Chapter 1:
The officiating hall is filled with more than a hundred guests, and they all are looking forward straight towards Yvonne making her even more nervous. She was aware it was her wedding but her groom was yet to arrive, and the guests were all staring at her as if she could miraculously make him appear if she wanted to.. Yvonne rolled her eyes at the thought, and tried to ignore their stare by channeling her energy on something else...
"My lady," Clara, one of Yvonne’s few trusted servants pulled closer towards her gently and called her, trying to get the lady's attention, but Yvonne was so deep in thought that she didn't hear the call until Clara was forced to raise her voice a little bit louder. "My lady!"
"Y.. Yes," Yvonne stuttered, and as she did her eyes wandered around anxiously out of fear for a few seconds before she slowly relaxed when she saw Clara. Yvonne thought Clara was here to tell her that the groom had arrived.
"Finally! Where is he?" Yvonne asked, her voice desperate as she glanced behind Clara with eagerness hoping to see her groom, but didn't see him.
"He.. Is.. Er.." Clara mumbled, struggling to find the right words.
"Clara, stop stuttering and speak!" Yvonne cuts in. "Has he arrived, yes or no?" In response, Clara shook her head. "Then call him, we need to know if he has called off the wedding or-"
"I have done that-" Clara stuttered.
"And? Did he tell you when he will get here?"
"Hum, about that.." Clara stuttered again, as she scratched the back of her head. She was struggling to get the right words out.
Yvonne sighed. "Clara, you know how much I hate it when you stutter. Just say what you have to say. Has the wedding been called off?" As she asked, her heart was up. She was too scared to hear Clara's response. But she had to ask.
Yvonne has been engaged five times by five different men, but none of the engagement lasted a day. As soon as they found out that she was a wolf-less she wolf, they ran away and never returned. Their action made her lose interest in finding a mate, or worse getting married. Were it not for her father who desperately yearn to see her married, she would have chosen to remain single and do something productive with her life like traveling around the world..
"Err, I don't think so." Clara responded, drawing Yvonne out of her thoughts and she heaved a sigh of relief when she heard Clara's response. At least the wedding hadn't been called off, yet. She thought before returning her attention back to Clara. Yvonne asked, "So when did he say he would get here?"
"Yes dear, tell us. When will the groom arrive?" Asked the priest. He had been standing for more than two hours, and Yvonne assumed that his knee must be aching. Moved with pity, she suggested that he sit for some time to rest his legs because he was old and wasn't as strong as before.
But the priest refused, it was against their values to sit when the wedding ceremony hadn't been concluded yet. Yvonne persisted until the priest finally bulged. Then, she helped him to an empty chair at the front row before returning back to Clara to continue where they left off.
"So where were we?"
"You said that you dislike it when I stutter." Clara mumbled, but her eyes were fixed down now in a submissive manner.
"Yes, thank you. So now go ahead and speak, and this time around please do not stutter." Yvonne warned and Clara nodded respectfully before doing as was told.
"When I tried reaching him over the phone, his line wasn't reachable. So I decided that I should check on him at the hotel that he stayed in. But when I did, the receptionist gave me this instead." Clara said as she handed Yvonne a white envelope.
"What is this?" Asked Yvonne, as she looked at the white envelope suspiciously. Something in her gut told her that she shouldn't open it because she wouldn't like the content of the letter but her curiosity got the better part of her.
Before Yvonne could stop herself, she collected it from Clara and started opening to see what its content was. Inside the envelope was a white piece of paper like a letter. At once Yvonne dipped her fingers in and brought it out and read.
Immediately she was done reading it, she went quiet and Clara became worried.
"My lady, what does it say?"
"It says.. That.." Yvonne stuttered. Somehow the words failed to come out, so she gave the letter to Clara. "Here, read it for yourself."
Immediately, Clara collected it and read it out loud unlike Yvonne. "I am sorry that you have to find out this way, I will explain everything to you when we meet. See you soon, Asaph." As soon as Clara was done reading it, she growled angrily and tossed the letter to the floor. "Bastard! How dare he dumb you after collecting the money your father gave-"
The moment Yvonne heard the word money, her eyes instantly snapped to Clara. She asked, "What money?" Clara immediately looked scared like she had been caught red-handed doing something bad. Her reaction only convinces Yvonne that there was something that she knew and wasn't telling her.
"Clara, speak up now, or else.." Yvonne threatened, but didn't complete it.
When Clara realized that the truth was already out in the open and that there was no point in keeping it from Yvonne since Asaph had chickened out, she decided to come out clean.
Beads of sweat had started forming on her forehead. "Ohm… Last night after you retired for the night your father requested for tea. As I brought tea to him in his bedroom, he was on a call with master Asaph and I happened to overhear their conversation before I was caught." She said in her sad tone before fixing her eyes down in shame. She continued. "It turns out that your father placed a huge fortune as a dowry price to be given to any man that agrees to marry you."
