Attack (The Aurora Marelup Saga Book 4)

The flight is much faster with Alaric flying than anyone else could have made on their own. Aurora decimated her enemies without breaking a sweat, yet again proving herself to be a phenom in battle. Alaric’s dragon roars, alerting the camp to his arrival. Over the clearing in the center of camp, he opens his talons, dropping the bag of rogue Lycan heads. Elsa moves forward and sets some younger pack members to work removing and cleaning the skulls.

Alaric circles and lands gently in the field behind the Alpha house. Several of the maidens that work in the Alpha house come out holding seven robes, not knowing how many we may need. They are fully prepared for anything that may have happened. Everyone carefully disembarks Alaric’s back and heads towards the maidens. Aurora moves first and takes three robes, then waves the women off. She passes the robes to Alaric, and Arnulf then puts the last one on herself.

“I was having a great time till those fuckers came and ruined it,” Aurora grumbles as she shoves her arms almost violently into the sleeves of her robe.

Arnulf finishes tying his robe around his waist and then looks between Aurora and Alaric. “You would have been much safer with one of your other mates. I was completely useless in battle.” Arnulf sighs as he kicks the dirt under his bare feet. His shoulders are almost curled in on themselves. His stance screams that he’s mentally beating himself up.

Alaric moves forward and stands in Arnulf’s way. “Not everyone can be warriors. You are skilled in the mystic arts, which we need in the coming battles.” Alaric pulls him in for a bro-hug and then turns to head toward the house after the others.

Once inside the Alpha house, Aurora’s agitation hits a new level and Dimitri is trying to talk to her. Suddenly, Aurora is standing on top of a chair in the middle of the room. I’m waving a leg of lamb at her, and Dimitri is asking her to calm down.

“D! Seriously? When in my entire lifespan, have I ever calmed down because you or Andre told me to?” Aurora flails her arms around several times like she’s on the flag squad in high school.

“Aurora, be reasonable. It’s nighttime, and a lot of the leaders may be sleeping or being intimate with their mates. Have some consideration, my love.” Dimitri moves closer to Aurora and rests his large hand on her thigh. His eyes pleading with her for understanding.

“Fine! I want the seven leaders assembled here over breakfast tomorrow morning.” Aurora crosses her arms over her chest, looking down at Dimitri, attempting to still look mad and failing miserably.

“Angel?” Klaus says softly. “Five of the leaders are already at your beck and call. Well, and technically in your bed.” Klaus opens Aurora’s robe, places a kiss just above her mound, and then walks away.

Aurora does a double take, watching Klaus kiss her so very close to her sex. Her eyes follow his movements closely as he smirks through his departure. She looks back down at Dimitri, and he shrugs at her, smiling. That is probably the quickest and easiest way to derail Aurora’s anger. She leaps off the chair and into Dimitri’s arms. “After him!” she yells just before Dimitri takes off running with Aurora in his arms.

I can’t help but laugh at Aurora’s antics. Alaric comes over and wraps an arm around my shoulders. “She’s definitely one of a kind. We are truly blessed, Jayce. She’s strong, intelligent, practical, and has her family and people as her top priority. Aurora is the queen that our people need.” Alaric smiles, looking down at me, then kisses my temple.

“We definitely did get lucky with her. I can’t believe how thoughtful and understanding she is with everything. Well, when it comes to our family, that is. Everything else with Aurora is fifty-fifty. You never know if she’s going to start yelling ‘off with their head’ or hug them.” I shrug my shoulder as I lean against Alaric and watch Dominik and Arnulf setting up for tomorrow’s meeting.

~The next morning~

The meeting table is set and the leaders have gathered. Aurora stands at the head of the table, wearing her ruby crown. Alaric is directly on Aurora’s right, and Dimitri is to her left. We each line up, heading down the table, leaving the Tigers and Ellis rounding up the table’s end.

“We need to move on the castle sooner rather than later. We discovered Elena’s hidden camp, and we have evidence from the house that Vladimir still lives,” Aurora says and then makes sure to make eye contact with each leader in turn.

