Moonlight's Birth

“Are you sure you want to?” the nervous voice of Mikael asked as he stared at the small goblet that rested upon an ancient stone pedestal that rested in the center of the basement and had esoteric lines and runes etched into the concrete floor surrounding it.  

“Love, I promise nothing bad will happen” came the voice of Johnathan, the young man who had captured Mikael’s heart at the age of fifteen upon the boy’s first day of school. Johnathan was only two years older than Mikael, but the pair had been inseparable from the moment their eyes met when Mikael literally ran into the older boy as he was fleeing from bullies. That first day was still a very vivid memory for the younger boy, from the sounds of the schoolyard, the feel of the crisp winter’s breeze, his heart pounding from fear as he cried out when the looming shadow of Johnathan stepped into view a few steps from the exit.

The impact had sent them both tumbling, and the older Johnathan had turned to yell at the boy for knocking him over when their eyes caught sight of one another, the older Johnathan’s intense green into the younger’s deep sapphire blue. For Mikael it was if the world had suddenly frozen in place and the muffled sounds of the schoolyard seemed like nothing more than the whispers of a far-off crowd, leaving him listening to only the heaving breath and the intense beating of his heart.

Johnathan however had an entirely different experience as he looked over at the young boy that had thoughtlessly careened into him, a fierce sense of protectiveness that he had not expected that coupled with a sensation that he had never expected before, a deep growling inside his core but not one of anger bur rather it was the deep rumble of desire that came from his inner wolf. “I’m Johnathan” was all he said as Mikael seemed to stare blankly even as the bullies that had been chasing him stopped suddenly to stare openly before turning away as none of them wished to cross the older boy.

Mikael however had just sat there staring at Johnathan’s face, before the world was bought back to reality by the older boy standing up and offering his hand out “Are you ok?” he had asked and from the moment Mikael had taken Johnathan’s hand the pair had been utterly inseparable.

Now little more than thirty minutes remained until what would be Mikael’s coming of age, only Johnathan had something special planned and sought permission from both Mikael’s parents and his own as was the tradition within his own family line, especially when it concerned something that had not often been performed… It was a bonding ceremony, or rather for the two of them more of a confirmation than anything as there was no doubt that the pair of them were meant to be with one another and this would simply make it official in the eyes of Johnathan’s pack.

Never before had this ritual been performed with one such as Mikael within Johnathan’s pack, for not only was the younger boy human and his lover a wolf, but Mikael was a male and such a bonding was normally only performed between males and females. Such was the normal ceremony, but after Johnathan’s father first saw the two together there was no doubt that his son had found his mate.

It had been tricky explaining it to Mikael’s parents what Johnathan was, but how they had done it was not of a concern to the older boy, only that they had agreed to let the ceremony happen… a fact which had somewhat surprised Mikael as his parent’s should have been freaked out, especially considering they had not only learned that their child was with another boy, but that also that he was born of wolf blood. To say that Mikael had often privately suspected Johnathan’s parents of using some sort of trick was an understatement, but as his grandmother had once told him before she died “The heart’s desire cannot be forbidden against.”

Johnathan made his way down the stairs, his bare feet making no noise whatso ever on the wooden steps that normally would have creaked under his weight and the soft touch on Mikael’s shoulder bought a strange sort of calm to the younger boy. “Are you ready my pretty boy?” came the deep but gentle growl in Johnathan’s voice that washed the heated breath of the younger Mikael’s soft supple throat causing him to swallow audibly, even as the younger gave a small nod of acceptance and consent.

Johnathan slipped a black silken blindfold up over Mikal’s eyes and tied it with all the tenderness of wrapping up a fragile crystal sculpture with a silken bow leaving Mikael completely in the dark even as he felt the tender brush of his lover’s hand against his own for a fleeting moment. Johnathan slowly walked around the room lighting the soft scented candles knowing that this was certainly a moment of trust for Mikael as he could neither see Johnathan nor would he be given any more chances to back out as the sound of the footsteps once more drew closer and a hand reached out to gently lead the blindfolded boy into the circle of candlelight.

Johnathan was wearing an outfit that had been stitched by his own hand, made up of the finest furs that he could hunt and tan himself as was the tradition. The shirt had been dyed a jet black so that the sueded deerskin was as soft as a newborn cubs pelt, the silver embroidery provided by his mother showed several motifs of both the moon in all its faces and stylized wolves in poses of hunting and running together. That had been her contribution and the blessing of their union. On his father’s side had been a pendant necklace that had been a trophy from their first hunt together when Johnathan had made his first kill with his father that had been treated with a special resin that caused the small skull of the starling to almost shimmer with a rainbow sheen in the flickering warm candlelight.

The rest of Johnathan’s outfit was pain jet black fur dyed and tanned as the top was only minus the embroidery. The crowning piece however was the symbolic wolf skull that had been passed down the pack line from one to another on the night of a bonding and when Johnathan had approached and requested it from the Alpha and His council, the young man had no idea whether or not he was going to be allowed it or not.

Mikael’s outfit was something that his mother had modified however by her own hands and when the boy had seen the outfit before trying it on for the first time after she gave it to him they had shared the warmest hug that he had ever felt from his normally distant mother as it had been made from her wedding dress.

The outfit was a shortened robe cut from the French silk and redyed to once again shine like the purest white. The embroidered lace sleeves had been replaced with silver lace, but the swirling patterns made top seem like they ebbed and flowed like time itself, even as he stood there with a belt made from leather and a simple bronze buckle around his waist helping to keep the outfit form fitting Johnathan felt the need to control himself grow from the anticipation. Both boys had long hair although Johnathan’s deep chestnut hair was a tumbled waterfall that came to a curled ending just below the top of his shoulders and Mikael’s was as blonde as the sun and ran straight down past his shoulders, both were pinned back by a pair of crystal hair pins with wickedly sharp ends.

The lovers stood there inside the circle across from one another both of them with each of their hands upon the edge of the pedestal, their fingers mere inches away from each other with only the sound of their soft breathing breaking the silence as after what seemed an eternity the clock above them began to chime midnight.

Mikael’s nervousness was visible in the slight trebling of his body but as his hands pressed against Johnathan’s strong fingers when their hands met at the final strike of twelve the younger boy knew deep inside there was nothing more that he could imagine as being a perfect moment and his fingers interlaced with his soon to be mate. Johnathan was just as nervous as Mikael was but he did not let it show as a single beam of moonlight peaked in through the small basement window illuminating the pair like in an illustrated manuscript.

“I Johnathan Krystoph, named Moonstep by the speaker of the Moon take you Mikael Alexander named Moonlight as my mate and bind us together by the spirits that watch above us, and in the moonlight claim us as soul bound.”  Johnathan’s voice was as soft as a whisper echoing around the basement gently as if they were in a deep cave as it had been done in the ancient days but there was no doubt in the love that he held for Mikael within his heart and soul.

“ I Mikael Alexander named Moonlight accept the claiming and bind you Johnathan Krystoph named Moonstep as my mate by the spirits that watch above us and in the moonlight claim you as my soul bound mate.” Even as Mikael’s words left his lips, the pair reached forward and after a moment each pricked the other’s finger letting a droplet of blood fall from their pierced fingers into the goblet that was filled with soft earth from the clearing that Johnathan had come of age himself in.

As the damp soil drank in the blood, Johnathan reached up and gently removed the blindfold, pulling it free from the knot and letting the silk fall to the floor as they looked deeply into one another’s eyes.

No more were they lovers…

Now they were Mates… Man to Wolf, Heart to Heart

Soul to Soul…