Heir To The Iron Crown: Dyrith

35 - þrjátíu og Fimm

Valente had the workers in the kitchen arrange dinner outside, in a buffet. The setup was huge, near where the ceremony had taken place a while ago.

It was dark out now, the moon had risen, and I was sitting next to Valente on the biggest table that had been set in the large area.

Besides us, a few other important families were sitting on the table. The Delta family, sat on our left. I could hear Delta Osvald talk about many things, conversing mostly with Otto who sat opposite us with his family.

Renee smiled fondly as she looked at her husband make conversation with the Delta, both men dominating the table conversation.

The Gamma family, Eidis and her mother sat quietly on two chairs, eating their food as if they were alone.

Sylvia had also taken a chair a little further away from us. She didn't touch the food in front of her, instead, she chose to look around at everyone else.

My mate, on the other hand, had taken my hand in his, rubbing small circles on the back of it as if it would bring him comfort, yet nothing could take away his restlessness, as was obvious by the way he shook his leg impatiently underneath the table.

With his right hand, he was eating quickly, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

I reached up and kissed his cheek, just as he was about to take in a forkful of mashed potatoes. He slowly put down the utensil in his hand to turn and look at me.

His eyes were much darker than his usual moonlight silver. They looked as dark as the night sky surrounding the moon tonight.

I took my hand out of his and ran my fingers through his hair gently.

"Slow down my love, or you'll choke," I told him through our link, pulling on his hair softly, almost teasingly.

He rolled his eyes almost aggressively.

"Excellent choice of words Rayne!" he replied, exasperated.

I laughed, a genuine, hearty laugh.

His leg stopped moving as he watched me, and it only took one look at him for the butterflies to explode in my stomach.

His hand made its way to my thigh and squeezed gently, before his lips made their way to my own, claiming them completely.

I couldn't get over the way he made me feel, and I couldn't imagine what the rest of my life would be like with him by my side.

I'd never thought I could be this happy, but he made it happen, all on his own.

"You're killing me Rayne," he said through our link, as he kissed me.

His words were familiar, yet I was in no capacity to think on it much further.

"Aunty Rayne! Do you have to kiss Val at the table? Ymir just lost his appetite!" Bryn exclaimed loudly, causing his parents and a few others around the table to laugh.

"No I didn't," Ymir replied without even looking up, stuffing an entire chicken drumstick into his small mouth.

I smiled at the boys fondly, as Valente laid his hand on my stomach beneath the table.

I pressed a hand over his, tears reaching my eyes. I was glad we both wanted the same things, especially when it came to important decisions such as these.

It's what I'd value in a relationship more than anything, and when I looked at Valente, I realized there was nothing more I could possibly have asked for. 

He gave me a soft peck on the lips, a lot calmer now, as he held my hand again, tight.

I noticed the crowd had begun to thin out, and some people had started walking back towards their homes.

A young girl walked up towards the table after a while when we were all done.

"Alpha, Luna. Would you like to open some gifts? Some people are waiting still, hoping you'd open theirs," she said with an excited smile on her face, showing me she was one of those people.

I made a mental note to ask her what she got us first.

Renee had told me it was tradition to open gifts after the ceremony. It was a way to say thank for the thoughtful gifts, thank you for coming, thank you for accepting the new Luna, and thank you for being a part of the pack.

I looked at Valente to see if he could make it through, what seemed would be, another hour before we finally went home.

He nodded his head slowly, his eyes reluctantly finding the large table that was piled with gifts on top of more gifts.

"Only a few though," he said, before picking up the napkin on his lap, and wiping his face like a true gentleman.

He stood, pulling me up with him, and looked around the table.

"Shall we?"

...

We'd opened about twenty gifts in the past hour, each one beautiful, or useful, or both.

The girl that had reminded us about the gifts, had brought with her a handmade card for me, that she had placed on top of the gift from her family. We'd thanked her, only to see that she was absolutely ecstatic.

And it wasn't just her.

The other pack members surely went overboard with their gifts. We'd received everything from cufflinks for Valente and earrings for me, to a whole food processor that I didn't even know how to use.

The members that had remained were quite a few, as over half the pack was still present. We hadn't even made it through a fifth of the gifts we'd received, yet none of these people showed any sign of impatience.

Valente picked out the next gift from the pile, and showed me the hastily wrapped box that fit perfectly in his palm.

A sticky note was stuck on top, and only one word was written on it in black.

Rayne.

Valente turned it around in his hands to look for a name of the person who had given this particular gift, but it only had the name it was meant for. Mine.

"Do you want to open it?" he asked me in a soft voice, pushing the small box towards me.

I smiled at him in response.

"It doesn't matter," I told him.

He smiled back, turning his attention to the box again.

The wrapper came off easily, and Valente took a second to look at the ring box in his hand.

He opened it, and I saw his face immediately fall.

His hand reached his chest, as if trying to look for something underneath his thin shirt.

I knew there was only one thing he wore around his neck at all times.

I saw his fingers tighten around his Hef ring, showing me it was still there.

Then why this reaction?

I could feel his mind instantly running, his eyes glazed over as he mindlinked who knows how many people.

I took a step closer towards my mate, and looked at the contents of the box in his hand.

My breath hitched in my throat, as I stared at what I knew was something that belonged to me, and was stolen.

Nestled in the box, in the exact same condition as I'd last seen it, was Gramma's last gift to me.

My Hef ring.