Chapter 72 Valens
Valens
Three weeks later
Night of the full moon
People were everywhere, running haphazardly, but I didn’t care, and I couldn’t stop grinning.
Tonight was the night I got to bond with Elodie, and literally nothing could bring me down.
Famine? I could stand to lose a few pounds, as long as there was enough food for Bence.
War? Been there, done that. Locusts? Just flying popcorn to a wolf.
I was ready to bond with my girl, and there was nothing that would stop me from having her tonight.
A gentle tug on my hand made me look down. “What’s up, bud?”
“Uncle Walens, my tie is itchy. Do I have to wear one? You’re not.” The little fella tugged at his tie, wearing a comical grimace.
“Nah, you can take it off.” I crouched down to help him unthread the offending piece of clothing.
“Thank you. Aunt Leigh said I looked too handsome, anyway.”
I snorted. “That was a compliment, and you’re still too handsome, even without the tie.”
He sighed, as if it was the worst thing ever. “If you say so.”
I chuckled as I stood, tucking his tie into the closest planter. Good riddance, as far as I was concerned.
“V-man! You ready to get hitched?” Lucien strolled up, wearing a suit, slick-backed hair, and a near-feral grin. “I hear the ladies are getting impatient. Something about the moon being almost right. And Kane’s nearly done at the New Peace ceremony. You’re up immediately after.”
“There’s gonna be two ceremonies? Ugh!” Bence buried his face in his hands, just as Olivia walked up at Lucien’s side.
“I know, ceremonies are so boring. What do you say you and I go prep the flowers for the bonding? We’ve got to make a really big pile of them, and I feel like you’d be the best person for the job.”
Bence sprang up from his pity party like it never happened and grabbed her hand. “Thank you, Aunt Oli. That sounds way better.”
“Agreed.”
The two of them strolled toward the door, but Oli shot me a wink over her shoulder as she led my adopted son away.
He still called me Uncle Valens, and I wasn’t pushing him to change any time soon. I hoped one day I might get upgraded to Dad, though.
Lucien chuckled after their retreating backs. “Let’s head to the amphitheater. The sooner we’re all there, the sooner the bonding can begin.”
“But not at the amphitheater, right?”
“No, man. We wouldn’t do that to you. The bonding clearing is ready, except for whatever flowers Oli’s planning to add with Bence.”
I nodded, relieved.
We wanted to keep the bonding small, and most of our allies who’d fought—and quite a few so-called allies, like the centaurs, who hadn’t made it to the fight—had arrived for the peace talks after.
Every species, every IGC representative, all together to make a new accord.
One that didn’t persecute wolves, or overlook the smaller, less powerful species.
It had been a busy few weeks, but this afternoon, a new peace deal was signed into law. I didn’t know all the specifics, but I knew omegas were no longer banned, and the ODL had been completely abolished.
Our pack’s females were safe now, at least from the law.
Elodie and I would be there to guard them from anything else. We were officially on the pack payroll as guardians, and after the honeymoon, we’d be back to work. But first, we had to bond.
I was ready.
We arrived at the amphitheater as Kane and the other species’ leaders were finishing.
The dragons had even stayed for the ceremony, and I saw the two of them in human form off to the other side, looking bored.
The IGC looked a little different with more seats added.
Fourteen individual species were represented now, but every species, no matter how small, had the right to request their own seat if they wanted it.
We watched as everyone shook hands, the crowd cheered, and Kane waved as he walked off the dais.
I wasn’t a political wolf, but even to me it felt like a great big sigh of relief. Wolves had been persecuted for so long. This was how it always should have been. Equal, free, and safe. For everyone, no matter their designation.
That’s all we’d ever wanted.
Now, we had it.
Kane spied us waiting on the fringes and walked over. “You ready for the best day of your life?”
I grinned. “The best day was the day I met her.”
He shook his head. “It’s about to be even better, trust me. Come on.” He slapped me on the shoulder and led the way to the bonding clearing as the gathered crowd dispersed.
We took our places on the flower mound, Lucien prepping to hold the ceremony as my Alpha, while Kane took a seat next to Brielle in the front row.
She carried the omega stone with her openly now, and I took a moment to admire the beautiful blue hue. It was yet one more sign that things were back to rights. No more red, and seeing the stone reminded us all of that every day.
Lucien cleared his throat, grabbing my attention. “You remembered the bonding gift?”
I snorted. “She doesn’t want one. Insisted that I’d already given her two swords, and that swords were a girl’s best friend.
” Elodie was a woman who didn’t want for much, and her newfound fortune hadn’t changed it.
She insisted that everything she needed, she already had.
Usually right before kissing me. Other than buying some things for Bence and a few new outfits to replace her leggings, she hadn’t touched it.
We’d been talking about using it to help rebuild, though, after the war.
When the time was right, I knew she’d use it for good.
She hadn’t opened the personal letter either, but I wasn’t going to push her before she was ready.
We’d all been through enough. There was no rush.
Lucien threw his head back and laughed. “Fair enough. If she’s good with it, so am I. The rings?”
“Dirge has them,” Reed said as the two of them walked up, both offering me fist bumps as they took their places.
“Gael volunteered, but he and Leigh are keeping Bence for the night,” I added, grinning at the little boy sitting in what remained of Leigh’s rapidly shrinking lap, next to Shay and Fiona.