Yvonne gasped the moment she heard what Clara said. With a shaky breath, she asked. "My father did that?"
Clara nodded. "As I speak to you, your father must have given him the money and the young master on his way back home-"
"What!" Yvonne gasped. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her father is one of the wisest men on earth that she knows. He can't be robbed easily! Asaph must have used some kind of 'vooju' powers on him. Yvonne concluded in her heart, and she was filled with rage at the thought of her father robbed of his hard earned money, just like that.
At the next minute, Yvonne grabbed the length of her dress and ripped it off.
Clara gasped. "My lady, What.. are you doing?" Yvonne’s dress cost a fortune. It broke Clara's heart to see the dress ruined.
As Yvonne kept ripping the material apart, Clara pleaded on the dress behalf before it was completely ruined. "My lady, why are you pouring out your anger on the innocent dress? You should be channeling it on the shameless gold-digger and not this beautiful dress!"
"And that is exactly what I intend to do." Yvonne responded as she ripped the last part of her dress off.
Now she could walk properly. Yvonne intends to hunt Asaph down and punish him until he returns the money. Asaph had breached the agreement he made with her father, and Yvonne had no intention of letting it slide.
As soon as Clara heard what Yvonne said, she instantly felt some relief. She wants Asaph to be punished because it was because of him that Yvonne ruined her expensive dress!
"If you leave now then you will be able to catch up with him." Clara said right after she looked towards the open window. "If my assumption is accurate, he must still be at the Riverside, preparing to board a boat back home.."
At this time, the guest had already started murmuring mean things about Yvonne that even a gold digger cannot marry a wolf-less she wolf. But Yvonne ignored them. She picked up the letter from the floor, thanked Clara for the added piece of information and hurried her way out of the hall.
As soon as Yvonne got out of the hall, she was lucky to find a ride in time. It had just dropped off a woman whom Yvonne presumed must be a guest because of how well dressed the woman was.
The woman had come to the officiating hall after waiting hours at the reception and still no sign of the bride or groom. She wanted to find out if the wedding was still holding.
After paying the cab man, the woman was about to head inside the hall only to stop when she caught sight of Yvonne. The look of confusion in the woman's eyes when she scanned the bride's dress didn't go unnoticed by Yvonne but she waved it off. At the moment Yvonne’s priority is to catch up with Asaph before he leaves. Without wasting time Yvonne hopped right into the ride and ordered the driver to take her to the Riverside immediately.
"Yes ma'am."
The driver agreed right away without arguing. Yvonne is quite popular in the kingdom, apart from her father being very wealthy controlling all the Maritime transportation, her aunt Lisa is mated to the Alpha of Crystal pack.
Within 30 minutes, they arrived at their destination. Yvonne could barely wait for the driver to park properly before she hopped out and started running only to stop halfway after she remembered that she hadn't paid the driver, she returned back to him. Yvonne was so eager to teach the shameless gold digger a lesson that she forgot her values.
"Sorry." She grinned apologetically at him, as she lifted her gown high enough so she could take out some money from the pocket of her underwear. Yvonne handed two thousand dollars to him. It was more than enough for the cab fee. The driver's eyes widened in shock. He muttered a continuous "Thank you," but Yvonne had already left, she didn't hear it.
The Riverside was filled with so many boats and people that Yvonne didn't know where to start from in searching for him. And if she knew what he looked like, her search would have been easier. But all she knew was his name, Asaph, the younger prince of Dark moon pack.
Yvonne decided to ask the tickets officer that was in charge of selling tickets if she had seen a man with the name Asaph come by this side and which boat he boarded if he did. Luckily for her, the first ticket officer in charge that she asked agreed to have heard the name.
She sighed in relief, "Please which boat did he board? You see, he is my husband.." Yvonne added quickly when the ticket officer looked at her suspiciously. "... he forgot something, something very important and I'm here to give it to him." She added just so the woman would be touched and help her.
"Alright ma'am. He boarded boat 055, and it is heading in that direction." The woman pointed towards the east.
"Oh yes, that's right." Yvonne tapped her forehead gently, before smiling at the ticket officer. "I remember he made mention of that before he left home. Lately, I have been so forgetful." The ticket officer chuckled.
"It's alright ma'am, these things do happen."
Yvonne smiled at her, and muttered a thank you before heading towards the direction the ticket officer pointed towards.
On getting to the section where boat 055 was meant to be, Yvonne saw a man dressed in a blue native attire but she couldn't see his face because his back was turned against her and he was bending trying to arrange a black bag properly in the boat. As Yvonne looked closely at the bag she instantly recognized the bag. It was her father's.
She frowned. "Asaph!" Yvonne said loudly, trying to get his attention. She wanted to see the face of the shameless gold digger who thinks he is so wise.
As soon as she called his name, he stopped what he was doing and slowly turned until his face was towards her. But as soon as he looked at her, something unexpected happened to Yvonne.
Her wolf awakened.
