Out of The Dark (The Grey Wolves #4)(33)

Decebel looked up at the room and announced, "The males will sit on the left side."
Without so much as a whispered question Costin, Fane, and Sorin all took seats on the left side of the room. Decebel walked her to where he had been standing moments before, next to the fireplace. The entire time his hand was splayed wide over her right side, covering any parts of her marking that might be showing.
To Vasile's surprise, Decebel asked him to stand with his back to the room, with Jen and Decebel on the other side, instead of Vasile standing behind the couple and facing everyone. This, of course, made it impossible for anyone to see her side because it was facing the fireplace. Jen bit her lip and drew on every ounce of her willpower to not roll her eyes. As Decebel walked around her, she felt his fingers slip just inside the side of her dress and trail down, knowing he was touching her mark – his mark. Jen shivered and nearly kicked Decebel when she saw the side of his mouth lift in a triumphant half-smile. When he was finally standing in front of her, all memory of irritation fled as she looked at the utter devotion and love staring out at her from his eyes. His face had softened, even the glow in his eyes had receded slightly.
The room quieted as Vasile turned to address the others.
"Decebel is an Alpha in his own right. He led his own pack, was powerful and undefeated in challenges. For this reason his Bonding Ceremony will be as it would for an Alpha in the presence of a high Fae. It is the first time in a very long time that we are privileged to have the Fae with us during a bonding. Because of thi,s Decebel has asked for Perizada to participate in the ceremony which is only bestowed upon Alphas. "
Jen gasped and started to speak, but her lips pressed together when Decebel gave her the look that told her he meant business. She didn't understand what was going on and it worried her to know that the Fae would be a participant in something so special.
Decebel could see the apprehension in Jennifer and reached across to run the backs of his fingers across her cheek. "Trust me," he mouthed silently.
"Always," was her silent response.
Vasile turned his back on the room and looked at his Beta.
"Decebel, once Alpha to the Western Romanian pack, you have found your true mate and she has accepted your claim. As is customary, you will wash her feet, exemplifying your willingness to serve her and care for her needs, no matter how simple they may be. You will recite the customary vows and then your own vows. During that time, you will present your mate with your offering."
Decebel nodded once to Vasile and led Jennifer to a chair. A basin of water with steam rising from it sat next to the chair on the floor. Jen could smell lavender floating on the air.
Decebel smiled. "To soothe," he told her. Even without their mental bond he understood the questioning look in her eyes.
He slowly raised the hem of her dress to expose her feet and calves. Jen took it from him and folded it over her lap, covering the tops of her knees. She could tell it made him uncomfortable to lift her dress in the company of others. As soon as that thought flitted through her mind, Jen bit her tongue to keep from giggling like a school girl. She remembered watching Fane wash Jacque's feet at their ceremony and thought it was very sweet, but as Decebel took her leg in hand and with a washcloth squeezed water onto her foot, she realized just how intense and intimate this moment was.He continued to wash her feet while he lifted his gaze to hers and spoke.
“On this day I kneel before you, as a servant to my mate, to ask if you will make me whole. Will you give yourself to me? Finally calming the beast inside, bringing order to chaos, shining light where there has been only darkness? Will you bind your life to mine, your fate to mine, and your soul to mine and, in doing so, complete the mate bond?”
Jennifer wished she could say that she remembered the response to the vows, but in truth the intensity in his voice, the love in his eyes, held her mind captive. Her thoughts were sluggish from her sickness and her weak body. She tried to remember exactly what to say, but all she could recall was, "I will bind my life to yours, my fate to yours, and my soul to yours and complete our mate bond. I will take you for my own, my mate, and my Alpha.”
Decebel dried her feet off gently and pulled her dress down, recovering her legs. When she began to stand he gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You are tired." He spoke so softly only she could hear.
Jen gave him a slight smile, but felt a pang of anger that she wasn't strong enough to stand through her own bonding ceremony. Decebel winked at her – he knew she was ticked and she couldn't help the grin that spread across her face.
Fane brought Decebel a chair so he could sit directly in front of Jen. He sat down and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. He took both of her hands in his and looked into her eyes.
