Part Six

Iris and Charlotte stood on the steps in front of the packhouse as Jared parked the car. Charlotte ran down the steps and into Jared’s arms as she hugged him tightly and he’d barely had a chance to get out of the car.

I walked up the steps as I looked at Iris. Today was her eighteenth birthday and acceptance ceremony. She didn’t look like someone who hadn’t seen their bonded half in three weeks and I wondered if something had happened.

“Happy Birthday Iris,” I whispered as I reached her and she finally smiled at me.

“Welcome home Alpha,” she said and then she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me hello.

She followed me upstairs to my room where I unpacked my suitcase and then lay on my back on the bed next to where she was sitting. I was utterly exhausted and I knew Jared was too. We hadn’t slept much the last week as we rushed to finalize things to be back in time for tonight’s ceremony.

“You should rest before tonight,” she said as she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“I’m planning to, this was a week from hell,” I said to her.

“What happened?” she asked me.

“Ousted an Alpha, killed some rogues and then we had to hand over to the Beta who had no idea his Alpha was conspiring with rogues,” I said. I left out the part about my father because I hadn’t spoken to my mother and Kat yet and they deserved to be the first to know.

“I’ll come wake you when it’s time to get ready for tonight,” she said.

“I love you Iris,” I said to her as she stood up.

“I love you too, more than you know,” she said and blew me a kiss from the door.

I slept for four hours and Axel was quiet the entire time. I wasn’t sure what was up with him or if he was just satisfied with our last assignment. Inspections rarely led to ousting and killing but I knew that he was proud of the revenge we took for our father.

I was awake and already showered when Iris came to wake me with coffee. I thanked her and she left right after that and I quickly got dressed so that I could speak to Kat and my mom. I knew my timing sucked but they had to know that the ones responsible were dead.

I knocked on my mother’s door and took a deep breath to calm myself. I heard Kat in her room as well and now I felt nervous.

“Oh it’s just you,” Kat said as she opened the door wider and I walked inside.

My mother was sitting in front of her vanity putting the finishing touches on her make up and she turned and smiled as I sat down on the edge of her bed.

“You look beautiful Mom,” I said to her.

“Did you come here to tell me you’re having second thoughts?” she asked me.

“Why would I have second thoughts?” I asked her totally unprepared for this conversation.

“I just thought… never mind, did you need something?” she asked me.

“I know the timing sucks but I wanted to tell you before you heard the rumors,” I said to her.

“I knew something wasn’t right with her,” she said.

“With whom?” I asked her.

“Mom, geez let him talk,” Kat said as she sat down next to me.

“I found the rogues responsible for Dad and Jared and I killed them,” I said to her.

“All of them?” she asked me.

“No, the Alpha Rogue is still out there somewhere but the man I saw kill my father is finally dead,” I said to her.

“I’m glad you can find some peace with that,” she said to me.

“Okay so what were you talking about?” I asked her.

“It’s Iris,” she said and Kat rolled her eyes.

“Mom, don’t,” she said.

“What about Iris?” I asked her.

“I don’t know, I think you should wait with this whole ceremony, she’s not the girl I remember,” she said.

“She’s my bonded half, the one made for me, the sooner you accept her the better,” I said and stood up.

“Damon…” she said.

“No Mom, this is my life, you know how the bond works, I didn’t choose her, we were chosen for each other,” I said to her feeling a little angry.

“Mom, just leave it,” Kat said.

“Do you feel the same way?” I asked Kat.

“Yes,” she said softly.

“Get over it and put a smile on your faces even if it’s fake,” I said and left the room.

I made my way downstairs and found Jared pouring himself a drink. He handed me his glass when he saw the look on my face and I gulped it down quickly.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked me.

“No,” I said to him and handed him the empty glass back.

“Do you want to drink about it?” he asked me.

“Yes,” I said with a laugh as he smiled at me.

“Here’s to us, another successful assignment and to a bright future for you and Iris,” he said as we clinked our glasses together.

Ten minutes later the ballroom filled up with our guests and Jared and I made our way towards the raised dais where the ceremony would take place. Everyone was seated and we turned as the music slowly filled the room and the doors at the back opened up.

