Vasile cleared his throat and that broke the moment. Jen was suddenly aware that everyone in the room was staring at her.
She began to feel her legs shake, not used to carrying her weight. As if he sensed her growing weariness, Decebel crossed the room in several long strides and wrapped a secure arm around her waist. When his hand came in contact with her skin Jen felt him tense and slowly lean back to look at the back of her dress. He was growling and, since she wouldn't look at his face, she couldn't be sure, but she imagined his eyes were glowing as bright as the hot July sun in south Texas.
Decebel looked up at the room and announced, "The males will sit on the left side."
Without so much as a whispered question Costin, Fane, and Sorin all took seats on the left side of the room. Decebel walked her to where he had been standing moments before, next to the fireplace. The entire time his hand was splayed wide over her right side, covering any parts of her marking that might be showing.
To Vasile's surprise, Decebel asked him to stand with his back to the room, with Jen and Decebel on the other side, instead of Vasile standing behind the couple and facing everyone. This, of course, made it impossible for anyone to see her side because it was facing the fireplace. Jen bit her lip and drew on every ounce of her willpower to not roll her eyes. As Decebel walked around her, she felt his fingers slip just inside the side of her dress and trail down, knowing he was touching her mark – his mark. Jen shivered and nearly kicked Decebel when she saw the side of his mouth lift in a triumphant half-smile. When he was finally standing in front of her, all memory of irritation fled as she looked at the utter devotion and love staring out at her from his eyes. His face had softened, even the glow in his eyes had receded slightly.
The room quieted as Vasile turned to address the others.
"Decebel is an Alpha in his own right. He led his own pack, was powerful and undefeated in challenges. For this reason his Bonding Ceremony will be as it would for an Alpha in the presence of a high Fae. It is the first time in a very long time that we are privileged to have the Fae with us during a bonding. Because of thi,s Decebel has asked for Perizada to participate in the ceremony which is only bestowed upon Alphas. "
Jen gasped and started to speak, but her lips pressed together when Decebel gave her the look that told her he meant business. She didn't understand what was going on and it worried her to know that the Fae would be a participant in something so special.
Decebel could see the apprehension in Jennifer and reached across to run the backs of his fingers across her cheek. "Trust me," he mouthed silently.
"Always," was her silent response.
Vasile turned his back on the room and looked at his Beta.
"Decebel, once Alpha to the Western Romanian pack, you have found your true mate and she has accepted your claim. As is customary, you will wash her feet, exemplifying your willingness to serve her and care for her needs, no matter how simple they may be. You will recite the customary vows and then your own vows. During that time, you will present your mate with your offering."
Decebel nodded once to Vasile and led Jennifer to a chair. A basin of water with steam rising from it sat next to the chair on the floor. Jen could smell lavender floating on the air.
Decebel smiled. "To soothe," he told her. Even without their mental bond he understood the questioning look in her eyes.
He slowly raised the hem of her dress to expose her feet and calves. Jen took it from him and folded it over her lap, covering the tops of her knees. She could tell it made him uncomfortable to lift her dress in the company of others. As soon as that thought flitted through her mind, Jen bit her tongue to keep from giggling like a school girl. She remembered watching Fane wash Jacque's feet at their ceremony and thought it was very sweet, but as Decebel took her leg in hand and with a washcloth squeezed water onto her foot, she realized just how intense and intimate this moment was.
He continued to wash her feet while he lifted his gaze to hers and spoke.
“On this day I kneel before you, as a servant to my mate, to ask if you will make me whole. Will you give yourself to me? Finally calming the beast inside, bringing order to chaos, shining light where there has been only darkness? Will you bind your life to mine, your fate to mine, and your soul to mine and, in doing so, complete the mate bond?”
Jennifer wished she could say that she remembered the response to the vows, but in truth the intensity in his voice, the love in his eyes, held her mind captive. Her thoughts were sluggish from her sickness and her weak body. She tried to remember exactly what to say, but all she could recall was, "I will bind my life to yours, my fate to yours, and my soul to yours and complete our mate bond. I will take you for my own, my mate, and my Alpha.”
Decebel dried her feet off gently and pulled her dress down, recovering her legs. When she began to stand he gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You are tired." He spoke so softly only she could hear.
Jen gave him a slight smile, but felt a pang of anger that she wasn't strong enough to stand through her own bonding ceremony. Decebel winked at her – he knew she was ticked and she couldn't help the grin that spread across her face.
Fane brought Decebel a chair so he could sit directly in front of Jen. He sat down and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. He took both of her hands in his and looked into her eyes.
"I'm not good with words. And some words I use at times are spoken harshly and before I think about what I'm saying."
Jen smiled at his confession and waited for him to continue.
"I thought about what I want to say to you, how to say it to you, and I confess I never could get it quite right. I thought about what you have been put through in the past weeks and can't imagine any words which could afford you the measure you are due for what you have endured. How can I come to you with any worth, when for three weeks I didn't know who you were? I left you alone. What kind of man does that to his woman? What kind of mate forgets the one who completes his soul?"
