It’s better than I ever expected,” Jayra beamed at him. “I knew you were going for simple, but this is still far more than I anticipated.”

Bartos couldn’t help but grin at her words. While they had agreed to keep the preparations to a minimum, he still found a way to make his own additions to the ceremony by subtly manipulating the effort to his liking. In the end, what was supposed to be bland and simple to his tastes became simple yet elegant.

That, and Mother made sure that everything was up to snuff even if it went against the bride’s wishes. She had been perfectly clear when she said that he wouldn’t be married with anything less than their pack could afford.

“It was still as simple as we agreed upon, at least,” Bartos chuckled.

“No, it wasn’t,” Jayra weakly shook her head in amusement. “Our ceremony earlier didn’t look as humble as I expected it to be. It was simple, but it was also pretty extravagant.”

“Well, you can blame Mother for that one,” Bartos quickly replied, giving his mother a silent apology for throwing her into the proverbial wolves. “I tried to stop her.”

“Did you now,” Jayra raised an eyebrow at him. “You do know that I can feel what you’re feeling, right?”

“Why don’t we go around the hall and see to our guests?” the new groom quickly asked, deftly dodging the question as he scratched the back of his head. “Come. I’ll introduce you to the pack.”

Not letting Jayra have a chance to question him further, Bartos dragged her by the hand towards the stage, helping her by grabbing the tail end of her gown before clearing his throat in one hand.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please…”

The entire hall stood still in attendance, the entirety of the Lock Heart Pack looking to them in wait as Bartos took in all that was in attendance. By the guests of honor, King Darius along with Princess Xenia stood at attention for them. Likewise, his family was seated just beside the king, looking proudly over him as they awaited his next words.

Clearing his throat once more, Bartos spoke aloud for the entirety of the hall to hear his voice. “To all that can hear the sound of my voice, I would like to introduce to you all the new Luna of the Lock Heart Pack!”

To follow, Bartos then coaxed his new wife forward, ignoring the look she was giving him in favor of presenting her to the crowd. He smiled at the applause she received, her new home welcoming her with open arms.

“Let’s give her a warm welcome, yes?” he called out.

At his word, cheers came from across the hall, everybody present hailing Jayra as their new Luna. From the Bond, he could feel the barely restrained joy coming from his wife, her tears flowing even as she smiled and greeted back everybody present.

“T-Thank you for having me!” Jayra cried aloud, giving her very best approximation of an acceptance speech. “I’ll do my best to not let you all down!”

Another round of cheers followed soon after that. From what he could tell, Jayra was being accepted wholeheartedly by the Pack. Then again, if any one of them even dared to try and ruin the mood, he’d descend on them faster than he’d taken off Jayra’s clothes that night.

[Your lust is showing again~]

Wisely ignoring his inner wolf’s howls, Bartos assisted Jayra back down the makeshift stage as they made their way back to their personal table. But not before yelling out one last instruction before they made themselves scarce.

“Let’s all have a wonderful time!”

*****

As the music began to pick up in speed and intensity, Gideon stood by the sidelines as the hall finally began to part to make way for any would be dancers to grace the floor. From where he stood, he could already see His Majesty fending off a rather jovial Xenia by his side. Likewise, his friend Bartos had failed to defend against his new spouse, the two having graced the floor with the dexterity he expected from some like Bartos.

As for himself, on the other hand…

“May I have this dance?”

He was hopeful that Freya would accept his invitation. Even though they had a cordial conversation on their way to the manor, all of his progress seemed to have stalled as his mate had elected to close herself off to him once more. Sure, she was doing her best to accommodate him, but it was clear to him that she was still conflicted as to what to think about him.

“Of course,” Freya nodded.

Almost letting out a sigh of relief, Gideon held Freya’s hand as he carefully dragged themselves onto the floor. The music seemed to switch by then, becoming a tad more melodic and slow to accommodate a slower kind of dance.

“I didn’t think that you knew how to dance,” Freya smiled.

“I had a few lessons,” Gideon smirked. “I know a lot of things, most of them being pretty useful for someone as pretty as you are.”

The blush on Freya’s cheeks was more than enough to rile up his attention as he focused solely on her face. The way they were being close together was making him feel things he really shouldn’t be feeling at the moment, and he quickly chalked that up to nerves as he bit his tongue in retaliation.

For now, he had Freya’s undivided attention, and he would make sure that he’d make the best out of their limited time.

**************************

September 19, 2022, AN: I’m back home guys, and recovering well. In God’s grace, no cancer cells were found in my uterus that they removed. They also removed the fallopian tube and the left ovary since there was a cyst in it (benign only). I’m hopeful and praying that there will be no complications in the long run while recovering after this major surgery.

We’re lucky not to run out of stockpiled chapters. I will release 5 chapters at random hours within the day as promised upon reaching a hundred Golden Ticket votes. Please continue voting and supporting our book in the WSA2022 contest.

Again, thank you so much for all the love and continuous support guys, especially for all your prayers and warm and well wishes for my good health. Keep safe everyone and Godbless *kisses, and hugs*