Page 45 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

“My love, you don’t have to bathe me, you know? I appreciate how thorough you’re being. I’m okay, honest, Aurora.” I move so I’m now straddling Sebastian’s lap. My fingers roam over the rock hard muscles of his chest.

“Sebastian, I feel like I haven’t been a good mate to you. When I thought you might have died...” My words fail me as tears slowly roll down my cheeks. Sebastian’s hands come up and cup my face, using the pad of his thumbs to wipe away my tears.

“Shh, love. You haven’t been a bad mate. Jayce needed a lot more attention than me. I’ll always be right here waiting for you.” He punctuates his statement by gently kissing my lips. “As much as I want to bury myself deep in you and fuck you untildawn, we need sleep. And to be honest, I’m still feeling off.” He’s making sense, like always.

I look closely at Sebastian. Why didn’t I notice how tired he looks? I’m so fucking selfish sometimes. Carefully, I remove myself from Sebastian’s lap, then out of the tub. I quickly grab our towels and offer one to Sebastian. I can’t help but stare at my sexy mate. Sebastian has a well-defined athletic build. His shoulders are thickly muscled, and his waistline is tapered in. My eyes roam hungrily over his chest, down to his defined abs. You know thatVeveryone talks about? The one at a man’s hips that trails down to his groin? Sebastian blows that expectation out of the water.

“Aurora?” I snap out of my inner monologue to look up at Sebastian. “Your wolf is showing,” he says. He gives me that cocky grin that infuriates me, and turns me on more in times like this. Evil, evil mate. If he keeps looking at me like that, we won’t be sleeping.

I grumble on my way back to the bedroom. I need to reign in my desire and put Sebastian’s health first. My towel falls to the floor before I climb into bed, snuggling myself in and watching Sebastian move about his room. Honestly, I’m starting to get sleepy. I didn’t realize how much the day has stressed me out. Sebastian climbs into bed behind me and pulls me flush against his chest. I fall asleep quickly. For once, no dreams disturb my slumber.

Sebastian and I are awakened by Jayce jumping on the bed. Have I mentioned I’m not a morning person? I grumble and growl at Jayce and try to hide under my pillow. The next thing I know, I see Jayce’s face looking at me under my pillow.

“Love? Reinforcements arrived very early this morning. Alex sent us six Dire Wolves: three enforcers and three with the toxic bite. We need direction from our leader.” He smiles before leaning forward to kiss me. Jayce extracts himself from myhiding place, and I toss the pillow to the floor. I turn to find Sebastian and Jayce lip locked. So, I do what any red-blooded mate would do: I grab my cell phone and turn off the flash to take several pictures of them kissing.

Ever so carefully, I extract myself from the bed to get changed in my room. I search through my clothing for something that saysI’m not going to take anyone’s shit.I find my black leather pants and a blood-red bodice. It’s kind of a steampunk meets dominatrix look. After searching for what seems like forever, I finally find my knee-high boots.

I head down the stairs and into the main hall. The Dires stand immediately, then bow before me. I stroll toward my throne and take a seat. My eyes assess the Dires before me until, one by one, they slowly look up at me.

“Welcome to my home. Please, make yourselves comfortable. We’ll have breakfast first, then off we go to take back the bear camp.” Dom comes up to my right side and offers me his hand. He guides me to the table and begins introductions for the reinforcements. All six of them are in agreement; the Dire compound has become a much better place ever since the alpha was killed. I sit and listen to them telling stories and cracking jokes at each other. Dom remains on my right side as I watch everyone eat.

My beast is a bit on edge, and I can’t place what’s setting her off.Dom, something isn’t right. Colin, the enforcer, watch his body language. He’s nervous. His scent is acidic from fear. An enforcer shouldn’t be afraid.Dom gives me a very terse nod and squeezes my hand. Sebastian and Jayce finally make it downstairs, and Dom gets up quickly to pull Sebastian aside and fill him in. Jayce comes to sit on my left and takes my hand. He knows something is off by how rigid I’m sitting in my chair and the fact I haven’t touched my bacon yet.

“Aurora, my love?” Jayce says in such a soft tone. The reverence in his voice warms my black heart. I slowly reach up and brush his cheek with my hand. I know, in that moment, my eyes shift and swirl liquid mercury. He feels the power flow through me, and his wolf’s eyes glow in response to my agitation. Dom and Sebastian stand behind me, each placing a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to calm me. I give the signal to my personal guards, and they leave the room, locking the doors from the outside. The sound of the locks clicking into place sets the Dires on high alert.

“I’m truly blessed to receive help so quickly. But it’s come to my attention that there’s a traitor in our ranks.” Five out of six Dires are calm and looking directly at me. Number six—that fucker—is fidgeting and restless. I feel a little different, and I have a very bitter taste in my mouth. My eyes search Jayce’s as I part my lips slightly and run my tongue over my canines. His eyes widen at the sight, thinking it’s sexual in nature. Realization hits him, and he stares at my canines closer. My sweet, innocent mate smirks at me, then winks. I stand and walk soundlessly around the table, stalking my prey.

My fingertips lightly run over each of the guys’ shoulders as I pass them. When I reach Colin, both of my hands come to rest on his shoulders. I lean down and nuzzle his cheek, freezing him in fear. I can hear his heart pounding in his chest, racing a mile a minute. My guys are standing on the opposite side of the table, watching with rapt attention. My tongue darts out and licks his throat, tasting the fear and salt in his sweat.

