Page 190 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

We race through the halls back to where Helle is with the five children. We find two burned corpses and three others withblackened veins from Helle’s toxic bite. Tia and Ladon are in their dragon forms, standing protectively over the other three babies who have shifted to their animal forms.

All I am feeling is a burning rage; it’s another five males that I spared. They’ve pretty much just issued a death warrant for the rest of them. There may be no saving any of them. Klaus, Jayce, Alaric, and Dimitri go tearing out of the room to serve out the sentences for the last nine that are alive. I go over and start checking my babies over quickly, making sure that none of them are injured. The only one that has any kind of a mark on them is Tia. Apparently, she deflected a blade with her scales. It’s a slight cut, nothing too deep that won’t heal over time. But she may end up with a wicked scar to remind her of her heroism today. Ladon refuses to shift back as he stays curled up around little Luna.

I look over at my mother-in-law, or stepmom—however, you want to call her—and smile. She shifts back to her human form and tries to find something to wear. My father is quick to offer her his button-down. “You know, daughter, you ought to get dressed as well. It’s unbecoming for the queen to run around naked.” I roll my eyes as Dominik takes off his hoodie and hands it to me. Slowly, I shake my head at the two of them and then slide it on.

“Am I being too brash ordering the deaths of the last nine I spared?” I pose the question in the open air for anybody to answer me. Dominik is the first to come and stand before me and look me square in the eyes.

“My love, they went after you as well as your children. I would be more than happy if you burned them all to ash. Anyone who goes after children does not deserve to live. To take the life of an innocent is uncalled for.” Dominik smiles and gently kisses my cheek. Quickly, I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him tightly. His strong arms band around me and crush me to his chest as his wolf starts to rumble to me. I close my eyes,just reveling in the feeling of having my mate’s arms around me. Eventually, I feel the heat from Arnulf as he presses against my back, hugging up against me.

“Whatever you decide is best for our family and the kingdom, my people and I will support any and all of your decisions,” Arnulf says softly as he nuzzles my cheek. The whistles and keening call that his bird makes always brings a smile to my lips. I know that they’re happy noises for his shift, so it makes me happy as well. Eventually, we break apart and I just sigh softly looking at the carnage my children and stepmom caused.

I break away from the guys and run over to Helle and give her the biggest hug that I could possibly give her. I thank her over and over again for her defense of my children. She’s in tears over the fact that Tia got hit with a blade and that she wasn’t fast enough. She tells me about how brave and strong both my dragon children were. On the other hand, my father is sitting there with his chest all puffed up doing the “that’s my grand babies” thing that he always does. Helle and I stay wrapped up in each other’s arms for several moments, both of us blubbering like giant babies. My mates return covered in blood but no worse for wear.

“Is it done?” I question. Helle and I both turn to face them simultaneously, waiting for an answer from someone.

Alaric comes from behind Dimitri, drops to one knee, and holds up a head. “He’s a direct descendant of Grigore’s line. I’m unsure of his relation to Vladimir, but I could almost assure you he is more than likely one of his children. He was cursing your bloodline for tainting Lycan kind.” Alaric’s eyes shift to that of his dragon the minute that sentence falls from his lips. “I couldn’t have him speak about my beloved mate that way. My dragon and I would not allow those venomous words to fill the air any longer.”

I move forward and gently cup both of Alaric’s cheeks and lean down and kiss him lightly on his lips. “Thank you, my love, for protecting my honor.” My eyes drift to my other mates and I smile.

“Thank you for keeping our family and our people safe. I am so blessed to have all of you in my family.” I move to each mate, kissing them and letting them know how thankful I am for what they’ve done. My eyes find my father staring at us.

I start to walk over towards him and smile. “I need your guidance, Father, as to what I should do. I believe we have eliminated the threat for this moment. But you have seen more wars and battles than any of us here.” Gently, I grab my father’s hand, looking up into his eyes. He tilts his head several times, then he nods slowly.

“My advice to you, daughter and my sons, seek out all those who have not been with us from the beginning and isolate them. Trust is earned and not freely given.” He looks around the room and then back up to me again. “We should summon more of our dragon guards to be here. If we can get a Spectral Dragon here, that would be most helpful as they can sense lies.”

“That won’t be necessary, old friend.” The melodic tune of Oberon’s voice fills the hall. My head whips around to stare at him. He materialized literally out of nowhere. “It’s a pleasure to see you, young queen, and congratulations on regaining your mother’s castle,” he says as he spreads his arms wide, looking around the room and then back over to us. He has that dramatic flair with everything he does, and it’s definitely a whole new level of showmanship.

