“I’ve already got my flight. It won’t get to Baton Rouge until…”
“No! See if they have one going directly into Lafayette. It might take less time.”
“Okay! I’ll call you back.”
Angel checked the listings again. Mercifully, there was one flight departing at eleven a.m. and getting into Lafayette at five forty p.m. She changed her times and called her mother back with the new information. Her father was working, but they’d meet her at the Lafayette airport. She just prayed it wouldn’t be too late. Stopping a mating was one thing. Convincing your mate to take you back was a totally different story.
Jacques looked over the mating contract again. Everything appeared to be in order. He’d be mating with Kimberly Johns. She’d lost her husband during Katrina. They had no hatchling. He had no illusions about his mating. He would get to keep his shifting ability and his position as sovereign bull, and she would get the security and prestige of being a sovereign cow. As long as his real mate was alive, he and Kimberly wouldn’t be able to have hatchlings. That was the sacrifice he’d be making. After nearly four hundred years, his family’s sovereignty over the Lafayette pod would end with him.
Finishing up the paperwork, he decided to go home and get prepared. At sunset, they’d meet in the mating glen. The Lafayette priestess would perform the ceremony, which would consist of spells and blessings. That’s where the ceremony would differ. If she were his soul mate, she’d share a mating cup with him. It was the magical bonding essence shared by all soul mates. It would solidify the telepathic connection they’d share and create a second connection, one unifying their souls, opening his mate’s womb so his seed could take root. Only Angel could share the mating cup with him. Saying her name, even in his mind, was painful. He wanted to say that he hadn’t thought about her, but he had, against his better judgment. He’d stayed at his home in New Orleans for two days to see if she’d return. But he knew she wouldn’t. His personal assistant told him about her interest in the plans to renovate the Tiki. He assumed that would keep her in Vegas indefinitely. She’d get what she’d always wanted, the Tiki. Once the casino was renovated, he’d either sell her his half or look for someone to buy it. There was no way he’d be able to be business partners with her. As it was, he couldn’t even speak with her parents. He was cutting it close, too close.
“Well, that’s the last of it,” Kimberly said as she signed her parts.
“Yes, thank you, Kimberly. I’ll have my attorney file these on Monday so everything’s legal.”
“Do you mind if I clarify something?”
“Sure, go right ahead.”
Jacques looked at the petite brunette with the big blue eyes and cherry-red lips. She was impeccably well dressed. Kimberly was two years older than him, but she looked young. She wasn’t particularly curvy, but she had nice breasts. He tried not to compare her to Angel. It wasn’t fair. In three hours she’d be his mate, and in two days his legal wife.
“I’m not required to be monogamous am I?”
The question hit him like a punch in the face.
“Ummm. Yes, you are,” he stated incredulously.
“But that wasn’t in the contract.” She looked confused.
“I didn’t think monogamy needed to be included in a mating contract. It’s kind of a given.”
“Don’t patronize me! We both know this isn’t your usual mating ceremony.”
Jacques swallowed and prayed for patience.
“I apologize for coming across as patronizing. You just surprised me, that’s all. To answer your question, yes, monogamy and fidelity are
required
.”
She actually looked deflated.
“Well, I’m sorry, I can’t mate with you. Had I known I had to be faithful, I wouldn’t have wasted either of our time.”
Jacques looked at her as if she’d grown a second head.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, I happen to be seeing someone right now. I thought this would be in name only, just so you could keep your position. I wasn’t really planning on being your mate in that way. I’m sorry.”
“Not as sorry as I am.” Jacques saw red.
“I’m sure you’ll be able to find…”
“Get out,” he ordered.
If she didn’t get out of his office, he wasn’t sure what he’d do.
She looked at him once and left quickly. What in the hell was he going to do now? He only had seven days to find another mate. There were people already invited to the ceremony. This was a disaster.
“Why’s Kimberly running out of the building?”
Jacques looked up to see his mother’s head peeking through the doorway.
“Possibly because she’s trying to get as far away from me as possible.”
“What happened?”
