Chapter Forty Three
Rayne stood in front of the body length mirror and admired the long white dress she was wearing, she felt like a Greek goddess by the way the dress sat loosely on her body. Two white straps of material crossed over both of her shoulders where the only thing besides her bust holding the dress up. She couldn’t believe that the day had finally arrived. In just a few short hours she would be Mrs. Liam Pride and she couldn’t wait.
After all the drama of Liam’s mate and brother showing up in town, Rayne thought that she might have felt a bit nervous before the wedding. She was relieved when all she felt was the excitement of what was to come.
“Oh Rayne you look beautiful” her mother said as she wiped a tear that had fallen from her eye. “Absolutely beautiful. Like the angel that you are.”
“Thanks mum” She said
“Maria, Sammy I think it’s time to give Rayne her gift.”
“Gift?” Rayne asked frowning “What gift?”
“Well dear the three of us had pooled our money together and got you and Liam a little wedding present.”
“Really?” Rayne asked smiling
Sammy walked over to Rayne in her Lemon colored bridesmaid dress and handed her an envelope. She wasted no time opening it, ripping the paper to reveal the gift inside. She gasped when she noticed what it was. “Are you serious?” she squealed
“We thought three round the world tickets would be the perfect honeymoon for you both.”
“This must have cost a fortune,” she said in awe. “Thank you so much,” she said reaching for her mother and Sammy and pulling them in to a hug. She let go of both of them and walked over to Maria “Thank you, all of you,” she said hugging Maria tightly. “I can’t wait to tell Liam.”
“Yes, well no using the pack mind link,” her mother warned. “It’s bad luck.”
Rayne rolled her eyes before looking back down at the tickets in her hand. A knock on the bedroom door got everyone’s attention. “It’s just me,” Cole said. “Are you almost ready?”
Natasha walked over to the door and opened it revealing Cole standing there in a black suit. He took one look at his daughter and his eyes became moist. “You look stunning,” he told her walking into the room and taking her in his arms. “I can’t believe my little girl is getting married.”
“Dad, I’m not little anymore,” she whined.
“You will always be my little girl,” he told her before pulling back. “Well come on we better get a move on. Otherwise Liam might think you are a no show.”
They made their way down stairs and out of the pack house. Rayne had stayed there the night before so there would be no chance of Liam and her running into each other before the wedding. Cole had hired a long black Limo for them to travel to the waterfall in. It sat there waiting for them. As soon as they were all inside it took off in the direction of the waterfall.
Sammy and Maria were the first to climb out of the limo as soon as it had parked. Natasha and Cole both sat there for a moment staring at their daughter. “We are both so very proud of you Rayne,” Cole said. “You have grown into a beautiful woman, a caring mother and a devoted mate.”
“Thanks dad,” Rayne said softly blinking a few times trying to prevent the tears welling in her eyes from falling. Natasha sobbed and pulled a tissue out of her purse and blew her nose.
“Well I guess we better get going,” Cole said moving from his seat. “I have a daughter to give away.”
Rayne climbed out next, holding her long dress up from the ground not wanting to dirty it from the road. Once they got near the waterfall she would be able to let it down again as the soft grass wouldn’t ruin it.
As soon as they were all out of the car they made their way through the trees, stopping just before they came into site of the waterfall. “I better go stand with Liam’s parent. Hailey will be keeping them busy,” Natasha said before giving Rayne a small hug and walking away.
“You ready?” Sammy asked smiling.
Rayne nodded her head. “Ready.”
“Baby, baby, baby, baby.” Rayne heard the start of the song All My Life, by K-Ci and Jojo that she had chosen to walk down the aisle to. Sammy was the first to walk out in the open and down the aisle followed by Maria. She looked at her father and smiled. “Ready?” Cole asked holding his arm out to her.
“Ready,” she said smiling as she hooked her arm in his.
