Humphrey's POV
"So, are you ready for this?" I heard Shakey ask me as we stopped in front of the caves entrance "Honestly I'm nervous, but I've never been more ready in my life" I replied taking a deep breath before speaking. "You'll do great! It's only a wedding and just think, within the next hour or two you'll be married to Kate." Salty said. I smiled "Yeah I'm so excited about it, you can't even imagine how I feel inside right now. It feels like I'm on top of the world but at the same time I got butterflies in my stomach." I said. "I'm sure it's amazing, maybe the rest of all will experience it someday as well." Salty said.
"Don't worry you'll all find that special someone, everyone does. It might seem like it is far away but trust me it's not" I say calmly making me think about how Kate and I were opposites and still managed to fall in love. "Thanks man" Mooch said with the others nodding and smiling. It became silent after that and I look up to notice that it was getting near the time of when my wedding was to begin. I looked back down to them, ready to get this show on the road.
"I appreciate everything you guys have done for me today, really. You have my kindest of regards and if there's anything you need don't hesitate to ask." I say looking at the three of them. "You're welcome, think of it as our thanks for all the times you've been there for us." Shakey said "Yeah!" Mooch agreed. I stick out one of my forearms out straight in from of me "To friendship!" I said loudly. They all immediately did the same thing as I did putting their paws all on top of mine. "To friendship!" They replied before we put our paws back down.
"Alright, let's do this" I say getting up and turning towards the cave entrance. The light grew dark as the four of us silently entered the gloomy cave, from a first appearance you wouldn't say this place was beautiful. The grey stony walls neither showed nor reflected any emotion, just a plain slate of nothingness. The roots that dangle above almost looked like they would reach out to you. Grabbing you and locking you inside the darkness forever, but if you fought your way through it you find the beauty that lied deeper within the cave. For around the corner was something that would take your breath away. Something that seemed out of your wildest dreams and almost fictional. This was of course the small room with a pond full of cool water and was filled with light from a hole in the roof. It still looked as amazing as when I last left it, as if frozen in time.
"Wow, you defiantly weren't lying about how amazing this is" Shakey said as the four of us walked up to the edge of the pond. "Oh yeah, defiantly one of a kind" Salty agreed "I'm just glad Kate and I found this, or else we would be getting married in the valley. I mean don't get me wrong the valley's nice but come on this is just unique." I said repeating my thoughts aloud. I climbed up onto the rock where I would be waiting until everyone and Kate arrived. I looked back at my three friends where we seated off to the right of me. Upon first glance you could actually fit a good amount of wolves in here. More than I thought meaning everyone shouldn't be all crammed in here for the ceremony.
As time passed wolves began to show up one by one either alone or in groups. So far everyone was western which I expected, but I didn't expect to see some eastern wolves to show up as well. Within the audience that sat below me I recognized Hutch, Candu, Reba, Janice, Lilly and Garth. I even saw the wolf Mooch got to howl with during the last moonlight howl. A whole thirty minutes had passed and mostly everyone from the western side of the pack was here. I counted about six eastern wolves including Tony who was their leader alongside Winston now. Everyone was talking and a few came up to talk to me including Lilly and Garth who said that they were happy for Kate and I, and wished us the best of luck. I already knew they were but I still said thank you and smiled.
The cave was mostly filled now and the voices of everyone were echoing throughout the cave. I looked towards the entry way in time to see Eve walk in and stop. She looked at me and signaled for me to quiet everyone down so that the wedding could begin. I nodded before standing up and clearing my throat "Alright everyone please listen up!" I said loudly over the voices of everybody else. They all stopped what they were doing and immediately looked at me, never have I been looked at by so many wolves at once.
"Welcome and thank you all for coming, it means a lot. The ceremony will be starting shortly but first I need you all to do me a favor." I said looking across all the faces that looked back at me. No one spoke which overwhelmed me, I had never felt so in charge before and the feeling was odd and new to me. "We need an aisle way down the middle here in front of me, so pick a side and move over." I say using my forepaws to show where I wanted the group to split up. Everyone did as they were told and moved over giving a clean walkway between the room entrance and I. "Perfect, thank you" I said receiving a smile from Eve who then walked toward me and sat in the front row.
