I Thee Wed

            Ryeowook and I planned to get married once my uncle, Siwon, and Leeteuk left for their trade exchange.  I knew my cousin, Yesung, wouldn’t question me too hard if I disappeared with Ryeowook for the day and the ladies of the house were either rooting for me or thought too well of me to think I’d sneak around with an unmated omega and do anything dubious with him. 

            Within a couple hours of them leaving, I drug Ryeowook out of the den and over to my house.  He wanted to bake a cake before the wedding.  Heechul had apparently told him a little about weddings—I’m not sure how Heechul knows about them, but I assume he’s picking up information like that while traveling all over the region with his mate—and Ryeowook liked the idea of having a white cake to eat afterwards.  There was a lot of stuff we were leaving out, since it was more like an elopement than an actual wedding, but I wanted him to have whatever he wanted.

            Since it was still late morning, we had plenty of time.  Changmin had to work at his clinic until around dinnertime.  Ryeowook wanted to make dinner for everyone at my house.  Everyone being us, Changmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, and Kangin.  Donghae blabbed to some of the other guards—big shocker—and Kangin told me he wanted to come to my wedding as well.  I couldn’t say no.  I felt he’d given me good advice in the past and ought to be around for the wedding.  We’d avoided telling anyone in the family, otherwise I’m sure my cousins would have wanted to come.  But I was glad they weren’t.  Could you imagine Heechul at someone else’s wedding, commenting on what they were doing wrong and how badly everyone was dressed.

            Ryeowook was much better at cake decorating than I thought he’d be.  He told me he often snuck down into the kitchen and helped the cooks whenever he wanted to escape from the rest of the family.  That must have been a lot because it was two tiers with white flowers all over it.  On top of it, he put a little statue of two wolves, curled up together.  Then he began working on what we’d be eating for dinner and I was just relieved that I had all the right pots and pans.  I wasn’t much of a cook, but my aunt had bought me a bunch of stuff for the kitchen when I moved out, for when I eventually gained a mate.  She always thinks ahead like that.  I never thought I’d need the damn things.  I never intended to mate with anyone, if I didn’t mate with Ryeowook. 

            I offered to help out.  Ryeowook let me wash and chop up some vegetables, but that was about as much as he trusted me in the kitchen.  When he was finished with prep work and everything was in the stove cooking, he asked if there was someplace he could change and get ready.

            “The only other bedroom with anything in it is a game room,” I informed him.  “So, you should probably use my room.”  I hadn’t figured out a use for the other three rooms I’d build upstairs yet, so I hadn’t done anything more than paint the walls.

            Ryeowook grabbed onto my arm and drug me with him.  “You need to get dressed, too.  I’m not letting you wear a t-shirt to our wedding.”

            He walked into my bedroom and headed for my closet, looking through the dress shirts.  He finally pulled out a black one.  “This one,” he said, walking over to me.  “Take your shirt off.”

            I was amused that he was picking out my clothes for the evening, much like a mate might, and decided to keep playing his game with him.  I reached down for the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head, flinging it back over my shoulder.  Ryeowook’s eyes widened when he looked at me and his mouth parted a little.  It had been a while since the last time he’d seen me with my shirt off.  I’d gained more muscle since then.

            Before Ryeowook could recover properly, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him against me.  “I thought I warned you not to come into my bedroom,” I .

            “Y-you just said to get d-dressed in here.”

            “I meant alone,” I informed him.  “It isn’t a good idea to drag me into bedrooms with you.”

            I’d refused to sleep in his room again since the first night he was over at the den.  I knew I would release mating pheromones if I ended up in bed with him again.  Of course, I wanted to sleep with him, as long as he was ready for the consequences.  We both had to live with our actions for the rest of our lives.  Perhaps it would be easier to walk away without more complications.  He could head into his life with his future mate, guiltless.  And maybe it would be best if he didn’t have memories that haunted him, for the rest of his life, of that one time he was with the one he loved best.  But I didn’t care about any of that myself.  I wanted him.

            I bent my head down and kissed him thoroughly, until he was breathless and clung to me.  Then I pulled my lips away and took the shirt from him.  I put it on and began to button it up.  “Sorry,” I said.  “Ever since you arrived, I’ve been more attracted to you than usual.  Your scent is stronger because you quit taking the suppressants.  Because I’m already in love with you, I think it makes the effect worse.  I want to make love to you and mark you.”

            “That’s why you’ve been avoiding being alone with me?” he asked, still gripping my arm.

            I nodded, tucking the end of my shirt into my pants. 

            “You should have told me,” he said, leaning into me and resting his head against my shoulder.  “I worried that you were losing interest in me.”

            “I told you on the first day that you couldn’t come into my room unless you wanted to spend the night with me,” I reminded him.

            “That isn’t the same as telling me that my scent is affecting you,” he pointed out.

            “Well, I didn’t want to scare you.  But I mean it, you shouldn’t be alone with me unless you don’t care what happens to you.”  I wrapped my arm around him and rubbed his back.  As much as I was trying to warn him away from me, I really didn’t want him to leave.

            “You aren’t the only one who feels more attracted, you know.  Ever since I arrived, I’m more aware of you as well.  Your scent isn’t different, but it affects me differently.  I feel a little dizzy when you’re near.”

            My brows furrowed.  I’d never heard of that reaction before. 

            “And when you aren’t near, I get moody.  Heechul actually accused me of being y the other day,” Ryeowook said, hugging me.  “I only feel better when you’re close.”

            When I thought back on it, Heechul was like that when off his suppressants as well.  He was moody whenever he wasn’t around Siwon, but he never mentioned if being around his future mate made him feel different, physically.  It just seemed to calm him down.

            I’d been keeping my distance out of self-preservation, but if that was making Ryeowook uncomfortable or unhappy, I didn’t think I could keep doing it.  I was just going to have to figure out a way to control my reaction to him, so we could be together.

            “Then I’ll stay close,” I told him, wrapping my arms around him and kissing his cheek.  “Now get dressed before everyone else gets here.”

            Ryeowook nodded and walked over to my bathroom, heading inside to get dressed and fix his hair.  He called me in a little later and also fixed my hair.  I’ve never looked so good, once he was done with me, honestly.  But that wasn’t what had me distracted.  Ryeowook looked ier than I’d ever seen him.  He was wearing a white dress shirt and black