COVEN, Dreamwalker

Chapter 5 Pt 1

Ceremony of Renewal

Elana

I’m exhausted by the time I return home after the damn test, which somehow provided fewer answers than a toddler caught drawing on the walls.

Hybrid of Mixed Magical Abilities.

Very helpful.

I slump down onto the sofa and look around the peaceful room.

Eric is in the gym with his friends, and Emily is in training to help control her powers, thank the Goddess. Guarding my thoughts around her all day uses far more effort than I’d like.

And Mum is…

Well, I don’t actually know where she is.

My phone pings.

I pull it out of my pocket and find a message from Chase confirming our attendance at the Druids’ Renewal ceremony tomorrow night.

I send him a thumbs-up.

After today, I could use a break from my own head.

“MUM… MUM!” I scream, far too tired to actually go looking for her.

She appears instantly, dressed in Coven robes of grey and white, delicate stones woven through her auburn hair.

“Yes?” she huffs, looking slightly annoyed.

“Just wanted to let you know—”

“You’re going to the Renewal ceremony tomorrow night. Yes, I know.” Her eyebrow rises. “What I don’t know is why you felt the need to tell me. Your siblings never tell me their plans.”

A smile creeps across my face.

“I’m the responsible one. I don’t want you to worry when I suddenly become undetectable.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

The look on her face says she has several opinions about my definition of responsible.

I smile sweetly.

She clicks her fingers and disappears.

Well.

Glad we had that talk.

I push myself off the sofa and head upstairs to my bathroom to begin preparing for tomorrow night’s festivities.

Because, well, the ceremony rules dictate all attendees are well groomed and buffed to within an inch of their lives.

I learnt that particular lesson last year.

The Druids take renewal very seriously.

Tuesday — 8:00 p.m. The Druids

The moment I walk through the arched entrance of the Druid Halls, magic ripples over my skin.

My clothes and shoes disappear. A sheer white robe replaces them, falling to my ankles. It’s cut to my sternum and held there by a single loop of cord, while the sides remain open from hip to hem. Beneath it, there’s nothing but skin scattered with Druidic symbols drawn in ash-grey ink, tracing my collarbones, ribs and the curve of my hips.

Renewal.

Moon phases.

Growth.

Power.

I recognise most of them from last year, although a few are different.

Apparently, what the Druids need from you changes with the moon.

Chase stands near the second entryway to the ceremonial hall.

He’s wearing trousers made from the same semi-sheer white material, runes drawn across his chest and shoulders and climbing his throat.

I think this may be the best thing I’ve seen all day, Chase’s voice whispers inside my mind.

I smile and bite my lip. Funny. I was thinking the same thing.

Chase sniffs the air. A low growl slips from him.

Knight.

My wolf immediately lifts her head. I ignore both of them and look around the ceremonial hall instead. I remember it being beautiful last year, but memory doesn’t quite do it justice.

The roof is completely open to the night sky, and the stone floor sparkles beneath hundreds of candles. Vines wind naturally around the columns, dotted with tiny white flowers that only bloom beneath moonlight.

At the centre of the hall, a stone altar holds a single silver bowl. Above it, through the circular opening in the roof, the night sky is perfectly framed. The moon waits below the horizon.

A Druid elder approaches us. Her silver-grey eyes move between Chase and me before she offers us two shallow cups carved from pale wood. The liquid inside is thin and faintly iridescent, catching the candlelight like the surface of a bubble. I take mine.

Last year, I stared at this stuff for a full minute before drinking it. This time, I knock it back. Chase does the same.

The cups disappear from our hands. Warmth spreads through my chest. Then lower. A thin, brilliant thread of light appears between Chase and me.I glance down at it. He does the same.

We wait. Around the hall, other threads begin branching out.Some connect two people.Others divide into three or more, weaving between bodies in complicated patterns of light.

Ours doesn’t move. It doesn’t divide. It doesn’t even flicker towards anyone else. Just me. And Chase. The Druid elder studies it. Then us. Her eyebrows lift.

“The strongest connection I’ve seen all night.” I look at Chase.

Last year our connection had been strong, but not exclusive.

Just the two of us this time, Chase links.

Are you disappointed? He takes my hand and shakes his head.

No. It means I get you all to myself. He wiggles his eyebrows.

I laugh. Lucky you.

We’re led towards one of the curtained beds arranged around the stone altar. The low, wide platform is dressed in white linen and surrounded by sheer fabric that allows candlelight and moonlight to filter through.

For now, the hall remains quiet. Not awkwardly quiet.

Reverent.

Druids move between the beds and altar with the calm efficiency of people performing a ceremony older than most of the buildings outside these walls.

Because that’s what this is. The s*x is only part of it.

Where there is life, there is death.Where there is light, there is dark.

Balance.

Everything created tonight feeds something beyond this room.

The forests.The crops.The soil.

Life returned to life.

I glance towards the open roof.

Then the moon rises.

Moonlight spills through the opening.

The entire room changes.

A silver beam strikes the bowl on the altar.

The runes on my skin flare. I inhale sharply.

Ash-grey becomes brilliant silver. Chase’s do the same.

All around us, the silence breaks. A breath. Then another. Then a moan, full and unguarded.

Fabric rustles. Something slides from a shoulder. Another piece is pulled free.

A gasp sounds somewhere to my left. Another answers it.

Within moments, the ceremonial hall becomes overwhelmed by the sounds of bodies and magic.

Chase draws the sheer curtain closed. His back remains to me.

I want you on your knees.

He turns as I untie my robe, releasing my body from the flimsy fabric.

His eyes skate across my skin as I sink to my knees.

Chase circles me once, his eyes scanning every inch of me, while I hold the position: thighs spread, chest lifted, as the cool air sweeps through the hall, finding every exposed inch of me.

I can feel his eyes on the hard peaks of my n*****s and the slick heat between my thighs, which I cannot pretend isn’t visible.

Chase takes his time and does not rush. He makes me wait; waiting builds the dull ache of anticipation, just the way I like it.

He removes his trousers an inch at a time and stands before me, then wraps a hand around his smooth, hard length and strokes twice, slow and firm, his eyes fixed on my face the entire time.

I part my lips before he even moves toward me. And begins to gradually feed me his thick length, and I greedily accept every inch, my tongue pressing flat against the underside of him as he settles deep in my throat. The taste of him makes me groan low and involuntary, a sound I feel more than hear.

I find my rhythm, loosening my throat as I breathe through my nose; his hand rests lightly against the back of my head, not guiding, just present.

When he pulls free, it’s sudden and audible, a slick pop that draws a short sound from me at the loss of him.

Chase lowers himself to the linen-covered mattress. His eyes lock with mine as his wolf Knight takes over. Eyes changing from brown to a dark, glowing red, a sign of a true Alpha.

I smile as my own wolf Luna pushes forward, my deep purple eyes shining as bright as the moon.

Knight moves with speed as he roughly repositions me onto all fours, his grip bruising and deliberate as he thrusts deep and unburdened into my hot, moist heat. We move together as wolves do without ceremony, or apology.

As we’re on the verge of orgasm, Knight’s teeth find the soft curve of my neck; his teeth sink into my flesh as his jaw tightens; a white light emanates from my chest, filling the hall and locking everyone in the moment.

Everyone except the Druids.