ALLOW THE CHANGES

GAIA's POV

The last few months I've spent with Avalon have been the easiest time I’ve had in years, and though it’s a cause for concern that everything has been so peaceful, I can’t help but revel in the calm. Just as promised, Avalon has been nothing but patient with my reluctance to accept the bond. It took me several weeks to finally allow some form of intimacy in our progress to a complete relationship; The heated make-out session we're having right now where I'm on the bathroom sink with him between my legs is a far cry from the tune I was singing in the beginning. It’s even more startling with how fast we’re moving, but to ease my guilty conscience I blame it on the bond, and right now with his hands on my waist and my hands buried in the mess of dark soft hair, I lose my train of thought and become distracted yet again. Every time his tongue clashes with mine I can't help the soft moans that slip past my lips, the soft caress of his tongue against mine, the way my hands tighten on his shoulder and in his hair every time he releases a soft groan of satisfaction.

"As much as I want to continue love…. we have a ceremony to prepare for.", I panted after pulling away.

Avalon rests his head in the crease of my neck and shoulder, his heavy pants falling on my shoulder. He makes a noise of protest when I move to leave, and I can’t help the hands and look him in the eyes, “I’m serious Avalon.”

His blue eyes are a darker shade of blue than his usual lighter shade of blue. The smell of his arousal is delectable, and I almost feel bad for leaving him in this painful state. But I understood that Avalon would not cross that line without completing the bond, it was his non-negotiable. I remember the conversation we had where he explained the tradition of the pack when it comes to completing the mate bond.

**Flashback**

(This scene contains a mixed dialogue without written indicators)

Gaia looked at Avalon with the most alarming expression he’s seen since they met, and he couldn’t seem to wrap his head around the fact that it was because of him, or rather what he said.

“Are you daft? You want to place MY coven and YOUR pack in the same breathing space with the expectation that no blood would be shed? Even if it is for a few hours to complete the ceremony, it’s a terrible idea. Your wolves are far too temperamental. They wouldn't last an hour.”

“And if you have not forgotten, our kind blood hate each other. There is no civility when we are mixed. That might very well be a recipe for disaster.”, Thomas spoke exasperatedly.

“This has always been pack tradition performed by many of my ancestors. An alpha of this pack must complete the bond like this when the Luna is not a wolf.”, he explained.

“Okay, what is the process of this…ceremony your people practice?”

Gaia removed herself from the wall she was leaning on and took a seat on one of the chairs in Avalon’s office. Thomas stood behind the chair she took a seat in on alert. Avalon disliked the fact that another male was always around his mate, even at times when he wasn’t there but what could he do? Thomas and Gaia had a bond Avalon wasn’t sure he could ever replace. And sometimes that worried him more than it should, especially when Gaia told him he had no reason to be jealous of Thomas and to put his trust in her if not her mweya.

“It’s not much work at all.

You and I will make an oath to the gods we serve under a full moon. Your coven and my pack will bear witness to the completion of the bond as we exchange pledges and that’s it.”

“My mother always spoke of a story passed down for generations of alpha that the first alpha of this pack created the ceremony to prove his love for his mate who was not a werewolf to those who disagreed with their mixed-species bond, but he never got the chance to before they both died. His brother who later became alpha set the tradition in stone just as his brother had wanted.”, Avalon recapped briefly from the stories his mother would tell him and his brother.

“And your pack has always done this Alpha Carter....this ceremony?”, Thomas asked.

From the first-generation Alpha’s.”, he answered.

Gaia scrunched her brows together in thought as Thomas double-tapped a worried hand on her shoulder, “Thomas why does that sound so familiar? Have we bear witness to something like this before?”

Thomas couldn’t understand why what Avalon said resounded like a forgotten memory, buried deep within the far part of his mind, “It’s …. strange. Every time I try to recall, it’s like-”

“-something is forcefully putting up a block. Yes, I understand what you mean.”, Gaia always blamed the missing parts of her memory on the fact that she was a rather old vampire with too many responsibilities.

“No matter. There are many things you forget when you’ve lived the life I have. Over time under extreme stress, the mind tends to forget the unimportant things to ease the weight of our existence. An answer to this immortality we are cursed with that unbalances the laws of nature.”

Avalon wanted to show them some form of sympathy, but over time he realized his mate hated it the most. It was times like these when he despised the gap in their age. A werewolf had a life span of 500-900 years which was more than any other supernatural race out there, but it couldn’t even amount to a third of what vampires as old as the Flanington family have lived.