“We’re not mating.”
“What! You can’t be serious? What happened?”
“Let’s just say monogamy and fidelity to her were negotiable. They weren’t in the mating contract, so she didn’t think she had to do them.”
His mother gave him a look of confusion.
“What do you mean they weren’t in the contract? Who would negotiate on monogamy in their marriage! I swear by the saints! That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Well she didn’t see it that way. She didn’t want to give up her boyfriend to get married.”
His mother shook her head. He was done too. It was all just too much. He felt like he was trying to force a square peg in a round hole.
“Look, Mom, I need some time to think. I’m going home. Can you get in contact with everybody and let them know the ceremony’s been cancelled? Give my apologies to the priestess.”
“Of course. I’ll see to it. We might as well still have the party, we’ve been boiling crawfish all day and there’s too much food to just let it go to waste.”
“Fine, whatever you think, it’s all right with me.”
He left and went home. Jacques found himself driving through some of his pod’s parishes until the sun was low in the sky. His thoughts kept drifting to skin that looked like pale honey and cream, curves that fit perfectly in his hands, and a smile that could light up his soul. He wondered what she was doing right now. Was she seeing someone? The thought had him gripping the steering wheel tightly and pressing the gas harder.
He needed to shift. He had too much pent up energy. When he got to his house, Jacques immediately went to the grotto. He fought back memories of Angel, which seemed to be everywhere in his house. It was as if she’d left her essence behind. He quickly removed his clothes and headed into the water, trying to outrun the moments they’d shared. He was in the pool, through the tube, and out into the bayou in record time. It only took him a few minutes to discover he wasn’t alone. He could hear a gator noisily swimming around not too far from him. He didn’t really want to socialize, so he started to turn back, when there was a probe in his mind.
“I thought you were going to teach me how to be quiet.”
Jacques reversed direction; his heart picked up its pace.
“I didn’t have enough time to teach you,
cher
.”
He saw her now, just as beautiful as she could be in the half moonlight.
“Well, I-I’ve got time, if you’re still interested in the job.”
Jacques got excited at her words but didn’t want to read too much into it.
“I don’t know, learning how to be a gator can take a lifetime.”
Angel swam next to him, rubbing herself along his body in invitation. Her actions were clear.
“Well, it just so happens, I have a lifetime.”
“What are you saying,
cher
?”
“I’m saying I’m sorry, Jacques. I shouldn’t have left, and I know you’re mating with someone else tonight, but I want you to know that I love you. I want us to mate, have babies, and grow old together.”
“What about your home and life in Vegas?”
He had to know. He wouldn’t accept part of a mate.
“My home is wherever you are. My life is with you. I can visit the Tiki whenever I want. I just don’t want to be apart from you.”
Her words flowed over him, put him at ease. The tension in his body relaxed. It was what he wanted to hear, and what he needed to hear.
“Well, in that case, Angelique Palermo LaFleur, will you mate with me?”
He rubbed his snout and jaw along hers before rubbing his body against hers in an ages old pre-mating ritual. She reciprocated his actions.
“What about the cow you were going to mate with?”
Her words were a bit salty and he chuckled.
“Things didn’t work out.”
“Then, yes, yes, yes!”
She splashed.
Jacques bellowed with joy. The vibrations from his throat echoed along the surface of the water, letting anyone in the vicinity know a mating was imminent.
Angel’s bare feet sank into the soft, mossy floor of the bayou. A cool breeze pasted the nearly transparent garment to her skin. She smiled at how good it felt. There were lanterns hanging from the trees, giving the area a mystical glow. Paper lanterns floated on the waters of the bayou, and she could see a crowd was already standing among them. All held candles.
“Are you ready, honey?”
