Page 97 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

The most sadistic grin crosses Aurora’s lips as she allows her body to fully shift to that of her hybrid beast. The guys and I quickly back up as the sound of ripping and whining fills the air. Weakly, Elena’s Lycan tries to fend off the much larger hybrid that has her suspended in the air.

Without warning, Aurora’s muzzle comes down and clamps onto Elena’s shoulder as her talons sink deeply into the black Lycan’s flesh. The familiar clicks of Aurora’s ignitor fill the air before the roar of the flames can be heard. Within minutes, flames erupt from Elena’s body as the scent of burned flesh fills the air. Her cries suddenly silenced as her lungs are burned to ash. To add insult to injury, Aurora rips Elena’s body in half then proceeds to burn the remains till there’s nothing left. Aurora’s pain and heartbreak pulse through the bond as her memories of all the things that Elena damaged come to mind.

Aurora falters shortly after torching the room. Her body betrays her, and she shifts back to her human form without warning. “Guys, we need to get Aurora to the surface. We cansend the others to gather the treasures and skulls later.” As soon as I finish speaking, Aurora falls to her knees in front of me.

Dante quickly takes off the shirt he was wearing, and we wrap it around Aurora’s shoulders. We make it back to the room we entered from. Edgar has found a ladder that we lean against the wall leaning towards the door. The ladder is about three feet too short. Dante climbs up first, then I follow, holding onto Aurora as Edgar braces my back as we move up the ladder. At the top, I hand Aurora off to Dante. Once she is out of the way, I climb up then help Edgar.

“After I’m in the air, send Marco to go get my family from where we hid them.” Both men nod agreeing, and I back away to shift back into my dragon. I stretch out my taloned hand, and my beloved mate is laid in it. I look down at Aurora; she’s so limp and exhausted. Slowly, I close my hand around her. Dante gently moves her limbs around so that she remains safe and comfortable. Normally, my dragon would not be happy with another male touching our mate. Today is an exception. He knows we cannot adjust her the way Dante can; we both are grateful for his assistance.

Once Aurora is settled, we take flight and clutch her close to my scaled chest. I wrap my other hand around the hand, holding Aurora to protect her from the cold and wind. I reach out to Dimitri and Klaus, telling them what happened and how Aurora is at the moment.

I can feel the slight tug at my strength as I fly with her.Baby girl, I know you’re weak. Please wait till we get home. I don’t want to crash and kill us both.I feel the pull lessen then stop completely. I just hope she took what she needs for now. In the distance, I see the camp and the bonfire that the residents have every night. I roar, alerting the pack to my arrival in the field behind the houses. I spot Dimitri and Klaus with torches waiting for me. Elsa and two other females are there waiting as well.

I circle twice and do the one thing I told my children not to. I land with my hind feet first, then gently my front foot. Dimitri and Klaus rush over, and I slowly open my hand to expose a very bundled Aurora, sleeping soundly. Both of my bond mates are worried and concerned for her. Gently, Dimitri lifts Aurora up. Klaus moves behind him and throws a blanket over her and Dimitri, trying to keep his body heat in for her. Elsa stands there holding a robe out for me as I turn my back away from everyone and shift back to my human form. I am not shy in any way, but I find it rude for the world to see what’s for Aurora’s eyes only.

I slip on the offered robe, and everyone follows Dimitri and Klaus into the house. Klaus directs Dimitri to the master bedroom on the main level, and he lays her down gently. Elsa moves and starts to examine Aurora from head to toe. She shrugs her shoulders then looks back at us. “I don’t think she ate enough before heading out on the mission with everyone. I believe her beast burned through her available fat reserves faster than she anticipated.”

“What happened that was different with this mission than in the past?” Elsa looked to me for answers. Oh, I had answers but not ones I was willing to give her.

“Not too much out of the ordinary, Elsa. She froze an entire house that was on fire. She managed to kill Elena and several of her followers. Oh, and we found some of the missing treasures from her mother’s treasury.” I shrug my shoulders as if it was no big deal. I know I’m hiding vital information from her, but I’m not sure if we have traitors here as well.

Through the bond, I shared the events that actually occurred instead of the edited version I gave Klaus’s grandmother. Dimitri gives me a subtle nod, and Klaus raises both eyebrows then spins to look out the window so Elsa wouldn’t question him.

Dimitri moves and climbs up onto the bed and lies down next to Aurora. “I’ll keep her warm. You two find food for her, probably fresh raw meat would be best.” Dimitri makes absolute sense with his request. More often than not, Aurora has been eating her meat rare to raw ever since the babies.

Klaus and I leave to head to the kitchen. We are all on the same page after the last debacle. We are not leaving Aurora alone when she’s in a weakened state. Klaus wasn’t happy with what was in the kitchen and led me across the village over to a house with several roe deer and boar hanging out front. A stout man with a long beard comes out onto the front porch; he looks to Klaus then to me and bows. “M’lord, Alpha, what brings you to my humble home?”

