Page 17 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

Aurora’s taloned hands take on an unearthly glow as frost begins to gather in her hands. She drives her talons into the creature’s chest and rips up quickly. Within the now hollowed rib cage lay a human curled up in a fetal position. It is the man the Wendigo possessed to enter this world. Aurora’s Lycan studies him before ripping him free of the creature’s remains. Once the human is free, the Wendigo’s corpse ignites, burning blue in the center of the ring. The man is covered in a black, viscous material, almost like a cocoon. Aurora cants her head left and right several times, studying the man before ripping his head free of his shoulders and throwing the severed head onto my father’s balcony.

She roars again, looking around the arena, calling for her next challenger. The massive doors on the far side of the stadium opens—a deep bellow echoes throughout the arena, followed by a blast of blue flames. The temperature in the arena drops quickly as frost and ice begin to coat the available surfaces. An Ice Dragon lumbers into the arena; his head mere feet from the roof. His white scales are thick and armor-like—with each scale having a thick raised ridge with a sharp spiked tip. Not only would the scales protect him, but they would also slice his attacker to ribbons.

It is quite scary to see such a battle-hardened warrior lumber in on three legs and missing a wing. His scales tell the tale of his years of battle, not only here but in his past. His silver serpentine eyes search the arena then lock on Aurora. He raises his head high and blows his flames down upon her. Wave upon wave of blue-white flame encapsulates Aurora. The fire itself seems to roar and crackle as they fall from the dragon’s great maw. Aurora doesn’t even try to evade the dragon fire. We can’t see her as the flames begin to coat the arena floor.

My eyes shoot to Sebastian, and he is calm as all hell. How the fuck can he be calm when our mate is getting burned to a crisp? The fucker just smiles. Sebastian exudes an unearthly air of confidence that is a bit unnerving. Slowly, his eyes turn to me. “They are showing how powerful Aurora is. She’s immune to his dragon fire because she’s his daughter.”

Well, now that makes more sense. The crowd is quiet as the flames recede. Aurora stands there, her fur cleaned of blood and her wounds healed. She begins to walk towards the dragon and shifts back to her human form. The dragon lowers its great horned head to her, and Aurora places a hand to his cheek and kisses his muzzle. She turns to face the crowd, choosing this time to shift partially. Her hands look like white armored gauntlets all the way down to her white talons. Her legs break backward and are that of her Lycan—a light dusting of fur-covers her most intimate of parts. Aurora walks to the middle of the arena and locks eyes with our father. Her rage is evident by the trail of frost she left in her wake.

“How dare you imprison my father! Your lost dragon king! You have betrayed the royal family! You have betrayed your people, Lucian!” Aurora calls out our father, the alpha.

He claps his hands and starts laughing. “What does a little bitch like you think you can do to me? I have five hundred Dire Wolves at my command.” He raises his arms as if to gather hisforces, but none move. Not one single being except my eldest brother—his beta—moves to his side. All the others begin to move to the far side of the arena, behind Aurora and her father.

Aurora looks over at her father’s dragon. He’s missing his front, left leg and wing on that side. She begins to growl low in the back of her throat. “You want to see what I can do? So be it.” She rips her eyes away from her father to gaze upon the gathered wolves within the arena. “My people, I’m going to apologize now for what I’m about to do.” She shifts the rest of the way rapidly and howls... ripping the wolves from all of us. None of us have control when her Lycan calls to ours. My body breaks and reshapes to that of my Dire Wolf far faster than I’ve ever shifted before. I look to my right to see Sebastian and Jayce both have shifted just as quickly.

She summons all of our animals, and only a true alpha could force the shift of an entire pack at once. We leap down from our balcony to flank Aurora, moving in sync to stand at her side. Her father stands like a great sentinel behind us. The rest of the pack fills the arena, slowly closing in on my father. Do I feel bad for Father? Not one bit. The way he treated my brothers because of whom they love... he deserves everything he is about to receive.

Aurora breaks free of the pack and bolts towards my father’s balcony. Her father’s wing shoots out about midway between her and the balcony. Aurora leaps up and grabs onto her father’s wingtip and uses it to launch herself up and into my father’s suite. Next thing you know, my father is flying through the air with a tremendous, white Lycan hot on his heels; they land within seconds of each other. Aurora monopolizes on her momentum and pins him to the ground. Her head lifts to lock eyes with her father.

He shifts back to human and approaches Aurora and my father. “You killed my family. You allowed the Strigoi passage into the castle. You took my arm, and in my grief, you made mea slave in your games.” He nods to Aurora, only to have her grip my father by the back of his neck to lift him off the ground. “My daughter was swept far away to be raised without me, because of you.” He extends a single finger and touches my father’s stomach. The flesh turns to ice spreading slowly over his body.

“The time for me to show mercy is long over, Lucian. Now you will know my pain. But know this, the Strigoi will die, and my daughter will be queen in her castle. You,” Nicodeamus smiles sadistically, “on the other hand, will just be a memory. A blip in time to be easily forgotten in years to come.” Ice covers my father’s body completely. He is frozen solid—kind of like Han Solo in carbonite. Nico takes my father’s frozen body from Aurora and throws him to the ground, smashing him to bits. Johan comes out of nowhere, sailing through the air with Father’s rapier in his hands. He heads towards Nico and closes the gap quickly.