Her father squeezed her right hand and her mother squeezed her left. She smiled up at him and nodded. Her father kissed her hand and they moved forward. The waters seemed to call to her with each step. She looked among the crowd of people lined up in the waist high waters, but she didn’t see Jacques. Her father stepped in first and then helped her and her mother into the water. They both wore green robes, leaving their clothes in the car. They walked her forward, down an aisle of people all dressed in various colored robes. She didn’t know any of them, but she knew they were from Jacques’s pod. As they passed, the people bowed over the water, showing her respect. The sight touched her. She kept looking for Jacques, but she couldn’t see the end of the line. They wound their way through rows and rows of people until she finally saw him. Standing next to his mother, brother, and a beautiful silver-haired priestess dressed in a colorful robe with what looked like a crown made of feathers and gator teeth. Jacques looked large and virile in a dark red robe that lay lovingly against his skin. There was a large oak tree just behind them and lanterns hang from its branches, lighting the area with fairy lights. It was like a fantasy.
They stopped in front of Jacques, who now had a wide smile on his face. She just wanted to hug and kiss him but refrained. Her mother had told her the ceremony was to be executed with the utmost reverence, so she smiled back and gave a slight nod.
“Who brings this woman to be mated?”
“We do,” her parents said in unison.
“Angelique LaFleur of the Baton Rouge pod, stolen daughter of the bayou, we welcome you home.”
A cheer went up from the crowd around her. After a moment, the priestess raised her hands and the crowd settled down.
“Present yourself.”
Angel’s parents released her and she cautiously walked toward the older woman, whose brown eyes were now a milky gray.
She held out one wrinkled hand. Angel looked at Jacques, who nodded. Angel placed her hand in the priestess’s, who then turned her hand palm up. The woman nodded to Jacques, who was handed a small white bowl.
“Angelique LaFleur, do you in your heart acknowledge that you’re the soul mate of Jacques Bertrand? Chosen to bare his hatchlings and rule as sovereign cow over the Lafayette pod?”
“Yes.”
“Then let the blood bear witness and be the final judge.”
The priestess took a sharp knife from its sheath at her waist and cut Angel’s palm. Although she’d been warned about this part of the ceremony, she was still surprised at the sting and the blood that flowed into the bowl, marring its pristine surface with the crimson splotches. The priestess held her hand over the bowl and begin to chant.
“Let the blood bear witness! Let the blood bear witness! Let the blood bear witness!”
The blood that had collected in the bowl started to move and bind together on its own. It moved toward Jacques as if magnetized. Her blood was traveling up the side of the bowl toward him when the priestess took it from his hands and held it up for the crowd to see.
“The blood has chosen its mate.”
There was another cheer and this time whistles were mixed in. The priestess cut Jacques’s palm and performed the same ritual in a different bowl, which Angel held. His blood rolled and then moved toward her. The priestess mixed their blood in one dish that they both held. Their blood remained joined together in its center, bound together in one big drop. She added clear water and herbs to the bowl.
“Lafayette pod, do you accept Angelique LaFleur as your sovereign? Do you vow to love, protect, and honor not only her but the hatchlings she shall bear for your sovereign?”
A chorus of yeses sounded in the stillness of the glade.
“Jacques and Angelique, your blood has chosen each other, from this moment on you shall not only be bound in human form but so too shall your gator spirits be bound. Let your souls be bonded forevermore.”
She held the bowl to Jacques’s lips and he took a sip of the contents; then she held it to Angel’s lips. Angel took in the remainder of the mixture. It warmed her mouth and throat as it went down. All of a sudden she felt relaxed and languid as if she’d drank too much wine. She didn’t feel the hands remove her robe, but she saw Jacques gloriously naked before he shifted and was in the water before her. She too shifted, seeing the lanterns move around them. Jacques brushed against her body and she felt aroused. She wanted him. He brushed her other side and warmth radiated toward her. She remained still as he covered her, pressing her below the surface of the water. Angel could now hear chants as she waited expectedly for him. Jacques joined his body with hers beneath the water, linking their bodies, minds, and hearts. Warmth spread out from the place where they were joined throughout her entire body. She saw a white ambient light all around her and relaxed into it. Before long, Jacques was circling her again and rubbing along her body in a soothing manner, which she accepted. When he was right in front of her, she heard his voice loud and clear in her mind.