Perfect Mate (A Werewolf BBW Shifter Romance #2)(23)
"No!" Julia had cried. "I love it!"
She did. After a few alterations, the dress had fit her perfectly, and now as she stepped through the forest alone towards the gathering she looked down to admire it. Gossamer fabric clung to her curves and fluttered as she moved. The dress had faux sleeves that left her shoulders bare, and the silky white fabric bustled together at the small of her back and hung down to the trailing hem. It was a simple dress, but the beauty of it was in the simplicity, and as she walked in soft slippers across the trail towards the ceremony she thought that perhaps these were the dresses that angels wore. It was like wearing air.
The trail led through a dense forest, and although it was dark, Julia was careful not to let the skirt hem snag as she made her way through the brush. The trail opened up, and she knew that she was close. She could hear the low hum of chanting just ahead.
She paused just then, looking up at the sky. The stars shone brilliantly here, so far away from the city. She could make out Cassiopeia on the western horizon, the bright twinkles of light linked together indelibly by their closeness in the vast universe, at least from their perspective. A tingling sensation ran through her body. She was so small, just a tiny, insignificant part of the immense fabric of space, and her very insignificance gave her courage. She turned her attention back to the trail and smiled, taking a step forward toward the place where she would bond with Damien. Time was endless, but she would not make him wait.
As she neared the clearing, the chanting grew clearer. Low bass notes mingled with high melody, and she could make out the Lycarin words that Damien had taught her.
Elthier'a le tan riel ayale,
E kine amelia, te karian marale.
We come today to bond together,
A family grows, two hearts become one.
She stepped through the entryway and gasped at the sight. Each person held a candle above their white robes, the flames flickering softly and lighting their faces. The clearing opened out to a ridge line that dropped down into a steep canyon.
Julia and Damien had picked out the spot themselves, but Julia had only ever seen it in the daylight. At night, under the light of the full moon, the canyon seemed to stretch out forever in the distance. The soft blue light flooded the canyon, filling it with a calm, ethereal beauty. Stars twinkled overhead and the band of the galaxy stretched across the canyon like a rainbow of light in the sky. The warm flames of the candles lit the faces of all the guests there as they sang the last verse and the voices disappeared into silence.
Damien stood at the ridge line next to Granny Dee, the guests in two arcs around them both. He wore a suit, and Dee, like all of the other guests, was dressed in white robes. The effect was stunning. Dee had explained to her that for the bonding ceremony every person other than the two mates would be dressed alike, in white to represent the purity of the occasion and to show the tie between family members of the pack. Julia's heart swelled as she saw Jordan standing next to Kyle and Katherine, their faces bright with joy. This was the happiest moment of her life yet, and soon she would be bonded forever, joined to the pack as much as she was joined to Damien.
Julia walked through the center of the clearing towards the man who she would spend the rest of her days with. She knew that he could read her heart, and she sent all of her love towards him. He smiled.
Dee raised her hands, and the murmuring of the crowd ebbed into silence. Julia took her place in front of Dee, just across from Damien, and smiled nervously at her grandmother. Dee smiled back, lowered her hands, and spoke.
"We gather here in moonlight to mark the bonding of one heart to another," she said. "Let us hear first the story of bonding, as it has been told since the first day of the first year of the world.
"It is said every animal is born in the sky first. We travel here to earth to seek out our bodies, and live our days before returning to the sky. In the early world, before Time was broken into pieces, there was only one of each creature. We came to earth whole and lived our lives separately. But the gods saw that although there was peace, we were lonely creatures. They did not know how to solve this problem and Araken, god of living creatures, was sent to find a solution.
"But Araken was lazy, and did not love the creatures that had been given to his care. He came up with an idea to break apart the animals in the sky before they came to earth, to solve the problem by getting rid of the animal souls. He reared back to deliver the blow with his paw. But he did not realize his strength, and with that one blow he shattered all of the matter in the universe. Stars broke apart into chunks of rock and fire, and souls broke apart into hundreds of shards.
"Knowing what he had done, Araken hid from the Lord of the universe, Kar. Kar looked down and saw her creation smashed to pieces. She wept for the destruction that Araken had caused, and then she set to fixing it. At first she tried to gather the pieces of the stars and souls with her hands and weave them back together, but she soon realized that it would take her longer to mend than even creating the universe had taken. There must be another way.
"Gathering all of her energy, she sent out a pulse of thought that rippled through space from one end of the universe to the other and set all of the particles in the sky to vibrating. In them, the vibrations created a hunger."
Dee paused and looked up at the sky. The stars overhead seemed to twinkle and glow with the truth of her words. Goosebumps rose on Julia's skin, though she was not cold. She clutched the candle in front of her, looking at the light from Damien's own candle playing over his features. He was more handsome than ever, she thought, and she ached to throw her arms around him right then. Dee continued her story.