Chapter 9: Blood Ritual II

"What…" I murmured weakly, the words barely registering in my foggy mind. Yet there was an inner part of me that knew it could mean nothing good. Ensuring my obedience? Were they trying to drug me? I wanted to get away, but my limbs felt like they were waterlogged.

Forget moving an inch, even standing was too difficult. I felt my legs buckle, but Damon's arm held onto my waist, preventing me from face-planting on the ground.

Blaise cooed and stroked my cheek with his hand. My skin tingled from his touch.

"Look at her, Damon," Blaise murmured appreciatively. "If this is how she behaves before the ritual ends, I wonder how much more submissive she will be after."

I whimpered hazily in response; his words now sounded garbled to my ears, as though he had spoken them underwater.

Damon scoffed, but I felt his arm tighten around my waist. I whined at the sensation.

"I'm sure she'll be troublesome in the future," Damon growled out, a feral glint in his eyes as he gazed down at me. My body shuddered at the weight of his gaze, even as my mind was miles away.

"Damon, you seem too excited about that," Blaise laughed. He then raised his voice. "Shall we proceed with the next step?"

The crowd caught his words and cheered. Blaise swirled the bowl in his hands and then proceeded to walk closer to the altar. The flames danced higher, and Blaise began to drop a handful of herbs into the mixture, causing the blood to bubble.

Another swirl of the bowl and the herbs were gone, suddenly dissolved in the bloody mixture.

Blaise closed his eyes and murmured the enchantment, bathed in the heat of the fire.

He returned, offering the bowl to his brother in a low bow.

"The Moon Goddess has blessed this union. If the Alpha permits this lowly one to transmit her will, please accept this bowl of shared blood, to signify the binding of your lives. Now, you will be one blood, one heart, and one soul."

"I accept this union," Damon said, without even waiting for me to answer.

It wasn't as though I could answer; every lungful of smoke I breathed in sent me into a lustful daze. I could only rest my head on Damon's chest, nuzzling his chest.

"Must you be so theatrical?" Damon grumbled good-naturedly as he took the bowl. Blaise had outdone himself once again. This time, the mixture was smooth, the color an even red, with none of the clumpiness from before.

Truly, practice made perfect.

"Only the best for you, brother," Blaise retorted playfully before he cleared his throat and howled.

"Alpha, it's your time to drink!"

Damon raised the bowl and took a sip of the bloody concoction. The blood stained his teeth and lips a bright red, causing him to look even more ferocious than before. The rest of the pack howled in delighted response, stomping their feet in excitement.

"Now, it's time for your mate to drink," Blaise prompted, his eyes twinkling in glee as he eyed my voluptuous figure, snuggled in Damon's arms. "She seems very tired, do you think she'll be up to it?"

"She doesn't have a choice," Damon replied gravelly, and the crowd burst out laughing as though he told a great joke. "Open up, little rabbit."

From the moment Damon drank from the bowl, I felt a strong course of desire flow through me, energizing every inch of my body. It cleared the fog in my mind, but it left me with a desperate need to impress my mate. I could stand up on my own, but I no longer wanted to. I wanted to be in the arms of my alpha, my beloved mate.

I wanted him to touch me, to hold me, to make me his.

Suddenly, making him happy was the most important thing in my mind.

"Alpha…What… what do you…" I asked hesitantly.

"Just drink this," Damon said, and my eyes widened as I registered what I was seeing.

"This is blood! How… I can't…I won't do it!" I whimpered, my entire body reeling with disgust. I twisted my face away from that infernal bowl containing our shared blood, but that did not stop my body from reacting to the enticing warmth and smell that radiated off Damon.

'Why are you fighting your mate? Accept this. Accept him. All will be well,' a voice in my head murmured, as though cajoling an errant child.

The need to please my alpha once again reared its ugly head, and I cried out in pain as my body warred with itself. Part of me helpfully recalled how much I hated Damon Valentine, the murderer of my pack, but that part was getting browbeaten by every fiber of my being who wanted nothing more than to obey my alpha, my mate.

What was Stormclaw to me, other than an abusive pack that never offered me a home? Damon hadn't just destroyed my pack― he had saved me from it.

Was it right, the way he had done so? No.

Had he treated me like a perfect mate ever since we had found each other? Also no.

And what was Blaise, if Damon was my mate? Even with the ceremony in its midst, I could still feel a pull to the second Valentine brother. His blood called out to me just as strongly as his Alpha's did. If I was to become Damon's mate, what would be of Blaise? Would he remain mateless for all of eternity, until he found a chosen mate?

The thought of leaving Blaise to another woman had my stomach coiling in knots. My rational mind wanted none of them but there was a darker voice inside me that craved to have both brothers at my feet.

"Like I said, troublesome." Damon's wild grin showed all his blood-stained teeth, and he removed his arm from my waist, causing me to stumble.

I righted myself, ready to run, but Damon easily gripped my face with his hand. There was a long thin line on his palm, and I realized this must be the hand he used to offer blood for the ritual.

The moment his skin touched mine, a strong surge of warmth flowed through me, causing me to moan. I couldn't muster the strength to turn my face away from his arresting gaze, my eyes imprisoned by the dark look of desire in his eyes.

And then blood entered my mouth.

Before I could scream, Alpha Damon's lips followed after.

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