I smile and slightly bow to him. “Our mate requires sustenance. I was wondering if I could purchase a whole deer from you for her?” Klaus pulls out his wallet and holds out more than enough euros to cover the deer and a bit extra for the hunter’s trouble.

“Put your money away, Alpha, it’s no good here when it comes to providing for my Queen. Only the best for her. You need meat, you come to me, don’t feed her that store-bought chemical shit. My family hunted for Anca; I will be more than honored to hunt for Aurora.” Hanz, I find out his name is, moves to his rack of deer and picks off a plump roe deer and a fat piglet. “This should please my Queen, if not, let me know, and I’ll see what else I can get for her.”

We thank Hanz profusely, then carry our game home. It’s nice to see that there are old families still faithful to the crown. We make it back home, and the twins must have arrived with my twins and father-in-law while we were gone. Aurora is sitting up in bed with our toddlers sitting on the bed with her. Klaus leaves to go slice up some of the fresh pork and venison for Aurora. I notice in the corner that Marco is sound asleep. “Aurora, did youplay vampire with Marco again?” I tilt my head looking at her, and she blushes.

“Yeah, he told me too. He didn’t like me looking so pale and exhausted. Dominik helped him over to the chair to sit back down.” Aurora adjusts how she’s sitting then looks over at me. “I feel much better now. I’m just curious if I can drain someone to the point of death?” Aurora has that look on her face that lets you know she is seriously contemplating this theory.

Elsa turns around quickly and stares at Aurora, forgetting for a moment that not only is she queen, but that she is her Alpha too. “How can you think such a horrible thing?! It’s a monstrous thing for such a beautiful woman to think about.”

Aurora smirks and slowly shifts her body to most of her beast. She moves till she’s nose to nose with Elsa. “Haven’t you heard? I am a monster. A beast of legend, according to the Fae.” Elsa promptly pisses herself and backs up slowly. The stench of fear and urine fills the room. “Don’t let this beautiful visage fool you. Deep down, my beast lurks, ready to destroy anyone who threatens what’s mine.” Aurora slides back to where she was previously on the bed; she’s completely human again by the time she sits down. Elsa leaves quickly, and the cleaning girls come in and clean up the mess. Aurora is calm, but you can sense under the surface something is bothering her.

Ladon and Tiamat tackle their mother and start leaving sopping wet toddler kisses. My children have grown so fast because of their mother’s plan to allow them the anonymity of being in their dragon forms in public. Aurora’s plan is solid though, you can’t abduct or harm a child that you have never seen. I watch my children play, and it warms my heart to see them so healthy and happy. I’ve been blessed many times over this past year with a beautiful mate, wonderful bond mates, and two beautiful, healthy children.

I watch over my family that I’ve made. My legions of dragons wait for orders. We all believe in restoring the last Marelup back to the Lycan throne. The Strigoi have been a thorn in everyone’s sides for far too long. Tonight, other packs of shifters arrive for the celebration that we planned for this new alliance’s birth.

CHAPTER 82

Aurora

April-

My to-do list is gradually getting smaller. Found Elena and slaughtered her ass, score one for me. Klaus and Alaric seem anxious because of all of the species that have rallied to my cause. I have Jayce in my closet searching for an outfit for tonight.

Honestly, I don’t give a fuck. My mates are the only ones I worry about looking good for. Dimitri is at the table by my window, going through some of the treasures recovered from Elena’s camp. The thought that she had some of my mother’s things all this time and she never told me pisses me off to no end.

Things around me start to freeze, and Dimitri gets up and wraps his thick arms around me, holding me tightly to his chest. I sigh and relax in his grip. Without warning, the big guy scoops me up and carries me back over to the table he was sitting at. He pulls a single necklace out of a velvet pouch and dangles it in front of my eyes.

“You should wear this tonight; it was a gift from the Siberian Tiger Alpha to your mother. It’s a promise of allegiance and an offer to become his mate. Vladimir took the necklace and wouldn’t allow her to wear it.” Dimitri nuzzles my cheek beforecontinuing. “I already told Alaric that I was going to show it to you. Having the tigers on our side would be most helpful. Like you, they can climb walls. Siberian tigers are one of the biggest cats, and thankfully they have the numbers to help us,” Dimitri says and smiles before he places the antique cat-eye pendant in my hand.

I stare at its craftsmanship; the metal’s delicate twists and turns must have taken a very long time to do. By the age and weight of it, I know this was made by hand by someone who was very interested in my mother. I place the necklace back into its ornate pouch. My plan is to put it in the present Alpha’s hands as a sign of goodwill. I don’t want an old promise to weigh down the new alliance. “I will take your suggestions under advisement, love. But I honestly feel I would rather my own be given to me of their free will. The person that gave this to my mom is more than likely either very old or very dead. Either way, I don’t think the new generation would hold to that old promise too willingly. I know I wouldn’t.” Slowly, I stand and then bend to kiss Dimitri’s full lips. I can hear the pleased rumble of his beast as I slowly pull away to go search my closet for Jayce.

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