Page 55 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

“Da, why?” Dimitri answers quite tersely. Nico taps his finger on his chin for several moments, then looks to Dom.

“Aurora looks exhausted. We’ll stop here for the night. Secure enough rooms for everyone.” Dom nods then leads Aurora off. Once they are out of range, he places his hand on Dimitri’s shoulder. “What if I told you I think you’re a victim of Elena’s tea as well?” Nico backs up and looks at me, then back to Dimitri, waiting for it to dawn on the Great Bear.

Several moments passed before you can tell when it hit him. Dimitri falls to his knees, and his hands fly up to cover his eyes. Is the big guy crying? Holy hell, he is crying. The atmosphere changes radically and, in an instant, Dimitri shifts to his bear, and that hulking beast is out for blood. His bear stands on its hind legs and roars its pain and anger into the night, shaking the very ground we stand on. Those golden orbs lock onto Sebastian and his mother.

Over a half-ton of enraged Great Bear thunders across the field between the rest stop and the motel. Sebastian’s and Elena’s faces visibly pale as they watch their death approach. With his full force, Dimitri hits their Jeep, sending it flying through the air. The metal of the Jeep is twisted upon impact, and we all watch the attack in horror.

Nico raises his hand, halting anyone from interfering. Dimitri launches the Jeep once more before a blur of white and frost stands before him. Aurora’s hybrid beast roars at the Great Bear. He slowly lowers his head and swings it from side to side. Aurora’s beast looks back at the Jeep in time to watch Elena and Sebastian crawl out of the wreckage. They look like they barely survived the attack. Aurora’s beast moves forward and presses her forehead to Dimitri’s bear’s forehead. They stand like that for what seemed like forever before they turn and head our way. The whole event played out like an action movie crossed with horror. It was very surreal; I still can’t wrap my head around it.

As they walk side by side, Aurora’s beast has its taloned hand resting on Dimitri’s neck. Usually, it’s her animal that needs to be reined in. This is fucking backward as all hell. She stops several feet in front of us and shifts back to her human form. Quickly, I remove my flannel shirt and help her slip it on. Aurora doesn’t move far from Dimitri, her fingers running through his thick fur.

“I don’t know what was said to Dimitri, but whatever set him off… I almost wasn’t able to stop him.” Aurora looks at the three of us. Nico waves off of the approaching crowd.

“I wouldn’t,” he cautions the group. Once everyone leaves, Nico looks back to Aurora. “I have reason to believe that it’s possible you and Dimitri may be mates. But something Elena put in her care packages blocked it.” Nico studies Aurora’s reaction.

You can watch as the rage moves over her face. Scales erupt then recede just as quickly. She takes off my shirt, shifts back into her beast’s form, and howls her rage into the night. Dimitri’s bear bellows right along with her. I move quickly and place my hands on Aurora’s chest, trying to stop her. Aurora drops her muzzle until she’s at eye level with me. She rests her forehead against mine and does the happy growl she likes to do. I feel the moment her body shifts back, and Dom helps her slip my shirt back on.

“They have a lot to answer for tomorrow,” Aurora states, then grabs my hand and heads toward the motel. “I need a shower and sleep.” I turn Aurora to face me and kiss her on the lips.

“Go with Dom. I’m going to help your dad sort things out.” Aurora nods and follows my brother inside. Nico approaches me with Dimitri in tow.

“It’s obvious that Elena lied about knowing the old magics. The real question is, what else did she do?” Nico turns to look at the remnants of Sebastian’s Jeep. We stare at the crumpled, twisted remains. How in the world did they walk away from that wreck? Dimitri eventually shifts back to his human form and looks between Nico and me.

“I regret losing my temper, but I do not regret attacking them.” Dimitri crosses his thick arms over his chest, looking at us. Apparently, he doesn’t care about his dick swinging in the wind either.

“I’m impressed that Aurora was able to stop you,” Nico states, studying Dimitri. Dimitri looks down, his brows furrowed.

“I would never hurt Aurora.” He looks up and at us each in turn. “However, you fuckers wouldn’t make out so well.” Dimitri flips us all off then walks toward his room at the motel.

“Jayce?” Nico says as he watches Dimitri walk off.

“Yeah?” I tilt my head to the side, looking at Nico. He moves closer to me and puts his arm over my shoulder.

“We should go see what Elena and Sebastian are up to.” He’s got that mischievous look in his eye. It’s almost like he’s saying,let’s just kill them now and surprise Aurora with the heads.I raise my eyebrows, looking at him after reading between the lines.

“Let’s go get’er done.” I might not be as bulky as my brother, Dom, but one bite from me and it’s a death sentence. That knowledge makes me smile as I follow Nico into the night. We creep around the motel exterior, trying to catch their scent. Two laps around the building and nothing.

I text Dom and ask for their room number. He responds quickly and says it’s room thirty-five—the one right in front of us. Nico places his hand on the door and freezes it solid. He makes a fist, busts the frozen knob off, and pushes the door open. There’s no evidence they were ever here. Nico growls, and his dragon’s eyes are visible.

“They’re on the run.” Nico darts to the parking lot and starts counting cars. No vehicles are missing, which means one of two things: either they ran off into the night or they were picked up somewhere. We stare at each other for several moments.

“Use your phone and tell everyone what happened. Alert Ellis as well; we need to change our route and plans. I will not give them an opportunity to ambush us!” Nico storms off to points unknown. Well, this trip just got more interesting.

CHAPTER 46

Dominik

It’s sometimeafter midnight my phone dings, letting me know I received a message. It’s from my brother, Jayce, who alerts me on what has occurred while Aurora and I slumbered. Apparently, shit went down after we went in to relax. Now, Sebastian and Elena are on the run and missing, henceforth proving they were the rats.

According to my brother, we have to amend our original travel plans and change our course of action. Aurora’s father is looking over the maps and plotting which roads we should take and which ones we should avoid in case of an ambush. It’s quite suspicious that they left without any kind of vehicle. They were apparently prepared in case of discovery.

Now, I wonder exactly how much information they’ve already passed on to the other side. Nico is handling all the planning from this point on, only allowing us knowledge of it within moments of his adjustments to the course. He’s trying to eliminate any possible threats or leakage of information between here and our destination in the northernmost part of Alaska.

I sit up in bed to shoot a message off to my brother, letting him know I understand the necessity for all these extra preparations. My eyes slide over the sleeping form of my mate,and I watch her in her restless sleep. Aurora’s skin occasionally ripples with fur or scales —depending on where the ripple occurs. I know her subconscious mind is working overtime, wanting to plot how to kill and destroy all those that stand against her. The betrayal of her mate runs deep, and it cuts her so profoundly that our hearts ache with her. Going forward now is going to be like walking around with a ticking nuclear bomb, never knowing exactly when she’s going to explode.

I text my brother again to let him know about Aurora’s rippling scales and her skin shifting in her sleep. I warn him that we have to be on guard. He replies quickly, saying her father knows of a way to help her sleep without dreaming. He’ll figure out something within the next day to help us, so we don’t have to worry about her disappearing in the middle of the night.

I know previously, long before us, her beast took advantage of her deep sleep. Somehow, it put her human thoughts to the back of her mind, allowing her to run on instinct alone. This knowledge causes me great concern, and it’s why I don’t sleep soundly tonight. I heard the stories of what happened before her awakening, how her beast had hunted a woman down just because Dimitri came home smelling like her.

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