Chapter 124 - Let me get those rings

HADRIAN

The door to the shed is nearly falling from its hinges. The wood is weathered and croaks when I push it open. The scent of wood fills the shed. There is an echoing sound of metal clashing against metal. The heat releases a burning scent and it combines with the large amount of wood.

The shed is filled with chairs. Lucas is hunched over an anvil and swings a hammer against the metal. I offered to help him with his to-do list in preparation for the wedding in a few days. It’s mostly me getting back in his good graces after mercilessly mating Emma.

Everyone in Aldea is contributing to the wedding in one way or another. I’ve been told that a few hundred people will watch how two people exchange a piece of metal as a sign of their commitment. It’s their way of marking each other. But it’s only outward, there is no bonding ceremony or anything. Nothing that connects their souls.

*“What is he doing?”* Nero asks as he takes in the shed and tries to piece together what is going on. His guess is as good as mine.

“I’m fixing these chairs for the wedding,” Lucas answers from his position at the anvil as he inspects a metal pin.

“I didn’t ask,” I say confused.

“But you were thinking it.” He says and turns his attention to me.

Actually, Nero was thinking it.

*“Can he hear me?”* Nero asks me and there’s an edge of excitement building in him. He directs his attention to Lucas. *“Can you hear me?”*

I wait for Lucas to answer Nero. I find myself hoping that he can. It could shine more light on his ability. Every ability is different and it can take a wolf decades to learn and develop it. That is with being able to communicate with their wolf. Lucas and Emma are depending on accidentally figuring it out.

Lucas frowns the longer the silence stretches. “What are you looking at?”

*“Guess not,”* I tell Nero.

Lucas points at the metal bin of tools. “Grab a screwdriver, I need your help.” Lucas removes the metal pin from the anvil and turns to one of the broken chairs.

The bin is overflowing with pointy metal tools. They all have different shapes and sizes and some have colored handles.

*“Which one is the screwdriver?”* I ask Nero.

Admitting to Lucas that I never needed to fix anything myself seems like a blow to my ego that I don’t want to face. I don’t shy away from hard work, but even in the army, there is a certain amount of delegation. Especially when being a royal.

*“I think the blue one,”* Nero says after careful consideration.

“No, get the green one,” Lucas says with his back turned to me.

What is going on? I know his psychic sense is strong, but can he even sense Nero? Or at least the essence of him.

“Don’t tell me that you don’t know how to use a screwdriver?” Lucas turns to face me. There’s a hint of amusement tugging his mouth in a smirk.

“Why would I?” I grumble as I get the green screwdriver from the bin.

Lucas laughs. “Real men know how to use a screwdriver.”

I feel a growl build in my chest. “I am a real man.”

“Sure you are,” Lucas says with a snigger.

“Emma wasn’t complaining this morning.” I counter.

Lucas hurls and waves two hands for me to stop. “Don’t even start making jokes about my sister and your *’screwdriver’*.”

I can’t help but chuckle. I definitely made good use of my ‘screwdriver’ every night and morning since I mated her. Sneaking into her bedroom in the night is easier now that a few people know about my identity. Even if it also brings a lot of risks with it. But staying away from my mate is impossible now. We both need it.

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After fixing a dozen chairs, Lucas showed me the rest of his to-do list. He's the ring keeper and he insisted that I join him when getting the rings. At first, I thought that Lucas just wanted to make me uncomfortable by making me go to the silversmith. The constant pungent scent of silver emanating from the shop hovers as a cloud around the building. It makes the hairs on the back of my neck rise.

“I always get the creeps when I get here,” Lucas mutters. He doesn’t seem to be elated to be here. There’s a definite strain on his shoulders. This doesn’t seem like payback.

The wind blows through the cracks and whistles when we enter. We’re the only people in the shop. The howling wind together with the silver does give something eerily to the space.

Nero is growling at the abundant amount of silver. He’s still adjusting to this human world. I have a hard time avoiding the silver without wanting to walk a mile-wide circle around it.

There are daggers, arrows, shackles and even silver wire. The ways to trap or injure a werewolf are seemingly endless.

Silver-spun netting spans over the ceiling. It gives me a chill when I walk under it. Nero is growling at every piece of silver he sees.

“There you are.” An old man says as he comes through the door in the dark corner of the shop. He steps into the light with a heavy uneven step. The cane in his hand scrapes over the floorboard. The old man has deep scars on one side of his face and he’s missing one eye.

“I’ve been waiting for you.” The man grumbles and moves to the back of the shop. “Let me get those rings.”

The wind blows inside and slams a door close. Lucas jumps and the shivers are visible on his skin, “See, this place is creepy.”

“It’s a place filled with silver,” I mutter and can’t help but grimace. This place would give any werewolf the shivers and apparently some half-werewolves too.

Besides weapons, there’s also a long display of jewelry. Different gemstones are set in mostly silver bands. My eyes roam over all the different pieces, but get stuck on one of the few things in the shop that isn’t made of silver.

It’s a white and blue stone set in a white golden band. I pick it up from the display and the light shimmers on the stone. It creates different shades of blue to dance around.

“Moonstone.” The silversmith says when he returns with a little box in one hand. His eye is directed to the tiny ring in between my fingers.

It has a depth to it, something otherworldly. Every angle is different. The vibrance of blue reminds me of the brightest part in the composition of her eyes.

“I’ll take it,” I say without hesitation. That ring is mine and it belongs on the finger of my mate.

Humans look strangely at the idea of me marking my mate. In a way it's to show other males that she’s mine. Humans do the same with the rings they forge. The principal stays the same.

The moonstone lights up the moment we step out of the shop and the sun directly hits the gem. It sparkles and dances as it reflects the light.

“If you’re going to ask my sister to marry you, then you first need to ask permission,” Lucas says with a stab of his elbow as he pockets the case with the two rings.

“From who?”

“Me of course, Asshole.” Lucas clamors. “What do you even know about marriage?”

They promise to love each other even if nothing is binding them together. At least humans are persistent in their ways since they choose to do it over and over.

“That I would only want it with Emma.”

Emma is my mate in my world. Now I want to be her husband in hers.

“That’s something, I guess,” Lucas mutters.