It may seem like I just happen know what I'm doing when in reality Winston and Eve made a plan for how the wedding was to commence. You didn't exactly have a lot of room in this cave so I was told that I would have to do a few extra things such was making a walkway. It felt silly to me but if that's what had to be done in order to marry then so be it. Everyone remained silent waiting for the last two wolves to show up, this was of course Winston who would be bringing Kate.
As I stood there on top of the rock I felt anxiety building up within me. I couldn't wait to see Kate come around the corner in all her glory. I still had butterflies in my stomach from being nervous, and amount of emotions I felt was crazy. I never knew how complex of a feeling love could be. So much that it took me time to figure out the strange feelings I was getting around Kate before she went to alpha school. At first I thought I was sick since my stomach felt like it was in knots. It did go away but as soon as I saw her again it came right back. Even when I thought about her it yielded the same feelings. Eventually I figured out that I loved her and accepted the emotion and feeling as that.
Love can have two sides, you either thrive in it and live a great life. Or you get burned by it and feel a whole mix of feelings that bring you down to your knees. I can say that I've experienced both to a degree, sure I didn't really get burned but it was there for a brief moment of time. In the end it worked out and here I am now getting married to the girl of my wildest dreams. Life was good and I hoped it was going to stay that way for a long, long time.
Suddenly I could see Winston come around the corner of the cave and stop. Shortly after came the golden tan pelt of a wolf that I loved so much words couldn't describe it. Kate stopped next to her father as they stood at the opposite side of the aisle from me. Everyone had turned around and now had their eyes on their leader and his daughter. Winston had a smile on his face, he had mentioned many times before that he was happy to see his daughters married off to the wolves that they loved. Kate had a smile as well and holy... she looked like a goddess, her fur was neatly combed and clean seaming to sparkle in the dim light of the cave. In her mane was a pink flower tucked neatly on her right ear, it looked much like the one she had on from the night we were captured. Once again she had managed the impossible and looked even more stunning to me. If she wasn't the definition of beauty then I don't know what is.
Winston lead her down the aisle past all the other wolves who's eye's followed them. I had locked eyes with her, time playing in slow motion as I watched her walk. I just smiled which she returned until they finally reached me. Winston climbed up first looking at me and gave a small nod, signaling that he accepted me marrying his daughter. I nodded back, of course I already knew that he accepted it but it was a part of tradition. Kate shortly followed him up and stood in front of me our smiles still showing. Winston stood in front of us facing the crowd ready to begin the ceremony.
"Welcome one and all, thank you for showing your support in seeing these two wolves marry and become one. I would like to say that as the father of the bride I accept her decision in choosing a mate. Humphrey is a good wolf who will do anything to be there for her. He's more than willing to take chances to keep her safe as I've witnessed before and his courage in helping her back home supports this. He may be an omega but I am proud to call him my son and I hope to see these two enjoy many years of happiness together."
A few wolves cheered as Winston jumped down to sit beside Eve in the front row. It was now just Kate and I starring at each other as the cheering ceased. My heart was racing, feeling like it could burst out of my chest at any moment. It felt like an eternity had passed while I looked into her eyes. I felt like not doing anything and just spend the rest of my time standing there before her. But the longer we stood here frozen in time the further away our marriage will be postponed. "So, you ready?" I whispered to her, she lightly giggled to herself before responding "Oh you know I am" She whispered back.
I nodded before beginning the marriage ritual, I moved up closer to her where I breathed in her scent accepting it. I smelt the sweet smell that was her scent but I could also smell something else, like she had rubbed something on her much like Salty had done to me. Whatever it was it smelled great, I wanted to stay there so I could continue to smell it but I fought the urge and pulled back. It was Kate's turn to accept my scent and I watched her bring head next to mine smelling the side of my neck. A few moments later she pulled back ready for the next step which was to nibble on each other's ears.
