Forever Bonded (Complete)

Chapter 27

Grayson

We were headed back home together. I held her hand in mine. I had to be touching her. To make sure she was really still there, safe, with me. She told me what she remembered about her experience with Michael. I was fighting my anger as she spoke. I didn't want her to have to feel those emotions right now. But it was hard. I concentrated on the feeling of relief and happiness. She still looked like the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Her dress was absolutely stunning. I wished I could have seen her walking up the aisle in it today. I saw her smile. Some of my thoughts must have gone through to her. She squeezed my hand. "You looked amazing in your tuxedo too." She said out loud.

I was so relieved when I felt the first hint of emotions coming from her. After a few minutes I could tell exactly where she was. The connection was still growing stronger.  Thank God for that. We got to her just in time. I kept looking at her as she spoke. She blushed and looked away. So cute.

When we got back to the house, my Mom ran outside to greet us. She looked Amber up and down checking for damage. Then she pulled her close for a hug. We walked into the house together. Dad was with the security officers. I would deal with that later. I wanted to be a part of his sentencing. It would happen quickly.

Amber relayed the whole story to my Mom as well. I was paying better attention this time. I wasn't filled with rage about what I was hearing. I was processing it. He had killed her parents. He assumed she was dead. He thought his daughter should have been in her place. It was so insane. How does a man go off the deep end like that? Then Amber said something that completely shocked me. "I think we should heal him." "What? No, absolutely not. He doesn't deserve it. He needs to suffer for what he did." She placed her hand on mine and sent me calming feelings.  It worked of course. I waited for her to explain. "He will pay for what he did. But I want him to do it with a clear mind. He is suffering. He's depressed and suicidal. I want to help him with his emotions. I believe that will help him to think clearly about what he did." Once she put it that way, it did kind of make sense. "Alright Amber, I will consider it." She smiled and squeezed my hand. She is the most compassionate person I have ever met.

That night, I insisted on the couch arrangement again. I wouldn't let her out of my sight tonight. I would never sleep. Mom and Dad both agreed. This was supposed to be our Bonding night after all. But I would happily settle for holding her hand from across the couch. I had her back with me, alive and well. I appreciated every moment I got. She was completely exhausted and fell asleep right after the "I love you's". I lay there simply looking at her. She was peaceful. She was here. That's all I could ask for.

The next morning there was a flurry of activity. I think everyone in the community came by to see her and make sure she was okay. My Mom had saved most of the food that was supposed to be for our reception. She was feeding everyone who came. We all decided that tomorrow we would have the Bonding ceremony. Mom took the dress to be cleaned since it had been drug through the snow.

We spoke to my parents about Ambers idea to heal Michael. After some persuading by Amber, they agreed that it was the kindest thing to do. Mom worried that he could hurt us when we were in his mind. I had concerns about that myself. But Amber assured us that we were mentally stronger than him. So that afternoon we went to the security building to do the unthinkable, save the man who tried to murder the love of my life.

He was being held in a room that was nicer than he deserved. Two men from the security team joined us.  We explained what we were going to do. They handcuffed Michael and shackled his feet as well. He was as angry as I imagined. He showed hate, rage, distress, fear, despair, and disappointment. I hoped we wouldn't absorb any of those emotions while working on him. "I can combat them, don't worry." She sent me.

We sat down from him across a table. "We want to help you." Amber told him. "I don't want your help. I want you dead." She extended her hand. "Just hold my hand for a few minutes and we will leave you alone. I wont ever bother you again if you don't want to see me." "What are you going to do? Try and read my mind or something?" He asked. "No, I can't do that. I just want to help you. Please give me your hand." She said kindly. Her persuasion must have been powerful because he opened his hand to her. I was surprised. I held her other hand and grasped my amber stone. "Concentrate on healing his mind." It took me a moment to get in the zone. I was still busy being mad at him. His negative emotions weren't helping either. I could feel his hate toward me and her. I wanted to let go. But I had to do this for her. Slowly I felt his rage lessoning. The energy was leaving my body. He tried to pull away from her at one point, but she held tight. The strongly entrenched evil emotions were battling the good ones we were trying to replace them with. It was harder than I imagined. When we healed other people, they wanted it, they welcomed it. Not this guy. He was fighting us every step of the way.

I don't know how long we held on. But I could feel the positive emotions overtaking the bad ones. Amber was smiling. Michael wasn't struggling any more. When I saw a tear run down his cheek, I knew it had worked. Amber released our hands. I almost collapsed without her strength. She was certainly more powerful than me. We sat in silence for a few moments while he openly sobbed. He looked right into her eyes and spoke. "I am so very sorry for what I did to you and your family. No punishment will ever be enough for what I put you through. Can you ever forgive me?" I was in utter shock. I did not expect that. I thought he would lose all the bitter hate, but never did I imagine an apology. "Of course, I forgive you. That's why we healed you. You needed to be free of your pain. Now you can think clearly." "Thank you, thank you both." He said looking over at me. I simply nodded.

Amber stood, and I followed her lead. We left the room quietly. I was exhausted and stunned. We walked to my Jeep in silence. I think we were both shocked. I opened her door and helped her up. I could feel her fatigue as well.  I drove home in a daze. "What you did for him, that was amazing." I told her. "It's what we did. I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you." "You don't ever have to thank me for helping you heal someone."  We got home and collapsed into our separate beds. Sleep was overtaking me. But I knew that tomorrow night I would be holding her in my arms.