Page 191 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

Oberon smiles and then reaches out and touches my hand. “Young king, you are doing exactly what needs to be done. You are supportive of your mate and protective of any of the children born into this union. These two,” he motions to Tiamat and Ladon, “will need a lot of guidance and training as they grow in age. Nicodeamus, yourself, and your son-in-law, Alaric, will need to teach these two how to use their frost and their flames wisely. Aurora, you will need to work with your daughter on some of the gifts that she has, for her brother does not have them,” he says gently as he scoops Tia up and sits her in his lap. He pulls the back of her collar on her shirt to the side, lookingdown her spine, taking note of the scales present even in her human form.

“She is almost an exact replica of the Blood Queen. She bears the scales of her great-great-grandmother,” he says as he shows us the line of scales across Tiamat’s shoulders and the set about three to four scales wide running down her spine. “She will have access to powers and gifts that the rest of the Dragons in this room do not. You must protect her fiercely; she is the deadliest of all of you.” Oberon smiles and gently rests his fingertips on Tia’s temples.

“I have already foreseen who her mate is. He is born of a great house and is a blend of two dragon species. He is approximately three calendar years older than she is.” Oberon gently hugs Tia holding her to him. “Princess, you will need to learn all that your parents and grandfather can teach you. There will come a time that you will need to do everything within your power to protect yourself.” He kisses her cheek gently as she turns to face him.

“What do you mean, Obie?” Tiamat asks. She gently places both of her hands flat on his cheeks smiling up at him. Chronologically, right now Tia appears to be about the size of a six-year-old child. Unlike her appearance mentally, she is far advanced for her age.

Oberon smiles at the nickname that Tia had given him. “Young princess, I cannot tell you everything that I’ve seen in the future. But I can tell you this: your future mate is a good man. He comes from great parents as well as a peaceful and powerful kingdom.” He smiles as he places his hands over Tia’s hands on his face. “Do as your father asks to be able to protect you. Please, do not be angry at him over the extreme measures he may take in the future.” Oberon’s eyes move to lock with Alaric’s. “Everything that is going to be done from this day forthhas your safety in mind, princess.” Oberon gently kisses Tia on her forehead. And then he gently passes her back over to Aurora.

Oberon’s eyes take on a blue glow as he turns his palms upward. We can feel the power stretching and radiating off of his form. Nicodeamus smiles and then alerts us through the bond that he is reaching out, sensing who still has malice in their heart.

Just shy of fifteen minutes later, Oberon’s eyes stop glowing, and he smiles, looking at us. “All of those that you have in the dungeon should be sentenced to death immediately. They are the last of the uprising that was about to be staged here in this very castle. Two of them were plotting to murder the children; the rest figured that they can take out Aurora in her sleep,” Oberon says with the finality that sends a chill down my spine. My nerves are on edge now, thinking about all the times that we could have possibly come into harm’s way.

“If I understand correctly, ancient one, if we eliminate those in the dungeon, we should be safe?” I say because I’m pretty sure I already know his answer.

“Simply put, yes.” He smiles and claps his hands and then rises from his chair. “Eliminate these threats, and your home will be safe. The Winter Palace is your next visit; there may still be some that might cause issues there as well.” He starts to head towards the door and then stops. “I will meet you there next month on the full moon. Together we shall seek out the last of those who wish your bloodline harm, young Queen,” he states just before he drops into a flourished bow. As he moves to stand up straight, his form shimmers and then vanishes from sight.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing that with him,” Arnulf states flatly, being the mystic of the group, magic usually upsets him slightly. “I hope that he’s wrong; I really don’t want the children growing up in fear,” Arnulf says softly, sighing atthe end of his statement. He runs his hands through his hair and then looks at the rest of us for our reactions.

I move from where I’m standing to go and give Arnulf a hug. “Don’t worry, with the eight of us here we will do everything within our power to keep all of the children safe.” I embrace him a little tighter for a few more moments before releasing him.

Dimitri moves forward and places his hands flat on the tabletop. “I will send the War Dragons to finalize the executions. After that, I believe it would be wise for us to head to the Winter Palace and clean house there too.” His eyes drift over to Alaric, who nods slowly in agreement.

“I believe you’re correct, old friend. We will handle the Winter Palace and then the Summer Chalet.” Alaric begins to pace the room before coming back to stand next to Aurora. “All kidding aside, my love, I believe our safest bet is to move everybody to either the Summer Chalet or the Winter Palace. That is until either you’re done having children, or the children are old enough to protect themselves.”

You can almost see the gears turning in Aurora’s mind as she weighs the options out before her. “Sadly, I believe your deduction is the most accurate and safest course for our family.” Aurora stands slowly and begins to pace around the table. “In the interest of safety for all the children born and yet to be born, we should move swiftly.” Aurora moves to come and stand before me. “Appoint your grandmother as pack master for the German Lycan pack.”

