Chapter THIRTY FIVE

Eden's POV
"You look beautiful", Jill said after I put on my dress. The mating ceremony is supposed to be a huge ceremony with wolves from different territories attending. If the mates are wolves they'd shift and let their wolves interact,the same if they are Lycans.
But since I'm human our ceremony will be kind of different, I'm worried about marking Syrus. I have no canines like him so I don't know how this is going to all work out.
"You look beautiful Eden '', Yedira's mate Moon said,turns out she is a witch and a half vampire,a hybrid combination I've not heard of but is really cool. she is the person that revealed that Syrus and I were fated mates when I first ran away. She placed a crown of flowers on my head which she conjured out of thin air.
I look at the cotton white dress I'm wearing
my belly is exposed and Moon wrote something in Latin with red clay.
The dress has words in Latin characters embroidered on it and the same crest like that on the chankra of Syrus' family,Which reminds me I'll give the Chankra as a gift to him as a gift after the ceremony with it he can become an elder without the help of Tatiana and her family. I still feel it's not what he really wants. He loves being an Alpha. I just don't know why he doesn't tell his dad so.
The Chankra I found belonged to a guy named Malkiel. According to the genealogy book I read, he is Syrus' maternal grandfather.
Turns out Moon is the guardian of the Crescent Moon Pack, a guardian is a witch that keeps all the history of the park and oversees mating ceremonies and Moon is the guardian of this territory and she is going to marry Syrus and I .
Only a few people are going to attend the ceremony,I thought about it many times last night and finally decided not to call Ty. It would have been nice to have him here with me.
"What are you thinking about", Yedira says.
"The people you think you may need are not who they really are, Eden you're better off without them", Moon says " now let's go and get you mated",she said.
I couldn't walk by myself and we had to take the elevator because the stairs were a big no.
I still had to take short breaks on the way down,the ceremony was being held where we had the bonfire last time.
It was Autumn so the most the leaves had fallen,it was a world of beautiful shades of brown and orange.I learnt that for wolves the world is shades brighter,it is louder and clearer. It was the most beautiful scenery there was. My jaw almost dropped when I saw many people there waiting,it was like everyone was here. I don't know why but this meant a lot to me.
We all had no shoes on, Moon said it was because the place where a mating ceremony was happening was sacred and so we'd feel the spirit of the earth because it was the beginning and the end.
I walked over the white rose petals,they were the theme of our ceremony , Syrus said that was my scent, his was like pine and the Earth after the rain.
I was expecting Tatiana to throw a fit but I haven't seen her anywhere. I'm glad because I don't want to see her anywhere.
After walking on the earth I had to pass through other elements, Syrus didn't want me to do this part but I insisted if I wasn't going to have the part where our wolves bond and interact because I'm human I wanted everything else. Water, was the next element,with the help of Moon I stepped into the gold basin filled with water and white rose petals.
Each step I took drew me closer to him,to Syrus. Seeing him there waiting for me at the end of the aisle,gave me another kind of feeling,warmth spread in my heart and I could feel my child move at how excited I was. I speak to him sometimes when I'm alone and I know I've developed a special bond with him.
After stepping out of the water it was time to pass through fire to pass through burning coals.
"You don't have to take the next step", Syrus said with worry written all over his face,he was shirtless and wore cotton pants with the same pattern on my dress and the same flower crown as the one I was wearing.
"I'm pregnant, not terminally ill",I laugh as Moon helps me onto the coal.
I cry out in pain as the hot coal burns into my feet.
"You can stop Eden",Moon says. No I'm not some weak human ,I can do this,so with that I straighten my back and continue walking. I almost collapsed into her arms after stepping off of the coal.
"You didn't have to do this", Syrus says, taking me from Moon's arms.
" I'm fine ",I smiled ignoring the cold sweat on my forehead.
"I just care about you",he says, kissing my forehead.
" We all stand witness to the joining of two souls, embracing the blessing the goddess has given her creation, Syrus and Eden may your souls bond and intertwin as this thread",she said and Yedira wrapped Syrus and I with red thread.
"The earth,water,fire stand in witness of your unity,for the many years to come in spirit and body may your souls always find each other ,in different lifetimes, may this red thread help you to always find each other, Syrus you may mark your mate",
" It is going to sting a little, okay?", He says and pulls me closer to him.
He moved my hair to the side and I took a deep breath, bracing myself for the pain. It was going to be painful. I knew from the way he held me close to him.
His canines elongated and he bit down on my neck ,Jill said if I move his canines may rupture an artery,for a wolf it's not fatal but for me as a human I'll bleed out and die before they get me help, it's what she had once heard.
The pain as he pierced through my neck was excruciating,I bit down at my bottom lip to stop myself from screaming out .
"It's okay",he said and licked my wounds to stop the bleeding and lessen the pain a little with his saliva.
The burning pain slowly died out and all that was left was a little stinging that I am able to deal with.
"It's your turn now, you have to make sure to bite down really hard, do not hold back,okay", he says wiping the beads of sweat on my forehead.
" Okay",I weakly smile ,he is very tall and my short self couldn't reach him even if I stood on my toes,so Collin did the cutercy of bringing me a stepping stool making everyone including Syrus chuckle, making me blush in embarrassment.