Jen was holding it together by a thin strand as she watched the mighty Decebel humble himself in front of her and their pack.
"I cannot undo what has happened. No matter what I give, to be able to fix the past weeks is beyond my ability. The only thing I can do is prove to you, however long it takes, every single day for the rest of our lives that I will be a man, a mate, a friend, and a lover worthy of you."
Decebel knelt in front of her then and dropped his arms to his side. He looked at Peri, then at Jen.
"I must give an offering to you to prove my ability to provide for you both physically and emotionally, to protect, and -" Decebel added this last part, though it was usually understood he wanted it spoken aloud, " to love you. I didn't expect to be doing our Bonding ceremony on the other side of the veil. The offering I have for you is not one that is typical, but oddly enough I think it is appropriate and I hope that you accept it.
“Once the Blood Rites are performed, my mark will remain on your skin forever. Your bite mark will not remain on me. Your scent will be in me, but the great Luna did not feel it necessary for the female's bite to remain visible. So, my offering to you is your mark burned and etched into the flesh above my heart."
Several gasps rippled across the room, Jen's being the loudest. Decebel continued before she could interrupt him.
"My hope is that you will see by this offering that I will endure whatever necessary to ensure you remain with me, whole, safe, protected. I hope that it will show that I want the world to know the name of the incredible woman who holds my heart in her hands. The blood born from this offering is my promise that by the sweat of my brow, the flesh of my body, and the blood of my life I will always provide for you in whatever form that might take. Do you accept my offering, mate? Do you accept me?"
Jen was speechless. She didn't want Decebel to be in pain. She didn't want to see his beautiful skin marred because of her, but she knew if she denied him it would be a blow to his pride that could never be
restored. If Decebel could do this, then so could she.
Jen's eyes locked with his when she spoke. "Yes. I accept your offering."
Decebel let out the breath he had been holding. "You sure do know how to keep a man in suspense, love."
Jen was too nervous to have a smart mouth comeback. She watched as Peri pulled a knife from the fireplace where the blade had been sitting in the hot coals. How had she missed that? Jen refused to look away from Decebel's eyes as Peri began.
"Decebel," Peri's voice was strong and the magic that she normally kept toned down was pulsing through the room, "do you willingly accept the markings this blade will put on your flesh? Do you fully acknowledge that these markings are permanent and will not heal the way other injuries inflicted on your kind do? Are you aware that you shed your blood under the power of the Fae?"
"I do and I am."
With his affirmation, Peri pressed the blade to his chest. Jen's eyes, against her will, glanced down to watch. Her mouth dropped open as she watched his flesh cut and burned by an unmoving blade. When Peri pulled the blade away to put it back in the fire a small, perfect J was left on his skin. A few moments later Peri put the knife next to the J and again the knife seared into his flesh and without moving, cut and burned an E next to the J. This continued letter after letter. Decebel never moved, never made a sound as blood ran down his chest and abdomen. There was, thankfully, not a lot of blood since the skin was not just cut but burned as well. It still made Jen sick to watch his precious blood be shed for her. When the final letter was finished Peri set the blade down and handed Jen a cold, wet towel.
"Tend to your mate. He has done you a great honor this day." Peri stepped back into the shadows as Jen stood. Decebel tried to get her to sit back down but Jen brushed his hand away.
"Let me," she told him firmly. With Decebel on his knees, his face was level with Jen's and she looked into his eyes as she gently wiped the blood from his chest and stomach. Once it was all gone, she dropped the towel and placed her hands on either side of his face. She leaned in until her lips where just barely touching his and whispered against them, "I love you, Decebel."
Before Decebel could wrap her in his arms as he longed to do, Vasile's voice broke through.
"Jen, it is time for you to give your vows to Decebel."
Jen stepped back, and when Decebel gently pushed her into the chair she acquiesced to his wish because she was indeed tiring. Watching him endure that had wiped her out.
She pulled the piece of paper from where it had been tucked in her dress – well, in her bra. Decebel raised an eyebrow at that.
"Where was I supposed to put it?" she asked innocently.
Decebel scooted closer to her on his knees. He tapped her on the nose in punishment for her brazenness, but there was love in his voice when he said, "Mate, share with me your vows."
The "now" was insinuated and not lost on Jen. She cleared her throat and looked down at her paper. She had tried as best she could to pour her heart into her words. She wanted Decebel to know he was a man of value and worth. It was so amazing to her that their vows had been exactly in sync with one another's.
“The absolute worst time of my life was when I heard your voice possess no emotion, no warmth, no bossy demands, no recognition of me.” Jen saw the pain in his eyes at her words. He thought she was reprimanding him. “Decebel, look at me.” He raised his eyes to hers. “Bear with me. I have a point and it’s not to hurt you. Trust me.” She repeated his words, imploring him to do just that, trust her.
