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Chapter Twenty-Seven
Finn led Violet down so many hallways and through so many twists and turns that she had no idea where they were or when they had started their journey. What seemed like agonizing hours later, but was probably only a few minutes, they stopped in front of a pair of green wooden doors with blurred glass windows.
"This is my favorite room of the estate," Finn explained with a soft smile, before silently pushing the doors open.
Violet gasped faintly and took in the room with wide eyes. Everywhere she looked were magnificent orange trees. The sweet, citric acid smell assaulted her senses and lulled her into a comfortable high. She marveled at the rich green and orange colors throughout the room. "Finn, this is stunning, how in the world..." she trailed off in awe to close her eyes in order to smell the orangery better.
"I come here when I need to think. I bought the trees online and tended them until the room turned in to this," he admitted.
"You did all this?" she marveled. She would have never guessed that Finn was a secret green thumb. That he had spent hours here, tending to his plants, humbled her. She would never have the patience to care that much about something. Sometimes she felt like she had the emotions of a teaspoon, and other times she felt like she was bursting at the seams. It took a lot of patience and time to cultivate the orangery and she respected Finn even more for that.
"Come over here, I've set up a table for us to eat at," he directed. Finn led her to a small pine table that had a checkered tablecloth laid over it. A wicker basket was resting on top, finishing off the quaint picnic-like scene.
After Violet had sat down, he opened the basket and pulled out the different foods that had been prepared. Her mouth watered as she recognized chicken pot pie, fresh vegetables, watermelon, warm bread, a salad and, of course, fresh oranges. He also produced a chilled bottle of blush wine, white cabernet, to be exact.
"I can't believe you went to all this effort," she murmured, dying to taste everything placed before her. She couldn't remember the last time she had had fresh fruit.
Finn smiled graciously, "It was no trouble at all. Besides it gave Cook something extra to do. Believe me, he was quite grateful. Now, what would you like first?" he asked, ready to serve her. Finn was quite proud that he was still managing to hide her nervousness. He was sure that by now he would be trembling slightly, but it was all locked away in the recesses of his mind. He was going to make this night perfect, everything about it. All Violet had to do was trust him.
"I want a little bit of everything," she said eagerly. She blushed when he gave her an amused look, "please?"
He chuckled and served her and then himself, before settling comfortably in the chair across from hers. They sipped their wine in silence, watching each other carefully. Finn tensed when Violet licked a stray drop from her lips. The tension in the air was thickening, threatening to make him go crazy.
"Tell me about yourself," Violet demanded suddenly.
Finn gave her a quizzical look, defensively shutting his emotions down, "What do you want to know?"
She recognized his panicked look, and tried to comfortably lure him out into the open. "Um, tell me about your childhood."
He twirled the stem of his wine glass between his long fingers for a moment before replying, "Well, I grew up with my parents and my older sister, Felicity, until I turned sixteen. That's when I joined up with Raine. We had always been friends growing up and I think always recognized him as my Alpha and he knew I was his Beta. We were just a team from birth." He paused wistfully, remembering the days of his youth, before any major problems arose.
"But back to my early childhood years: Felicity and I were pretty close for being five years apart. She was mated at the age of seventeen, though, to the Beta of another pack and when she turned eighteen she moved and out and married him. So for two years I was an only child. My parents were pretty awesome; they never really cared what I did, because they knew I was always with Raine. I guess I had a typical childhood."
Violet listened to his story with envy. She wished her childhood had been normal and that her parents had loved her like Finn's did. Her mother had always been a distant, shallow bitch and her father a power-hungry bastard. "I'm jealous of your past," she admitted after a moment.
Finn looked surprised, "Why? Sure it was great, but what happened after wasn't so great. We've both been through terrible situations, but look how we turned out. I used to think that what happened to me, ruined my life, but when I met you, and saw how strong you were, how strong you are, despite all the shit you've endured, I realized that I was wallowing in self-pity instead of living my life. I have you to thank for that."
"I hate to sound like a whiny bitch, but I'm still enduring shit," she chuckled bitterly, "I thought banishment was the key to my freedom, but I should have known that my father would never fully let me go. Now I'm back under his control again." Violet hated bringing up this subject, knowing it would put a damper on their evening, but she would never fully escape it.
Finn sighed, realizing that he was going to have to get Violet's mind off of the whole ordeal. He quickly changed the subject to something else, and made sure to keep her happily entertained until the end of dinner. When they had finished, he led her to a large window that looked out on the surrounding forest. The moon was bright tonight, giving the orangery an ethereal glow. He had laid blankets and cushions down in front of the window, and motioned for her to lounge.
