Page 100 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

“Hmm, maybe you shouldn’t have killed the man your son loved, Kazimir. I sentence you to death in the most painful way I can think of.” I shift my hands back to human and lightly touch his flesh. I feel the current of his life essence flowing steadily through his body. I reach out and grasp at it and start pulling it into myself.

Minuscule wrinkles form around his eyes, and the quality of his skin changes. The iris of his eyes begins to dull and lose color, and a haze coats his cornea. We watch Kazimir age before our eyes as I pull at his essence slowly. Panic slowly crosses his face as he realizes his body is aching, and his skin is wrinkling quickly. His muscle tone degrades rapidly; a once powerful Alpha is almost half the mass he used to be.

Kazimir begs for his life. Halfway through begging, he curses at me. Hoping that Tomas eats my heart for breakfast. That he should have signed the alliance with the Strigoi instead. There you have it; he was tainted by the Strigoi, and it’s exactly why he killed off his son’s lover to break his will. Talk about some fucked up shit. I shift my hand quickly and reach in and rip out Kazimir’s heart to end it quickly.

My body is humming from all the extra life force I have stolen. It’s time for me to make amends with my mate’s grandmother. We didn’t start off on the right foot, and I feel horrible for how I had treated her in the past. Elsa comes in to check on everyone and spots the Kasimir mummy in the ice prison. “That’s new.” Elsa says.

I have a moment of brilliance. “How much do you trust me, Elsa?” I look at her through the eyes of my beast. Her aura is all over the place; mostly curiosity is surfacing.

“I trust you with my life. You are my Klaus’s mate and love. I know in my heart you wouldn’t harm me.” Elsa smiles, looking up at me. Time has ravaged this poor sweet woman, and her time is almost over. She has maybe another ten years tops if my theory doesn’t work.

“Come here. Let me see if I can help you.” Elsa willingly walks into my open arms. I lower my head and press my lips to her forehead and concentrate on that new life force flowing through me. Tentatively, I grip it and start to slowly feed it into Elsa. I pray to the gods that my plan works for her.

Slowly, I concentrate the energy into my hands, and I place them on Elsa’s face and slowly draw them down from her temple to her chin. Through my mind’s eye, I see my hands wiping away the years of wrinkles and sun-damaged skin. I see the layers of skin and muscles underneath rejuvenating and healing from the inside out.

Gasps are heard around the room as I continue to focus on the energy moving between my hands. I slide my hands down her shoulders to her ribs and down to her hips where I stop. I focus on feeling the energy rejuvenate every inch of her body. Finally, when the last of the stolen life force is spent, I stand up straight and open my eyes to look at Elsa.

Elsa is absolutely radiant; her hair is back to a solid dark brown, and her skin is almost as smooth as mine. I smile as Ilook down at her. “How do you feel?” I can’t help but be excited for her and happy at the same time. Klaus and I get more time with her. Definitely a bonus.

“I feel wonderful, Aurora. What did you do?” Elsa then looks down at her hands, then back up at me. Her eyes are wide open, and she’s looking at her hands as if they aren’t hers anymore. Quickly, she runs to the closest mirror and stares at the woman she used to be about two hundred years ago.

“How? I don’t understand. Thank you, thank you so much.” Elsa runs back over to me and hugs me tightly, kissing my cheek repeatedly. Soon as the hug-fest starts, it’s over, and out the door, she runs.

All I can do is shake my head and look at the others. My freak level just hit epic levels, and I’m perfectly okay with that. I kind of feel like Robin Hood: steal life from the wicked to give to the good. I look at my father next. Oh yes, he will get rejuvenated next, if I have anything to say about it. Life has just gotten a lot more interesting.

CHAPTER 84

Klaus

I can’t believewhat my mate just did. She literally stole Kazimir’s life and gave it to my grandmother. I wonder what else Oberon did to Aurora. She said he settled her beast and unlocked new powers within her. My bond mates and I have been discussing it in private for days now. We are thankful she’s calmed down and doesn’t seem to be waging war within herself.

