Chapter 16: CHAPTER 16: SEARCH AND RESCUE PART TWO

"Boys! Master has given us a mission."

"What do you mean?"

"How did you speak with the Lady?"

"That's a secret that you won't know unless you officially join the Winter Family as Master's personal aides.”

The three guys stop rummaging through the endless books and binders full of the city's information and reconvene around the desk, each tired and sleepy.

"So what is this mission that the Lady has given us?" Alex asks as he takes a seat on the stack of books nearby.

"Master has informed me that she is safe on the Golden Lions' estate for now. Tomorrow afternoon, a wedding ceremony will be held to wed Master and the Golden Lions' leader. Our mission is to find a way to rescue Master and defend ourselves against the many felinoids that will be present."

"Do you know where it's going to be held?" Xander frantically asks.

"Master doesn't know yet, but once she does she will inform me." Delic then presses his fingers on the desk and leans across it. "Do you two have a tuxedo?" he asks with a devilish smile on his face.

As I exit the bathroom wrapped in a towel, I pick up the night gown that is sitting on the table when a rapid click echoes through the room. A colossal dark figure erects itself by the doorway.

"What do you want?" I question the figure that stands motionless for a moment.

I disregard the figure thinking it was a figment of my imagination from the exhaustion circulating my body. As soon as I turn my back to the figure, I'm flung onto my bed with the colossal figure on top of me. The moon escapes from behind the clouds to reveal the felinoid that carried me into the estate on his shoulder. His heavy breaths covered me in unwanted heat.

"What do you want?" I question again.

"You're pretty calm for someone in your situation, little girl," the felinoid remarks.

"Is there a reason I should be scared?" I blankly ask.

The felinoid did not like my unfazed reaction. He takes one of his claws and rips open the flimsy towel that was wrapped around me leaving my body exposed. I continue my blank stare not giving the reaction that the felinoid wants to which he glides his finger along my stomach. Granted, it tickles, but I still remain unfazed.

"Why are you not reacting? Aren't girls normally scared when things like this happen?" the felinoid asks, continuing his finger adventure on my bare chest.

"Your mistake was thinking that I'm a normal girl," I retort. "So would you mind getting off of me?"

Pissed that I'm not resisting him, the felinoid snatches my arms and bunts me over his hard crotch. His massive hands felt their way around my back.

"I could overtake you at any moment. Are you still not scared?" the felinoid whispers in my ear.

He is almost like a rougher version of sexual Delic. That is an incredibly odd thought to be thinking about at a time like this, though. Should I play along since I'm bored? This might just be a horrible idea, but nothing is funnier than watching this man trying to hide his confused expression.

I slide my arms around the felinoid's neck and gaze into his eyes with malicious seduction. My glowing blue eyes against my dark shadow glued his attention to me.

"Now, why should I be scared?" I softly respond by stroking his hair. "Aren't you supposed to be the one who's scared?" I slide my hands across his shoulders and down his chest.

The felinoid twitches from the silky touch of my fingers unbuttoning his shirt. "Why should I be the one who's scared?" he asks, trying to keep his unsteady composure.

"I heard that the leader of a pride is very protective over the women he sets his eyes on," I reply, slipping the felinoid's shirt off his shoulders. "I wonder what would happen if he finds out that one of his men touched his property. Or worse, he wanders into the room to find you on me?" A manipulatively innocent smile inches its way across my face. "What do you think would happen?"

The felinoid shoves my bare body off of his lap. His ever-hardening crotch bulges from his pants. "Aw~ leaving so soon?" I ask crawling along the bed getting closer to the felinoid on the other end.

"You're not normal. Something is seriously wrong with you." The felinoid frantically buttons up his shirt. "I would rather keep my job than to get tangled up with you," he states before leaving the room.

...I'm bored again… I guess I can put the night gown on and go to sleep.

I look over at where the night gown should be and realize that it dropped when the felinoid tossed me onto the bed. I pick it up to notice that it had gotten wrinkled.

