Page 16 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

I mean, I never met the man, and as far as I knew, he was over two hundred years dead. I feel a wave of relief wash over me. Wait, dragons can communicate telepathically?

Nicodeamus? My mother’s dragon mate?

Part of me wants to cry. I still have family left. I not entirely without my bloodline. Tears threaten to break free. I have to make myself mad to not alert the alpha to what was going on.

Yes, little one. We don’t have much time. Lucian plans to kill you in the ring. Use my gifts, my strength. When we come face to face, we will burn this place to the ground.

His voice holds such confidence and authority, I can’t help but smile. Now I know where I get mydon’t fuck with meattitude from. I walk with more confidence and bounce in my step.

In my mind’s eye, my father shares years of information: our history, our family, and the night of the attack. The alpha is the one that helped the Strigoi breach the castle’s defenses. For that, he will pay dearly.

“Are you ready, princess?” The sarcasm is strong with this one. I give him two thumbs up and turn my back to him.

“Yup, let’s get it done.” I crack my knuckles and my neck, getting my limbs loose. I’m as ready as I’m going to be. The great doors open, and I hear the roar of the crowd. Closing my eyes, I start hearing the Megadeth song “Crush ‘em” in my head. The opening line fits so well, and I start singing the first lines out loud.

Poor Sebastian must think I’ve lost my mind, entering the ring singing. I need to focus, and one of my favorite training songs makes me feel like my mentor is right beside me. Opening my eyes, scanning the arena, they fall on Sebastian and the twins. This is the first time they will see me shift. It should be worth seeing the look on their faces. Especially now that my father taught me how to use the frost in the shift; it should add a whole new element to my theatrics.

I breathe in deeply and let out the deepest, most haunting howl I can muster as the shift takes me. Frost seeps from my every pore as my body takes on its new shape. I embrace my father’s magic and let it bond with my Lycan. By the time I am done, the arena is dead silent. Not a single sound besides my breathing can be heard.

“Hell yeah, babe!” I hear Sebastian shout. He knew through the bond about the influx of power I have gained. My mercury eyes seek out the twins. Their eyes glow golden like their wolves’.Yes, we are one. Bring on my opponent!

The door across from me slams open, and a rather large Dire Wolf comes charging out and skids to a stop. I don’t think this poor bastard was expecting me. I roar at him, my voice a mix of wolf and dragon. His scent screams he’s frightened; that’s good. Two more Dire’s come out behind him; this is about to get interesting. I raise my right arm before twitching my finger at them, signaling for them to attack. All at once, they charge.

Now the fun really begins.

CHAPTER 14

Dominik

Holy fuck,what a day. Aurora is the princess, our mate,andpart dragon. Can today get any more fucked up?My brother Jayce and I race to the balcony with Sebastian close on our heels. He’s trying to reassure us that she’ll be fine. But damn, every female we know can barely hunt for herself. We just found our mate and we aren’t ready for her to die yet. Halfway into the suite, Sebastian’s knees buckle, sending him to the floor. He’s panting heavily through whatever is happening to him. He appears to be in immense pain the way his face is contorted and his jaw clenched tight.

“Shit, that hurt. I hope Aurora knows what she’s doing.” He looks up to me. “She’s tapping into her father’s power. They are close enough for her to do it now. Fuck did that pack a punch.” His eyes are swirling between an almost white-blue to his regular sky blue.

If the mating bond can do this, I’m almost afraid of the power she’s wielding at the moment. I go and help Sebastian to his feet and we make it to the balcony to see her enter the ring. I can’t believe my ears; she’s singing while entering the ring. Sebastian laughs, saying how the pack is in trouble now.

Her gaze finds us, and she smiles just before tilting her head back, allowing her long white tresses to flow down her back. Her crimson lips twist up in a mischievous smile before letting out the most bone-chilling howl I’ve ever heard in my life. Fur ripples over my arms as my wolf fights me for control. My bones and tendons tighten as her howl echoes through the pit, calling forth my wolf. He wants nothing more than to be at his mate’s side when she battles. I agree with him, but it’s not our place at the moment. Looking to my right, I can see Sebastian and Jayce having the same problem.

We look at each other briefly before watching Aurora shift. Her body bends and breaks, reforming to that of her great, white Lycan beast. Every inch of her body is covered in frost as the change takes hold of her. Her beast grows larger by the second, far larger than any female Lycan in recent history. Unlike your average Lycan, her’s has white dragon scales along the length of her muzzle as well as armored gauntlets with talons. Holy shit, she has dragon talons instead of the normal Lycan claws. Aurora flexes her hands several times, looking over her weaponry before looking around the arena briefly. She appears to be bored with the way her long, white tail sways slowly behind her. A couple of quick stretches later, and the double doors in front of her are thrown open.