I stand and move to stand behind my brother; in diplomacy matters, he leaves the discussions up to me. “Our pack is ready, willing, and able to attack at your command, Aurora. We’ve created several teams within our pack, divided up by specialty, as you requested.” I bow my head to my mate and my bond mates each in turn before returning to my seat.

“What numbers do the Dires bring to the table?” Jaggar—the Siberian Tigers’ leader—stands, placing both of his hands flat on the table, staring up at Dominik and me.

Aurora’s beast can be felt and heard as a low growl rumbles in her chest. The room temperature drops several degrees before Alaric and Dimitri place a hand on Aurora, attempting to calm her. My eyes move deliberately from Aurora down to Jaggar.

 “Five hundred strong,” I state flatly, almost sounding bored. “Five teams of a hundred wolves each, all given a specific task and target. How many Tigers do you bring, Jaggar?” I cross my arms over my chest and notice that my muscles seem bulkier than before. I’ll have to question that later. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Aurora’s tell-tale smirk that I just said something that pleases her sadistic side.

Jaggar’s eyes glow the orange of his Tiger as he stares at me. I pull an Aurora and tilt my head to the side, staring right back at him. There’s no way in fucking hell I’m going to let a fucking cat try to get the better of me. Jaggar breaks eye contact first then looks at the papers before him. “Three hundred. The last of my troops arrive tomorrow by sundown.”

I look to the top of the table where Aurora is, and she lightly dips her head to me and then to Jaggar. I quickly take my seat, waiting for her next round of questions.

 “Arnulf, are your eagles ready for their part in this operation?” Aurora glances down to the list before her, then back up to Arnulf.

Hesitantly, Arnulf stands and clasps his hands behind his back. He cautiously raises his eyes and glances at everyone in turn. “We are not warriors like everyone else here.” He motions with his left hand to everyone at the table.

“What we lack in strength, we make up for in skill and speed. I have a hundred and fifty eagles and various other birds of prey ready to fly at your command. The team you asked for is already en route to the target you requested. The War Dragons are flying with them for added security and to cut down on their exertion. For that boon, Alaric, I am grateful.” Arnulf raises a closed fist over his heart and bows to Alaric and holds his gaze long enough to be respectful before taking his seat. Alaric returns the gesture, raises his fist over his heart, and lightly dips his head to Arnulf.

Aurora nods and makes a few notes quickly. “Ellis? I know it seems odd to request Polar Bears to be in the middle of a forest, but I have a good reason for it,” Aurora says, then stands up and leans on the table. “Did you bring the fifty I requested?”

Ellis rolls his eyes and stands up, only to start pacing around the back half of the room. His dark brown eyes flickering back and forth between his human brown and the black of his bear. “Yeah, I still say you dragons are fucked up. For real! What the fuck is a bunch of white motherfuckin’ bears gonna do in the middle of the forest? We can’t hide. It’s like throwing marshmallows on asphalt and expecting them not to be seen.” He huffs as he flops back down onto his chair.

Aurora made the mistake of taking a sip of her coffee during Ellis’s tirade. She ends up spitting her coffee out and across the table. Aurora starts hacking, coughing to clear her throat before she doubles over, laughing hysterically. “He called his people marshmallows!!” Aurora is laughing so hard she falls off her chair. Alaric is shaking his head, looking down at her, and I can’t help but mouth sorry to Ellis, who now looks pissed off.

Dominik decides to stand up and address Ellis. “I’m sorry, Aurora is a bit beside herself at the moment.”

Dominik looks down at Aurora, trying not to start laughing himself. “She intends to use your group as a distraction for the main assault force. Your people will be heavily guarded by dragons. We want the Polar Bears to lead whatever force that comes out of the castle after them and straight to the dragons to get roasted.” Dominik has developed Aurora’s fascination with charred flesh. It’s almost frightening, but then again, I’m not really shocked with as close as our bond has made us.

Ellis looks between Dominik and where Aurora once was, then back to Dominik. Alaric has finally gotten Aurora to get her laughter under control. “Okay. Sorry about that.” Aurora regains her composure and draws in a deep breath.