Better than sleeping naked I guess.

The next morning rolls around, and I am awakened by a knock on the door. To my surprise, a human enters my room with a cart of white dresses followed by a team of make-up and hair stylists.

The wedding... I forgot... I just thought that was a bad dream.

Obediently, I let the stylists do their thing. I'm bored, and I was never really pampered like this so might as well enjoy it until the boys come to get me. Surrounded by a wall of dresses, I choose a few to try on. I decided on a tea length A-line halter type dress that fits around my waist but flows at the end.

I bet the boys will get a kick out of today. I should also prepare for Delic's non stop teasing when we get home, though. Kind of have mixed feelings about what's about to go down, but at least I'm not bored anymore.

A short while after I am dressed, I’m directed outside to a car waiting out front. I get inside where I am surrounded by massive felinoids. This must be my lucky day because the one sitting next to me was the one who came into my room last night.

"Good morning," I say with my manipulatively innocent smile again.

The felinoid nervously glances down at me. "G-good morning, ma'am," he manages to spill out.
I set a gentle hand on his thigh and press down pushing me forward. "Did you have a nice rest last night?" I ask, getting closer to his face.

The other felinoids in the car peek over to see what's going on. I aim my smile towards them. They look behind me to witness their comrade squirming in his seat struggling to stay calm.

"Is there a problem?" I question the felinoids in the front.

They shake their heads and turn around, so I release my hand from the felinoid's thigh and look out the window, exposing the same barren back that the felinoid saw last night. I catch his panicked expression through his reflection in the glass window and laugh to myself as the car drives down the road.

At the Winter Estate, Delic and the twins are getting ready for their departure.

"How did you manage to find suits for us so quickly?" Xander asks, adjusting the ends of his cuffs.

"Don't underestimate a guardian spirit," Delic responds as he fixes his tie. "We have very keen eyes. That's how I was able to get the sizes for your uniforms."

"Oh?~" Xander slides over to Delic's side. "Does that mean that you know the Lady's dimensions as well?" Xander whispers.

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Delic smacks Xander's back and catches his collar. "Of course, I do, but it's not like I'm going to tell you."

He gently tosses Xander away. Xander laughs and readjusts his blazer.

"I was just messing with you," Xander remarks, heading towards his little brother.

Alex stands by the corner, struggling on how to tie his bowtie. Seeing his brother’s frustration, Xander helps and finishes the bowtie.

"Has the Lady updated you on the whereabouts of the wedding?" Alex questions ushering his way over to Delic.

"Not yet. It's still rather early since she said that the wedding will be in the afternoon. Until then, let's pay a visit to the Golden Lions' estate. Thanks to you finding the binder containing their information, we know where it is. We will head there first to see if we can acquire an invitation. Shall we?"

Delic opens the door leading out into the hallway. Xander and Alex look over at each other and smile. One with mischievous ideas in mind and the other with anger simmering within. They make their way outside and hop inside the car in the garage.

For me, I finally arrive in the waiting room for the wedding to begin. I slouch into the soft sofa and huddle myself in a ball. I know that I was being pretentious during my stay in the Golden Lions' estate, but that was because I was bored.

Well...I claim that I was bored... but it's more like... I'm scared.

That night I was scared that the felinoid was going to do something to me, so I thought it would be better to frighten him off by threatening to expose him. This morning I let the stylists do whatever because I was bored, but I was actually scared that the guys wouldn't save me in time, so I was just trying to find something to distract myself with. It's tiring having to keep up such a bravado sometimes, but I can't let these lions see that I'm scared; otherwise, they could use it to their advantage somehow.

‘Master,’ Delic calls from the mind link.

‘What?’ I mumble from between the charmeuse fabric.

‘Have you gotten the location of the venue yet?’

Oh! That's right. I was so concerned with keeping up a bravado that I forgot to tell Delic where I am.

‘Sorry. A lot of things happened, and I got sidetracked. I'm at Sapphire Meadows in the event hall. Right now, I'm in a holding area until the actual ceremony starts.’

