Anastasia cried out, "Yes I did!" Cruel bastard.

"Good girl," he replied quietly with a grin and then went back to his ministrations.

She was about to come when a knock sounded on their door.

"No, no!" she said in order to ward whosoever was on the door.

Ileus' tongue was relentless. Her legs began shaking. He sucked her until the tension that had coiled in her belly unfurled and pleasure exploded through her body making her nonverbal. Her body convulsed as his golden eyes watched her in the throes of pleasure for the next few seconds. His erection throbbed to get inside her. His wolf was satisfied to cater to his mate.

The knock on the door became heavy. A girl called from the outside, "Princess, is Prince Ileus in there?"

Anastasia looked at him with heavy lidded eyes as her chest heaved. She said, "They are looking for you." That was wonderful. She wanted to have more.

He crawled up on her and kissed her lightly on her lips. "Let them."

She pushed against his chest and shook her head. "Go Al. We must respect their customs."

"Then come with me."

She giggled. "No. In fact I will meet you tomorrow at the wedding."

"What?" He jerked his head as his heart panicked in his chest. "I am going to come here after dinner."

She placed a finger on his lips. "No Al. You won't. Let's get married first."

"Princess Anastasia!" The girl on the outside was pounding the door with fervor.

"Change back into your wolf," Anastasia sounded urgent. She looked at the door and shouted, "One minute!" Then she cupped his cheeks and placed a kiss on the tip of his nose. "You have to go."

"No," he shook his head.

All of a sudden, it was as if more than one person was knocking the door. "Princess, are you okay?" she shouted with concern in her voice.

"I am!" Anastasia shouted back. "Damn it, Ileus go!" She didn't want them to catch him with her. It would be such disregard to their customs.

Ileus looked at the door and growled as if to ward them away, but the knob of the door started moving and suddenly it broke. He stared at her as if drinking her looks, snapped his fingers and disappeared into shadows, which faded instantly. The door opened with a loud bang and Anastasia quickly covered herself with the blanket. Her hair was tousled, her lips were swollen, the rouge of which was smeared around her mouth and there was a red mark on her neck.

There were two girls who rushed in and were aghast seeing her condition. "Did the wolf pup do that to you? Were you playing with him? By Evindal! We have to prepare you again. Was there someone else in here with you? We heard noises. Did you see Prince Ileus coming in?"

Anastasia didn't know what to say. She clutched her blanket hard.

"Where is the wolf pup?" asked the second girl with wonder in her eyes.

"I- he hopped out of the window!" she said glibly.

"Oh! Good!" The girls walked to her and said, "Sorry to disturb you, but we suspected someone's presence in the room. Please forgive us."

"It's fine," Anastasia mumbled.

The girls smiled. "In that case we are leaving you. Please take a nap. We will come to wake you up for the evening celebrations."

"Okay!" she breathed out and the girls walked out of her room.

Anastasia took a sigh of relief. "That was close!" she mumbled.

In the evening when she woke up, she was dressed for a different set of customs. She missed Ileus but things were happening so fast that she soon got tired. But there was one thought she cherished-she was getting married to Prince Ileus and not Aed Ruad. Even though she had heard that the dark prince or the dark wizard was one of the most notorious bad boys of the Lore, she had never imagined that he would be the man she would tie her knots with. She wanted to imagine how Aed Ruad would take this information. And now she realized why Haldir sent her and Ileus to Evindal-Aed Ruad wouldn't have let them get married in their realm. He would have hounded them forever.

Once the customs were over, Anastasia was so tired that she slept like a log. She woke up to a new day with excitement in her heart. Ileus had kept her words. He didn't come to see her during the night and now she was dying to meet him.

Over the next two hours, Anastasia was given a scented bath, dressed in a sheer white gown made from extremely soft fabric. It fell from her shoulders to her feet and was attached on the side with a large number of gold chains. Her hair cascaded on her back in thick curls. She was made to wear a gold circlet that had a series of carefully crafted flowers that were found in the valley. She was given a bouquet at the center of each of which she spied tiny gems of various colors that sparkled.

To say that Anastasia was nervous was an understatement. She was anxious and the nest of butterflies in her belly was bigger than usual. Her skin was flushed red.

"We will be walking to the palace, princess," said the girl who had dressed her. She dropped the veil over her face. "Are you ready for this wedding?"

She felt that she had never been so ready in her life. She nodded vehemently and giggled.

The girl held her hand and led her outside. It was a beautiful day. Cool breeze fluttered her veil and she felt comfortable. Sun was burning bright in the morning sky, but it wasn't warm. Sweet fragrance of flowers filled the air and the birds chirped merrily.

Suddenly the place filled with festive mood. As soon as Anastasia walked on the cobbled street that led to the palace, small children started showering flowers on her and in front of her.