Nineteen: Ceremonies
Ava
I entered the house an hour later, clothes still in my teeth. I scratched at the door, unable to turn it. The knob turned, and the door opened. Adrian appeared in the door frame and his eyes widened for a second before he realized it was me.
"Hi." He smiled as he moved to the side. I ducked my head and walked through the door. The sound of footsteps on the stairs caught my attention as I looked up. Both of my Mates stood there, a relieved look on their faces. I walked to them and rubbed my snout into Elijah's chest. His hand rubbed the top of my head between my ears and I huffed out my approval. I turned then and licked Emilio's cheek. He smiled.
"Ew." He said as he wiped his face and I gave him a toothy grin. His hand rubbed my side and I sat, enjoying the petting I was receiving.
"C-can I pet her?" I heard Adrian ask. Elijah looked like he was about to say no but I turned and crawled to him, my belly dragging across the floor. He looked at me before lifting his hand and setting it on my head.
"I've never seen such a large she-wolf before. I hadn't realized how large you were in the forest. Such pretty fur too." He said. My tail wagged back and forth at the praise. Then I felt a tug on my tail. I yelped and turned. Emilio and Elijah stood there, pointing at each other.
"He did it." They said simultaneously. I growled playfully at them before picking up my dropped clothes and heading up the stairs.
When I reached the room, I saw the door was already open and walked in, closing it behind me. I shifted and hopped in the shower, letting the warm water cascade down my body, the tense muscle loosening but still careful of my almost healed back wound. I was going to have to tell both what I did for a living. But not tonight. I wasn't ready to deal with that just yet. I sighed as I finished cleaning myself up and dried off. When I opened the bathroom door my Mates weren't in the room yet.
I quickly dressed in my normal pajamas and headed to the bed ready to get some rest.
I'm going to bed now. I projected to the both of them as I hid underneath the blankets. The sound of running footsteps caught my attention as they burst through the door. Clothes flew as they dove to their sides of the bed. I laughed at the speed with which they reached me.
"Hi." I said, giving them both pecks on the cheek before snuggling back into bed.
"Love," Emilio began to speak, "We wanted to do the acceptance ceremony for both you and Adrian tomorrow. How does that sound?" He asked, and I smiled.
"Sounds good!" I said happily as I curled into his chest, my legs tangling with Elijah's.
"Goodnight." I yawned as sleep took over.
Emilio
The pack had set everything up already, as a surprise for her when she woke up. Liana and Adrian were both cooking breakfast, a surprise idea from the both of them. I had been awake for an hour, listening the them shuffle around, pots and pans clacking as they laughed and joked. I laid in bed, Ava's legs tangled with mine, her head on Elijah's chest. The house had a warmth to it that had never been there before. I felt comfortable now, my chest no longer heavy as I laid there. I felt like there wasn't a worry in the world.
Ava stretched then, her smooth legs rubbing against mine. She kissed Elijah's cheek before turning her head to me.
"Good morning." She smiled before giving me a small kiss before pulling herself out of the covers and walking to the bathroom. As I watched her I knew that as long as we had her, our days would just get better and brighter than each day before it.
By the time we had all gotten ready for the day it was almost ten and Adrian had knocked on the door to announce that breakfast was served. We walked down the stairs, Ava between the both of us, holding her hands. The scent that filled the house made my mouth water.
"That smells like pancakes!" Ava cried before letting go of our hands and running towards the kitchen. Elijah chuckled as we followed her. By the time we made it to the kitchen she was consuming blueberry pancakes at an alarming rate.
"Breathe Love." I said as Liana laughed. Adrian smiled as he passed both Elijah and I plates too.
"Thank you." I said as we sat and ate.
We finished eating quickly, Ava seemingly extremely happy with her full belly.
"I have a food baby." She said as we walked outside.
"We could make it a real baby." Elijah said in her ear. Her face reddened instantly.
"S-shut up." She said as we stepped off the porch steps only to stop in her tracks.
"Wow." She breathed out at the sight before her. I had to admit, the pack had done a really good job. They had decorated the path through the pack grounds with colorful flowers, leading to a makeshift stage that was hand built and painted by the construction workers from our company.
Above the stage a banner was hanging over it with Welcome to the Pack Luna Ava and Adrian Monte. The pack waited patiently for her and Adrian by the stage. We looked down to Ava to see tears in her eyes.
"Are you okay?" I asked. She nodded and cleared her throat.
"Y-yeah. I'm fine." She smiled as Adrian walked up beside us. He looked to Ava.
"Ready?" he asked, and she nodded. We walked to the stage and the Alphas helped me up.
"We'll do Adrian's oath first, then yours okay?" Elijah said. She nodded, and he kissed her on the forehead. I followed suit and gave her a quick kiss before walking up to greet the pack.
"Good afternoon fellow pack members!" Elijah started. They all bowed respectively, children bouncing around the crowd happily. I took in a breath and spoke.
"Today we welcome two people into this pack. The first, Adrian Monte, a young man who was thrown out of his pack for something every single one of us here would have done. What it was, is not my business to tell. But after a few days of monitoring him and his behavior with the pack we decided he is welcome here. Now Adrian," I looked at him and Elijah did the same. We both punctured the palms of our hands with our canines. The acceptance ceremony was a type of Blood Bond for our kind without the excruciating pain. It allowed for the Council to be able to know which pack a wolf belonged to if for any reason they needed to know. It worked almost like a military dog tag. Adrian pierced his own palm.
"Adrian Monte, do you swear your loyalty to the Ash Pack fully, without any doubts?" Elijah asked.
"I swear it." Adrian responded.
"Will you put your life on the line for your pack members here should the situation arise, without fault?" I asked.
"I will." He said. Elijah and I held out our hands, wrapping it around Adrian's.
"From today onwards you will be a member of the Ash Pack." A sharp pain shot through my arm and the same happened to Elijah and Adrian. The crowd cheered as the ceremony for Adrian ended. I looked to Ava who smiled at Adrian as he stepped down and she came to us.
"And now, we welcome our beautiful Mate, Ava Blaine, of the Lupis Pack." Elijah said. The crowd cheered so loudly I felt my ears ringing. Ava's face reddened as she smiled shyly, waving to the crowd of pack members.
"They love you." I whispered to her and she smiled brighter.
"Ava," Elijah continued, "has entered this pack with the purest heart I have ever seen in anybody. She protects as strongly as she scolds, laughs as loud as she yells," the crowd laughed at that and Elijah turned back to us then, "and she's as kind, and she is beautiful. Endlessly so. And today, we welcome her into the Ash Pack fully, with no regrets or doubts. Now Ava," He said as we re-pierced our hands, Ava following.
"Do you swear your loyalty to the Ash Pack fully, without any doubts?" Elijah asked repeating his earlier question.
"I swear it." Ava said with a wide smile.
"Will you put your life on the line for your pack members here should the situation arise, without fault?" I asked.
"I will." She said with certainty. Elijah and I held out our hands, and just like we had done with Adrian, wrapped it around Ava's.
"From today onwards you will be a member of the Ash Pack." I said. The pain shot through us for a split second and then the crowd cheered once more, louder than before. Before we could blink she as being swept away into the crowd and the celebrations began.
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Okay, another one done. they are finally official member of the Ash Pack and I have a headache from from my job. I'm ready to take go to bed and it's barely 5PM. I might have a minor mental breakdown. We shall see.
Anyways, tell me your thoughts?
aaannndddd go!
J. Vas