Everything was going smoothly and before I knew it we were at the final and most important step. Our noses came together ending the ritual meaning that Kate and I were finally true mates. I could hear everyone cheer and howl from below us. Our kiss lasted for a short while until we pulled away and just stood looking back at each other. I was overwhelmed by my emotions as I smiled the biggest I could. Kate was smiling as well but I could see that her eyes were starting to become watery. The happiness inside her was bringing her to tears and it made me want to do the same. I embraced her into a hug which she returned burying her face into the side of my neck wiping off her tears into my fur.
"We did it, were finally married" I said softly to her "I know, I can't believe that everything has gone so perfect for us." She said. "Yeah I can't believe it either, I love you Kate" I said "I love you too" She replied before we pulled out of our hug. The tears were gone in her eyes but you could tell they were once there. We faced the group of wolves who were still cheering but began to quiet down. Winston walked back up and stood beside us "As your leader I hereby announce that Kate and Humphrey are now mates and may their future be filled with greatness. I would like to thank all of you for showing up it means a lot to not only me but the wedded couple as well. The ceremony is over and a celebratory pack dinner will be being held at the western feeding grounds. You are all welcome to attend if you so wish and we hope to see you there." He said. Wolves began to exit the cave before us, all going back to whatever it was they had planned to do. Since Kate and I didn't want our wedding to be a big thing we decided that instead of having a moonlight howl party there would just be a pack dinner. Just something simple, plus there was a howl only a few days ago so it wasn't necessary to have another one so soon.
Soon everyone had left leaving just Kate, Eve, Winston and I. Kate and I had jumped off of the rock and sat next to our parents "I'm so proud of you honey, I always imaged the day of seeing my daughters get married." Eve said "Thanks mom" Kate replied, she was leaning up against me with one of her paw's on top of mine. My head was up in the clouds, the moment felt so unreal almost like I was dreaming, I was lost in my thoughts going through everything that had just happened. I was always thinking about the past almost two weeks and how so much has happened. I went from being an omega with a far off love to an omega who was married to an alpha. I would have thought you were crazy if you said that I would be married to Kate within two weeks.
"Well we should be getting back home, the dinner will be starting soon." I heard Winston say as I came back to reality. "Alright" I said as we all got up and walked out of the cave. The sun was getting low to the horizon as it was getting ready to set on this eventful day. The wind was blowing cooling everything off, it had been a hot day today and the wind did feel good on my fur. It seemed like I was calling every day the best in my life but I knew that this would have to be the last one for a long time. Nothing would top this day, the day that I married the love of my life. The only thing that could top this would be the day Kate and I have family, but as I've said before that day was far off in my mind.
I looked over at Kate who was walking along side of me, 'Well you did it Humphrey, you got the girl of your dreams...' My mind said as I looked at her. She must have realized that I was looking at her because she turned and faced me. She giggled when she realized that I actually was looking at her "What are you looking at?" She asked playfully rubbing up against my side trying to push me away. "Nothing, can't a guy look at his wife?" I replied with a sly smile, she laughed again "I suppose so" She said still messing with me. The forest was quiet as the four of us walked through it, it was peaceful and felt romantic considering my love was right by my side. "So what do we do now?" She suddenly asked as we got closer to home, after all that has happened all I want to do is absolutely nothing. "Well I don't know about you but I'm doing nothing but spend time with you" I said. "I'd like that" She was all she said smiling, she licked the side of my muzzle which made me blush from the feeling. I smiled and happily returned the action causing a few soft giggles to escape from her.
"I love you"
"I love you too Kate, always and forever."
THE END
A/N: Woo it's done! Happy ending for everyone but it's not over yet, that's right I'll be writing a sequel continuing the story. So keep an eye out for that coming soon. I would like to thank you for reading this story and I hoped you enjoyed it. And thanks to those that took the time to review after each chapter, you're words kept me going strong as this story was completed within a month's time (That's faster than Adventures). Feel free to leave your thoughts about the story as a whole, I accept criticism you might have. Well that's enough blabbering, have a good day!-ChriZ