It's that surreal moment that I never thought would become reality. And now we're here, standing on a make shift platform, in front of about half the pack and about to become part of them. I stand facing Raph, his wrist in my hand and mine in his. The moments seems to just never end as we get ready to seal the bond. It's a strange feeling. Up until now, while we haven't been able to complete the mate bond out of fear our old pack would hunt us down, precisely because we didn't belong to any pack, we were the closest to each other. After this ceremony, we're part of a pack again, after more than 5 years, we'd belong to a group again. And somehow, I feel weird. Suddenly I'd have to make space again for all these other people, when previously Raph was pretty much the only thing on my mind. But at the same time, I would finally be able to be finish the mating ceremony with Raph as well. I can't imagine what it will feel like to be even closer to Raph than I am now, but I can't wait to find out.
Eager to get started, I nod to the Alpha and Raph does the same. Marc comes towards us, holding up to small vials. Inside are a few drops of his blood each. Raph and I let go of each other's hands reluctantly and quickly down it. I leave all my doubts behind when I do. They are silly. There is no reason for this to be a negative thing at all.
The blood doesn't exactly taste nice, but then again, I don't taste much of it anyway since it's only so little. As soon as I swallow though, I get a massive headache for a split second and next thing I know Marc is welcoming me to their pack via the mind link we now share. I feel a general excitement surround me and when I look out to the crowd, everyone is smiling at me; it's emanating from them. I can feel them now, I'm part of them. While my heart swells I can't help but grin back towards them. I turn my head to look at Raph, only to find him looking at me already, his face looking as elated as I feel.
'Since we are already gathered here, let's do the two newbies a favour, shall we?' Marc suddenly announces and I realise I've probably been staring at Raph for too long. Again.
The crowd starts snickering, while someone brings up chairs onto the stage. When they're set down behind us, my heart starts beating quicker, hoping this is exactly what I think it is.
'Let's make this a mating ceremony!' Marc announces, barely holding back his laughter at our excited, but borderline surprised faces.
I get pushed into a chair, so does Raph and before I can even register anything, I am looking him dead in the eyes, our knees touching and each of us holding the other's wrist.
Marc is standing by our side, gently smiling at us as he slowly lifts our wrists to the other's lips, silently encouraging us to go ahead.
My hand is shaking as I move it myself. My fingers around Raph's wrist are staring to sweat and I struggle to even open my mouth. I make sure to look Raph dead in the eye, waiting for him to mimic my actions before doing anything. We both take a deep breath in, still trembling. Even though the chairs are here because draining and giving blood at the same time isn't the greatest feeling and has many wolves feeling a bit dizzy, I'm already glad they're here now. Simply the weight of what we're about to do is enough to make my stomach cramp. We're part of the pack now, but that doesn't mean our old pack can't follow us anyway, attacking us even. I don't want to be responsible for that. My doubts - again - must be visible on my face because I can suddenly feel Raph's foot nudging mine, gently encouraging me. I close my eyes briefly, only to nod at him upon opening them. Then, I sink my slightly unnaturally long canines into my mate's wrist. The moment I do I feel my own wrist being pierced as well. Although I wouldn't describe it as painful, there's also no euphoric feeling overwhelming me as I might have expected, nor do I feel squeamish about it. So I drink. The sensation of actively drinking blood from someone's body is a weird one. Having the same done to me makes it even weirder. I can physically feel the blood leaving my body where Raph's lips and teeth are attached. We keep going, one deep pull after another and soon I do feel the dizziness setting in. It comes slowly, but steadily and I have to actively concentrate on not falling off my chair, now definitely glad I'm not standing. My eyes aren't even open anymore. I feel weak, drained, even though I'm taking in Raph's blood at the same time. In theory, mates should exchange half of their blood with their mate, therefore exchanging half of their existence, but in reality, there is no way to coordinate that properly.
I stop when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I can't do much more than to just let go of Raph's hand, letting it fall and feeling my own fall at the same time. I sway for a second before falling forward. My body gets stopped by Raph, who I thought probably fell as well, and my head ends up right next to his. I snuggle into his neck, breathing in his scent that is now ever so slightly different. I wonder if mine is too.
Hello, mate. You smell nice.
After the initial shock, I manage a mental chuckle.
