I wait nervously, shifting until Jarek presses a hard kiss to my forehead.
“Let’s make it official.”
“I’m in.”
Cadel nods, but I can see in his eyes that he’s pleased.
Giddy excitement fills me, and I roll onto my stomach. “Now we just need someone to officiate.”
“Uh, maybe I can help,” a voice says from close by.
Chapter 54
I vow
Legion raises his hands when Mordecai, Jarek, and Cadel charge him.
“Easy, I’m just checking the traps and heard the music. Thought I’d check. You want someone to witness and officiate your bonding ceremony. Let me do that for you.”
“Alphas,” I murmur. “It would be perfect. Secret.”
Jarek glances back at me and shrugs. “I like that.”
Legion comes and sits down with us. Mordecai shares his food with him. Legion doesn’t talk much, but he watches intently until, at last, it gets dark.
Jarek lights some candles he brought, but just as we stand up, the world erupts in fireflies. They glow in a rainbow of hues and dance in the air, turning the world into some fantasy landscape.
I inhale and exhale suddenly, nervous.
I strip out of my clothes, watching as the alphas do the same.
I walk towards them until we’re all standing two feet from each other. Legion stands at the fifth point, the only one with clothes on.
“Stripped to the flesh, naked under the gaze of our gods, you come to bind yourselves to each other in this life and all those that come after.”
I jerk my head away from my alphas, looking at Legion. He’s following the bonding ceremony that the ancients used. My mother told me about it many times.
“Which gods sanction your bonding?” Legion asks.
“The Alpha God of Fire sends us fiery passion,” Jarek says and reaches out, holding one hand in the middle of our circle.
“The Alpha God of Winter sends the strength of winter’s inescapable grip,” Cadel murmurs and extends his hand.
“The Alpha God of the Hunt sends the wisdom of the ancient forests,” Mordecai says.
They look at me.
“The Omega Goddess of the Moon sends her light so that we may always find each other.”
I don’t know why I said that. It just came out. Half of me panics, but then it eases, and it just feels right.
My body burns; it’s on fire. I’m cold, and a shadow creeps over me. It’s like a dream, but I reach out my hand and place it on theirs.
“The High Gods bless this union; may it last until the end of days. You share a soul, tethered together. Your hearts beat as one, your will forge a life together, and your love will never die. May you find each other in every world.”
Legion steps out of the circle and walks around us. We step in, closing the gap, reaching out with a free hand to the person on our right.
“A pack is a privilege; an omega is the heart. The alphas cannot find balance without her, and she can’t exist without them. Alphas, how will you show your love foryour omega?”
