Shadow wolves: His dirty witch (Book 2) - Complete

Chapter 7 - Ceremony preparations

Giselle

“Sure beautiful, anything you say.” I smiled at him. My rugged wolf that I had grown to love deeply in a matter of days. If anything went wrong, I wanted to always remember him this way. I closed the door, walked downstairs and to the forest at the back of the house where mom was waiting for me. Not too far into the forest was a small lake. The water was clear and everything smelled fresh.

The forest was filled with the sound of free animals, especially birds. I felt the ground give way underneath my feet as I walked. Connecting with mother earth as much as possible. She would be my nurturer through the cleansing bath. Her heartbeat could be felt in the surrounding wind, the ground underneath my feet, and the sound of the leaves blowing in the wind. It felt as if she was with me, and she was pleased. Mom and dad were waiting for me.

“This day is very special my sweet girl.” She said with tears in her eyes. “You have never been like other girls, trying every guy and then failing. The poor guys are paying the price for their greed.” That just made me even more nervous.

“Mother …” I rolled my eyes.

“There is that word again! I am just trying to say that you have nothing to worry about. You waited for him until you knew he was the right one.” She tried to calm my nerves in her own special way.

“Thank you, mom …” We hugged, and I climbed into the river in my white dress. My dad supported me so that I wouldn’t fall or slip. Taking a deep breath, I went underwater, and came up for air a minute later. Mom handed me a sage stick that I held in front of me, as I waved the smoke coming from it over my head. “Thank you, mother nature, for this blessing.” I completed the ritual and my dad helped me climb out. Walking back to the house all soaked, with my parents following me, where my mom put a towel around me. Dad went to their room to get dressed quickly, while I had to drink the cleansing tea.

I rolled my eyes throughout this entire process. The tea tasted more like tree root or something, anything but tea. I knew the traditions were necessary, but sometimes it felt a bit much. The sage stick was kept burning in the kitchen and would follow me to their bedroom. Mom was a traditionalist, as you may have guessed.

Our kitchen was a bit dark, with all sorts of spices and herbs hanging in one corner. Pots and pans in another and mom kept a cauldron in a fake fireplace for the fun of it. Dad didn't allow dwarf’s toe and dead man’s eye in the house, but he didn’t mind normal herbs. I burst out laughing out loud.

“What are you laughing at?” Mom smiled at me.

“I was just thinking about the story you told me when you teased dad with the dwarf’s toe and dead man’s eye.” I giggled.

“Yes, that was a funny day. We had just finished our life ceremony and his suite cases were in the foyer. All he had to do was unpack and he was there. My best friend Angie thought it would be funny to give him a fright, so later that night when he started snooping around the kitchen, he found those in the back and nearly had a heart attack!” Mom was also laughing out loud.

“What’s all this laughing about?” Dad frowned. “Not in this house!” Dad gave mom a wink and tears were running as we laughed.

“Well, Dad is finished. Time for you and I to get dressed, my girl.” Mom said, with a longing look in her eyes. We walked upstairs to her room. While mom took a shower, I started with my hair. With my hair down, my natural golden curls were hanging down my back. I didn’t know why, but no matter how short I cut my hair, it was always this length when I woke up the next morning, so in the end I gave up and took it as a witch thing. I made a small braid from one side to the other at the back, to put flowers in. There were two tendrils hanging in front of my ears. Mom walked out of the bathroom all dolled up already.

“Magic … Seriously, Mom?” I laughed.

“Of course, how else would a girl do it?” She frowned and shrugged as if there was no other way. I had to get used to doing it the human way. If I did my make-up the magic way, I would look like a princess and I would have drawn too much attention. Mom had her dress on as fast as you could click your fingers and I followed suit. I didn’t want to ruin my hair or make-up by having a dress pulled over my head. Looking at myself in mom’s full-length mirror, I didn’t look anything like me. I looked like the girl who Sebastian wanted to mate with. I hoped he had found someone by now.

“Mom, has Sebastian been mated?” I sounded a little panicked, wondering if he would be at the ceremony.

“No sweetheart, not yet.” She frowned, probably realizing my reasons for my panic. “It will all be fine sweetheart. He will see you with your mate and not dare interfere. The council will not allow it.” She sounded more confident than I felt. We walked downstairs where our men were waiting for us. Leo and Dad gave us wolf whistles and made us both laugh. This might just be a good day. After all, I had Leo by my side to protect me. I just had to trust in him. I had to trust in our bond. That was one of the key points the ceremony would be about. Leo looked happy as he walked with my mom to the car and Dad and I followed behind them.

