Page 57 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

“She crawled in the back, grabbed your sweatshirt, then went to sleep. She grumbled something about Ellis meeting us at some port.” Hmmm, makes sense. I guess he’s going to introduce us to his group. That way, we can catch their scent to prevent us from accidentally attacking them.

“Alright, we need to load up. We’re driving straight through to the port. No more stops between here and there. Grab extra provisions and whatever you need to eat before we remain shifted until after whatever ambush we’re walking into.” The look of surprise on Klaus’s face is entirely worth it. I look over and see my brother, Jayce, coming back from a different store. It looks like he bought every protein bar they had in stock.

“I’ve got enough to sustain the shift and then some. Aurora’s going to need a lot, so we need to keep her fed.” Jayce is funny when he goes all mother hen on us. I grab two of the bags from him and watch as the others walk out with similar bags in their hands—time to gorge ourselves. While we cross over to Siberia,our animals will burn more calories from trying to keep us warm through the blizzard-like conditions. With one of the bags of protein bars, Jayce slides in the back and lightly rocks Aurora. “Love, we need to start eating. We’re not far from the port. You need to start storing the carbs for the crossing.” Aurora pops one eye open, revealing the liquid mercury of her beast.

Slowly, Aurora sits up and rubs her eyes before rooting through the bag to grab what she wants to eat. Klaus climbs in the driver’s seat and fires up Black Betty. While he is distracted, I watch Aurora’s hand slide forward and snatch the cheesecake flavored bar that Klaus left on the center console. He acts like he didn’t see her do it and just laughs to himself, watching her eat it in the back seat.

“About five hours before we make it to the port. Make sure you eat.” Klaus’s accent is heavy as he addresses us. He pulls out behind Dimitri and we’re off again. I text Ellis and let him know our approximate ETA. He warns us about the storm and says it’s whiteout conditions at the port. I forward the message to Klaus’s brother, who’s in the truck with Dimitri and Nico, to let everyone else know what happened.

CHAPTER 47

Dominik

The next threehours are the longest hours of my life. It gets to the point where we have to stop at a town about fifty miles from the port. Ellis and his group are en route to the village before heading back out to the islands. We found an abandoned farm on the outskirts of the town and set up camp inside the barn. Several pack mates scouted the town beforehand. Apparently, the townspeople head further inland this time of year. Every building and store is devoid of people. Our scouts return with boxes of pasta and rice; you know, the heavy carbs we need for the remaining part of our journey.

A knock sounds at the barn door, and we all fall silent. Dimitri and I move toward the door and open it slightly. Ellis stands at the entrance with about twelve other men behind him. Dimitri gets out of their way, and they all file in, dragging a caribou behind them. Aurora remains in the shadows and watches as the strangers enter the barn. Ellis has another small box in his hand and refuses to hand it to anyone.

“I have a present for the princess from her future mate!” Ellis projects his voice, knowing full well he is being watched.

Klaus keeps his eyes on Aurora as she moves across the barn’s rafters above Ellis. She drops down silently behind him,and her eyes are pools of liquid mercury as she stares at him. Aurora lightly taps his shoulder and holds her hand out to him. Ellis almost jumps out of his skin when she touches him. He spins around and leaps back, terror evident on his face.

Once he realizes it’s Aurora, he holds the box out for her to take. Aurora gently takes the box from him then leaps back up to the platform—which is about twelve feet off the ground. All eyes are on Aurora as she opens the box. Inside is a hunk of meat and a large canine tooth. I watch Aurora smirk then devour the offered meat.

Aurora steps back out of sight and strips herself of her clothing. She shifts into her beast’s form and leaps back down from the platform. The Polar Bear clan quickly backs up after seeing that monster of a Lycan hybrid move toward them. Jayce brings a frightened Ellis up to speed as Aurora examines the caribou. The upper lip of her beast curls up for a moment just before she sinks her canines into the rump of the caribou and uses her talons to cut a hunk off. She drops the chunk of meat into the box and pushes it to Ellis.

“You dragons are fucking freaky. Damn, what happened to chocolates and flowers? But no, y’all send dead things and hunks of flesh. Fuck man... Now, I have to bring this back.” Ellis visibly shivers then freezes when Aurora gets in his face. She breathes frost on him—just a light coating—before walking off.

Nico steps forward and says, “I suggest you return her offering to the prince before she gets mad.” He looks up to the platform where Aurora sits, still shifted, watching everyone moving around below her. Aurora backs into the shadows, and the glow from her eyes can still be seen. Then suddenly, it disappears.

“That’s just fucking freaky.” Ellis grabs the box, and he and his men disappear quickly out the barn door. Aurora moves from the shadow, shifts back to her human form, and fully dresses.She looks around and then jumps back down to join the rest of us.

“Silly bears.” She shakes her head and giggles, looking back at Dimitri. “You can easily beat their fuzzy asses.” We watch Dimitri closely, and his eyes glow the golden hue of his bear, then fade back to his human amber.