Though his lips were tight and his eyes glowed, he nodded for her to continue.
“I have to admit, it’s weird to be able to feel a person’s intentions simply by the sound of their voice in your mind, but I could. When you called me ‘Jen,’ I felt my heart shatter. One misspoken name and everything that defines me imploded and nearly suffocated me. Before this, I never thought about how important it is that you think me special enough to call me something others don't have the privilege of. I remembered how I could see in your eyes how you valued me. But without recognition, I lost not only your love, but my value to you." Jen took a deep breath and paused. It was then that she heard soft sobs and sniffles. She briefly glanced away and saw there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. She looked back to Decebel and leaned forward, placing her hands on his shoulders. She pulled, making him understand that she wanted him closer. He relented and moved until he knelt in between her knees. He rested his hands on either side of her chair and leaned closer.
"Baby," Decebel's voice was a low growl and full of hurt, "please tell me there's more and that it no longer includes ripping my heart from my chest."
Jen took his hand on the right side of her chair and lifted it. She pulled it closer until his hand was on her waist, his fingers directly over the mating marks that her dress did not completely cover. His eyes brightened at her bold and very blatant move. She was reminding him through touch, a touch that only he would ever have the privilege of, that she was his.
"I say all this so you will understand the importance of what I am going to say next."
"Go on." His words were soft as he gently squeezed her side in encouragement.
"We've been through some tough times in the short amount of time we have known each other. We've both been through tough times in our lives before we knew each other. But it is those tough times that make us who we are, that make us valuable to one another, because those times in our lives when we were walking through the valley, those times are what built our character. Those times are what made us the people we are today, people who have been able to endure the past three weeks.
“You didn’t give up, you didn't walk away even when you didn't understand what was going on, even when things seemed to keep going from bad to worse. You stuck around. You are a man of your word, you have integrity and honor. No matter what we go through; the choices we make; the failures we endure; the victories that come; the sorrow that tears through our lives. No matter the passion we have; the anger we will feel; the joy or the love that will fill our hearts and souls, memory or not. You are a man of worth. The very definition of value does not do you justice because your value to me is vast, endless, infinite, inestimable, completely and utterly beyond measure." A promise from her very soul only meant for him. Jen leaned forward, placing her hand on the nape of his neck, and pulled him until their foreheads touched.
She whispered, "Decebel." Her voice caught and she felt a tear slip down her cheek.
He ran his hand down her hair to her bare back. "Shh, baby, it's just us. Just you and me."
Collecting herself, she tried again. "Decebel, my love, my mate, I will spend every day for the rest of our lives striving to make sure you know your worth."
They sat like that, forehead to forehead, breathing each other in for several minutes. The room was utterly silent. No one moved, not wanting to disturb the couple lost in their love.
Finally Decebel pulled back. Jen smiled and whispered, "So is that it? Are we bonded?"
Decebel's face lit up in a rare smile that radiated off of him. "Yes, baby, we are bonded, but that's not it."
Jen's brow furrowed as confusion colored her face. "Please tell me you are not going to bite me in front of them."
Decebel growled and frowned. "That's the equivalent of letting them watch us -"
Decebel was cut off by Vasile before he could finish the thought. Jen understood his meaning and realized her faux pas.
"My bad." She smiled and gave a weak chuckle.
Decebel held out his hand to her as he stood. "Can you stand with me a few moments longer?"
Jen took his hand and stood, silently answering his question. He placed her opposite him and frowned when Vasile stood behind them, facing the room. Jen caught on real quick as to why Dec was growling and turned to look out at the others in the room.
"Hey, Jacque, could you ing-bray e-may a-way acket-jay?" Jen hadn't used pig latin in a long time, but Jacque was as fluent as ever.
" On-way it-way" Jacque ran up the stairs to grab a sweater from the closet in her room.
A few moments later, sweater in hand, she jogged up to Jen and helped her put it on.
" Uch-may obliged-way"
Decebel raised an eyebrow at Jen. "I speak pig latin, love, and several other languages. So you might want to figure out one I don't speak if you want to be sneaky."
"I'm going to speak a language that is universal to everyone even if they don't know much sign language." Jen grinned wickedly.
"Jen, behave,” Jacque scolded. “You're getting ready to get -" Decebel's head snapped around and Jacque slapped a hand over her mouth. She turned away, quickly mumbling something unintelligible through her hand.
Jen looked up at Decebel. "I'm going to be getting what, fur ball?"
"You are going to marry me now," he stated matter of fact. "We've bonded in the way of our wolves, now we will bond in the way of your species. Make no mistake, Jennifer, there will be no question in any species, be it human, wolf, Fae, vampire, witch, or the like who will question what you are to me or who you are to me."
Jen's mouth dropped open and for the second time in twenty four hours, Decebel had rendered her speechless. Decebel gently pushed her jaw closed and smiled. "Seeing as how speech has left you momentarily, we will begin, and you don't have to worry because you only have to say two words."