‘My little girl is growing up.’

I can hear the annoying fake tears that aren't rolling down his face. ‘Would you stop messing around and come get me? I don't want to be here any longer than I need to be.’

‘We will be there as soon as possible. I didn't think they would hold the ceremony so far from their estate.’

‘Did you go to the estate?’

‘We thought we could get invitations to the wedding, but they weren't being very cooperative, so we had a little fight. Nonetheless, we got the invitations now, so we are heading there now.’

‘What do you mean you got an invitation?’

Delic stays silent for a moment. ‘Don't worry about it.’

Why did I sense a menacing smile behind that response?

‘Anyways, just please get here as fast as you can. This dress is getting annoying.’

‘Oh my~ you are actually in a wedding dress. Now that you said that, I'm going to be blazing down the road so that I can see you first before that hunk of fur does.’

‘Whatever. Just do what you need to do.’

‘As you wish, Master!’

With that, the mind link goes silent, and I'm all alone again in the holding area. Silence fills the room when suddenly a knock disturbs the still room. The stylists from this morning come inside and inform me that they need to do some touch ups before the wedding starts. Like before, I obediently sit and let the stylists do their job. It's not their fault that I'm in this predicament, so I shouldn’t lash out my frustration on them. They are just doing their job.

Ten minutes go by, and the touch ups are done. This is when a nicely built man appears in the doorway. He introduces himself as my escort to the event hall and as the one who will walk me down the aisle. He expresses his condolences for the loss of my father, and that he is honored to be my escort.

It looks like he doesn't know the real reason for this wedding. I guess you wouldn't tell some random guy you hired that this is a shotgun wedding, and the bride is being forced to do this.

The man hands me a bouquet of flowers and reaches out a hand. I casually place my hand in his, and we begin our trek to the event hall.

I don't like holding another man's hand. It feels weird. It doesn't have the same comforting feel.

Is it because I'm so used to Delic holding my hand? Even holding the twins' hands is comforting even though we have only known each other for a couple of days. So why does it feel so wrong holding this guy's hand?

In the midst of my thoughts, I realize that we have made it to the corridor for the event hall. The man checks on me to see if I'm okay, so I just reassure him that I'm fine. Like the stylists, this isn't his fault, so I shouldn't get mad at him. I hear the piano music from the other side of the door and brace myself. I don't know when the three of those idiots get here, but I sure do hope they make it quick. I really don't like what I'm about to see.

The doors to the event hall crack open and release a nauseous smell of perfume, cologne, and flowers. Don't get me wrong. The individual smells are nice, but the mixture of them is enough to mess up an elephant's nose.

The man begins to slowly escort me down the aisle, so I observe the pews and notice that there are not only felinoids but also other species in the audience. Demons, various animal humanoids, pixies, and so many other species unaware of the real gravity of the situation. Not too long after the walk down the aisle began, I find myself standing in front of the leader of the Golden Lions.

The ceremony goes on like it usually does in a normal wedding. The officiant says a few words and then tells us to hold each other's hands. I begrudgingly stretch out my hands, and the lion in front of me takes hold of them. My hands look like they can get swallowed up in this lion's large hands if I relax them even just a little bit.

The leader of the Golden Lions says his vows first. They seem to be a mixture of the generic vows sprinkled with things he adds in. It was quite lengthy, but I guess he wanted the ceremony to look real even though there is a seventeen year old girl being wedded to a thirty almost forty some-odd year old man lion.

How is that legal one might ask? Because I have become an official leader. Official leaders can do anything regardless of age. To the people in the pews, they are assuming that this is a legitimate marriage since the lion in front of me was close with my father, so we must have some sort of close connection.

Now, it's time for me to say my vows. I don't want to say anything. I don't want to be with this man. I don't want to be here. I want to be home surrounded by people I know who truly care about me. I don't want to be alone again. I don't like it. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it so much.

Delic. Xander. Alex. Where are you guys?

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