"Okay short stuff, remember not to hold back", he smiles. I take a deep breath and wrap my hands around him, opening my mouth wide enough and biting down as hard as I can.
"You'll have to try harder than that, don't be afraid to hurt me", he chuckled again.
" I'm trying okay?!"I say and repeat my actions again, biting down until I feel the metallic taste of his blood on my tongue.
"Good girl",he says, wiping the little blood I had on the corner of my mouth. I saw the wound heal as a tattoo of where my teeth marks were. Moon said something in Latin and a small tattoo of a rose and pine appeared in the middle.
"Do you want to see your mark?"Moon asked, handing me a mirror and it was the same for me as well.
"I love it!",I excitedly say "I love you", I say and kiss him. After this is the part we both shift including our audience but I'm not a wolf so we won't have that part.
Just then Syrus shifts into his Lycan, I've only seen Lycans on paintings and drawings in books in the library, this is my first time seeing one .
He stood at height of seven feet ,jet black fur , just a foot taller than his human form, a wolf but not a wolf he was more like a humanoid werewolf very muscular, he got down on his knees and licked me and licked my belly as well I could feel my baby stir and kick in excitement. His large snout taking a huge whiff of me, his huge tail shook from left to right in excitement. I laughed in excitement and robbed his huge head all the way behind his ears,he closed his eyes and leaned into my touch.
"It's nice to meet you",I say, kissing his snout, Syrus licked me again, this time throwing my flower crown to the ground in the process.
He howled and everyone else shifted howling in response.
Yedira shifted as well. Lycan has black fur just like Syrus but she has a brown snout and belly.It was an amazing site. The sun had gone down and the harvest moon shone at its brightest. This was the best day of my life and I couldn't be happier.
After the ceremony there was a feast everyone came ,the only one missing was Mark. it was lively,there were more people on the estate because of the new teenagers that had just shifted. I couldn't stay for long because I was really tired from all the activities of the mating ceremony.
I never knew this pregnancy would take its toll on me like this,but even though my eyes had sunk in,my body has lost weight and every part of my body aches I find joy in everything at the thought of seeing my baby that is coming any time soon.
"You'll have to get some rest, don't forget to call me if you need to use the bathroom", Syrus says while he tucks me in.
" Come on Syrus I still have to beat you ,we still have two hundred drinks left we'll see who drops first ", Yadira barges in, she seems already drunk,how many drinks has she had because it takes a lot of human alcohol to get a wolf drunk much less a Lycan.
" You go Syrus I'll take care of Eden, Yedira won't stop shouting", Moon says.
After Syrus leaves she braids my hair into two cornrows and lights the essence she gave me,which helps with my aches.
"He may not say it but he you know he loves you right?", She says before walking out.
Yes I know but I want to be sure and hear it from him,I slowly turn on my side and feel something under my pillow, i take it out and see that it's the chankra,I forgot to give it to him, I'll just wait until he gets back and give it to him.
I waited listening to the laughter coming from outside and slowly drifted to sleep,under the soothing effects of the burning essence.
I was awakened by shouting and things breaking, what was going on? I sat up with match difficulty.I felt worse than I did before going to bed but I had to see what was going on. The shouting and breaking of stuff didn't stop and by the looks of it, the noise was coming from downstairs.
I reached for my cardigan and saw that the chankra was still in my hands so I threw it in my pocket and slowly made my way out of the room that I use when I want to do things by myself.
I'd use this chance to have Syrus call Mark because I could feel myself burning a fever.
As soon as the elevator doors opened I heard Simon bellow "He dares to do something of this kind!". The ding of the elevator doors drew the attention of everyone downstairs to me.
"Eden you're not supposed to be out of bed", Roman said.
"What's going on? ",
" What's going on?!, A filthy worthless being like you dares to mate my son, do you know what you have done! ",
" I understand that you're upset Simon but you need to find something else better to do than control your son's life",
" You dare call me by name! ", He said aggressively getting closer to me but was stopped by Roman and Jake on of the new shifters.
"You need to watch yourself, human or not I'm now the Luna if this park I'm carrying the heir of the Vanclavik clan , hurting me with incor huge consequences even for an elder like you",
" Simon you're not just going to let this happen are you! ", Tatiana yells she must have been the one to inform him, I've never seen her so agitated, her calm facade all crumbled, she wasn't her usual nonchalant queen but before me stood a very jealous woman.
"What is he not going to let happen, that has not already happened Tatiana, it's over , I'm Luna. Did you seriously think the thought of being an elder was enough for him to chose it over his mate?", I chuckle " I'm not only his mate , I'm his fated, in this world there will be no other for him, I'm the only woman he can start a family with, I'm the missing piece to his soul".
" If you are so important then why did he rush to the headquarters immediately he heard ,the researchers may have found something that could help with reversing the effects Vynul has on wolves? If he loves you so much why does he still care about Deborah? He left his own mating ceremony celebration, don't be naive, human", Simon chuckled after getting off his phone and walked out.
"He is still in love with her Eden,as long as Deborah is alive she'll always occupy his heart and neither you nor I will ever have space",
" I don't care ,he marked me , I'm the one with him and not her",
" Are you sure about that Eden?"She smiled and followed behind Simon.