Page 23 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

My eyes land on Sebastian, who can’t stop smiling at me. “She loves you, Jayce. She’s protective of what’s hers. She’ll wait until you’re ready to be with her, with no pressure. In the meantime, you know where to find me.” He smacks my ass sohard it’s still stinging. My cock starts to twitch to life again; apparently, I have a new kink. Time to go shower and rub one out before dinner. My life just got very interesting.

CHAPTER 19

Andre

I never thoughtI’d live to see the day my little girl would find her mates—and two being bi-sexual. When I was young, if you even showed interest in someone of the same gender you were put to death. So being a gay Golden Eagle was a touch depressing. I just got to witness the most open display of attraction I’ve ever seen in my life. To be quite honest, it was hot as all hell. I felt my nether regions twitch to life for a few moments. Over my shoulder, I hear a young lad clear his throat. Slowly I turn to look at him, and he smiles at me. Hmm, today may be getting interesting, after all. My eyes fall back on Aurora; it warms my heart with her level of acceptance of her mate’s and my choices. I draw in a deep breath as tears threaten to break loose, I feel the love in the room, and it’s the most beautiful thing ever.

Dimitri chooses that moment to come over and give me a side hug. “You okay, old friend?” He looks down at me with that smile he gets on a rare occasion when he’s feeling sappy.

“Aye, just remembering our baby girl when I used to get the chance to mother the hell out of her. I know I’m not a mom. Hell, my bollocks prove I’m not a mom. But out of the two of us, I’ve always been the gentle one.” I look at my soft hands and mywrist where Aurora’s bracelet she made me so very long ago still rests. “I wonder how long we have left.” My eyes well up further, and the tears break free rolling down my cheeks in streams. I blubber like a bloody idiot, but I can’t help it. I can’t see myself or Dimitri without Aurora in our lives. My hand absently moves to touch the scale the dragon king gave us. Who knows how much magic is in it or how long it will sustain us? My heart hurts thinking about leaving her when she needs us the most. She’s only gathered mates from two of the clans, and there are two left. I turn and embrace Dimitri, burying my face in his strong shoulder.

A small, warm hand lightly touches my shoulder. Turning my head to find Aurora with Nicodeamus at her side. Her eyes hold unshed tears as she looks between Dimitri and me. “Father told me what’s happening; I don’t know what to say or do. I don’t want to lose you two.” Tears pour down her cheeks at her confession. She quickly snuggles herself between Dimitri and me, and the three of us start balling our eyes out. Aurora’s lithe body shakes as she sobs uncontrollably; Dimitri and I try to hold her and comfort her. Deep down, I’m afraid of what will come when Dimitri and I pass to the great beyond. Aurora’s inability to process emotions is a concern as she cries in our arms.

The double doors to the alpha’s house fly open and slam against the wall. Sebastian and Dominik are both completely shifted, looking for danger. Jayce comes walking from the other side of the hall to stand before them. “Nothing to worry about guys; they’re having an emotional family moment.” Both males shift back to their human forms and move closer to us; both males lay a single hand on Aurora. She seems to calm almost immediately. Her head slowly raises to look at each mate in turn. Wordlessly she shimmies out of her guardian sandwich and moves to her mates. All three surround her and hold on until she stops crying.

“We’re going to take her to our room and comfort our mate,” Sebastian states calmly and with the authority of an alpha.

Dominik bends and scoops Aurora up into his arms, cradling his precious cargo tightly to his chest. Jayce, who is the most in touch with his emotions, kisses the crown of her head. “I’ll draw a hot bath for you, Aurora, and I’ll give you a massage while you tell us what you need from us.” He gives the other mates a look—probably the most dominant look I’ve ever seen from him. The other guys just nod and smile as they croon softly to Aurora.

Watching them move as a unit makes me smile; I know in my heart of hearts that she will be taken care of no matter what. My eyes find Nicodeamus and he’s smiling. “You two have made wonderful parents for my Aurora. I am forever in your debt.” He sighs softly as his eyes move between Dimitri and me. “I can see she’s become more than an assignment to you. She’s the child you two never got to have. For that, I am sorry that your lives were put on hold for her. I am grateful, however, that she’s known love her whole life. For that, she is blessed.” He bows at his waist to us. A king is bowing to us; it’s going to take some time for that sink in.

