Page 163 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

“I love you, Aurora, now and forever.” I pull an intricate band out of my pocket and show it to her. It’s made in the shape of a wolf. Raising my hand, I run my fingers through her thick, white tresses till I find a braid. Carefully, I pull it out and undo some of her braid, and then weave the charm into it. The wolf sits in themiddle of her hair braid where she can pull it forward and look at it.

Aurora grips her braid and touches the wolf sitting there. Her eyes flicker to her beast for a moment, then back to human as she regards my gift. “Jayce and I had it made so you would have a bit of us with you always,” I say, watching her examine the present.

“It’s perfect, Dom, you and Jayce did wonderfully.” She smirks, then bounces up and kisses me. “We better get going before they come looking for us.” She giggles then takes off at a sprint, following the path back.

It doesn’t take long to make it back to the castle, and not shocking the dragons are all shifted, and everyone is waiting. Aurora shrugs her shoulders and mouthsoopsat me, then runs to Alaric and the babies. I hate flying... Unfortunately, it’s the fastest way to get us where we need to be. Marco is apparently my ride today. My goofy twin is dancing on his back, singing to himself.

Hesitantly, I climb up onto Marco’s back and take my seat between his wings. Jayce comes and sits beside me and leans against my shoulder. “So? Did she like it?”

Nodding slowly, I pat my brother’s thigh. “Yeah, she loved it. I braided it right into her hair.” Jayce visibly relaxes.

“Do you think we’ll have pups next?”Jayce asks hopefully.

I can’t help but laugh and shake my head. “How would we tell whose is whose? We’re twins.” Laughter escapes my lips as I try to contain it. Other than eye color, there would be no real way till they come of age.

“You’re right. It’ll be nice to have pups running around the den, though.” Jayce starts laughing as Marco takes off.

“Alaric will be more at a loss with more wolves in the house.” Jayce has a point, and I start laughing right along with him.

“Only time will tell, brother. For now, let’s enjoy each litter as they come and wait for our chance,” I say confidently, trying to reassure my brother. He nods slowly and moves to lie on his stomach. Damn, he’s got a great idea. Moving carefully, I lie on my stomach with an arm wrapped around a spine on Marco’s back. Jayce shakes his head at me before closing his eyes to sleep. I look around one last time before closing my eyes to enjoy a much-needed nap.

CHAPTER 128

Alaric

The flightback to the pack lands was uneventful, thankfully. It feels odd to me that I’m not the center of Aurora’s universe. She’s not ignoring me or anything, I’m just used to being the one she always came to for comfort. Now... now I don’t know what my role is. The dynamics have changed and I’m guessing that’s going to happen with every birth. I carry my mate and my children on my back. It’s not that I don’t trust the others… Okay, I’m a bit of a control freak and want to personally oversee their safety. After everything my mate has endured, I just want to give her a happy and safe life. Is it wrong of me to take every precaution? Nicodeamus is in full agreement with me. Then again, he’s a father who only met his adult daughter a year ago.

The field we use to land on has been cleared, and most of Klaus’s pack has returned to the town. I circle several times, making sure that our guards have landed first to ensure our safety. The winds are with me and help me gently glide to the ground. Three strong pumps of my wings and my touchdown is flawless. Slowly, I lower my massive form to the ground and extend my wing so that it’s easier for Klaus to get onto my back.

I feel my babies awaken first, their little taloned feet moving along my scales and then a push before they launch into the air.I watch them having fun riding the wind that’s moving through the field. It’s only been a few short months since their first flight. And each time they take off, my heart swells with pride, knowing that my bloodline continues on.

I turn my head slowly to watch Aurora awaken and go into Klaus’s arms. It tugs at my heart the way that she’s holding on to him. A few months ago, I was where he’s at right now. Am I jealous? Yeah, I’m man enough to admit that I am. I guess this is how the others have been feeling since Aurora became pregnant with my children.

It’s now that I notice that Dimitri is waiting at my side for Klaus to help Aurora down. It’s a modified game of pass the Aurora because Klaus scoops her up in his arms then drops her straight down to Dimitri. Aurora giggles upon impact and wraps her arms tightly around Dimitri’s neck. Yeah, I’m jealous. I shouldn’t be jealous because she never puts anybody above the other. But I’m still just a man, that for a time, was the center of her world.

As soon as Klaus is off my back, I shift to my human form and stretch my muscles. The flight always takes a lot out of me, especially carrying my precious cargo, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Aurora comes bounding over with a pair of pants for me and smiles. “Hey, no looking bummed out, you.”

She pokes my chest several times. “I know it’s going to take some adjustment for you. And that’s my fault. I clung to you like a small child to her teddy bear.” She sighs softly and shakes her head back and forth.

“I love you, Alaric. Time nor space will ever change my feelings for you.” Aurora goes up on her tippy toes, and I wrap my arms tightly around her waist, holding her to me. She kisses me passionately and reminds me exactly how strong our bond is. Her beast rumbles to me, causing my dragon to answer her. This woman owns me on a primal level. Mind, body, soul, and beastall belong to her without question. It’s my own insecurities that cause me to question my place with her. Carefully, I lower her back down to the ground and onto her own two feet.

Klaus’s grandmother comes running over to us and offers her hands to us. “My King, my people have food prepared in the main house for you and your family,” Elsa says happily as she tries to pull the two of us towards the house.

“Elsa, you don’t have to address me as king. I’m just Alaric.” I shrug my shoulders and smile at her, trying to be reassuring with my statement. Aurora pokes my side and starts laughing at me. Apparently, what I’m saying versus how I look are two different things.

“For a man, my beloved, you have the most epic resting bitch face,” Aurora says with a giggle. She, who is the queen of the resting bitch face, just said thatIhad one.

I smirk, looking down at her and then school my features to be cold and emotionless. “I took lessons from you, my beloved ice queen,” I say as gently as possible and then kiss her temple, hugging her tightly. The next thing I know, my thigh is ice cold, and it feels like my pants weigh a ton. Aurora skips away just before I look down and see that she froze my pants solid. Leave it to my mate to make her point.

Elsa attempts not to laugh but to be honest, I can’t help laughing at it myself. I finally make it inside after I thaw my pants out. Everybody’s already sitting at the table digging into the wonderful meal the ladies that run the kitchen have prepared.

Interestingly enough, Aurora is sitting between our two children, trying to get them to use utensils. Ladon has almost perfected using a knife and fork. Tiamat, on the other hand, has her hands shifted to that of her gauntlets. She’s using her talons almost like chopsticks to pick up her food after she cuts it.Aurora’s laughing her ass off while attempting to be serious. Her attempts are an epic fail but valiant nonetheless.

Dimitri moves over to Tiamat next and whispers in her ear. “Okay, Papa Bear, I’ll try, but just because you asked me to.”

Tia does her typical pout with her little rose-colored lips before shifting her hands back. An ethereal glow surrounds her pale-grey eyes for a moment. I can feel a slight tickle at the back of my brain. Shit, my daughter is in my head. I turn quickly to face her, watching exactly what she’s doing. I’m not sure exactly what she’s searching for, but as fast as it occurs, it ends. Soon after, she picks up the knife and fork and starts cutting her food properly. Of all the things that she could have searched my memory for, she took the ability to use utensils. Thank the Goddess above for her innocence. The things that my poor child could have seen would have aged me at least a hundred years.

Aurora sits there staring at me with a brow cocked. Through our mate bond, I show her exactly what our daughter was searching for. A chuckle escapes Aurora’s lips before she looks at her daughter. With a quick roll of her eyes, Aurora goes back to eating her breakfast at last.

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