Logan Chapter 89

-Emory-

We all troop the mile or so to the clearing in Central Park that the pack has always used for full moon ceremonies. I can’t help but think we need to get a place that Logan or the pack owns privately in order to keep paparazzi or any of the people that have been following us from seeing anything they shouldn’t. We’re technically in a public place right now, which makes the thought of after all the more terrifying. The closer we get to the actual ceremony, though, the more sensual that fear becomes. It’s almost a turn on in and of itself. I’m not sure when I became an exhibitionist, but I’m glad it happened before I needed to do this, whether I am or not.

I’m more glad than ever that I agreed to let another couple have their ceremony before ours. Logan said theirs would be similar to ours, with maybe a couple of key differences. He neglected to explain anything further than that, and I’m just now realizing that I’ve been so caught up in planning around this ceremony that I didn’t even notice how light on the details I’ve been on the ceremony itself. I wonder if that was deliberate…? I shake my head at myself and try to come back to the present. It’s too late to ask, now.

Orson is standing at the natural head of a teardrop-shaped clearing deep in the woods. I can see why they picked this spot- that end of the clearing is narrower and also on a slight rise. It’s like having a nature-made platform to speak from. He gestures Dan and Erin forward for their ceremony while Logan and I try to be inconspicuous in the shadows of the trees around the clearing so we don’t upstage them. My family is welcome to the ceremony just like everyone else, and they stand off to the side toward the front. My parents and brothers all stand wide-eyed, waiting to see what will happen. Elliana, on the other hand, appears to be pouting because her phone was taken away for fear of what pictures she might take. There’s no way to force someone that age to keep anything off of social media unless you remove their ability to post about it. She wasn’t happy, but Mama got her in line.

Orson has been speaking for a few minutes, but all I can hear is the rush of my blood in my ears. Dan and Erin are saying something to each other, then Dan bites Erin’s neck, right about where my mating mark is on me. I reach up to touch the same spot on my neck and Logan squeezes my hand tighter in his. I’m surprised to see Erin return the gesture a few moments later, and both shifters kiss with passion, blood sluggishly dripping down their necks as the wounds begin to visibly heal. I can’t believe I missed the words when that was one of the main reasons I wanted to have theirs before ours, but I can’t get over them making out in front of the whole pack. It might be one of the hottest things I’ve seen in person, which is… strange. I’ve seen Logan naked, after all. I shift on my feet, uncomfortable, as I feel my thighs slick with arousal seemingly out of nowhere. I was nervous, I was happy for the other couple, and now I’m so horny I can barely think around it. Is this what Logan was talking about? Is it pheromones in the air? Is it magic? My musing is cut short as Orson gestures Logan and I forward.

Orson isn’t dressed in any particular way- slacks and a polo to mark the occasion as deserving more than his habitual jeans. Logan and I seem way overdressed next to him, but we’re also the leaders of this pack so maybe it’s fitting. I can see Mama already crying in my peripheral vision as Logan pulls me to the head of the clearing so we can take Dan and Erin’s place standing across from each other in front of Orson. So far, it’s very like any wedding ceremony I’ve seen. The biting is new, but really it’s not incredibly different from “You may now kiss the bride.” There was some light applause, and that wave of whatever it was that made everyone uncomfortable in their pants, but everything else seemed normal. Dan and Erin have joined the rest of the crowd and are straining with the effort of keeping their hands mostly off of each other.

“We are gathered under the stars and our moon! Those of us gathered, be heard!” Orson suddenly calls out, both hands lifted. Did I miss this for the previous one? All of the shifters behind us throw their heads back and howl, eyes flashing in the night. My family startles, looking around at the sudden changes in the people around them. Orson waits for relative quiet before continuing in his surprisingly deep voice, the sound carrying easily on the air. “This pack has been given a blessing! The stars have decreed Emory and Logan bonded forevermore. Logan, do you accept the mate gifted to you, or do you dare to fight the stars themselves?”

This seems a lot more confrontational than the chosen mate ceremony was, and I’m relieved to hear Logan accept even though I already knew he would. “I accept my gift, Elder!”

Orson puts his left hand on Logan’s brow and nods before he continues. “And so Logan is bound forevermore! He is the flesh and belonging of Emory. Emory, do you accept the mate gifted to you, or do you dare to fight the stars themselves?”

I gulp and reply with all the confidence I can muster. My voice comes out smooth and assured- to my absolute shock- though I’m sure the closest shifters can smell my nerves, anyway. “I accept my gift, Elder.”

Orson places his right hand on my brow, and I immediately feel my skin start to heat. When my forehead is uncomfortably warm and we’re all holding our breath in anticipation of Orson’s next words, he speaks. “Logan and Emory belong to each other, one in flesh and spirit. Mark your mate and take your fated future!” He removes his hands with a flash of light, and Logan is on me.