They slowly walked out of the trees and Rayne gasped at how beautiful everything was, white chairs lined the walkway, they each had light yellow ribbons wrapped around each chair and tied into large bows at the back. The aisle had a long white silk cloth that ran all the way to the end, it also had frangipani scattered all over the white silk, so she would have to walk on them. She followed the flowers all the way to the other end and looked up to see Liam staring back at her. He was in a white suit with a yellow tie, he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. She smiled at him and he smiled back at her. Jesse stood beside him with a proud smile on his face, Kane was beside him and even though he was still upset with the fact that his mate hadn’t spoken more than two words to him since the day she left Rayne house he still manage to put all that aside so he wouldn’t ruin Rayne’s day. She began to slowly walk down the aisle looking at everyone as she walked past. She noticed Danny wasn’t looking at her but at the front where her bridesmaid Sammy and Maria where standing, he was totally focused on whatever he was looking at. She then looked at her uncle AJ and aunt Rose who were both smiling at her, she smiled back at them. She then looked at her Grandmother Chloe and Grandfather Aaron both were smiling at her also. He great grandmother Lucy was standing with them with Luke. She had cut her hair since her wolf had given her back control. She was smiling also but Rayne could see the sadness in her eyes. This was after all the place where her and her mate had gotten married years ago. It must have been extremely painful for her to be here today. She scanned the crowd and noticed the bright pink hair of Tori, she was standing beside Page who was holding Ivy in her arms. She gave them both a small smile, finally she had almost reached the end and could see her mother standing their wiping her eyes with a tissue. Liam’s parents stood beside her, his mother was holding Hailey. The person standing beside her made Rayne smile drop off her face. Meg stood there face forward staring at Liam, beside her was who she assumed was her brother Anderson. She felt her anger build at the sight of them both standing there. She looked back at Liam’s mother and glared at her. “Don’t let it ruin you day,” her father whispered in her ear.
She looked away from Liam’s mother and took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing to walk until she reached the end. As soon as they reached Liam, her father handed her over to him. “You better take good care of her,” he told him.
“I will, sir,” Liam said nodding his head.
Rayne rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. They waited until her father had stepped away and made his way over to her mother before looking at each other and smiling.
“You look beautiful,” Liam whispered.
“You don’t look too bad yourself,” she told him.
They smiled at each other until the minister cleared his throat. “Shall we?” Liam asked.
Rayne just smiled and nodded her head. The Officiant smiled at them both before looking at the people sitting behind them.
“Family and friends, we are gathered together here on this day,” the Officiant said. “And in the face of this company – to join together this man and this woman in marriage, which is commended to be honourable among all men; and therefore – is not by any – to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly – but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly. These two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together – let them speak now or forever hold their peace.” The Officiant paused for a moment.
“I have just cause,” Rayne heard Meg say.
Followed by Liam’s mothers voice. “What are you doing?”
Rayne looked at Liam before turning and looking at Meg who had taken a step away from Sally and her brother. “These two cannot marry!” she cried in protest.
The Officiant who was obviously in shock cleared his thought. “And why is that?” he asked.
“Because Liam doesn’t love her,” she said causing a few people to gasp.
“Rayne what is going on?” she heard Jesse ask.
She ignored him and glared at Meg. “What are you talking about Meg?” Liam asked “I love Rayne.”
“No, you don’t,” she said shaking her head. “You love me, you told me as much. You said there would never be another person that you love the way you love me.”
Liam sighed. “I was wrong. The fact that I am standing here today proves as much.”
“It proves nothing!” she screams. “You are just trying to get back at me for not choosing you.”
“No, I’m not Meg.” Rayne looked away from Meg and looked at Liam. “I’m so sorry Rayne, she should never have been here.”
She gave him a weak smile before looking back at Meg, whose brother was now beside her and trying to pull her back into the crowd. “Mother if you don’t mind giving Hailey to Natasha and escorting Meg out of here,” he said.
“What, but I will miss the ceremony,” she said.
“I guess you should have thought about that when you invited them to my wedding,” he said before turning back around and facing the Officiant. “Please continue,” he said softly.
"I only invited him for your sister, she needs mate" His mother said through the mind link.
"There are plenty of other humans to choose from mum." Liam replied through the mind link. "Why him? Why that family?"
"He was the only human male I knew that was her age. My only other choice would have been a werewolf, and after the way they had treated Rayne I didn't want to involve them."
Liam shook his head and looked back at his mother "Just get them out of here." He said to her before tuning back and looking at Rayne "I am so sorry this has happened."
"It's fine Liam" She said softly.
He looked back at the man in front of him and nodded his head for him to continue.
He cleared his throat again. “Rayne and Liam nothing is easier than saying words,” he said looking them both in the eyes. Rayne could hear Meg’s protest as she was being pulled away from the wedding behind her. But did her best to ignore her and listen to the Officiant. “And nothing is harder than living them day after day. What you promise today is a promise you must keep for as long as you both shall live. At the end of this ceremony legally you will be man and wife, but your actions after today will make it so.”