“It’s a pleasure as always to see you, King Oberon.” I bow my head slightly to him, never taking my eyes off of him. “Are you able to assist us in our current predicament, trying to sort out those who may be betrayers?” I tilt my head slightly as I look at him.

“It would be my honor to assist you,” he says with a flourished bow. “Let’s make haste, Nicodeamus. I will need your assistance in navigating the castle,” he says as he sweeps into one last bow before following my father out of the room.

I raise a single eyebrow and look between my mates and narrow my eyes slightly. We’re all on the same page right now. Something’s going on behind the scenes that we are unaware of, and that’s why he’s here. For now, we will remain vigilant and see what happens.

CHAPTER 148

Klaus

We becomeaware of Oberon’s arrival and go listen to what he has to say. Especially after what happened with the Lycans that we had spared, we’re concerned there may be others plotting silently in the shadows.

Jayce’s mom is kind enough to take all of the children back to their playroom while the adults handle these pressing matters. There’s a study on the first floor that we tend to use for our meetings, so I head there immediately. Nicodeamus is already there and has checked and made sure that there are no additional passageways into the room.

Oberon has put himself at the head of the table, sitting with his legs crossed, sipping on what I guess is a glass of white wine. He regards everybody as they enter and then motions for everybody to sit. I can see the tick in the corner of Aurora’s eye, which generally tells me she is not pleased with how everything is starting. Oberon, unbeknownst to him, is sitting in her chair. I can watch the various emotions flicker over her face as she tries to maintain the aura of calm that she needs for this meeting. I decide now, feeling that I may as well test my metal. I stand before everyone at the end of the table, directly facing Oberon. “I assume you have heard about what transpired here.” I tiltmy head slightly to the side, looking at him. “From what I understand, you would be able to tell who is friend and foe?” I raise the question gently, not wanting to aggravate the ancient before me.

He smiles, sets his glass down, and then plays with a strand of his long, white hair. “But of course, young one,” he says with the flourish of his hand. “That is exactly why I’ve come.” He smiles and lightly lowers his head to me before looking back up.

“I am here to assist the young queen as well as protect and preserve her valuable bloodline.” He makes a circle with his hand over the top of the table, and under it, shimmering into view is a scroll. Aurora, who is sitting off to his right, leans over to look at the scroll and then quirks an eyebrow up. Her eyes dart between her father and Oberon, then back down to me, then back over to the scroll. By the way, she’s looking at it I can only determine she cannot read what is on it.

Nicodeamus, who is sitting on Oberon’s left, leans over and looks at the scroll as well. He furrows his brows, staring at it quite curiously. “Dear friend, is there a way for you to translate this for all of us to be able to read?” he asks cautiously, not wanting to upset or aggravate the ancient before him.

Oberon laughs a little. “Silly me, I keep forgetting that not everyone can read ancient Elvish.” He throws his hands up in “the oops, my bad” position and then runs his hands over the scroll again. Within a few moments, the scroll is in English and able to be read by everyone.

Oberon slowly sides the scroll over to sit in front of Aurora. I watch her eyes dart left to right as she reads through the scroll. Through the bond, I can hear her clear as day as she reads the contents out loud for us. The details within tells the story of the creation of the Blood Queen. Aurora’s great-grandmother didn’t just happen; she was thoughtfully engineered by the fae.

This new news is shocking to us, and Aurora looks between her father and Alaric. The repercussions that this could have on the twins are incredible. Aurora’s eyes read down to the line describing the mark of the Blood Queen. Those that can tap into her power usually bear the mark of the crescent moon on their body somewhere.

Aurora quickly looks to her wrist, and sure enough, she has a very faint crescent moon. Her eyes glow and take on that ethereal quality that we know all so well. Shortly after, both Ladon and Tia show up. Aurora carefully grips their wrists, examining them. Both twins bear a double crescent moon on their right wrists. Aurora motions for both of her children to show Oberon their wrist. He examines both of the children’s wrists and then Aurora’s. He reaches out and then grabs Nicodeamus’s as well. His is the faintest of the four of them. Tia has the darkest marking out of the four of them. It’s still faint in comparison to a tattoo but yet dark enough to be seen easily.

I move closer to the group, looking over exactly what Oberon is examining. “What does this mean for my family?” I ask as I put my hands protectively on Aurora’s shoulders, standing behind her. I’m willing to do anything necessary to keep her and all of our children safe.

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