Page 127 of Omega's Heart

“Felix White River, I come here in the sight of my family and yours, in the support of the pack, in the shelter of the forest that protects our prey and the light of the Moon that reveals them to our hunting, to pledge myself as your mate. You will live in comfort and safety, you and the pups you will bear of my seed, and I will see them raised rightly to know both the old ways and the new. With you will I share my life, my happiness, my sorrows, as you will share yours with me. I will lay my prey at your feet and protect you, my strength is yours in your need. This I do promise before my family and yours, before our packs, and before the watching eye of the Lord of Wolves, that he may bless us and keep us safe, lending us strength in our pairing.”

Now. Finally. Felix’s father stepped forward and began to untie the knots holding Felix’s belt closed. As the belt fell away, the White Moon shifter said, “Kaden Mercy Hills, in removing the garments in which I have clothed this omega, I hereby leave him free to become yours and I do so with all good will.” He slid the bright red cloth down over Felix’s shoulders and off his arms, leaving the omega shirtless in the moonlight.

Kaden paused to puzzle over the painted shapes and lines covering Felix’s chest. Felix’s nipples stood out in the cool of the evening and he found himself wanting to just...reach out and touch them, until someone nudged his back.

“The tunic,” Quin said, then leaned in and whispered, “Put your eyes back in your head and pull your tongue in.”

Kaden grinned at him, wolf-like, and took the tunic. “Thanks. I’ll tell him you said that.”

“Just don’t tell Holland. He’s having the time of his life right now.”

He was, was he? Kaden glanced over at his packbrother and resisted the urge to flip him off. Choosing the better course—and the one that got him into Felix’s bed marginally faster—he turned back to his mate and held up the tunic, this one dark green, in a supple suede that flowed like water in his hands. His gift to Felix, or one of them—he’d had Holland watch out for something that would suit, and then the omegas of Mercy Hills had created this piece of art for him claim his omega. “Bartholomew White River, I accept the offering of your omega and claim him as my own. In symbol of that claiming, I clothe him in this gift of cloth, so that he may know he is mine.” Lysoon, it was beautiful on him, the green suiting Felix as much as the red had. Tiny, tiny beads glittered in the moonlight, shaped into a young forest at the front, growing older and larger as it covered the back of the tunic. It was beautiful, but still paled in comparison to his mate, he thought.

Kaden accepted the Mercy Hills belt from Quin—the same one, he’d been told, that his mated brothers had used to claim their omegas—and reached around Felix’s waist to tie it so the tunic would stay shut and keep the cooling air off his mate’s skin.

Felix shivered, but his hands rested briefly against Kaden, his palms hot against the skin of Kaden’s forearms before he held them out for the traditional binding. So it hadn’t been a shiver of cold, then.

Bart stepped up with the red and white belt and began to wind it around Felix’s wrists and forearms. While he did so, Felix smiled at Kaden and spoke his next lines in the ceremony. “With this binding, I give myself over to you in all that I am and all that I have. In remembrance of your gift of shelter here, I will turn to you for all my needs.” Kaden’s lips twitched, Felix frowned at him, and then they went on. Lysoon, are we going to survive? Felix sucked in another deep breath, steadfastly ignoring Kaden’s rising hilarity. “And in turn, I will seek always to provide for yours, that you may find no lack in me, nor have your wishes unheard or unfulfilled. This I do swear, under the Moon and before our packs, in the name of the Lady of Wolves.”

Kaden controlled his face and squeezed Felix’s bound hands, then followed as his new packfather led them over to the table that Quin had carried into the circle.

Kaden reached into the bowl in the center of the table and plucked out a square of venison, brought in specially for this ceremony because Felix liked it and it was traditional here in White River. “In my care you will never hunger.” He placed the food in Felix’s mouth and watched as the man chewed, surprisingly sensual under the circumstances. When he saw the flex of his mate’s throat as he swallowed, Kaden picked up the mug of water and held it to Felix’s mouth. “Nor will you thirst. This I do swear, to you and to the pups you will bear of my seed.” Felix choked a little on the water but swallowed gamely. “Under the Moon and before our packs, in the name of the Lord of Wolves.” He set the mug on the table and they turned to stare at the papers lying in the middle, held down by the weight of a tiny statue of Lysoonka. Almost...

Felix’s dad moved to stand on the other side of the table, so they were a triangle, the three of them. Just for now, though. Quickly, Kaden signed beside his name at the bottom of the contract, then watched with rising impatience as Felix’s father signed in his place. He took his time, setting the pen carefully aside then folding the two copies of the contract, handing Kaden’s to him.

“Kaden Mercy Hills,” Bart intoned. “I yield him to you.” He passed over the dangling end of the cord binding Felix’s arms, and that was it—they were mated. Felix leaned in to whisper in Kaden’s ear, “How fast can we light that fire?”

I’m going to die. Lysoon, hear my prayer.

C H A P T E R 6 9

K aden undid the knots in the mating cord, then stood there feeling like an idiot with it dangling from his fingers. “What do we do with this now?” he asked.

“You wear it around your neck for now, and then later we hang it on our wall.” Felix shuffled closer. “I don’t suppose I get a kiss?”

Kaden obliged, and a roar went up in the background as their families began celebrating. “You’ll get more than that as soon we get through this next bit.”

Felix laughed. “I think this is why we have the meal after we’ve come back.”

“If alphas of old felt the way I have for the past month, I’m surprised they didn’t just sign the contract and then have the ceremony after.”

“Contracts are a new thing,” Felix said with satisfaction. “Let’s get out of the way. They’re bringing in the bonfire.”

“Finally!”

“Mmm,” Felix mused. “Bring the venison?”

With a laugh and grin, Kaden snagged the bowl before it could be whisked away to make room for the mating bonfire. “Let’s go find some chairs.”

“I’m sorry, I should have thought. Is your leg sore?” Felix began, but Kaden’s slow shake of his head cut off his protests.

“I’m fine. Just need to conserve energy,” he told his mate, putting a wealth of innuendo into his voice. Felix turned red again but his smile shone like the moon.

Kaden insisted on feeding the rest of the meat to Felix, telling him he was going to need his strength and wondering just how bright the color on Felix’s cheeks could get. Maybe they wouldn’t need the bonfire after all if he just kept teasing his bright-eyed mate.

Quin walked up behind them just as Felix finished the last of the meat cubes. “Save that for later,” he whispered in Kaden’s ear. Then, standing straight again, he handed Kaden the twisted spill of paper that he would use to light the bonfire. “Ready?”

“So ready.” Kaden got to his feet and pulled Felix up to his. “Come on, let’s get this done.”