“Crushing me,” Raja choked out.
“Look at you!” Kali exclaimed, using less force in her hug now. “You’re a married man! Finally! And you look so handsome on your wedding day. I’m so proud of you.”
He blushed. “Thanks, mom.”
“And you!” Kali cried, facing me. “You are a lovely man and I’m so glad Raja found you.” She sighed dreamily. “Neither of you will ever be lonely again. No matter what happens, you will always have each other.”
I glanced down at Raja. His expression didn’t betray his true feelings in the slightest. He was playing up his lie and it was completely believable.
“Anyway,” Kali said, “let’s eat before the food gets cold!”
She hustled away to the long table, which was now covered in many different types of food - all of which smelled delicious.
“Shall we go eat?” I asked Raja. I noticed that now his mother was gone, his smile faded ever so slightly.
“Yeah, let’s eat,” he replied. “I just hope I don’t spill anything on this fancy white shirt.”
“I’ll make a bib out of a napkin for you,” I teased gently.
“Oh, good,” he replied with a playful roll of his eyes. “Finally, I have my very own big strong alpha will protect me from food stains.”
The buffet table lured me in with its amazing smells. I hadn’t noticed how hungry I was until now. Everything was such a whirlwind since I arrived that I’d completely forgotten to eat. The scent of slow-cooked boar roast in particular made my mouth water.
As I approached the feast, villagers stepped aside and let me stack my plate with food. Raja joined me and I offered him a plate.
“Hungry?” I asked.
His eyes gleamed. “A little. Not for food, though.”
Before I could ask what he meant by that, Koto burst in and threw his arms around his cousin.
“I can’t believe you went ahead and did it, Raja!” Koto exclaimed. “You actually went and got married!”
“Sure did,” Raja said, elbowing his cousin back.
“Who knew that old laptop would make all of this happen, huh?” Koto grinned. He pointed a finger at me. “You better treat my cousin well, you hear?”
“Of course,” I said politely.
“Oh, leave him alone,” Raja growled, shooing Koto away. “He’s more of a gentleman than you, at least.”
Raja laughed at the offended look on Koto’s face.
We sat down at a table with our food. I tried not to notice the embarrassing amount of food on my plate compared to everyone else.
“You’re adragon,” Raja said, as if reading my mind. “Plus you just made a huge flight over here. Besides, all of this food is for us. Go ahead and eat.”
I didn’t need to be told twice before digging in. Roast boar, wild vegetables and aromatic rice… Everything tasted as good as it smelled.
“Kind of weird eating roast boar in front of the Skrofa clan chief, isn’t it?” Koto mumbled, glancing over his shoulder. Sotu was exchanging warm words with Eka by the buffet table.
Raja shrugged. “Well, we’re not eating boarshifters, just normal boar. I don’t think he cares.”
Koto frowned and waved his fork. In a low voice, he said, “Hey, we never did get to ask about those poachers. I wonder if they were from Skrofa clan after all?”
Poachers?I thought in slight panic.
“Koto, I donotwant to talk about this on my damn wedding day,” Raja hissed.
