Page 101 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

“You have, my angel. You’ve given me your heart and your love freely and in its entirety. You have given me bond mates that I call my best friends, lovers, and brothers, depending on the situation. The last will come in due time. I’m in no hurry. I’m blessed to have forever with you.” I kiss her lips gently, thenrest my hand on her stomach so that the third want is clear. She smiles against my lips, then lightly bites my bottom one. I can’t help but laugh at my mate’s antics.

I’m so lost in my happy little bubble I don’t notice Jayce’s approach. “Guys, I hate to break up the love fest, but a convocation has been spotted on the horizon, and Nicodeamus wants us all present for when they land.” Jayce basically spits out his information then takes off to search out the others.

All I can do is shake my head and stand up, cradling Aurora like she’s a bride on her wedding night. I love listening to her laugh because I refuse to set her down on her feet. Nope, this is my time with her, and nothing is going to end it early. We reach the porch of the Alpha house, and I set Aurora down.

Alaric comes up behind her and sets her ruby crown on her head. He then hands me the one that Aurora had made for each of us. I still can’t get used to wearing this blasted thing. Aurora goes prancing from mate to mate, adjusting our crowns and kissing our lips before she moves onto the next one. A few of the house girls stand waiting with robes for our guests who are about to arrive. As the convocation gets closer, we can make out that they are Golden Eagles, the same as what Aurora’s guardian was. Dimitri looks beside himself. I can’t tell if it’s excitement or pain. I mean, seriously, the man has perfected the male version of the resting bitchface.

One by one, the Golden Eagles land and shift to their human form. They appear slightly skittish around all of the apex predators in the camp. I can’t blame them, to be honest. If I didn’t know Aurora and Alaric, I’d be scared of them too. The last eagle to arrive lands the closest to the porch, shifting to his human form at the last moment. His eyes remain that of his eagle as he stares at Aurora without blinking.

I hear Aurora’s breath hitch, then stop. The ambient temperature around us drops significantly. The man before uslooks like that guy Jax from that motorcycle show that was on TV. His hair is a dirty blond, and so is his beard. If I didn’t know better, he looks like he could be related to Alaric, you know, that Viking type. My guess is he is the Alpha of the Eagle Clan. Two others try to approach and he raises a hand, stopping them in their tracks.

We turn and watch Aurora, scales ripple up and down her arms and over the bridge of her nose. Her eyes are those dragon orbs of hers, the liquid mercury seeming to swirl around the black slit. Alaric reaches for Aurora, and her beast explodes into existence and growls at him in warning.

Her beast’s massive head swings to regard the naked man before her. It feels like that t-rex scene from that dinosaur movie. Each step of hers shakes the planks in the porch. The air is heavy with anticipation, no one is sure what Aurora will do now. Half of the males’ clan have shifted and taken to the trees nearby to watch.

I watch in horror as Aurora reaches the last step; she steps onto the soil, freezing it with every step. I give the man credit; he’s standing his ground as Aurora’s massive ten foot tall, half-ton beast looms over him. Slowly, she lowers her head and sniffs at his scalp first, then his neck. His Golden Eagle eyes remain focused on Aurora, not one ounce of fear evident on his face. Aurora proceeds to sniff his neck then she begins to circle him.

“We need to do something. Alaric, Dimitri, can’t one of the two of you step in?” I look between Alaric and Dimitri, figuring since they both are the largest of us, they should be able to save him.

“No need. She’s testing him,” Nicodeamus states so calmly it’s frightening. “Besides, if you step in now and he’s unworthy, it will only give him false hope that he was accepted only to be shunned later.” Nicodeamus slowly turns to head back the way he came, “We don’t need another Sebastian on our hands.” Withthat, Nicodeamus leaves the five of us staring at each other. None of us want to deal with the fall out of another mate that shouldn’t be.

Aurora’s beast looks back to us as she stands behind the male. Her gauntleted hand raises, and her talons come out in front of him. Her hand is level with his throat, and her beast has that gleam in its eye. Quickly she pulls her hand back, her talons heading for the man’s throat. The five of us yell “no!” at the top of our lungs.

Before Aurora’s talons can touch the man’s throat, she shifts back to her human form and grips his throat. Quickly, she pulls him back to her and sinks her canines into his shoulder, as her eyes remain locked on us. Rivulets of his blood run down his chest as his eyes roll back in his head. The extreme pleasure from her bite makes him cum; his seed sprays wildly in jets out before him, landing in the dirt.

Besides the mate orgy we had a while back, this has to be the single hottest moment I’ve gotten to witness. Aurora slowly releases the man and licks his wounds, healing them instantly. Cautiously, she steps before him and looks up into his eyes. You can see the love and adoration he has for her instantly once his eyes shift back to human. His eyes are a beautiful shade of grey-green. Aurora’s eyes sometimes turn a similar color, depending on her mood. Slowly, we all move to greet the new mate.