Slowly, he nods and smiles broadly at Aurora. She dips her head lightly to him, then moves back to the caribou and rips off a chunk of flesh. According to Ellis, the caribou is a gift from the prince. The fat content of this animal will help sustain our energy. Someone in the back asks what he sent Aurora. “The prince sent me a hunk of walrus. He figured I’d need the extra energy to power my gifts.” A soft smile graces her crimson lips, thinking about the thoughtful gift she had received.

Aurora moves around the barn, watching everyone interact and eat. I’m honestly not sure what she’s looking for, but something is apparently off to her and she wants to check it out. She stops at another food dump, grabs several protein bars, and starts eating as she moves about.

I look around quickly and—well, I’ll be damned—Nico is doing the same damn thing. It’s got to be a dragon trait to prowl around and make people uncomfortable. Aurora stops and tilts her head to listen, and Nico does the same thing before moving to the door. Aurora moves to follow, but he raises his hand to stop her. A frustrated growl can be heard from her as she stares at the door, waiting for her father to return. I move forward cautiously and hug her from behind. Aurora sighs softly and leans back against me.

“A dragon landed. I feel that it’s the prince. Father doesn’t want me out there for some reason.” Aurora sighs again and leans a bit more against me. Her heat has just about passed, but that delicious scent still lingers on her flesh. “We need to organize our people. We will depart early in the morning. It’sgoing to be a long, cold walk.” Aurora moves away from me and starts to break the groups up. She encourages them to sleep as their animals to keep warm tonight.

Dimitri’s Great Bear comes up alongside Aurora and begins to herd her toward the food, encouraging her to eat more. She shakes her head and laughs before jumping on Dimitri’s back and riding him around the barn like a horse. I haven’t heard her laugh that hard as he starts to swing his head, making his whole body rock.

The barn door pops open and a Viking-looking man stands in the doorway. Nico moves in front of him to stop him from going much further. Aurora is still playing with Dimitri and doesn’t notice the prince enter. Aurora leaps off Dimitri’s back, and shifts before her paws hit the ground. She charges Dimitri as he rears up and tosses her. Aurora lands on all fours, tail whipping back and forth before her talons dig into the dirt. She launches herself at Dimitri again, but this time her beast rolls his bear and sends him flying. Aurora just threw over a half-ton bear. I watch the prince’s jaw drop, and Nico smiles broadly like a proud peacock.

The prince whispers, “Holy fuck,” which catches Aurora’s attention. She growls as she turns her head to see who spoke. Instantly, her demeanor changes.

Aurora’s beast tilts her head left then right, studying the prince from a distance. Dimitri moves alongside her and offers her a robe to wear. She looks down at the offered robe then looks at her talons and whines. She knows her talons will shred the material. Jayce moves forward and takes the robe with him, leading her into one of the stalls so she can shift and get dressed in private. I walk over and introduce myself to Alaric and wait nearby just in case.

Hesitantly, Aurora steps out of the stall with Jayce. I can tell he helped her brush her hair and made her look presentable.As she approaches, her eyes flicker between steel-grey and the liquid mercury of her beast. The prince isn’t doing much better as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other. When Aurora is about five feet away, she lets loose all the power she could manage to test him. Her alpha power magnified significantly since the last time she unleashed it. Everyone is driven to their knees, including Jayce and me. Only three remain standing: Aurora, Nico, and Alaric. She had to test him and had to test us too, I guess.

Aurora releases her grip on the room and stares at Alaric. He smiles broadly. It’s apparent he sees her like we do, like the sun rises and sets because of her. He starts to laugh and moves his hair aside. Weaved into one of his braids is her stark, white braid. Aurora closes the distance, looks up into his eyes, and then reaches slowly up into his hair to touch her braid. I can tell from where I’m standing she is holding her breath, waiting for rejection.

“You, princess, are more than I could have ever dreamed of. I can only hope to be the mate you deserve.” He gently takes her hand from his hair, kisses her knuckles, then drops to his knees before her. “I am yours to command. My army is your army; my dragon is yours.” He holds her hand as he looks up to her. There’s nothing but love there for her. I know in my heart that my brother and I approve.

Aurora first looks to Nico, and he gives her a nod of approval. Then her eyes find both Jayce and me. We smile at her and do matching, sweeping bows. Aurora giggles as she watches our antics. Lastly, her eyes find Dimitri; his opinion means so much to her. He bows his head and raises his fist over his heart. Aurora mimics Dimitri’s move, placing her fist over her heart. Out of character for Aurora, she lowers her head to Dimitri then looks up to him. Although shocked, the big guy gives her a shy smile, embarrassed by the level of respect she has just shown him.

Aurora turns slowly and looks down at the prince, who is still kneeling before her. Her slender fingers gently cup his bearded cheeks, threading through the coarse hair. Ever so slowly, she leans down and tenderly kisses his full lips. As she kisses him, the rumble of approval from his dragon makes her smile. They open their eyes simultaneously, and their beasts can look at each other up close.

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