“We are the ones that are blessed with the gift of time we have had as your daughter’s family. We have been blessed with the countless extra years her life has given us. We only wish to live to see her ascend the throne—like her mother hoped she would. God’s willing, we will be granted long enough to do just that.” I sigh deeply as I slowly bow to the king. Dimitri follows suit, bowing as well. We all turn to look at the door as Jayce closes it behind him. “I don’t know who’s taking this harder, Aurora or us. I hate seeing her cry; it’s actually quite scary to see.” My eyes widen, and I start to laugh, thinking about the past. “Remember Dimitri, that time Aurora got hurt and started crying? Then she shifted, and her Lycan destroyed half the house and part of the forest.”

Dimitri starts laughing and shakes his head. “Yeah, or the time her Lycan forced the shift and at least a half dozen trees were taken down because her wolf couldn’t handle the tears.”

Nicodeamus smiles gently and nods slowly. “It seems like my daughter acted more like a dragon than a wolf. Hatchlings tend to be confused by emotions. Sadness turns to anger. Fear turns to anger. Pretty much everything turns to anger until they get older.“ Nicodeamus starts laughing. “I’m sorry, it’s quite dangerous to raise a baby dragon or dragon hybrid without a dragon to temper its emotions. I was just thinking about all the craziness my daughter must have caused in her first hundred years.” He’s still laughing his ass off as he finds a place to sit down nearby.

“First hundred? Try two hundred plus, and we’re still waiting for her to mellow out.” I look to Dimitri and then over to Nico, who just nods along until he cants his head to the side.

“Hmm, must be because she’s a hybrid. I’ll have to ponder this further.” Nicodeamus rises up to his full height and walks away. I sit here wondering how many centuries that male has lived to know everything he does. I draw in a steadying breath as I turn to go for a walk.

Elena stops me and pulls me around the corner with her. “Shhhh… don’t alert the others.” She’s going all James Bond and shit on me and has us sneaking around the compound. It’s gotta be a Lycan trait to be bat shit crazy. She leads me to a shed outback. Not creepy at all... no, not at all. I roll my eyes, following behind her towards the creepy shed.

I’m half expecting this to turn into a slasher movie where heads and body parts will be hanging from the ceiling. Nope, it’s much worse! The two heads Aurora brought back are being boiled in a large cauldron in the middle of the room. I feel sick to my stomach seeing the Dire Alpha’s head and his beta son bobbing around, floating and sinking in the cauldron’swater. Random eyeballs float around in the cauldron, giving it a Halloween feel. Unfortunately, it’s all real and not for Halloween. Clearly, Elena isn’t fazed by what Aurora has done, but she can tell I’m disturbed by it.

“Death is but a doorway, Andre. Do not fear what cannot be controlled.” She comes out carrying herbs and some bottles of an unknown liquid and dumps them in. She starts mixing it until it is boiling without a fire. Okay, now I’m getting concerned. She leans forward and plucks several hairs from my head, and throws them into the mix. Okay, either I am about to be cursed, killed, or turned into a zombie. Maybe I shouldn’t have watched all those horror movies with Aurora when she was growing up. Oh, shit, am I the reason she’s the way she is? My eyes shoot to the only escape route, then back to Elena. Can I make it out in time before she turns me into a zombie? “What are you so afraid of, Andre? I’m trying to figure out the magic my sister used to bind the two of you to Aurora.”

Apparently, I’ve been panicking for nothing, but you must admit, it hadn’t looked good for me. “Dimitri may be the better one to test. He was the one that the blade sliced. I’m bound to him by blood because of our jobs in the castle. My gift is an echo of what he got.” Echo, side effect, a happy accident... however you want to call it. It’s really disheartening to think my extended life span was a mistake or an accident. I look down at the ground when Elena comes over and hugs me. She knows this whole thing is breaking me. I love that homicidal wolf like my own child. To leave her now, I can’t bear to think about it. A single tear rolls down my cheek thinking about the possibility of passing away.

“I will do everything within my power to help you and Dimitri.” She kisses my cheek gently and moves back towards her cauldrons. “The best I can figure out is that my sister used blood magic combined with black magic. I’ll need Dimitri’s hairto determine how far down the rabbit hole my sister went.” Her eyes lock with mine, and I can see the faint glow of her wolf backing up her claims. They genuinely believe they can help us. I give her a slight bow and back out of the shack.

