Page 165 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

My eyes drift to Arnulf, then back to Tia. “I could, but let’s have a bit of fun with it.” My eyes drift between Ladon and Arnulf before looking back to Tia.

“Ladon and Arnulf are one team, and you and me on the other team, Tia.” Tia starts bouncing up and down excitedly.

“We got this, Papa Arnulf.” Ladon raises his fist to Arnulf, and they fist bump. “Tia’s a princess. What can she do?” Ladon says smugly.

Just so happens, Aurora walks in on the tail end of what Ladon said. “What can a princess do?” Aurora asks as the rest of our bond mates enter the room.

Slowly, she stalks across the room, freezing the floor as she goes. Her arms shift to that of her gauntlets. “Technically, I amthe only queen of the Ice Dragon court. I am still a princess in the Marelup court.” Aurora smirks.

“Before I was queen, I took down a Wyrm Black Dragon, the great Nexus. He was undefeated before me.” Aurora kneels to be at eye level with her son.

“Your sister, like me, is a direct descendant of the Blood Queen, the fiercest dragoness in history,” Aurora says as she points between her and Tiamat.

“I know deep in my heart Tiamat will be a great warrior and queen one day. Her still having dragon scales in her human form tells me she will be even more powerful than I am one day.” Aurora smiles, looking fondly at her daughter. Slowly, her eyes turn back to Ladon.

“Females are revered because the Goddess allows so few of us to be born. Treasure the females in your life always.” She finishes speaking then kisses Ladon’s forehead before leaving the room as suddenly as she came.

I’m gobsmacked listening to the way Aurora put Ladon in his place. He looks between his mother and his sister then back again. “Can we just go as a family? I don’t want to compete anymore.” Ladon kicks the ground staring at his feet.

“Wise decision, young prince,” Arnulf says, attempting to keep a straight face looking between Tia and me.

Ladon smiles and nods as he leads us out the door. We follow him outside and to the stream not far from the outskirts of town. I was happy to find out that the other family members are already fishing in the stream. Tia screams happily, runs to the water, shifts her arms, and starts trying to catch the fish. Shaking my head, I duck into the shed we have out here, strip, and shift quickly. I amble out towards the others as my bear. Tia squeals and runs at me, trying to pull herself up onto my back. Aurora shifts her hands back and lifts Tia up, setting her behind my shoulders.

Carefully, I wade into the water and start fishing. With every fish I catch, Tia’s musical giggles make my heart swell. Out the corner of my eye, I watch Aurora and imagine my cub growing in her womb. I huff a breath out of my bear’s nostrils before I stick my head underwater and catch a nice-sized trout. Carefully, I approach Aurora and drop the fish beside her and tilt my head to the side. Tia is giggling her ass off as she watches everything I do. “Awe, Papa Bear is feeding momma.” Tia exclaims as she slides off my back to go snuggle next to Aurora.

Once I’m sure everyone has gotten fresh fish and I’ve consumed mine, I head back to the shed and get changed. I really don’t understand what Alaric’s hang-up is about Tia seeing us shift is. Never in all of Aurora’s years growing up did I ever hide anything from her. Personally, I feel Alaric is making a huge mistake hiding everything from Tiamat. My cubs won’t be sheltered like that. I don’t want their wedding night to be a night of terror because she sees her first penis. Thinking back, I don’t believe we hid anything other than having sex from Aurora. We did the best we could for the situation that we were in for her.

Before leaving the shed, I grab a basket, throw some drinks into it, and carry it down to the stream. Using stones, I make a holder to put the basket in so that I can chill the drinks. Aurora starts to giggle, looking at what I’m doing. “Why didn’t you ask me to chill the drinks for everyone?” she asks as she smiles at me and mouthssilly bear.

“Honestly, love, I just don’t want you overtaxing yourself, all things considered.” Gently, I place my hand on her lower stomach and caress it.

Aurora stands up on her tippy toes and kisses my cheek. “Always so thoughtful of my needs. Thank you, love, for always putting me first.” She kisses my lips gently, and in the background I hear Tia sayaweand Ladon sayeww.

Shaking my head, I move away slightly, then drop to my knees and kiss Aurora’s lower stomach. “Why’s Papa Bear kissing mommy’s tummy?” Tia asks as she climbs into Alaric’s lap.

Raising a brow, I look to Alaric, unsure if we were ready to broach this subject as a family. “Well, Tia, momma is carrying babies in her belly. Just like she carried you and Ladon,” Alaric says as gently as possible.

Tia looks from Aurora to Alaric. “How did they get there?” Tia tilts her head slightly. “Did you put them there, Daddy?” Tia grips Alaric’s beard staring into his eyes. She has him in such a grip it’s almost impossible for him to move.

“Well, um... Aurora?” Alaric takes the easy way out, getting Aurora to navigate this one. Quickly, I get up and move out of the way and sit off to the side to watch this one.

“Tia? Father didn’t gift me with babies this time,” Aurora says, waiting to get her attention.

“Okay?” Tia responds as she releases Alaric and moves over to her mother, and places her little hands on the small bump of Aurora’s stomach. “Who did it?” she asks innocently as she lifts Aurora’s shirt to look. “I really don’t see how they got in there,” Tia says as she pokes Aurora’s belly button.

Dominik almost chokes to death on his drink. Jayce hits his twin’s back, trying to clear his lungs. Aurora rolls her eyes then looks back to Tia. Carefully, she sits down and pulls Tia into her lap. “Remember we had the talk about heat cycles?” Tia nods and still studies Aurora. “So if a mommy and her mate, or mates in my case, are left alone to do mate things, babies happen,” Aurora says with a very serious face, though through the bond, we hear her laughing.

Tia nods and stands up. She looks at each of us in turn, and I feel like I’m standing before a firing squad. Tia moves to stand before me and lifts her arms. Hesitantly, I reach down and pickher up. “Did you give momma cubs?” she asks in a very serious voice. Her little fingers thread through my thick beard as she holds me hostage.

“Momma thinks so, little one.” The smile that moves across Tia’s lips brings me so much joy.

“Good!” she says with such finality. “They better be girls. If I end up with another smelly brother, I’m going to be mad.” Tia says firmly, then gives my beard a tug. She leans in and kisses both of my cheeks, then wiggles to get down. To my surprise, that went much better than expected. That is until Tia tries to shove a piece of fish into Aurora’s belly button, trying to feed the baby.

“Little one?” I say gently as I kneel beside Tia and take the fish away from her as Aurora laughs hysterically. “Mommy feeds the baby in her tummy. We just have to keep mommy fed.” I smile as I watch Tia’s expression change.

Without warning, Tia shoves the piece of fish in Aurora’s mouth. Time seems to stop as we watch and wait for Aurora’s reaction. Aurora’s eyebrows shoot up, and she decides to start chewing the offered fish. “Thanks, sweetheart. The babies will love it,” she says kindly with a smile.

Tia’s head tilts. “Babies?” She looks at the small bell of Aurora’s stomach then at each of us in turn. “Okay, who put another baby in there?” She jabs her finger in the direction of Aurora’s stomach.

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