They sat in a comfortable silence, just admiring the view for a few minutes. Finn had pulled Violet into his arms, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder, content with just holding her for now. He wanted to take his time with her tonight, but he also wanted to speed along the process in case something went wrong. He wanted the relief of knowing that she was his forever. Finn still had doubts though, doubts that her pride and duty would win out over her love of him. Which is why he broke the silence and whispered carefully, "Do you want to marry Sage?"
Violet flinched, "Does it matter?"
Yes, Finn thought, it bloody well mattered. He spun her around to face him, breathing harshly. "Do you want to marry Sage?" Finn repeated fiercely. He needed to hear her answer or he was going to go insane.
"No," she whispered mournfully.
Finn cupped her cheeks in his palms and gazed lovingly at her. "Do you want to marry me?" he whispered reverently.
Violet looked taken aback for a moment before hope filled her eyes. The impending reminder that she could never actually be with Finn quickly squashed it. "Finn, I can't."
"That's not what I asked. If you had to pick between Sage and me," he bit out, "Who. Would. You. Pick?"
"You," she cried, "always you."
He was filled with a sudden jolt of elation as he realized that tonight everything was going to go according to plan. With a smile on his lips, he leaned down and kissed her swiftly. It was a kiss full of promise and love. He was promising protection, he was promising himself. "I love you Violet," he said huskily, "I know you may not love me yet, but I have hope that someday you will. I'll ask you one last time, do you want to be with me, forever?"
He searched her eyes for any signs of hesitation, but all he saw was trust and adoration. "Yes, Finn, I do." Tears pricked the corner of her eyes, threatening to overflow. Admitting her emotions only hurt her more, because she finally realized what it would be like to be with Finn. It hurt to know what she could never have. Violet knew he had some secret plan, but a part of her was doubtful it would work.
She thought she heard him whisper, 'thank God', but anything could be affecting her senses right now. She wanted to hear Finn tell her that he loved her again, but she also wanted to run away and soothe her aching wounds. Her lips ached for his again, and as if he had read her mind, his lips were back on hers. "Trust me," he said against her lips.
Violet nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Always."
Finn looked deep into Violet's eyes and said hoarsely, "Repeat after me. Jsem tvoje."
She hesitated for a moment, wondering what he could be doing, but the look in his eyes reminded her of her promise to trust him. "Jsem tvoje," Violet said, struggling with the foreign language, but knowing that trying was enough to make it work. Whatever 'it' was.
"Dávám mé srdce a duše na vás." After every phrase that Finn said, Violet repeated it, putting all of her heart into the statements. Each time she said a new phrase, she felt like another piece of the puzzle was being formed and put together.
"Společně jsme jedno, nikdy nejsou oddělené."
"Sám jsme nic."
"Mé srdce a duše jsou tvoje udržet."
"Já jsem tvůj a ty jsi moje."
When Violet repeated the last line, she looked at Finn expectantly. He gazed down at her with love and adoration in his eyes. He leaned down and placed his lips against hers and whispered, "Dokonáno jest." A fire swept through her body when his words rang true in the air. Her body was jolted and pressed closer to Finn's. He grunted and kissed her fiercely, giving her air while taking it from her. She felt like a piece of her was being ripped apart, but then soothingly replaced by a comforting aura that mixed with her own.
"What's...going...on?" she gasped, feeling the fire take over her entire body. It raced through her veins and exploded from tips of her fingers and toes. Bright lights erupted around them and she watched in awe as a violet aura and a green aura melded together as one.
"Splynutí duší," Finn said hoarsely, "Melding of Souls."
"But what does it mean?" she asked, surprisingly at ease with the whole situation.
He pulled back and stared intently at her before speaking in a soft lyrical tone, "I am yours. I give my heart and soul to you. Together, we are one, never to be separate. Alone we are nothing. My heart and soul are yours to keep. I am yours and you are mine."
Violet listened to him, letting his words wash over her in a soothing caress. She was his and he was hers. She felt it, she knew it, because it was engrained in every fiber of her being. "Finn," she asked carefully, knowing he would understand what she was asking.
"As a werepanther, we have the privilege of knowing who our mates are," he told her, "I know you are my mate, and I've known for a while. In order for our relationship to be real it has to be recognized and approved by the Alpha. Then the Melding of Souls ceremony can be done." He paused to see how Violet was taking it all in. She smiled encouragingly at him, willing him to go on.
"The Melding of Souls is our way of officially claiming our mates, it's our rite of marriage. Violet," he gave her a wary look, "you're my wife now."
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