Chapter 40

Serval

His cousins were lined up along the main nesting pool. Draped in their finest beads, beating on hand drums, dancing in place, as they chanted in the deep tongue. A prayer to the spirits to welcome only the peaceful, loving ones while protecting against those with malevolent intent. They were his most trusted family members, the strongest and fittest, serving an important role in the ceremony as Serval stepped down into the pool by himself.

He was wearing his beads. His olules were free. As the water splashed up while he walked deeper in, it activated the wii on his skin, making him glow. Overhead, the silver moon shined bright in the sky. All the nesting pools were alight, casting a bright glow over his family.

Serval stopped in the center, where the water was up to his hips. Tilting his head back. Basking in the moonlight, in the music, in the warmth of the pool, in the love of his family as they surrounded him and sang the traditional song.

He stood alone, because this was his family. She was joining him. So, he had to be waiting here for her as she came to him.

He knew she was coming before she arrived. He heard the song of his parents, his sister, guiding her up the path. Their song joined with his cousins'. Their words combining together as his parents substituted for her family. Calling out that they were bringing her to join them. A farewell and a welcome all in one song.

Serval opened his eyes and watched as his cousins and the crowd behind them parted. Making room for his family who formed a circle around his mate. Guiding her forward until they stepped out of the way so that she was the only one who stepped into the pool. They remained at the edge, standing guard and protecting the mated pair from any that might try to stop the union.

She was wearing her beads. As was proper.

But she wasn't wearing her swimming suit. She had left it behind, so she was only in her beads. Her pretty nipples were visible through the netting of her top. She was dressed only as an allowee, and though her face had darkened with embarrassment, her head was held up high as she stepped into the water, her own wii lighting up.

His cousins' call to a benevolent spirit must have worked, because what else could she be but an ethereal being? The water clung to her skin as it parted before her while she walked towards him. A large smile on her face as his cousins' singing and chanting reached a crescendo.

Serval held up a fist, and they stopped. Everything went silent. His entire family, the whole clan, stared at him in eager anticipation.

"My blood and bonded," he called out to them, turning from Sophie to address the crowd. "I gather us here to present my mate!"

The drums rumbled, but it was a soft, distant sort of sound.

"I feel her," he declared, turning again, creating ripples in the water. "Through my olules, I feel the call of the spirits that mark her as my mate!"

His family let out a cry. A single call of acknowledgment.

"I feel her in my heart," he continued, pressing a hand to his chest. "I feel my love for her, radiating through me like the rushing of the tides."

They called again, the drums getting louder.

"This is my mate!" He declared, voice booming over theirs. "This is my Sophie, come to join us in our nesting pools!"

"Sophie!" The family called, just as they had when she was first bathed into their family.

Serval turned to her, smiling widely, encouraging her to speak.

She didn't need it. She was a fierce and confident female.

"I am Sophie!" She declared. "And I come here today to claim my mate! I leave my home. I leave all that I know. I come to join you in your commu at my mate's side.

"I feel him through my lips," she declared, touching them with one finger. "The spirits of the seas called to me through a kiss and marked him as my mate. I feel him in my heart!" She pressed her hand there, as he had done. "I feel my love for him surrounding me like the power of the seas. This is my mate! This is my Serval, and I come eagerly to his nesting pool!"

"Serval!" The family chanted, the drums getting louder.

Serval beamed, offering his hands to her.

She took them eagerly, letting him pull her forward.

"I take my last breath as an unmated male, and I give it to you."

"I take my last breath as an unmated female, and I give it to you."

Taking their breaths, they dropped under the surface together. The pool was not at its deepest point, they had chosen a spot high enough for Sophie to stand comfortably. But he pushed off the ground, pulling her in deeper as he held her, cradled by the water and the wii.

She leaned up, kissing him. Surprising him. Literally giving him her last breath as he held her under as long as he dared. His little mate needed air sooner than him. And he was eager to take his first breath as a mated male.

Holding her tight, he rose to the surface. He was able to stand easily, but Sophie clung onto him, her feet dangling free, as they broke the surface and breathed their first breath together while his family sang and chanted and drummed.

She smiled at him as he pushed her hair from her face. It clung to her skin when wet in a way that made him almost envious as he fought the urge to lick her where every strand was pressed.

"I breathe now as a mated male," he told her softly.

"I breathe now as a mated female," she returned, beaming.

"You are my mate!" He declared, raising a fist in the air.

His family cheered and stomped and chanted their names. Blending them together until Sophie and Serval sounded like one word.

In his arms, Sophie laughed, kicking her delight in the water.

He grinned as he brought her up and kissed her again.

Claiming her as an allowee. Claiming her as a human. Claiming her in front of all his family and the spirits of the ocean.

He breathed now for her.