Before he can get close enough, Sebastian’s Lycan slams Johan to the ground. The force of Sebastian’s impact knocks the rapier from Johan’s hand and the air from his lungs. Aurora is way too calm for what is going on. Her eyes lock with her father’s, and they stare at each other for a moment. I’m guessing they have an in-depth conversation in the middle of a foiled assassination attempt. Nico makes a graceful sweeping motion towards Johan, and Aurora walks over to where Sebastian has him pinned. With every step, Aurora returns slowly to her human form until she stands beside her Lycan mate.

She threads her fingers through the fur on the back of Sebastian’s head. A single hand raises up, caressing his ear as she leans down to stare at Johan. She speaks to him in the most condescending tone she can muster. “Poor, little beta thinks he’s wolf enough to attack my father.” She keeps tilting her head from side to side, assessing him. “You have been weighed andmeasured. You simply aren’t wolf enough to breathe the same air as me.”

Her gaze falls on Jayce, and me next. “Please forgive me for what I must do next. We will not be safe if he’s allowed to live. Your father’s will has poisoned his heart and mind.” Her eyes remain bouncing between mine and my brother’s as her fingers glide through Sebastian’s thick, black fur.

This dominant-as-fuck female before us is asking for our forgiveness. My brother and I choose this moment to shift back to our human forms. We glance at each other quickly and nod our heads at her. Jayce makes a heart with his hands—being the softy that he is. That little gesture earns him a smile from Aurora before she moves before Johan again.

“I sentence you to death for the attempted assassination of my father, the dragon king.” She raises her hand and shifts it, allowing her talons to catch the light in the arena. The talon on her index finger touches the artery on the right side of Johan’s neck. And ever so slowly, she applies pressure. We watch the skin flex and bend before finally granting passage of the sharp tip of her talon.

Every beat of his heart, a little more blood pumps out and runs down his chest. Aurora almost seems fascinated watching the blood flow. Carefully she removes the talon from the artery and moves to the other side to repeat the process. Now two streams of blood flow slowly down my brother’s chest. With surgical precision, Aurora pierces the brachial artery in his right arm, causing yet another stream of blood. She’s bleeding him out slowly. For some reason, she skips the other arm and goes straight to his femoral artery, and slices it open just above his left knee. Now that one really pumps the blood out. His face grows pale, and yet he doesn’t utter a word. Johan doesn’t beg for his life or even to be spared.

Not that I think Aurora would have spared him at this point. She finally got her father back, and Johan has tried to kill him. I understand she needs to make him suffer, but to what end? Her head tilts one last time and moves forward.

“It’s nothing personal, but you tried to kill my father after your father tried to kill me. It’s only fair.” Just before he loses consciousness, she uses her talons to rip his heart out. Her eyes lock on the final twitching of Johan’s heart before she offers it to her father. Nico takes it with a smile before she walks off toward my father’s remains. Her talons gain purchase on his frozen skull as she lifts it off the ground.

Carefully measured steps carry her back to where her father stands. She drops to one knee and holds up my father’s head to him. He takes the offering then pulls Aurora up into a hug. It is probably the most surreal thing I have ever seen.

He holds his daughter with his only arm while my father’s hair is wrapped around his fingers, and my brother’s heart dangles off of his pinky. “My baby... My beautiful, powerful baby. I never gave up hope I would see you again!” Nico nuzzles the top of her head softly, crying into her blood-soaked mane. Aurora starts crying as well, holding her father tightly, afraid she will lose him again. Nico shakes his hand, freeing him of his presents to grip her better. Aurora looks like she has a Kung Fu Ninja death grip on him. Lord, help the being that tries to end this hug-fest. I think there would be another body hitting the floor quickly.

CHAPTER 15

Dominik

Sebastian moves upslowly and cautiously. “Aurora, love? We should appoint someone to watch over the pack until we need them. And don’t forget we have Dimitri and Andre waiting outside for us. You know how Andre gets; he’s like an old mother hen.” Aurora’s head lifts, and she nods slowly. Her eyes find her smiling father looking down at her.

“Daughter? Do Dimitri and Andre still live? How can this be?” Nico looks puzzled because, by all rights, those two should have been long dead by time alone. Both types of shifters are not very long-lived by shifter standards.

“Yes, Father, they live. The elder dame bound them to me until I found my first mate, Sebastian. I fear now they may not have much time left.” She turns to face Jayce and me. “Can we trust Alexander? Will he lead in our stead while we are gone?”

My brother and I think long and hard about it. “Yes, we believe he would. Father always mistreated him because he’s gay. Trust me, he will be thankful and most faithful to you for freeing him from our father.” I say with great finality, truth rings with every syllable that passes my lips.

Out of the corner of my eye I notice Sinclair, my brother’s lover. Jayce stands stock still watching him approach, afraid ofwhat Aurora may do to the competition. Jayce’s fear is palpable in the air as he watches his lover approach. Without a second thought, Sinclair closes the distance and hugs onto Jayce for dear life. I am prepared to intervene if needed, but what could I do? It is my mate and my twin—possibly having to choose between them is breaking my heart.

Aurora shocks me as she moves slowly and touches Jayce’s shoulder. “If this is where your heart truly lies, I can and will release you from this fragile bond.” Her eyes are the pure mercury of her Lycan. She is anxious, and you can scent her sadness in the air. Aurora is trying to do what is right for my brother. My older brother Alex hears the whole exchange and waits to see what Jayce chooses.

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