Page 36 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

She gently begins to feed me the food I brought up for her. I’ve never been pampered in my entire life, and yet here is my alpha—my mate—feeding me her food. Aurora is so happy; she’s softly singing to me as she feeds me. This gentle side is almost as frightening as when she’s in a full-blown rage. My phone dings, and it’s a text from Sebastian. Apparently, a package is downstairs and it’s imperative that Aurora comes downstairs to open it. I show Aurora the message, and the look of puzzlement on her face is worth it. Aurora goes over to the walk-in closet and slips into a blood-red body-con dress that drapes to the floor.

“Let’s go, love. I’m super curious what was sent to me.” Quickly, she grabs my hand and drags me down the stairs behind her. I am really starting to fear what she’s going to be like come Christmas time. We make it to the kitchen, where everyone seems to gather. When I say everyone, I mean our entire bond, extended family, and some of our closest pack mates. On the preparation island in the middle of the kitchen sits the box in question. Aurora pads slowly across the floor silently as she cautiously approaches the box. It’s not like the damn thing will bite her, but her wolf makes her investigate everything before proceeding. Once she and her wolf are satisfied that the box isn’t a threat, she looks closer at the labels.

“Do we know anyone in Wales, Alaska?” Most of us shake our heads no—all except Dom and Sebastian.

“Alex’s contact sends intel from Wales when he’s able to get into town.” Sebastian approaches the box and studies the label. “It’s from the same man. I think his name is Ellis. You can trust him, love.” Sebastian kisses the top of Aurora’s head before backing away.

Aurora looks to her father, who gives her a single nod to proceed. Without a second thought, Aurora shifts one finger and extends a talon to cut down the sides of the box. She then cuts the top off, and the sides fall flat to the table. Packing popcorn goes everywhere and exposes its precious cargo. It appears to be a giant snake skull at first glance, that is until you really look at it closely. The skull plates are heavily armored and its jaw is thick, heavy, and hinged like all snakes. There are a few significant differences, though. Not only does it have fangs, but it also has rows of razor-sharp teeth like a shark.

Aurora gently brushes the last of the popcorn off and suddenly stops. Scales ripple up her forearms as well as the fur across the rest of her body. It’s almost as if she is fighting for control over her body. Her pure mercury orbs are locked on thetop center of the skull. I move closer to see what caused such a reaction from her, and then I see it: a heavily armored, silver and gold scale placed in the center of the skull.

“Nico, you may want to look at this... I don’t understand what it means, and Aurora won’t budge.” I look up to see my brother recording Aurora’s reaction, no doubt a request from the sender. Nico approaches and sniffs at the scale, and a low growl escapes Aurora’s lips at her father’s intrusion. Her lips curl up defensively, exposing her descended canines.

“It’s as I suspected. It’s a mating offering from the Ice Dragon Prince. His prized possession, along with one of his scales. By the looks of it, Aurora’s animal accepts the gift.” No sooner do the words leave his mouth than Aurora reaches out and takes possession of the skull and scale. Aurora turns to leave, heading toward the main hall to look for a good place to display her new prize. We quickly follow behind to find Aurora sitting on her skull throne while petting the giant snake skull.

“Dimitri, do we have anything left from the Wendigo?” Her eyes haven’t left the scale on top of the skull. Dimitri moves forward and drops to one knee before her.

“We do. We have its skull and both horns.” She nods, slowly running her fingertips over the bony plates of the skull. I move to rest beside her, leaning on the arm of the throne to look at her new prize.

“Please bring me the skull. I feel compelled to send a skull back to him.” Her eyes raise, and she looks at Nico. “Is that the correct protocol, Father? I don’t understand why my animal is pushing me to do it.” Nico moves forward and looks at the offering, then back to Aurora.

“The dragon half of your nature accepts the offering. It wishes to send something of equal value to the sender. Even if this only ends up as a political marriage, at least he did it the proper way and offered your animal a prize.” Nico leans forwardand kisses the top of Aurora’s head before heading out the front door. Shortly after Nico leaves the room briefly then comes back. Dimitri returns with the skull and a box to ship it in.

Aurora slowly stands and places her prize on her seat before moving over to the Wendigo skull. Gently, she picks up the skull and hands it to me. I start to worry that I might fuck this whole thing up for her, so I remain perfectly still. Before my very eyes, she shifts her left hand, and it’s covered in armored scales. Her eyes search for the perfect scale to pluck. After several times of flipping her hand back and forth, she finally removes one. Carefully, she places the scale on the center of the Wendigo skull—in the exact same spot as the male’s scale on her prize. She does something a bit different, though.

She reaches up into her hair, finds one of her small braids, and cuts it close to her skull. Andre offers her a small rubber band to tie the end off with. Aurora takes the braid and sticks one end into each eye socket, so the braid rests on the nose plate. Dimitri stands stock still, holding the box out to her. Gently, Aurora lowers the skull in. Andre comes from behind her to refill it with the packing popcorn.