Iris came walking down the aisle in a cream colored dress that clung to her perfectly. My eyes caught my mother’s and she looked away sadly. Iris was smiling as she reached me and I took her hand and helped her up the two steps to stand next to me.

“Members of the Woods Clowder, friends and guests, welcome to this auspicious occasion as our Alpha finally takes and acknowledges his mate for all to see. We gather here tonight to join these two in our sacred union by marking and accepting each other as bonded halves for the rest of their lives,” Elder Isaac said as he welcome our guests and started the ceremony.

“By joining your blood and accepting the sacred vows you will unite this clowder as two leaders equal to each other, to rule side by side to the best of your abilities, to give each what the other needs, to be the lesser one in times of war, to protect and to love, to nourish and cherish for all your days,” he said.

“I do,” Iris answered.

“I do,” I said.

“With this cut I will now mix your blood so that you may strengthen each other and for Iris Howell to be recognized as the Lady of this clowder,” he said.

We raised our palms upwards and he made a swift cut across our hands and we turned them simultaneously so our blood could drop into the goblet below. When it was half filled he looked up at us and smiled briefly before handing the goblet to Iris.

“By drinking this blood I acknowledge and accept Damon Woods as my eternal mate, the responsibilities that is his shall now also be mine,” she said and drank half of the contents.

“By drinking this blood I acknowledge and accept Iris Howell as my eternal mate, the responsibilities that is hers shall now also be mine,” I said and emptied the goblet.

“You may now mark Iris as yours in front of these witnesses so that your bond may strengthen,” he said.

Iris stepped forward and bent her neck for me as I felt my canines push forward and I bit down on her shoulder. My mark would start to appear after we’d consummated the ceremony and our scents would mingle so that we partially smelled of each other.

“It is done, I give you Lady Iris and Alpha Damon Woods,” Elder Isaac said as loud applause broke out and we turned around to look at our clowder. The bite mark was already starting to heal and now we would be bonded together until one of us died.

“Let the celebrations begin!” Jared said loudly as he hugged his sister and then hugged me.

Iris had outdone herself and everything looked amazing and of course it was all according to her taste but I didn’t mind, I just wanted her to be happy. We danced and ate and celebrated with our friends until late into the next morning.

My mother and Kat congratulated us but after an hour I saw them leave the ballroom to retire for the night and that angered me. I would talk to them when I had a chance again, their disrespect wouldn’t go unnoticed.

I followed Iris upstairs and I was glad that she wasn’t nervous. The ceremony had to be consummated and the pack would know when we did since our scents would mingle and her mark would become permanent. It would also strengthen the bond to such an extreme that I would relate to her feelings like an empath would.

“Are you happy?” I asked her.

“Beyond happy,” she said as we stood in the darkened room.

We started undressing each other and we took our time, exploring the other’s body as we went along. This was our first time being intimate with each other and I didn’t want to rush her. Having sex for the first time should be memorable for her and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt her.

“I won’t break Damon,” she whispered as I laid her down on the bed.

“I don’t want to rush you,” I said softly.

She pushed herself up on her knees and took me in her mouth, expertly gliding her mouth and tongue up and down. She knew exactly what she was doing and I should have put the pieces together then but I didn’t.

I pushed her down on the bed and spread her legs with my knees as she grabbed a hold of me and guided me inside her. There was no obstruction and she started moving her hips to the rhythm that suited her while she closed her eyes. Her hands lay by her side like she was avoiding to touch me.

“Harder Scott,” she whispered and my body froze as I pulled out.

Her eyes widened as she realized what she had just said as I stood up from the bed and pulled my pants back on. Axel was growling furiously in the back of my mind. I couldn’t even look at her because I might just kill her.

“Damon…” she began but stopped after saying my name.

“Get out,” I said to her.

“I can explain,” she said as I grabbed her arm and pulled her off my bed.

“I said get out,” I said calmly as my eyes changed colour.

“Don’t do something you’ll regret,” she said to me.

I pulled her towards the door and threw a robe at her. I watched her as she pulled it on and I opened the door and pushed her outside. She stood there looking at me as I closed the door in her face and I walked to the balcony and opened every door and window to get her scent out of my room.