The new male looks down at Aurora, kisses her forehead and extends his hand to Alaric, who approaches first. “I’m Arnulf, Alpha of the Golden Eagles. Our ancestor came to the elders during meditation. He spoke of a female that was a daughter to him, that faces great peril ahead of her. He said she needs our wings, our sight, and our talons to help take back her mother’s home.” Aurora and Dimitri immediately begin to tear up looking at each other, then at the male that now holds her.

Tears began to stream down Aurora’s cheeks, her bottom lip quivers as she tries to restrain the emotions fighting to surface. “Andre?” Aurora says, her voice a whisper as she looks up to Arnulf, hoping he is talking about Andre.

Slowly, he nods and kisses away her tears and hugs her tightly to him. “He was only able to cross the veil because the ancient rites were performed for him by a loved one. I can only assume he meant you.” His hand caresses her cheek gently. “He said your name is Aurora. It’s very beautiful and fitting for you.” He gently kisses Aurora’s forehead, and she loses it, crying hysterically.

Dimitri steps forward and takes hold of Aurora. The two of them cling ever so tightly to each other, crying hysterically. Nicodeamus feels a disturbance in the force, comes back out, sees Aurora and Dimitri crying, and runs towards them. Between Aurora and Dimitri, they fill Nicodeamus in on what is happening, and he joins in on the crying.

I extend my hand next to Arnulf and motion back to them. “Aurora performed the rites after Andre was murdered. She stood in her father’s flames and watched his body burn. Jayce has the video if you want to watch it. You can see Andre’s spirit leave the funeral pyre.” As soon as I finish my sentence, Jayce is at our side playing the video for Arnulf.

I watch the emotions move across Arnulf’s face; first pride, then amazement, then back to pride again. He looks between Jayce and me, then back to the major hug fest that now includes Dominik. “A dragon’s flame won’t burn her? That’s incredible. We are truly blessed to have such a powerful mate.” Jayce and I nod, agreeing with his statement. He has no clue just how powerful she truly is.

CHAPTER 85

Klaus

Arnulf turnsto his people and screeches several times and they fly off, leaving him behind here at the compound. “I will call them back when we are ready to go to war. For now, all the larger predators are making them uneasy.” Arnulf looks at me, then at Jayce. “Do either of you have extra clothes I can wear until my bags arrive tomorrow? I don’t mind walking around naked, but I don’t believe other females should see me like this now that I have a mate.” That one statement from him catches all of our attention. He’s going to fit in just fine.

Jayce and I lead Arnulf into the alpha house and into the master suites. Aurora’s twins come running over and tilt their little dragon heads. Arnulf looks from the twins, then to me, then back to the twins. “Genetically, they are Aurora’s and Alaric’s babies. We all claim paternity when it comes to their care.” I smile proudly as I look at the hatchlings before me.

“When the babies are in their human forms, we’re all called Dad. Alaric is called Daddy; it’s the only difference. They accept all of us as their father figures. It’s really cool if you think about it. It definitely makes it easier on Aurora having multiple mates to help with the babies, so she’s not so exhausted.” I toss Arnulfa pair of sweats, and Jayce grabs him a T-shirt. Arnulf quickly dresses then sits on the floor to let the babies check him out.

“Children have become rare with my people. The occurrences of true mates are few and far between. I have been telling the elders that we must start looking outside our borders, to other species if we wish to survive.” He sighs softly, the mantle of Alpha weighing heavily upon his brow.

“They fear change, and it will be the death of us. At least with me as Alpha, we have a chance to change our way of thinking, especially when they see me with Aurora and you guys.” Arnulf is smiling broadly as he gets tackled by the twins. The rest of my bond mates and Aurora walk in, just as the babies go to attack Arnulf again. He rolls back, catching them gently and falls with them, taking the brunt of the landing. I have to give it to him; he’s laughing hysterically at the baby dragons’ antics.

Aurora stands there smiling and makes a noise only her hybrid can produce. Quickly, the children run to her and shift to their toddler selves. “Jayce, my love, please dress the children,” Aurora says softly. She then moves forward swiftly, catching Jayce off guard and kisses him passionately before he heads off with the children.

“Arnulf, sorry about the...” She motions to where she had bitten him, looking a little embarrassed by her actions. “My beast got away from me. I’m sorry if I was a bit too forward. She did the same to Klaus a few months back. I feel bad when she doesn’t wait for consent.” Aurora lowers her eyes, looking at her hands as they grip each other, turning her knuckles white.

Arnulf moves swiftly and grips her hands. He tilts his head, trying to get her to look at him. “I am honored your beast chose me. Usually, a male makes a nest and hopes a female deems him worthy. You deemed me worthy without seeing my nest or what I was able to provide for you. Why?” He is genuinely curious as to what made him worthy in her eyes.

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