“You will be fine, my daughter. Just believe in your bond.” My dad tried to calm my nerves. “I noticed you merely skimmed over the surface of what was waiting for both of you in the life ceremony. Are you that scared of losing him?” My dad always knew exactly how I felt.

“Yes, dad. If it were up to me, I would skip all of this, but if he marked me then I wouldn’t be able to come back here. I will never be able to see you or Mom again. I wouldn’t be able to live with that. An eternity to look forward to after he died … No magic … No contact with you … No, I won’t survive.” I looked at him with tears in my eyes. Mom and Leo were laughing and having fun as he opened the car door for her, and I put a smile on my face.

“You will be fine, my girl. Just believe in your bond. I can see it is strong.” My dad smiled lovingly. Leo walked to my door and opened it for me, then climbed in on the other side of the car. Unfortunately, mom was sitting with me in the back seat this time. We were all dressed in our formal ceremonial attire. Leo was dressed in a black button-up shirt, pants, and shoes. His cloak was decorated with a fake gray wolf pelt around the shoulders and the rest was made of silver velvet material, and it hung down to his feet. The hood that he was going to wear was made of the same silver velvet as the rest of the cloak. Mom and dad were wearing their baby blue and white velvet cloaks, shining like the stars. Mom wore a dress and Dad wore a white shirt, pants and loafers. They were getting older and comfort took president. Most of the council did the same, as long as the cloak covered most of it. They believed in tradition. I was dressed in a soft yellow velvet long sleeved dress. The back of the dress hung open, softly flowing into my cloak. The hood hung down the back with the cloak underneath. Velvet is the material of preference, due to the weather always being on the colder side in the homelands. Leo was amazed at how different the homelands were to what he had expected.

“I was thinking dark, thorny bushes in a hot cave with a river of molten lava running somewhere inside.” He laughed as he told us what he thought it would look like. “Oh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it that way.” He immediately apologized, and mom laughed.

“Not to worry Leo, that is more or less what most people think before they see our home for the first time.” Mom put his mind at ease. It almost looked like fairy woods or even the forest the wolves had in their territory. Mom explained to him that we were very much connected to life and the light.

“I can see that.” He sighed with relief out of the blue, catching me off guard. Was this big bear of mine nervous as well? I looked at him and saw the flash of nerves cross his face. I was so damn selfish! All this time, I was just worrying about myself and I did not take his worries into account for once.

“It will all go well ‘Mine’.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “My guide and your goddess destined this for us. This is just one of the steps on our path to becoming stronger together.” I explained, feeling more confident than I had been since we arrived. The drive didn’t take too long. My hands started trembling the closer we got to the council chambers. I have been there many times to witness life ceremonies my parents took me to when I was younger, and I was always so scared when one was not the true mate and was caught out to be a liar. It was sad to see them perish, especially when they didn’t realize they were not meant to be mates. It was also heartbreaking to watch the witch left behind, who had to pick herself up. They had to go through a period of mourning with our Seekers of truth. You were only released once the Seekers found you to be healed. Oh, what was I going to do if Leo wasn’t true? We arrived at the council chambers and Leo jumped out of the car to open it for mom and me. We had both put on our hoods and as soon as Leo closed the door, I helped him with his.

“Please goddess Freya, don’t let Sebastian cause a scene.” I said a quick prayer. My thoughts were scattered all over the place! Dad took Mom’s hand, followed by Leo and myself. Leo copied what Dad was doing. It was actually very funny.

“You look breathtaking, beautiful.” He whispered and I blushed. His compliment made me focus on the present. I had bought my dress many years ago when I saw it at a market. It was different and seemed unique. Mom put it away for me for safe keeping if I ever needed it for “a special occasion,” she would say. I guess that day had arrived. Leo looked like a tourist as we walked into the building. The council chambers looked more like a castle than the chambers we are used to in human cities. There were elaborate decorations and paintings everywhere of generations of old council members dating back forever.

“This is our council chambers. Each coven has their own council,” I explained.

“How many members and covens are there if this place is this big?” He looked wide-eyed at me.

“Over two thousand.” Mom answered his question.

“Are you being serious?” His wide eyes took in every detail.

“Yes, mine. The community is a lot bigger than the world outside realizes.” We had come to a standstill in the middle of the foyer, when I heard mom calling.

“Giselle, Leo, come the council are waiting!” She pointed to a set of enormous wooden doors with two guards in front of them. The guards opened the doors as we approached. Mom and Dad walked in first and we followed. There was a row of old men sitting at the front in a half-moon form. Mom and Dad walked up to the grid in front of the members and the ceremony started.