They’d become fast friends, he and his honorary aunts.
But was that… a kitten he was holding? The thing was gangly legged and awkward looking, but that was definitely a cat.
Fuck it. That’s a problem for tomorrow.
The music started, and I forgot all about the kitten. I whipped around, staring intently toward the end of the flower aisle, desperate to catch the first glimpse of Elodie today.
The women had all hidden her away from me, and when I’d gone sniffing around this morning, hoping to steal a kiss, my own sister had run me off, claiming it was bad luck.
She was fully team Elodie now, and I couldn’t have been happier.
Okay, well, if she’d let me steal a kiss, maybe. But I was eternally glad they were becoming friends.
I spotted Galyna first, walking down the aisle with a bottle of perfume.
Savannah walked right behind her, beaming a smile as she carried the special fertility water in a jar.
They were dressed in simple but elegant dresses, Galyna’s the traditional maiden’s robes.
My eyes barely skimmed over them, though, because I was so anxious to see my mate.
They took their places on the flower mound, opposite me, and then we all turned, waiting for my mate.
Elodie came slowly, walking carefully down the flower aisle as if she didn’t want to crush a single petal.
She was absolutely breathtaking. She wore a one-shoulder purple lace gown, perfectly fitted to every one of her curves.
And if my eyes didn’t deceive me, it was completely see-through underneath the lace, the pale shadow of a nipple taunting me as she drew closer.
It took everything I had to wait as she drew closer, when everything in me wanted to run to her, pull her up the aisle.
But instead, I drank her in, trying to memorize every tiny detail of the moment.
The way her shining hair twisted to the side, leaving her neck bare for my bite.
The way she smiled so shyly up at me, as if we hadn’t already shared the most intimate experience a couple could.
The memories only fueled my desire to have her back in my arms. Finally, she reached me, the soft perfume of crushed blooms filling the air as she handed her bouquet to Galyna so she could place her hands in mine.
“Hi,” she whispered, casting a nervous glance at the crowd. “Everyone is staring at us.”
I leaned in close so only she could hear. “Everyone’s happy for us. But don’t worry about them.”
She nodded, and I snuck a kiss on her temple before I pulled back.
“Hey now, no kissing the girl early,” Lucien joked, and our friends laughed from their seats.
Elodie rolled her eyes, and I felt her nerves melt away through our bond.
Reed stepped forward first to officially get the bonding ceremony underway. He held up a black box, then opened it to reveal a matched pair of engraved throwing daggers, each with a ruby-encrusted hilt. “For prosperity,” he said, carefully laying the box at our feet.
Elodie glanced at me wide-eyed, mouthing a surprised Wow at our bonding gift. I squeezed her fingers, glad she was pleased with them.
My sister came next, waiting until Reed had stepped back into place before coming to kneel at our feet.
“For fertility,” she said with a wink and a grin as she knelt and splashed the rosehip water over our feet and ankles.
“You two need a do-over with the heat. I want more nieces and nephews.” She rose and pressed a kiss to my cheek before returning to her position.
Galyna’s eyes were uncharacteristically misty as she came forward, opening the bottle of perfume in her hands.
“For passion,” she said in a clear, cool voice.
She then spritzed the lovelace perfume behind both of Elodie’s ears and inside her wrists, at her pulse point.
She turned to me and repeated the action.
It worked quickly, Elodie and I locking eyes as she stepped back, already ready to tear each other’s clothes off.
But then I remembered our audience and held myself painstakingly still.
Dirge was the last one to step forward. He held up two shining white gold rings. “For eternity.” Joy shone in his eyes as he handed each of us the other’s ring.
“Elodie and Valens.” Lucien nodded to each of us in turn as he stepped forward to complete the ceremonial binding, his first as the Alpha of the Hungarian pack.
“We gather here under the Goddess’s moon to bind you two together as mates.
It is an eternal bond, forged by the love of the Moon Goddess, lasting in life and beyond the call of death.
It is my understanding that you have already offered the lady her gift.
Is that correct, and do you accept the gifts this alpha offers you, Elodie? ”
She smiled up at me. “I do.”
“Excellent. You may now exchange rings.”
I looked down at the tiny circle in my hands, feeling suddenly clumsy as I looked at the little clustered diamonds.
It had been my grandmother’s bonding ring, and I choked up suddenly now that it was time to put it on my girl.
Elodie’s hand came to rest over mine, and I looked up again. “Together,” she reminded me.
“Together.”
I carefully placed the ring on her finger, and she smiled down at it for a second before holding it up against her heart, as if it was the most precious thing she’d ever seen. Once she’d had a moment, she slipped my band onto my finger.
As soon as she finished, I was aching to pull her in for the kiss, but I knew there was a tiny bit more ceremony left.
Thankfully, Lucien was on top of it. “The bond between mates is sealed with a bite. It is tradition for this to be done privately, and it must be completed before the moon sets on this night. In the eyes of the Moon Goddess and these witnesses, I bless this joining. Go forth and claim your mate.”
“Are you ready?” I whispered, gripping her hands tightly in mine.
“So ready,” she agreed.
We held hands and ran into the night, our friends’ cheers chasing after us all the way to the bonding cottage.