“The short version is this: I need you to draw attention away from the side of the castle where the flooded tunnels are. My team and I intend to swim in and attack from within. My mates still on the outside will alert everyone to what needs to happen next as we progress.” Her eyes churn liquid mercury as she regards everyone at the table. “This whole mission is on a need-to-know basis. Everyone will be told exactly what they need to know and no more just in case there are still spies among us.” Aurora flops down onto Alaric’s lap and looks at everyone in turn.

Dimitri chooses now to stand and walk casually around the table. “Twenty Great Bears are en route here. They wish to fight and assist in any way possible to make up for our people’s rudeness. They fear retaliation by the ‘great white beast.’” Dimitri starts to laugh softly after saying that.

“My recommendation is to set them with tasks that require great strength. Breaking defenses and such. The heavy lifting we can’t do, we will defer to the dragons to use their size, strength, and fire to move what we cannot.” Dimitri bows slightly to Alaric, and in turn, Alaric lowers his head to Dimitri.

“Okay, are you two done flirting so we can finish this meeting?” Aurora asks as she slides off of Alaric’s lap. Aurora reaches out and grabs both of their hands and joins them.

“There! Enjoy!” Aurora moves quickly and climbs onto my lap next and starts playing with my hair. Dimitri and Alaric look at their hands briefly and quickly pull their hands back.

Klaus takes this opportunity to stand and move toward the dry erase board. He looks over the plans and writes the number four hundred next to his species. “Between my pack and the American Lycans, we march with four hundred.”

He moves back over to the table to look down at his notes. “My people have been divided into five groups as you requested, Aurora. I will not discuss the exact numbers at the moment. But all is ready and at your command, my angel.” Klaus smiles at Aurora and lightly dips his head in her direction before sitting down.

Ellis almost chokes on his water when Klaus calls Aurora angel. Aurora’s eyes take on that ethereal glow. Before Ellis has the chance to put the glass down, Aurora freezes the water in his glass. “Be careful, marshmallow. You may float away,” Aurora says, then smirks. Her eyes fall on Alaric next. It’s his turn.

Alaric stands, and the room falls silent. He truly has the commanding presence of a king. Nicodeamus walks in and lays his hand on Alaric’s shoulder and gives him a nod. “All is in order; six species of dragon shall aid us in our attack. I will not name species in an open room, but we will have plenty of fire-power when we need it.” Alaric smiles and bows to Aurora. She smiles and shakes her head at him.

Carefully, Aurora slides off my lap only to lean on Dominik’s shoulders. “Thank you, gentlemen, for attending the meeting. Your contribution is most valuable in our future endeavors.” Aurora looks at everyone and claps her hands together once.

“Okay, the meeting is over, and I need coffee.” Aurora climbs up onto Dominik’s back and smacks his ass. “To the kitchen!”

We all stare in silence, watching Aurora leave. “That’s our leader?” Jagger says under his breath.

We all heard him. Ellis, being closest, slams Jaggar’s head into the table on purpose, knocking him out cold. “Fucking cats. Why the fuck do we have them here? Shifty motherfuckers. We can’t trust them,” Ellis says, looking down at Jagger.

“Three hundred Tigers is three hundred potential problems. Nicodeamus, what’s your suggestion?” If anyone would have the answer, it will be the original Dragon King.

Nicodeamus looks at the dry erase board and starts calculating the numbers in his head. “We cannot allow those numbers to arrive here. If they were to turn on us at the wrong time, it could be deadly. I’ll handle it, don’t even mention that this conversation took place.” Nicodeamus’s features harden, and it’s suddenly obvious how terrifying he must have been in his prime. The old king leaves the room. With him, there are now more questions than answers.

Those that remain in the room watch Nicodeamus’s back disappear down the hallway. Not a single word is uttered between us as we look at each other. Alaric’s eyes cloud over for a moment before he and Dimitri move simultaneously to grab ahold of Jaggar and remove him from the room to points unknown. For now, I think I’ll head to the kitchen and catch up with my twin and mate.