Meanwhile, Dom texts his contact in Wales and asks for a return address, then writes it on a label. Dimitri leaves the Alpha House with Andre in tow, heading out to send Aurora’s offering to Alaska. Aurora moves back to her prize and removes the scale from the top.

“What do I do with his scale, Father?” She turns the scale several times over in her hand as she inspects it. The flesh on the back still looks relatively fresh. Damn, freaky dragons and their crazy-ass shit. Nico moves forward to remove the scale from Aurora’s grip.

“Your animal accepted the gift. Proper protocol would be to place the scale above your heart. Either Sebastian or I will cut your flesh and insert the flesh on his scale into the wound. Ifit takes and lives, it’s a good match.” Aurora slowly nods her head and moves the skull off her throne and into Dom’s waiting hands. Aurora then guides me to sit on her throne. Yeah, I’m so not comfortable in this position of power. Aurora climbs up and sits upon my lap without warning, then turns sideways so her head is on one arm and her legs hang over the other.

“Sebastian, I’m ready to see if you can place the scale.” Her hands rest on her stomach, and I can’t help it, I have to hold one of her hands through the procedure. Aurora calls Sebastian’s name, drawing his attention away from his phone and back to what is going on.

“Are you sure about this? I don’t wish to hurt you,” Sebastian says as he leans down to gently kiss our mate’s lips and stare deeply into her eyes. A single nod is all she gives him before looking at me. A soft smile crosses her lips before she winks, then she closes her eyes and waits.

Sebastian approaches with the scale in his right hand, which is partially shifted. Now, his own claws look more similar to Aurora’s talons. He takes a few moments, staring at them, before moving into position. His talon moves swiftly, cutting deep into our mate’s chest. Blood oozes out of the wound and pools between her ample breasts. Quickly, Sebastian shoves the fleshy side of the scale into the cut he just made, and almost instantly, the area begins to frost over and the wound starts to knit shut. Once Aurora senses that Sebastian is done, she sits up and remains in my lap. I gently lick the blood from her chest and in between her breasts. A sharp intake of breath catches my attention. I turn to see Dom, who looks quite shocked.

“What?” I ask, confused. He immediately holds his hand up and turns away. I guess he didn’t expect me to be so openly affectionate with our mate. I examine the scale closely; it appears to be healthy and vibrant. It most definitely survived the transplant.

“Sebastian, do you think we ought to send a close-up picture of the scale on our mate’s chest?” Gently, I run the back of my finger past where the scale is implanted, accentuating my point. “I mean, so the prince knows we’re allies and all?” I’m honestly not sure what the correct thing to do is at this point. Aurora looks between Sebastian and me before readjusting her top, so the scale is evident. Aurora then decides to shift both hands, so they are covered in her armored scales, and her long white talons are on display. She angles her left arm, so the spot where she removed her own scale is visible.

“Jayce, pull my top down. I’m going to use my scales to cover my chest.” As soon as her tube-top pools around her waist, she brings her right arm up to cover and support her breasts. With the way she is posed, the prince’s scale is on full display. Her eyes bleed liquid mercury as she stares at Sebastian. “Take the picture before you come in your pants.” Sebastian snaps several pictures, with Aurora making several minor adjustments.

When she is sure that Sebastian has at least one good shot, she shifts her arms back and pulls her tube top back into place. Quickly, she snags the phone out of Sebastian’s hands and starts going through the pictures he took of her. She is angled in such a manner that I can see all the images on the screen. When Aurora notices me looking, she turns so I can look along with her.

Out of about fifteen pictures, we narrow it down to three. I send all three to me and then to Dom. Within seconds, there is a crash in the kitchen, and Dom comes running out into the main room. The look of disappointment on his face is totally worth it. He looks back at the images and forwards to his favorite. Without a word, he turns to leave, visibly adjusting his cock in his pants. Aurora gives a single nod, and I send the image and the video off to Alex, so he can forward it to the prince. After handing Sebastian his phone, I return to mine and set Auroraas my new wallpaper. Aurora couldn’t help but giggle before she grabs her phone as well.

“Take a picture of us,” she says it so softly, it sends butterflies straight to my stomach. I immediately obey, and I go into her camera to set up selfie mode. Aurora presses her lips to my cheek and I snap the picture. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a genuine smile in my entire life. I’m finally happy. I’m truly loved and in love for the first time in my life.

Best day ever.

CHAPTER 30

Aurora

Everything’s rightin my world at the moment. I just spent a full thirty-six hours in and out of bed with Jayce. I definitely understand why his ex was fighting so hard to keep him. Hot damn, can that man move! And the things he can do with his tongue, holy fuck...

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