Without warning, I strike. My canines sink deep into this throat. The snaps and crunches of tendons and sinew breaking can be heard clearly—the sharp, metallic tang of his life fluid coats my tongue, spurring my beast on. I can taste the taint of the Strigoi in his blood. Through the bond, I share my knowledge with the guys. Their growls fill the air, but it doesn’tdistract me from my task at hand. Colin starts to thrash and tries to throw me off of him. I sink my talons into his shoulders to strengthen my grip as I start pumping the toxin into his bloodstream. I’ve gained enough knowledge from his blood. The Strigoi taint has touched the Dire compound far worse than I had initially suspected. I jump off Colin’s back and watch him stumble before he falls to his knees.

“How many more, Colin? Tell me, and I’ll end it quickly.” I’m on all fours in front of him on the floor, staring him down and trying to will him to answer me. Alpha powers, don’t fail me now.

Colin shakes his head several times before spitting blood. Fuck, I wrecked his vocal cords. He uses his blood to draw the number three. His breathing is labored, and he’s having a hard time keeping his eyes open. In one final push, he writes the names of the tainted. His green eyes plead with me for mercy. My resting bitch face game must be on point today because he looks panicked right before I slam my taloned hand into his chest and rip out his heart. His body falls to the floor with a wet splat into a pool of his own blood. Within seconds, Sebastian is at my side, offering me his hand to help me up. I rise to my feet, still holding Colin’s heart. I turn my attention to Dom.

“There are tainted ones within your pack. Call the other enforcers. Have these three dispatched and their heads sent to me.” My voice has a wolven growl to it as I fight to enunciate the words. I’m so close to losing the battle with my beast when Jayce’s hand slips under the back of my bodice. The simple act of him pressing his hand to my skin seems to soothe my beast. I draw in a slow, deep breath and then kiss his temple. Through the pack bond, I have the guards open the doors to the room again. You know it’s pretty bad when they don’t even blink after seeing a dead body or a puddle of blood in the house anymore.

Elena comes running into the room, chattering away with a phone stuck to her head. Suddenly, she stops dead in her tracks as she took in the scene before her. “Yeah, Nico, Aurora killed someone in the house. No, no, no, she’s okay. She’s got a heart in her hand again.” Sebastian facepalms, listening to the way his mother describes the situation to my dad on the phone. I shake my head and start walking out of the room. I step over Colin’s body and make my way out into the main hall. About another thirty minutes and it’s go time. The Strigoi won’t know what hit them.

CHAPTER 37

Jayce

It frightensme to think my pack mates would turn against Aurora. The way she decided to handle the traitor was something my father would have done. However, there is one huge difference: he wouldn’t have shown mercy and ended it quickly.

I’m not sure how the mate bond thing is supposed to work. Is Aurora supposed to gain a unique ability—a gift—from each of us or just each species? Personally, I know I’ve gotten stronger and faster since we’ve mated.

My phone dings, and it’s a text from Alex. He’s just as upset as I am over the betrayal. The three in question will get beheaded tonight. Alex also tells me the prince received Aurora’s gifts, and he asks me to gather the others before he sends the video over to her. It will be the first time she gets to see him. Part of me is scared. I’m not afraid of losing my place in the pack, but I’m so frightened of having a pure-blooded dragon in the bond. What if he has a bad temper? What if his bad temper makes Aurora’s worse? So many questions bounce around in my head as I enter the main sitting room to find my other bond mates.

“Aurora, love, Alex has forwarded a video for you.” Aurora scrunches her nose and tilts her head to the side as she studies me.

“Please cast it to the smart TV, Jayce,” Aurora says. Sebastian turns the TV on and sets it up to receive. I send the video to the TV, and we watch as it pans from the vast white of the tundra to the mouth of a cavern. A blonde man is standing inside; if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear he was a Viking. He’s easily three hundred to three hundred and fifty pounds of solid muscle. His hair is a light, golden blonde and hangs down past his shoulders. His face is rather rugged, complete with a full beard and mustache. Aurora is so focused on the video she barely notices Sebastian picking her up to sit on his lap.

Dom and I share a look and watch as Alaric receives Aurora’s box. You can clearly feel the anxiety through the bond when he starts cutting the top open. Alaric slowly removes the popcorn and stops dead, looking at the box’s contents. He reaches in and pulls out the braid of hair she had stuffed in there. Sebastian turns to me and mouths,When did she do that?I shake my head at him. If he had been paying attention to our mate and not his phone, he would know when she did it.

Alaric brings the braid to his nose and sniffs it. His eyes become the gold of his dragon, slit and all. I know the look of recognition, and that was it. Aurora has gotten quite antsy in Sebastian’s lap as she waits to see what Alaric thinks of the skull. A black man—I believe his name is Ellis—steps into the frame and reaches into the box. He pulls out the Wendigo skull and holds it out to Alaric. I can tell the moment Aurora starts to hold her breath. Her heart rate picks up, and her scales begin to ripple up and down her arms.

Alaric’s eyes lock on the skull, then the silver-white scale that Aurora placed on top. Alaric rubs the back of his hands across his eyes, wiping away tears. Ever so gently, he takes the scalefrom the skull and sniffs it. His right hand comes up quickly, and he cuts into his own flesh. Ellis freaks out and runs back behind the camera. Alaric pushes the fleshy side of Aurora’s scale into his wound, and Ellis zooms in on how quickly the flesh knits around the scale.

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