"Go and inform my parents as well as the elders Thomas. I will brief them upon my return.", Thomas squeezed Gaia's arms before phasing away.

Avalon stretched his hand out to Gaia and waited for her to take it before pulling her into his arms, "My pack won't be a problem. I'll keep them under control. My wolves know not to cause trouble on sacred grounds. Don't you trust your ability to manage your people?"

Gaia wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. She contemplated in silence for a few minutes before sighing, “Okay”

**End of Flashback**

I watched from the window of my office as my coven slowly fills the meeting hall. I wanted to be anywhere but here right now knowing what was about to come. Thomas sat on my desk tossing a dagger in the air every time he catches it. He sure was doing a better job at remaining calm between the two of us. I pinched the space between my brows as another sigh escaped my lips.

“You’re worrying over nothing. Your people trust you. They believe in you, and they trust your judgment. They will not fault you for choosing you when all you’ve ever done since we escaped was put them first. Accept the changes that give you chance to be happy and stop punishing yourself love.”, Thomas could feel the inner turmoil Gaia was trying so hard to ease.

“This is different Thomas. This is not me making decisions to keep them safe. This is about me choosing the complete a bond with a specie that has wholeheartedly contributed to the massacre of our people. Many of them belonging to this coven.”, Gaia understood that in war lives would ultimately be lost and everyone could not be saved.

But even after the war, with the manipulation of William, the wolves continued to murder her people. Many of the people in her coven lost mates, friends, and even their children. She could not ask them to put aside their anger and accept her newfound bond with a wolf. It would be selfish of her to do that with all the pain they’ve been through.

Thomas tucked the dagger back into its holder and grabbed Gaia by the shoulder, “You are not asking them to forget what we’ve been through. You’re only asking them to understand. You had no part in the choosing of your mate Gaia and they know this. You’re finally giving yourself a chance to be happy after all this time. Trust your people.”

Gaia breathe out and rested her head on Thomas’s chest, “I hope you’re right about this.”

“I usually am considering I’m the voice to your undecided thoughts.”, Gaia looked up at Thomas in amusement.

Resting their foreheads together, Gaia squeezed Thomas’s wrists that were holding her face to his hands and let out a soft laugh, “Someday you’ll find someone who deflates that arrogance of yours.”

Thomas blinked at her with a lie already on the tip of his tongue. “And do not bother lying. We are mweya. I can feel your emotions just as much as you can feel mine. That hasn’t changed in the last few centuries. I know you have someone you’re interested in. I’ll just wait for you to tell me.”

“I’m afraid you have bigger problems than worrying about my love life. Did you forget what happens after the ceremony?”

“I am a centuries-old vampire. I think I can please Avalon in the bedroom just fine.”

“Maybe if you hadn’t lived like a hermit, I’d believe you. Are you sure there aren’t any cobwebs growing at the bottom there?”

“Oh, shut up Thomas. Is there any room for you to talk when you’ve lived the same way I have without a mate for all these centuries?”

“At least I managed to bed a few people over the centuries. The nuns at the holy temple have had far better touches with sex than you have all these years.”, Thomas laughed.

“That’s because it’s a temple of desire you disrespectful whore. The priest stays just as celibate as I have”, Gaia raised her chin with a smug expression.

“Really? Did he tell you that before or after I had him bend over in the confession booth?”, Thomas put on the same smug expression Gaia wore a minute ago.

“YOU FUCKED A PRIEST OF THE HOLY TEMPLE THOMAS?!!”, Gaia shoved Thomas away from her as she burst into laughter.

“You didn’t really think he was ill during the purification last month, did you? He was faltering so much because of his cock down my throat”

“You’re disgusting. I always thought his smell was on you because you often fetched him for elders’ meetings. I cannot believe you! You’re lucky that temple is the only one that generates divine energy from lust, or you’d have already been cursed by the gods.”, Gaia laughed so much that her cheeks started to hurt.

“Seems to me like you’ve been busy since that’s only one of the scents I’ve gotten off of you.”

“Yes well, let’s hope Avalon’s cock isn’t too big, yeah? Since your abstinence from sex may have made you no different than an untouched woman.”, Thomas joked.

Gaia threw a dagger at him as he phased out of her office in a fit of laughter. The smile slowly left her face as she prepared to leave, “Even though you didn’t say it out loud, I know you know what really plagues my mind.”

Am I doing the right thing here?

“Because if I am doing the right thing, why do I feel so guilty to finally move on from you my Mon amour?”