Aurora’s mate Jayce is walking around with his head down and kicking a rock around. “Something bothering you, son?” His head snaps up and his wolf blazes to the surface, then fades slowly; he gives me a soft nod and motions towards the swings. I follow him, watching his body language. He looks dejected. I wonder why? Aurora isn’t the type to ignore anyone for any reason. We reach the swings, and we choose the two right next to each other. Side-by-side, we begin to swing. “You gonna talk, or did ya just need someone to hang out with?” I ask playfully with a slight chuckle.

He laughs softly, then turns to look at me. “Sorry, I’m still dealing with leaving a man I’ve been with for the better half of fifty years for a female. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful and blessed that I’ve found my mate.” Jayce sighs deeply and draws in a slow, measured breath just before a single tear falls. “Part of me, I feel like I’m betraying what I had before. The other part can’t wait to start my forever with Aurora.” He rubs at his eyes then looks back at me. “I thought Aurora was going to murder me for kissing Sebastian back the way I did. I swear to the gods I saw my life flash before my eyes, and I pictured her ripping my head off or my spine out. That female is fucking lethal and then cool as a cucumber like nothing happened afterward.” His eyes are wide, as if he is still in shock over it all.

I start laughing and honestly can’t contain it. “I’m sorry, Jayce, I’d love to say you’ll get used to Aurora’s antics, but two hundred plus years later, I’m still not immune to her. She literally can go from serial killer to snuggle bunny in like point five seconds.” I widen my eyes in mock horror then smirk. “It scares the bloody hell out of me half the time. Gods help youif someone fucks with anyone she’s claimed as hers, that’s an instant death sentence.” Mentally I’m ticking off the last ten deaths at her talons; sadly, I see her point in all of it. I finally hear Jayce laugh a little bit.

“Yeah, she’s intense, to say the least. I need to sit and talk to her later.” Jayce stops swinging and folds his hands in his lap. “I don’t want her to think I don’t care; I’m just trying to get my head straight before I get intimate with her.” Slowly he shakes his head left to right. “The last thing we all need is for me to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and heads start rolling, literally.” He looks up at me, double-checking his logic.

Smart man, he’s figured out our girl quite early on. “I have to ask you a personal question. I know Aurora only says what she means, but do you think she regrets accepting me?” He shrugs his shoulders. “I mean, I’ve spent more time in relationships with males than females.” On a loud exhale, his shoulders lower and curl as if defeated. “To be honest, Sebastian is fucking hot as all hell. I mean, I hope to get to ride that pony at some point. But will she kill one or both of us for being intimate?” Jayce slowly looks back up at me, his brows furrowed, hopeful I have the answer he’s looking for.

I double blink as the crux of his problem just became blatantly apparent. He’s obviously more attracted to males than females. “Okay, umm... she’s used to being around a gay male.” I point both index fingers at my face, wiggling them around. “She’s always been very accepting of my lifestyle and choices over the years. I tried dating, but I couldn’t bring myself to be away from her for too long. What can I say? I’m an old mother-hen when it comes to her.” I smile warmly, thinking about how blessed I’ve been over the years with her. “She loves all of her mates equally. None is above the others no matter what they think.” I cough out “Sebastian,” and Jayce starts to laugh again. “All Aurora is going to care about is that everyone is happy andsafe and that no one fucks with her wine and dark chocolate.” Jayce raises an eyebrow when I mention her kryptonite to him. A slow, knowing nod is given, and I smile in reply to him. I just gave him the ultimate insider information that will win him instant brownie points with our alpha.

He bounces up from his swing and hugs the hell out of me, and kisses my forehead. “Oh, my gods, Andre, thank you so much!!! I’m going shopping. Don’t wait up for me!” When motivated, a bitch power walks.

He takes off like someone set his tight ass on fire. Perhaps I just gave him something that the other guys can’t give her. It’s sad that I just lost his company, but a delight to watch him leave. My eyes roam the town square, and that male from earlier is watching me again. I wave to him, and he waves back. Hmm, perhaps I’m getting somewhere? He slowly starts to move towards me, and I feel my heart rate pick up. I’m trying my damnedest to fight my fight-or-flight instincts. He’s probably the hottest guy I’ve seen in years. His eyes are forest green, and his hair looks charcoal black. The best part, he’s got muscles for days. “Hi.” Oh, my fucking gods, I am so freaking lame. What the actual fuck am I thinking? I know what I’m thinking. I’m thinking with my dick. You know, the thing in my pants I haven’t used in forever.

The hunk smiles. “Hi to you too. I’m Darren.” He extends his hand to me, and for a moment, my dumb ass just stares at it before placing my hand in his to give him a firm shake.

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