"Alright the Shifting Ceremony is over, Alpha's take your respected mates, and go." Ace's voice boomed out. The crowd scattered like insects around them, no one dared to defy a direct order, not even Natalie. Alex could feel the warmth from his skin seeping into her bones, she could not resist the need to snuggle in closer to his body. Things had not gone according to plan, none of this was supposed to happen, yet here she was. Her pride had been under fire, her body had been subject to scrutiny, and now her wolf had survived a challenge with the Alpha Lord. Alex should be grateful that the only thing that had happened was that bite, Ace could have demolished her, if he so chose to do so. Now she was in a fine pickle indeed, she had no idea what was happening to her body, all she knew was that it was not normal. Her own skin felt uncomfortable, it was itchy, and she was almost numb. The familiar scent of Ace's room greeted her, and she left out a sigh of protest, "N-no." she muttered and made a vain pointless attempt to shuffle out of his arms.
Ace's arms tightened around her, before he gracefully deposited her on the feather duvet on his bed, "Alexis, I need you to listen very carefully to me." He stated. Alex tried to concentrate, her name on his lips sounded so good, she wanted to hear him say it again. "You initiated the Claiming by biting me, my wolf responded to your wolf, and in return I bit you."
"No s-shit." She stuttered, wishing she had the momentum to roll her eyes. Alex was painfully aware that she had been bitten, would he like to point anything else out that was obvious?
There was a soft curse on his end, the bed dipped with his weight as he sat down beside her, "You are not paying attention to me," he said, "The Claiming is a three-stage event. You have the sharing of bites, then the sharing of blood, and finally the bonding of souls."
Shit.Shit.Shit. What had she gotten herself into? What he was saying right now was almost in another language, as much as she understood of it. The Claiming was only meant for true-life mates to preform, what would happen to them if they preformed it, without being true-life mates? Her breathes came in shallow gasps, panic was setting in, and her mind was starting to go hazy. What would happen to her if they did not complete the ritual? Alex opened her eyes to investigate Ace's, he was starring at her intently, "If we do not complete the second phase, then your wound will bleed out, and you will die." He said flatly.
The air whooshed out from between her lips, she felt as if she had been punched in the gut, "Why in the f-fuck did you bite me?" she was angry, more at herself than him, but he was partially responsible for the mess they were in.
"We do not have time for this, I need you to drink from my vein," his voice was irritated, which made Alex's blood rise, but she only watched in mute horror as he lifted his forearm. Ace's index finger elongated to a wolfs claw, and he punctured a hole into one of the main veins of his nicely ripped forearm. Bringing it an inch away from her lips, he whispered, "Drink." It was a soft command but a command none the less. The last thing Alex wanted to do was anything that he wanted her to do but she realized that was childish when her life hung in the balance. What good would she be if she were dead? Watching the drop of blood leak slowly down his skin, she leaned forward, her tongue snaked out and she gave the liquid a taste. The sensation of iron on her palate made her want to vomit but within seconds her body was already starting to warm. Breathing in through her nose, she sucked on his wound, drawing more blood into her welcoming mouth. The second time was definitely better than the first, and she could not stifle the moan from her throat as she gulped his life source down.
"Greedy little thing, aren't you?" he murmured, Alex bit his arm a little at the comment, "Easy now, that's how we got in this situation to begin with."
Embarrassment lit her cheeks and she withdrew, "Is that enough?" she asked wiping the back of her hand against her mouth.
"Yeah, you already have some color coming back to your face." Ace stated taking her hand and flipping it over. Memories of the last time he had done such a thing resurfaced and she simply stared at him, his mouth hovered over the inside of her wrist, lightly against her skin he placed a kiss. The attention sent goosebumps up her arms, she felt her nipple tighten, then ever so slowly his teeth pierced her skin. It was a pain that was more pleasure, her limbs instantly went taunt, she felt her heart beating faster against her chest. The groan from his own throat was her undoing and she fisted her hand into his hair, holding him to her, daring him to stop. Ace's low growl had her quivering under his mouth, and she pulled against his hair harder, he ripped his lips from her wrist. Alex stared at him in wonder as he leaned down to lick at her wound, it instantly closed back up, and she was left to marvel at the glowing purple of his irises. This was the second time she had noticed their change of color, did all Alpha's eyes turn different shades or were his special?