I lower my head to my mate and raise my fist to my heart. “Your wish is my command, my angel. As you have spoken it, it shall be done.” I furiously began to type on my phone, sending the message to my grandmother, alerting her about Aurora’s wishes. Through the pack bond, I hear Aurora reach out to both the American and German Lycan packs. She tells them that my grandmother, Elsa, shall be pack master in her absence. ThatElsa’s word is law and carries as much weight as her own. Any who rise up against her shall meet her talons. The respective pack members answer one by one, agreeing to the terms set forth by Aurora. Her eyes meet mine, and she nods.

She moves to stand before Dominik and Jayce taking both of their hands. “Your brother, Alex, will remain in power as my proxy for the Dire Wolf pack.” Her eyes take on the ethereal glow as she uses Dominik as an anchor to reach out to the Dire Wolves. She sends word to the pack, advising them that Alex is still in charge of them. Dominik backs Aurora up immediately, telling them that his brother is still his proxy in his absence. His word is their law and to go against him is to stand against the crown. The Dire Wolves all are in agreement and understand what needs to be done.

Aurora looks to Alaric next; their eyes start to glow with that ethereal halo around the whites of their eyes. They’re reaching out to all of the dragons and dragon-kin, alerting them about what is about to happen. Aurora smiles as she sits there, I’m assuming making plans for transport for all of us.

“Is everything set?” I ask them as their eyes lose that ethereal glow. I look carefully now, between myself and the other mates, and then back over to the two of them. They nod their head slowly, then Aurora starts to head for the doors.

“I’ll have the babies ready within the next thirty minutes. After that, we leave for the Winter Palace,” she says, so sure of herself that she will be able to get the babies ready and out the door in less than thirty minutes. The other mates and I start to place bets as to whether or not she’ll be able to accomplish this feat.

CHAPTER 149

Aurora

I leave the study swiftly,and in my mind’s eye, I reach out to all five of my children. Each one always has a bag ready to go if we need to leave in a hurry. I task Ladon and Tia to gather the three youngest ones and bring them downstairs to the main courtyard. I give Marco the task of assisting children and the babies with their bags and bringing them downstairs with them. I next reach out to my mother-in-law, advising her to join us with my father in the Winter Palace journey.

In less than twenty minutes, I have my entire group, minus my mates ready to go. My father has shifted, and his mate is riding behind his crown of horns. In his taloned hand are their bags ready for the trip. My children sit with their bags in front of them, waiting for their fathers to arrive.

With five minutes left to spare, my mates make it downstairs, each of them bickering, saying they can’t locate the children. My five little cherubs are here sitting with their bags in front of them, waiting patiently. Being the wise-ass that she is, Tia decides to stand up and drag her bag behind her in front of her father. “Daddy, what took you so long? You’re a boy.” she says in a huff with her little hands on her hips. She’s emulating me perfectly; it’s kind of hysterical. Alaric is shocked, looking fromhis daughter to the other children and then up to me. I smile at him and tilt my head to the side, motioning to all the children with their bags.

“We’ve been waiting for you guys for almost ten minutes now. What took you so long?” I pose the same question to all of my mates, looking at each one in turn. Jayce, Arnulf, and Klaus look ashamed of themselves for having taken so long. Dimitri and Dominik just shrug their shoulders, both of them with two bags apiece. I could almost bet the second bag has weapons in it. I shrug my shoulders slightly. And Alaric just stands there, bag in hand, coffee mug in the other, and I just tilt my head looking at them. “Did you remember to bring everyone coffee?”

He sheepishly looks down at his coffee and then holds the mug out to me. “No, my love, but here, take mine. I’m sure you need it more than I do,” he says with a smile on his face, trying to hide that he did not think to bring everybody coffee. I take the mug from him, take a sip and then hand it back.

“No love, it is you that needs it more than I do; I’m not the one flying,” I say with a smile as I look at him. He chuckles slightly and then hands me his bag. He finishes off his coffee quickly and then looks at the War Dragons, motioning for them to shift.

Slowly, I walk over to Marco, who is holding Luna, and I take her gently from him. “All right, big guy, time to get this little bundle of joy to the Winter Palace.” I smile as I talk to him. He nods slowly and then walks away from us. Shyly he looks over his shoulder at us, and I put my hands over Luna’s eyes. He nods his head at me and smiles before he shifts.

Once Marco is fully shifted, I motion for Jayce to approach. I hand him Luna and start to guide him back over towards Marco. “My love, yourself and our little princess will ride with Marco. Dimitri and his daughter, as well as Klaus and his daughter, will also be joining you on Marco.” As I name my other mates, theycome walking over with their daughters in their arms. “Time to load up everyone. We need to get going.” I smack each of my mates on their asses, sending them scurrying up Marco’s wing.

Jayce remains standing next to me as I tilt my head, looking up at Marco. I wiggle my finger at him and get him to lower his great head. I take Luna from Jayce before he starts to climb onto Marco’s neck. With great skill and excellent balance, he walks his way up to the crown of horns and sits himself down. I nuzzle my daughter several times and kiss both of her cheeks. Her little chubby hands grip my face as she plants big wet, baby kisses on my face. Marco senses what I need to do next, and his tail comes around to my side. Carefully, I step on the flat portion of his tail, and he raises us up level with Jayce. Ever so carefully, I hand my daughter over to her father and make sure that they are safely snuggled in place.

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