I head outside to catch up with my pack mates, who are currently training the new arrivals. We are leaving nothing to chance when it comes to the assault on the castle. The training pit is loaded with people training with not only weapons but also their shifted forms. Dimitri and Dominik emerge from the house, dressed for training.

The pit stops and the occupants turn to face Dimitri and Dominik. They explain the training for today and the new pairings for the training. Wow, their combined knowledge is impressive. I know Dimitri has been in service of the crown for years. Dominik, he said he was the weapons master and enforcer of his father’s pack. I kind of feel inadequate compared to them. Aurora says we are all equals, but it kind of hurts that I feel like I have nothing to offer.

Suddenly, I have slender fingers covering my eyes from behind. “Hmm, I wonder who has taken my sight from me?” I know by scent it’s my mate, Aurora. Her soft giggles behind me give me butterflies in my stomach.

“It’s the big bad Hybrid,” Aurora says, trying to be serious. Aurora leans forward and nips my shoulder over her mate mark. Her bite sends a thrill straight to my groin.

I look up and see Dominik and Dimitri watching me closely. They know all too well what she’s doing to me. Both men smirk at me, then turn their backs to me. Shit, I’ve never done anything alone with Aurora. To be perfectly honest, my mate kind of scares me. She’s so powerful, skilled, and experienced. I’m actually kind of embarrassed to admit Aurora was my first. I spin in Aurora’s grip and kiss her lips. “My beautiful angel, what can I do for you, my love?”

Aurora blushes as she looks up at me. “I’m…. I was kinda wondering if you would have lunch with me today?” Aurora starts to fidget with the hem of her shirt. I can’t believe she looks so nervous.

“Of course, I would love to, my sweet angel.” I lean down and kiss Aurora gently. I take her hand, and she leads me off towards the large Douglas fir tree. There’s a modest picnic setup just for us. We sit together, and Aurora starts to serve us lunch. I’m quite puzzled by our queen serving me. “My angel, shouldn’t I be serving you?” I tilt my head, looking at her curiously.

Aurora draws in a slow, deep breath then grips both of my hands. “I know I can be scary at times.” Aurora lowers her eyes and looks at our hands. “I know, I must scare you. I’m sorry that I do.”

I pull a hand free from Aurora’s and gently cup her cheek. “Don’t be sorry, angel, I’ve never dated anyone else but you. I’ve been waiting for my mate for what feels like forever.” I bite my bottom lip as I watch her reaction to the news.

Aurora smiles softly and blushes. Slowly, she leans forward and kisses me. “I waited too. It just sucks it was that fucking rat bastard, scumbag of a false mate that I lost my innocence to.” Aurora laughs softly then strokes my beard. “At least you got to lose yours with your true mate.” Her smile is brighter than a thousand suns. I feel blessed to have her in my life.

“I knew that day that I came to your camp you were mine. I was shocked to see you had a Lycan male claiming to be your mate when clearly he wasn’t. The sun rises and sets according to our mate’s desires. He didn’t seem to care if the sun came out at all.” I bite my bottom lip again, feeling as though I may have gone too far.

“Klaus, I know that now. You’ve shown me what it’s like to have a true Lycan mate. You, Alaric, and the others make me feel like I can take on the world and win. That may or may not be in the best interest of the rest of the world.” Aurora laughs softly and scoots closer to me. “What is one thing your heart desires? If it’s within my power, I will give it to you freely.” I can see how serious Aurora is with her question. She actually wants to know what I covet most in the world.

I reach out to pull Aurora into my lap and wrap my arms tightly around her. Gently I rest my head on top of hers and sigh softly. “You’ve already given me two of the things I most desire. The third will come in due time.”

Aurora moves a bit in my lap so she can look up at me. “I have?” Her voice rises at the end of her two-word question, as if I hold the mysteries of the world in my hands. I kind of do. I hold my hybrid queen in my arms, and she is the entirety of my world.

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