“I…”
“Please say ‘yes’!” Delyse jumped off the sofa and leaned over the edge of the desk, hands clasped on her chest.
The woman took in the girl’s timid smile and big, blue eyes. How could one resist that cute, innocent face? “All right…”
“Yes!” Delyse pumped the air with her fist, then ran to her brother, dropped next to him on the armchair, forcing him to move over and make space for her narrow hips, and circled his neck with her arms. She pressed one quick, noisy kiss to his cheek. He laughed and one of his hands went around her waist.
“So, what do you say, Max?”
Max looked at Miss Delacroix’s smile, then at the two siblings. They were so much alike. The same eyes, the same blond hair, the same energy and passion well-balanced by keen intelligence and a drop of innocence. No, no one could resist them.
“I’ll help you.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The Mating Ritual
Avelyn stepped on the front porch of the Crescent Wing and thanked Max for holding the door for her. The wind played with her long curls, whipping them around her head and shoulders. A chill ran down her spine and raised goosebumps on her bare arms, but it wasn’t because of the cool night. Actually, it was rather warm, a sign that summer was finally taking over the Black Forest Mountains. She felt Max’s hand covering hers, and she entwined her fingers with his. She looked up at him, and he smiled reassuringly. She tried to smile back, but gave up when she realized it would probably look like more of a grimace. She faced the front courtyard again and took a deep breath before taking the first step. They climbed down the stone steps together, hand in hand. The green eyes watching them glowed eerily in the joyful flames of the bonfire.
The werewolves were silent. They were all in their human forms, dressed casually, most of them barefoot. Jocelyn was standing on the right side of the bonfire, with Ryan close behind her. The Moon Children had claimed that side as their own, and Avelyn spotted Val among them, her long hair moving freely in the wind. Kevin was standing on the left side of the courtyard, flanked by Caleb and Daniel, who had taken a break from their investigation to attend the Thunder Moon party. Christine and Rosanna were right next to the two Deltas.
Avelyn took another deep breath, aware that if she didn’t control it, she’d soon start hyperventilating. All eyes were on her, and she was so scared she’d screw everything up. Max squeezed her hand, and she was grateful he was there, by her side. He had been there in the past week, calming her down every time she freaked out and started crying because she didn’t feel any change after Dr. Stevens injected her with the cure. Her body hadn’t reacted to it in any way. Now, as she was making her way to the middle of the courtyard, feeling the Crescents and the Moon Children closing the circle behind her and Max, her heart was beating the dreadful rhythm of fear and despair. What if it didn’t work? They were half an hour before midnight, the moment of truth. The full moon was up in the sky, dominating the Schloss and the woods around it. Avelyn didn’t dare look up to face it. They stopped a few steps away from the bonfire, and Max turned towards her, taking both her hands into his own. She looked into his green eyes and felt a bit of courage making its way through her veins when she saw the love and kindness there. She felt the scorching heat of the fire on her skin and a tiny drop of sweat that trickled down the nape of her neck.
“Avelyn, here we are. Finally. I’ve been waiting for this moment since the day I met you.” Max’s voice was low, warm, yet clear and determined. “When I saw you in the garden at Alma Venus, book in hand, basking in the sunlight with your eyes closed and a serene smile on your lips, I knew you were my mate. I knew you were the only one for me, the woman I had been dreaming of my whole life. I couldn’t believe I found you. You were there, just a few steps away, yet so far, so unreachable. In this confusing world we live in, where men like me take what they want and women are taught to never say ‘no’, you made me fight for you, Avelyn, and for that I’m grateful.”
She smiled at him and tried to blink the tears away. She had been such an emotional wreck all month, and she would have really loved to be able to control herself at least now. It was useless. A tear ran down her cheek and stopped on her jaw, dangling there for a few moments before throwing itself on her chest. What Max was doing was only the introduction. She knew what followed next: his vows. He had insisted to have the mating ritual before midnight, so they would be united forever when Avelyn’s fate was decided by the full moon. Whether she turned or not, she’d be his wife, and he’d be her husband. She swallowed heavily, bracing herself for his next words. Her stomach contracted in fear when the fleeting thought that she might forget her own vows when the time came crossed her mind.
“I promise to encourage your compassion, because that is what makes you unique and wonderful. I promise to nurture your dreams, because through them your soul shines. I promise to help shoulder our challenges, for there is nothing we cannot face if we stand together. I, Maxwell Blackmane, take you, my darling Avelyn, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward. I promise to be true to you, to love and cherish you until death do us part.”
A deep sigh came from the audience, a moment of relaxation right before the next few minutes of tension that would accompany her own vows. “Oh, God, here goes,” she thought. Her hands trembled in his.
“I looked up to the sky, stole the pale moonlight, and trapped it inside my ribcage.
I knew that was the soul.
I looked upon the horizon, stole the shimmering skyline, and trapped it in my eyes.
I knew that was light.
I wandered through the darkest woods, stole the trill of a nightingale, and trapped it between my lips.
I knew that was prayer.
I dove to the bottom of the ocean, stole a trembling wave, and engrafted it on my chest in the shape of my collarbone.
I knew that was adventure.
I bathed in the cold beads of a waterfall, stole the velvet of the water, and smoothed it over my body in the shape of my skin.
I knew that was lust.
I looked upon you and I forgot about soul, light, prayer, adventure, lust…
I gave them all away in exchange for your company.
I created Heaven of soul, light, and prayer.
Only to destroy it.