“Now I believe that you and Rayne wish to say your own vows today?” he asked.
“That’s right,” Liam said
“Can we have the rings then?” he asked.
Jesse stepped forward and handed two gold rings to Liam, who passed the larger of the two to Rayne. He took her hand in his and looked her in the eyes.
“Rayne, from the first moment I saw you in class, I knew you were special, I just had to get to know you. The more time we spent together, the more I saw how kind and caring you truly are. How you willingly sacrificed your own happiness for others. I admired your strength and courage. You faced every problem with your head held high. The more I knew about you, the more I fell in love with you, and the more I knew that I needed you by my side forever and always.” He swallowed audibly. She smiled at him encouraging him to go on.
“I promise that when I am your husband to love you unconditional, to be faithful and to never make you doubt my love for you. I will always be a shoulder for you to lean on if you ever need it. Whenever you feel weak, I will be your strength. And I promise that I will always do everything in my power to keep you safe. I will love and cherish you until the day I die.” Rayne heard as everyone awed at his words.
“I hope that when we are married that nothing will ever change between us, that things stay exactly as they are. Because what we have right now is perfect. When I was younger, I knew that there was someone out there who was destined to be mine. When I thought I had met her, things didn’t work out the way they should. I never thought that I would find love again. But I was wrong. You were the one who I was destined to be with and I never dreamt of being lucky enough to find the love we share.” He pulled her hand closer and began to slide the small golden ring onto her finger.
“Today I ask you to be my wife, to stand by my side, to hopefully grow old together, but most importantly I ask you to be mine. I love you Rayne, more than life itself. So I ask you now Rayne Benson, will you be my wife?”
“Yes,” Rayne said smiling and feeling as the tears fell from her eyes.
He squeezed her hand once before letting go and waiting for her to speak.
“Liam the moment you had stepped into my life I knew that it would never be the same again. Through all the darkness and horror were you shining brightly showing me the way out. I never thought that I would get to experience being in love and being loved. But from the first day that I had met you, you had showed me nothing but kindness and acceptance. You’ve stood by me through the bad times and I am happy to know you are still here for the good times. I want you to know that I would gladly go through all the struggles that I had faced up until this point again because I know this the path would lead to you. I promise that as your wife I will love you unconditionally and completely with all of my heart. I will stand by you through the bad times and the good. I will be your best friend and lover, and even your house maid,” she said smiling at him. “We were not fated to be together but we had have chosen each other as our one and only, which I think makes this even more special. We were not forced together by fate but by love. I know that life for us won’t always be easy, but I do promise that I will take on anything if it means that I can spend the rest of my life with you. I stand here today in front of our family and friends, and promise that I will love you and only you, that I will cherish you for as long as we both live, and even after we have both gone from this world.” She reached over and grabbed Liam’s hand and began to slide the ring on slowly onto his finger. “Will you Liam Pride be my husband?”
“I will,” he said smiling at her.
“By the powers invested in me,” the Officiant said raising his voice so that everyone could hear him. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Rayne heard everyone as they began to clap and cheer. She smiled at Liam and he smiled back at her, they both leant in and kissed each other passionately. She felt as if she could stay in that moment forever. That if she could freeze time it would be then at that very moment. But of course all good things must come to an end, which she found out when she pulled back from kissing Liam. The crowd was still clapping and cheering. She looked at Liam and watched as something red splashed over his face. Rayne’s eyes widened in fear when she smelt that it was blood. The cheers she heard moments ago turned into screams of fear as they realized they were under attack.
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Ok so I know you are all hating me right now for leaving it there. I just needed to get one more cliffhanger in ;-) There will only be one more chapter then an epilogue. There will be one more SBTE book, I don't know as of yet when I will be writing it or what it will be called. I will send out a message to all fans/followers when I am ready to post it :-)
I want to say thanks to all of you for reading my stories, I hope that you have enjoyed reading it :-) I also wanted to say thank you to those of you who have voted, commented and fanned me. I really appreciate your support.
I also wanted to thank those of you who supported me while I had taken a break. I really hated doing it, but I was no longer writing because I liked doing it. I was writing because I felt I had to. Which then lead to me losing all motivation to write. I am glad that I did it, but I am sorry that I had to do it while in the middle of three stories. So thank you all for being so understanding :-)
wolflover2012 :)