Chapter 47 - A true blood witch.

REBECCA NEEDED A BLOOD WITCH from her ancestral line to grant her the last gift before she received her powers. Lena was hoping that after she had her son, the ancestors would see her as part of Rebecca and Alaric’s blood line and that would be sufficient.

Thankfully, Rebecca already had all the ingredients ready after their first try and it saved time to prepare, but it was a celebration after all. Alaric scratched the back of his head when Lena and Rebecca pouted, trying to convince him to have a blood witch celebration on sacred pack ground! He was even less inclined to have the celebration when Lena told him they should do it in the old coven grounds.

She could just imagine the beautiful flowers everywhere. The way it was on the day … The day Alaric attacked and killed her father. Lena suddenly didn’t feel so good. Would she ever be able to get over it and move on? It had been years since the war. In fact, life had moved on so much that she now had her own child. She had to get past this. Even if it was just for Ben’s sake.

Lena insisted they hold the ceremony in the old coven grounds, since that would be their closest link to their ancestors. Her power to do the spell for Rebecca would be at it’s strongest there and that was exactly what they needed under the circumstances. After some convincing, Alaric finally agreed. It meant they suddenly had a lot to take care of.

Rebecca couldn’t believe that Alaric agreed, but she was happy he did. It would be her first official blood witch experience. A true witch ceremony. She couldn’t wait! Thankfully, it didn’t take much to remember what they needed and within a couple of days, Lena and Rebecca had everything ready. It felt strange to have the pack around the old coven grounds, but everybody had jumped in to help with the decorations and one of the pack members even restored the gazebo.

Lena carefully placed the last wild flower and took a step back to take in how much it reminded her of the day she got her powers. It really was a magical day right up until the wolves attacked and now here they were. Working together as if none of that had ever happened while they prepared for a hybrid to receive her powers. Lena had to admit that the fates really had a strange twisted sense of humour.

Rebecca had been beaming for days and it felt good to see her so happy. Lena could tell that they were all still fairly concerned that she would run away with Ben, but deep down, she knew she wouldn’t. The pack had accepted who Rebecca and Alaric were, which was amazing, but would they ever accept Lena? She still couldn’t see the pack accepting her.

The blood witch, Lena … Her eyes met Alaric’s and she sighed. Yeah, things between them were also not completely settled just yet. She didn’t know if she wanted things settled, but for Ben’s sake they really had to at least talk.

“Thank you for all the help. The place looks perfect.” Lena smiled, but it felt so weird. As if her cheeks were fighting against it. Alaric wasn’t close by, but she knew he could hear every word she was saying. His wolf hearing was incredible.

“It’s a pleasure. I mean, it is for Rebecca after all.” It reminded her that she had to get back to the pack house. She and Rebecca had to start getting ready. Taking one last look around, Lena was happy that most of the work had been done before she grabbed Rebecca’s hand. The girls were going to get ready in Alaric’s room and then Ben and Alaric would meet them there.

Little Ben was supervising the pack as they put up the last of the decorations. He was so cute Lena almost didn’t want to leave, but she was happy to spend some time alone with Rebecca before the ceremony. Lena was planning on giving Rebecca her old athame that her father gave her in the hopes that a family heirloom would convince the ancestors to help them.

Besides, they were family, weren’t they? Alaric had been a father to Rebecca all these years and even though Lena was gone for years, things hadn’t really changed. She still felt incredibly protective over Rebecca. Like a big sister or even a mother figure. Lena loved this family with all her heart. That was what made her so confused.

Lena forced herself to focus. If she was going to convince the ancestors that Rebecca deserved her power, she needed to focus. She helped Rebecca to get dressed and did her hair and make-up and when they heard a knock at the door, Lena’s heart skipped a little beat. The man infuriated her but, at the same time, he melted her damn heart. She loved him. There were no two ways about it, but the line between love and hate was so blurred in her mind sometimes that she also hated him for what he did.

That was the part she would really have to work on and fast. The ancestors weren’t going to grant Rebecca any powers if Lena wasn’t feeling it.

“Wow!” Surprise instantly registered in his eyes at the sight of the two women in their traditional blood witch dresses. Lena was wearing a beautiful purple velvet dress. It was like the one she wore on her special birthday. She quickly put on her cloak and excused herself so Alaric and Rebecca could have a moment alone. “You look beautiful. So grown up!” Alaric said just as Lena closed the door and a smile crossed her face.

She quickly made her way to the old coven grounds where the pack had already gathered and handed out a couple of last-minute instructions before taking her place inside the gazebo. Alaric and Rebecca weren’t far behind and everybody fell silent as Alaric led Rebecca through the crowd to the gazebo.

“Welcome, alpha Alaric and Rebecca. How do you enter the circle, alpha Alaric?” When Lena pulled out the ceremonial athame, Alaric’s guards stepped forward as if they were one man and he held up his hand to stop them. They hadn’t really explained much of the actual ceremony to the pack, so nobody really knew what was going to happen. Lena was pointing her athame at Alaric’s stomach.

“In perfect love and perfect trust.” Alaric looked so damn amused that Lena fought the urge to giggle as she nodded and granted him entry.

“Rebecca, how do you enter the circle?” Lena pointed the athame at Rebecca’s stomach and the girl looked panicked for a moment. Lena had explained the process to Alaric and Rebecca and this was meant to be the easiest part of it all, but it was also the most nerve-wracking part! If you were lying, it was said that the blade would pierce your abdomen!

“In perfect love, and perfect trust.” Rebecca took a deep breath as she said it and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, Lena was smiling at her and nodded, giving Rebecca entrance into the circle.

“Dear friends and family, we are gathered here today to bestow upon Rebecca her gifts of power.” Lena took up her position and nodded at Alaric. He pulled a book out of a leather pouch he had brought with him. The book looked very old.

“Rebecca, my gift to you is our mother’s grimoire. Although you’ve had it for many years. I believe that she would have wanted you to have it as your own. May it bring you all the joy it did her.” Lena looked surprised as she noted the tears in Rebecca’s eyes before the girl flung her arms around Alaric’s neck. From what Rebecca had told Lena earlier, she was under the impression he had burnt the grimoire with all the other magical books! Alaric took a step back and Lena smiled as she pulled her old athame out of her sleeve.

“Rebecca, my gift to you is my family, athame. May it bring you protection when casting your spells and may it bring you power when you need it.” Lena smiled as Rebecca’s eyes grew wide with surprise. “Since Rebecca has no other family to bestow her third gift. I will give that as well.” Lena said more to the ancestors than anybody else as she cut a small cut into the palm of her hand and she handed the blade to Rebecca.

“Rebecca, my love. I give you my blood. May it give you strength and guide you to your destiny.” The words rang through Lena’s mind as she remembered the last time she heard them. Rebecca also cut her palm and they gripped them together. A bright light-struck Rebecca and her entire body went rigid. She threw her head back as the light seemed to flow into her and it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.

The ancestors had granted Rebecca a special power. Lena had heard of this but never seen it before. She pulled Rebecca into her arms, congratulating her and opened the circle, declaring the celebrations open, before informing Rebecca that they could test her powers in the morning.