"I'm not good with words. And some words I use at times are spoken harshly and before I think about what I'm saying."
Jen smiled at his confession and waited for him to continue.
"I thought about what I want to say to you, how to say it to you, and I confess I never could get it quite right. I thought about what you have been put through in the past weeks and can't imagine any words which could afford you the measure you are due for what you have endured. How can I come to you with any worth, when for three weeks I didn't know who you were? I left you alone. What kind of man does that to his woman? What kind of mate forgets the one who completes his soul?"
Jen was holding it together by a thin strand as she watched the mighty Decebel humble himself in front of her and their pack.
"I cannot undo what has happened. No matter what I give, to be able to fix the past weeks is beyond my ability. The only thing I can do is prove to you, however long it takes, every single day for the rest of our lives that I will be a man, a mate, a friend, and a lover worthy of you."
Decebel knelt in front of her then and dropped his arms to his side. He looked at Peri, then at Jen.
"I must give an offering to you to prove my ability to provide for you both physically and emotionally, to protect, and -" Decebel added this last part, though it was usually understood he wanted it spoken aloud, " to love you. I didn't expect to be doing our Bonding ceremony on the other side of the veil. The offering I have for you is not one that is typical, but oddly enough I think it is appropriate and I hope that you accept it. 
“Once the Blood Rites are performed, my mark will remain on your skin forever. Your bite mark will not remain on me. Your scent will be in me, but the great Luna did not feel it necessary for the female's bite to remain visible. So, my offering to you is your mark burned and etched into the flesh above my heart."
Several gasps rippled across the room, Jen's being the loudest. Decebel continued before she could interrupt him.
"My hope is that you will see by this offering that I will endure whatever necessary to ensure you remain with me, whole, safe, protected. I hope that it will show that I want the world to know the name of the incredible woman who holds my heart in her hands. The blood born from this offering is my promise that by the sweat of my brow, the flesh of my body, and the blood of my life I will always provide for you in whatever form that might take. Do you accept my offering, mate? Do you accept me?"
Jen was speechless. She didn't want Decebel to be in pain. She didn't want to see his beautiful skin marred because of her, but she knew if she denied him it would be a blow to his pride that could never be restored. If Decebel could do this, then so could she.
Jen's eyes locked with his when she spoke. "Yes. I accept your offering."
Decebel let out the breath he had been holding. "You sure do know how to keep a man in suspense, love."
Jen was too nervous to have a smart mouth comeback. She watched as Peri pulled a knife from the fireplace where the blade had been sitting in the hot coals. How had she missed that? Jen refused to look away from Decebel's eyes as Peri began.
"Decebel," Peri's voice was strong and the magic that she normally kept toned down was pulsing through the room, "do you willingly accept the markings this blade will put on your flesh? Do you fully acknowledge that these markings are permanent and will not heal the way other injuries inflicted on your kind do? Are you aware that you shed your blood under the power of the Fae?"
"I do and I am."
With his affirmation, Peri pressed the blade to his chest. Jen's eyes, against her will, glanced down to watch. Her mouth dropped open as she watched his flesh cut and burned by an unmoving blade. When Peri pulled the blade away to put it back in the fire a small, perfect J was left on his skin. A few moments later Peri put the knife next to the J and again the knife seared into his flesh and without moving, cut and burned an E next to the J. This continued letter after letter. Decebel never moved, never made a sound as blood ran down his chest and abdomen. There was, thankfully, not a lot of blood since the skin was not just cut but burned as well. It still made Jen sick to watch his precious blood be shed for her. When the final letter was finished Peri set the blade down and handed Jen a cold, wet towel.
"Tend to your mate. He has done you a great honor this day." Peri stepped back into the shadows as Jen stood. Decebel tried to get her to sit back down but Jen brushed his hand away.
"Let me," she told him firmly. With Decebel on his knees, his face was level with Jen's and she looked into his eyes as she gently wiped the blood from his chest and stomach. Once it was all gone, she dropped the towel and placed her hands on either side of his face. She leaned in until her lips where just barely touching his and whispered against them, "I love you, Decebel."