To Share You (manxman)

Chapter 35

It's that surreal moment that I never thought would become reality. And now we're here, standing on a make shift platform, in front of about half the pack and about to become part of them. I stand facing Raph, his wrist in my hand and mine in his. The moments seems to just never end as we get ready to seal the bond. It's a strange feeling. Up until now, while we haven't been able to complete the mate bond out of fear our old pack would hunt us down, precisely because we didn't belong to any pack, we were the closest to each other. After this ceremony, we're part of a pack again, after more than 5 years, we'd belong to a group again. And somehow, I feel weird. Suddenly I'd have to make space again for all these other people, when previously Raph was pretty much the only thing on my mind. But at the same time, I would finally be able to be finish the mating ceremony with Raph as well. I can't imagine what it will feel like to be even closer to Raph than I am now, but I can't wait to find out.

Eager to get started, I nod to the Alpha and Raph does the same. Marc comes towards us, holding up to small vials. Inside are a few drops of his blood each. Raph and I let go of each other's hands reluctantly and quickly down it. I leave all my doubts behind when I do. They are silly. There is no reason for this to be a negative thing at all.

The blood doesn't exactly taste nice, but then again, I don't taste much of it anyway since it's only so little. As soon as I swallow though, I get a massive headache for a split second and next thing I know Marc is welcoming me to their pack via the mind link we now share. I feel a general excitement surround me and when I look out to the crowd, everyone is smiling at me; it's emanating from them. I can feel them now, I'm part of them. While my heart swells I can't help but grin back towards them. I turn my head to look at Raph, only to find him looking at me already, his face looking as elated as I feel.

'Since we are already gathered here, let's do the two newbies a favour, shall we?' Marc suddenly announces and I realise I've probably been staring at Raph for too long. Again.

The crowd starts snickering, while someone brings up chairs onto the stage. When they're set down behind us, my heart starts beating quicker, hoping this is exactly what I think it is.

'Let's make this a mating ceremony!' Marc announces, barely holding back his laughter at our excited, but borderline surprised faces.

I get pushed into a chair, so does Raph and before I can even register anything, I am looking him dead in the eyes, our knees touching and each of us holding the other's wrist.

Marc is standing by our side, gently smiling at us as he slowly lifts our wrists to the other's lips, silently encouraging us to go ahead.

My hand is shaking as I move it myself. My fingers around Raph's wrist are staring to sweat and I struggle to even open my mouth. I make sure to look Raph dead in the eye, waiting for him to mimic my actions before doing anything. We both take a deep breath in, still trembling. Even though the chairs are here because draining and giving blood at the same time isn't the greatest feeling and has many wolves feeling a bit dizzy, I'm already glad they're here now. Simply the weight of what we're about to do is enough to make my stomach cramp. We're part of the pack now, but that doesn't mean our old pack can't follow us anyway, attacking us even. I don't want to be responsible for that. My doubts - again - must be visible on my face because I can suddenly feel Raph's foot nudging mine, gently encouraging me. I close my eyes briefly, only to nod at him upon opening them. Then, I sink my slightly unnaturally long canines into my mate's wrist. The moment I do I feel my own wrist being pierced as well. Although I wouldn't describe it as painful, there's also no euphoric feeling overwhelming me as I might have expected, nor do I feel squeamish about it. So I drink. The sensation of actively drinking blood from someone's body is a weird one. Having the same done to me makes it even weirder. I can physically feel the blood leaving my body where Raph's lips and teeth are attached. We keep going, one deep pull after another and soon I do feel the dizziness setting in. It comes slowly, but steadily and I have to actively concentrate on not falling off my chair, now definitely glad I'm not standing. My eyes aren't even open anymore. I feel weak, drained, even though I'm taking in Raph's blood at the same time. In theory, mates should exchange half of their blood with their mate, therefore exchanging half of their existence, but in reality, there is no way to coordinate that properly.