You too. I love you.
Hmm.
We don't talk after that, not even mentally, too exhausted to anyway. Marc helps us to the floor, where we end up just snuggling together, not caring about anything that's going on around us. I can faintly hear people clapping, then talking excitedly from all directions, but I don't move. I just stay closer to Raph. The longer I lie there, the more I'm aware of how close he is. I feel connected to him in a different way now, almost as if a layer was added.
It takes us what feels like about half an hour to get our strength back. I still feel a bit tingly, as if my muscles are recovering from a cramp, but otherwise I'm more than okay.
'Are you feeling okay?' Marc asks as he leads us off the stage. Quite a few of the pack members are still around, but the majority left, probably to catch up on the time they lost here. Work is still work, after all.
'Not too bad. No, great actually.' Raph is grinning next to me. He's holding my hand, touching my shoulder with his and I'm leaning my head on his shoulder as well. The need to be close to him is overwhelming.
'Good to hear. Congratulations. And welcome to your new pack.' Marc's laughter echoes and it sounds like home and I can't help but smile back. This is our new, proper home now, not just a temporary residence. We are part of the pack now.
'Alpha!' The shout comes from the pack house and all of our heads immediately turn towards the voice.
'The neighbouring pack has assembled at the border. They want to speak to you.'
Immediately I tense, and I feel Raph doing the same. They're fast. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, but failing miserably.
'Don't worry, they can't do anything now.' Marc says reassuringly and turns to walk towards where the pack member indicated.
Maybe he's right. Maybe they can't do anything officially, but that doesn't mean individuals can't come after us like they did last time.
Raph and I follow Marc, if a bit reluctant, and with us are about a dozen members of our new pack.
Elif disappeared at some point after the ceremony and never showed up again and I'm kind of thankful that she doesn't have to see this encounter.
When we make it to the border I grow anxious immediately. My eyes search for my mother and Sam, but neither seem to be present and the only thing I pick up on is the restless energy of our former pack.
'What is it you want?' Marc is the first one to speak. He looks relaxed, standing dangerously close to the border, with Randy standing next to him, exuding an air of power and dominance without even trying. The two of them are intimidating and I find myself admiring, not for the first time, how they manage their pack so well.
'We want those two back.' Alpha Timothy's voice is stern, cold, but I detect a sliver of impatience as well. He doesn't look like the same man we left all those years ago. He looks old now.
His hand gestures towards me and Raph sharply, but I force myself to not move, even though I want to flinch away desperately. I'm not afraid of this man, but the guilt he uncovers is crushing.
'They have destroyed my daughter!' he adds, turning his gesture to somewhere next to him. When my eyes follow, they stop on a familiar frame. Sheila stands there, looking everywhere but at us and it's immediately clear that she is feeling our mating. She does look destroyed and the guilt is almost painful, but I don't feel any lingering attachment. I don't feel any of the love I once thought I had for her and I am momentarily grateful for that small relief. Against my better judgement I grasp Raph's hand, not to spite our old pack, but because he seems too far away if I don't hold on to him. He responds with a grateful squeeze, never taking his eyes from the other pack.
'We don't hand over any of our own.' Marc says clearly, voice and posture unwavering.
'They have broken pack laws.'
'They have broken no laws at all.' Marc's responses are clearly grinding on Timothy and the atmosphere grows tenser by the seconds. There are scattered growls in the air from both packs, but no one is making a move.
I'm still staring at Sheila, unable to help myself. No one deserves this and it is least of all her fault.
'I want them to pay for what they did to my daughter.'
'There is nothing more to talk about.' Marc counters, apparently not seeing any point in continuing this very brief discussion. He is right. Timothy is riling himself up and isn't actually listening anymore. When he opens his mouth for yet another statement, he is interrupted by a new voice.
'What he means to say is fuck off.' Randy says in a deadly quiet tone. His stance doesn't change, but the air takes on a dangerous weight.
No one responds for a few seconds, and before anyone can say anything else, Randy turns around and leaves. Without a word, the pack follows him. Marc doesn't comment or move, not even taking his eyes off Timothy until everyone has moved to leave. Only when me and Raph reluctantly move away as well does he turn around to make up the end of our little procession.
I don't relax until we are back at the pack house and until I feel Raph's arms around me.