One Dire wolf comes running into the arena. Aurora looks bored with only a single wolf arriving. The roar that comes out of her mouth is the thing that nightmares are made of. A chill runs down my spine hearing the tone that comes out of her mouth. The male in the ring is terrified, his body shaking; that is until two more join him. Aurora raises her right arm and bears the royal seal. Fuck, sheisthe lost princess. To attack royalty is an immediate death sentence. The Dires move as one towards her, and her fingers spread, exposing her talons. They aren’t even claws; they are fucking talons—long, curved, and lethal.

In one fluid motion, she flicks her hands out, catching the two leaping in the air at her, and rakes her talons across their throats, severing their heads from their bodies. Blood sprays everywhere as the decapitated corpses hit the ground. Her snow-white fur stains vermillion as she stares down the last remaining wolf.

Her rage is palpable in the air. Energy crackles around the arena as if a thunderstorm is approaching. As the final wolf charges and leaps, Aurora catches it in midair. Her talons sinking deeply into the ribcage of the Dire. Blood oozes freely from the wounds she has dealt him as his feet dangle off the floor. The poor wolf whines, whimpers, and squirms, trying to free itself from her vice-like grip. Her eyes lock onto my father as she rips the Dire in half; bloody entrails dangle from the two halves in her talons. She throws the upper half of what is left of the Dire at my father’s balcony. Blood splattering all over the white marble and some of it manages to land on my father’s face. The hind end in her talons falls to the ground as I swear her beast smirks at my father’s reaction. He isn’t happy that she threw the body at him, his lip still curled up in a snarl.Personally, I find it funny.

The carnage in the ring is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in all my years of watching these battles. Aurora turns and looks back up at us, trying to gauge our reaction to her brutality. I bow my head and raise my fist to my heart. I witnessed my brother and Sebastian repeat what I have done out of the corner of my eye. Aurora lightly dips her head to us and raises her taloned fist over her heart in return.

My only question is, how far is my father going to take this farce? He’s up to something; I’m just not sure what. The door to the right opens, and the energy in the air changes. The air becomes thick and humid. Fog begins to roll into the arena, making Aurora adjust her stance to face her new foe. Iknow what it is: the Wendigo. It stands almost equal in height to Aurora’s Lycan. But where Aurora has bulk, the Wendigo is gaunt with bones protruding out of its half-rotted flesh. Its face looks like the skull of a bear with terrifying teeth and a blue tongue that can be seen tasting the air. Upon its head are great horns like that of a stag. Its eyes are deep-set, glowing red orbs like that of the demon that it is. Its arms are long and at the tips of the boney digits, sit razor-sharp claws.

The two titans begin to circle each other. One more terrifying than the other. Height wise, they appear to be equally matched. Both have white fur matted with blood. Aurora takes a quick swipe at the Wendigo’s chest, ripping a layer of flesh off it. The creature doesn’t even seem phased by it. But the look on Aurora’s face tells me she noticed something we can’t see from where we are sitting.

I turn to Sebastian. “Is she okay? I mean, I know you can feel her.” His eyes never leave her in the ring.

“She’s fine. My mother told her about the Wendigo and how to kill it. She’s just making sure what my mother knew is accurate before she goes on the attack.” His tone doesn’t sound concerned; instead, it almost sounds detached and bored. In my opinion, his reaction isn’t appropriate for what happening currently. I’ll file this tidbit of information away to process later. My eyes return to watch Aurora move about the ring, testing the creature.

“It’s better to test than to be sorry. Aurora’s very wise.” I walk over to Jayce, who’s still beside himself, and I wrap an arm around his shoulders. “She’ll be fine, you’ll see!” I have to have faith in our future mate. I refuse to have any negative thoughts about the female my wolf has chosen. The Wendigo suddenly roars and charges at Aurora. She jumps to the side, barely getting out of the way in time.

Unfortunately, the Wendigo’s claws catch Aurora’s ribs, slicing thin lines along her right side. The scent of Aurora’s blood has put the creature into a frenzy. It’s not thinking straight, and Aurora takes full advantage of it and charges. Quickly she drops down and sweeps the legs out from under the creature, causing it to land flat on its back. Her talons come down swiftly, severing the horns from the Wendigo’s head. The creature’s high-pitched scream fills the arena, blackened blood oozes from where the horns once were. Aurora grabs the horns and drives them down into the Wendigo’s arms, pinning them to the earth below it.

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