Page 113 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

“You are Father; they are Mom’s other mates,” Ladon says boldly, being defiant like always. Tiamat is shaking her head no and looking remorseful.

“Ladon, they are our dads. Father is our father, but they are all dads to us. Mom said so,” Tiamat says with a slight growl to her voice. Tiny frost crystals move over Tiamat’s skin, showing her agitation with her brother. Her little dragon is close to the surface as she stares down Ladon.

“Ladon, Tia is correct. They are your dads, and I am Father. They are to be afforded the same love and respect you do your mom and me.” Alaric’s eyes are that of his dragon, driving the point home.

Ladon looks away, which was a huge mistake on his part because Aurora is on him in a second. She picks him up off the ground and brings him up to eye level with her. “Do you love me less because I am not a full dragon like your father and grandfather?” Aurora is pissed off, thinking her son may be speciest.

“No, Mommy, I love you.” Ladon tentatively reaches out to stroke Aurora’s shifting facial bone plates.

Aurora snorts frost on her son and looks away. “If you cannot love my other mates like you say you love me, how do I know you love me? I am not and will never be like you or your sister. I will never know what it is to spread my wings because I have none. I will never know the freedom of flight without a wing suit or your father. Does that make me less than you or your father?” Aurora turns to look Ladon in the eyes, tears threatening to break againand roll down her cheeks. Deep down, we feel the conflicting pain versus the anger boiling under the surface.

We all start to rub the dull ache in our chests, feeling Aurora’s pain as if it’s our own. “Daddy Dom? Why are you rubbing your chest?” Tia asks as she looks up at me with her arms stretched, wanting me to pick her up.

“Because we all feel when your mommy hurts.” I snuggle Tia to my chest, and Jayce soon joins us and snuggles up behind her.

“Only true mates can sense each other, little one,” Jayce says softly before kissing the crown of Tia’s head. She turns in my arms and wraps her arms around Jayce’s neck, and hugs him.

“I’m sorry, Mommy. I’ll be a better son from now on.” Ladon lowers his head in submission. Aurora gently sets him on the ground and watches his actions.

Ladon climbs up on a stool and looks at all of us. “I’m sorry I was mean. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. Mommy is very important to me, so I’m sorry because I was a weenie.”

We all accept his apology and continue to play “pass the Tiamat” since she was the first to seek affection from us.

“You weren’t mean, Ladon; you were an ass!” Tiamat screams at her brother, her dragon’s growl making her voice sound that much angrier.

Her little dragon close to the surface, tiny scales ripple up and down Tiamat’s arms. “I wanted to play with all my daddies, but you said no! You were an ass!” Tiamat is growling in Dimitri’s arms, causing a light coating of frost to cover his shirt. Her little talons extend and retract, punctuating her anger. She looks exactly like a miniature Aurora.

“Two things, little one,” Dimitri says softly as he kisses Tia’s temple. “Don’t say ass; it’s not a nice word. Second, please don’t freeze me; I’m not as frost-resistant as your mom and dad,” Dimitri says as he smiles at Tia.

Tia looks quite sheepish as she studies the frost on Dimitri. Carefully, she passes her little hand over the frost, and it vanishes as fast as it had appeared. “Sorry, Daddy.” Tia wraps her arms around Dimitri’s neck and hugs him tightly. Her little dragon purrs its affections at Dimitri. Ladon, on the other hand, jumps down and starts passing out the hugs, telling everyone he is sorry for being a weenie.

CHAPTER 93

Dominik

Aurora still looks distraughtover what her son has done. Alaric attempts to console her until Klaus comes over and takes Aurora from him. He raises his eyebrow at her and motions towards the door. Aurora smiles and shifts on the spot, heading towards the door.

“How are you turning the doorknob, you silly woman!?” Klaus yells as he chases after Aurora.

All I can do is shake my head while watching Aurora and Klaus leave. “Can we go play with them too?” Ladon asks as he pulls on my pant leg.

“I don’t see why not.” We all follow Ladon outside as he goes to look for his mother and Klaus. Looking at the distance between paw prints, they took off at a run and could be anywhere. I look to my brother, and we tilt our heads back and use a locating howl to gauge how far away Klaus and Aurora are.

Tiamat and Ladon both attempt to howl and can’t it comes out more like a garbled roar. I cant my head to the side, listening for the return howls. Several seconds later, we hear their combined call. The children expectantly look at me; part of me wants to be an asshole and teach Ladon a lesson. The face he’s making tells me he can’t understand the howls at the moment,and that is enough of a lesson. “They’re hunting by the lake. They are inviting the entire family to join them. They want the babies to see what Lycans can do.”

Alaric looks in the direction of the lake. “It’s about a mile away. We can fly there or shift and run as a pack.”

It’s my turn to raise an eyebrow at Alaric, knowing full well his dragon isn’t able to run through the forest because of its size. We watch the children closely, and both shift to their dragon forms and start running in the direction of their mother. Dimitri shifts next, leaving his clothing in a pile. Arnulf follows Dimitri’s example, as does my brother. It’s then I notice that Alaric has a bag he’s placing all the clothing in.

“How are you getting up there?” I ask him as I start to strip.

“Dimitri was kind enough to offer to carry me as long as I carry everyone’s clothing. It’s a fair trade to me; I never get to see the forest from this perspective.” I hand Alaric my clothing and shift into my wolf. We take off running to catch up to Aurora and Klaus.

Jayce and I keep pace with the babies, making sure they don’t get into anything they can’t get themselves out of. Dimitri brings up the rear with Alaric on his back, going at a lumbering pace up the incline heading towards the lake.

We see Aurora’s white beast as well as Klaus’s black Lycan darting in and out of the thick trees at the lake’s edge. The babies catch up quickly to where they last saw their mother and go on the search to see if they can find her themselves. From experience, I know better than to blindly go in the most apparent direction. I know what the babies are trying to do; they are attempting to track their mother. On the other hand, I decide to go the opposite direction, breaking off from my brother and babies to get ahead of the much faster Lycans.

By scent and instinct, I know that my quarry isn’t far from where I’m standing. Now, the average hunter looking for aterrestrial being never thinks to look up. I, on the other hand, know better. I look up and see Klaus and Aurora hanging by their talons in a rather large oak tree. I watch them for several seconds before I trot off slowly, not giving away their position to the babies.

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