Fight (The Aurora Marelup Saga Book 3)

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 before continuing. “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.

There’s Jayce with the closet torn apart and clothing everywhere. Yup, this was not what I was expecting to be walking into, at least not from him. In the corner of the room, I find Dominik sitting there holding three outfits over his arm. Neither of the boys realizes I’m in there till I clear my throat to get their attention. “So, I see we had a category Jayce hurricane in my closet?” I smile and go to kiss Jayce and then Dominik.

All I can do is shake my head, looking at the mess they made in my absence. “Do we at least have a clue as to what I’m wearing tonight?” Dominik and Jayce each hold up a separate outfit, and I have no fucking clue which one I want to wear. Then I have a brilliant idea; I reach out through the bond and summon all my mates to the room. Since I have five mates, one outfit will win over the other easily. I kick Jayce and Dominik out of my closet then; I hang the two options up then wait for the others to arrive.

When I hear the commotion in the bedroom, I know it’s time to step out. “Okay, guys, I need your help. The twins picked two beautiful outfits for me to wear, but they can’t agree on which one. Here are five post-it pads with pens. I’m going to wear each outfit and model it for you. Write the number of your favorite down. Fold your post it up and hand it to me when I come back out. I’ll see which one receives the most votes, and that’s the one I’ll wear tonight. Sound fair?” I look between all of my mates, and they nod and smile at me. Okay, the worst is over, now on to the show. I look between the two outfits. Both fit my style, and honestly, I may do an outfit change mid-party just to wear both.

Jayce’s selection is slinky and silky feeling. Black skin-tight satin stretch pants with rhinestones around the waist and down the legs’ outer seam. The shirt is a bodice hybrid with a peasant blouse. The bodice is blood red with black stitching; it makes my breasts look absolutely huge as they almost bubble over the top. The peasant blouse is black and off the shoulder with long flowing sleeves that are long enough to hide if I shift my arms. Oddly for Jayce, he picked out my black Docs to be worn with it. I mean, I love the idea, but it’s not a typical choice for Jayce. I put my hair up into a quick French twist, with the rest of my hair flowing out in waves from the top. I place my great-grandmother’s ruby crown upon my head then walk out.

Alaric drops his glass, spilling his drink all over his lap. My sweet Jayce is beaming with pride, looking at me wearing what he selected for me. This outfit reveals all five bite marks from my mates. Strategically, I understand why he did it. The evidence of all five bites would strike fear into the hearts of those that may stand before me. I look at Dimitri next, and he makes the twirling motion with his finger. Slowly I turn, then pause when my back is to the guys. I bend over, stretching my body out so that my ass is on full display. Something else falls, and I look back, and it’s Klaus who dropped his glass this time.

Dominik stands and rushes over to me; I stand up and look up at him, smiling. “Okay, love, Jayce wins. You have to wear this tonight; I understand now why he chose this.” Dominik runs his fingers over my bite marks, sending pulses straight to my core.

“Look at this brilliance! Our marks are on full display. No one would dare to approach her unless they believe themselves to be a true mate.” Dominik gently kisses his mark then walks away, leaving me wanting.

“Okay, now that you guys have me all riled up, let’s go get this party started, shall we? We have guests arriving as we speak, Dante and Edgar are remaining as their dragons behind where I am sitting for this party. They will be switching out every few hours to keep watch over everything. After the raid on Elena’s camp, I wouldn’t be shocked if Vladimir sends forces to retaliate.” I look back towards my mates, and not a single one attempts to argue my logic.

“Alaric and Klaus will escort me to my seat with my children. Dimitri, you head up security and make sure everything is up to your standards. Jayce and Dominik help Dimitri in any way he needs. I have a feeling before sunrise we will be in the middle of a battle.” Deep down, I am hoping I’m wrong. The little devil inside is screaming, wanting a complete blood bath.

We make it to the main path and it’s covered in red petals and almost looks like blood droplets covering my path. My children in their dragon forms trot alongside us as we make our way to my makeshift throne. I raise my eyes to see that it’s made of skulls similar to the one I had at the American Lycan camp. I look between my mates, trying to hold back my tears that threaten to break.

Dimitri decides to break the tension. “Baby girl, Klaus, and Alaric made you the throne. Some of the skulls are from this latest mission; the rest came from the original throne. We know that Sebastian’s betrayal did some damage with you, but we hope to erase that pain in time. His skull and his mothers are the ones in the front of the arms. Feel free to dig your talons in and cut them if it helps heal your heart.” Dimitri looks down at his feet; he, most of all, knows the pain of his betrayal.

I hug Dimitri around the neck and kiss him on his cheek. “Would you like to scratch them up a bit too?” I hit a playful tone in my voice as I look up into his hazel eyes.

“Nu! I’ve already pissed on them both! Then I rinsed them off. Honestly, I felt better after doing it.” Dimitri has a sheepish look after he admits to pissing on their skulls. I can’t help but laugh at his antics.

“Thank you for rinsing them off for me. I appreciate it. Nu? That translates to no, correct? I get confused. You bounce between Romanian and Russian so often my head spins.” I giggle a bit, looking up at him, letting him know I’m not upset.

“Da, you’re correct. I can’t help it; it’s just so much easier for me, at times, to just use the words that first come to mind. Sorry for the whiplash, my love.” Dimitri bends down slowly and kisses my lips, sucking on my bottom lip. Fucker just made my damn greedy core clench. Fucking party…

I shake my head lightly, then move back to Alaric and Klaus as we come into sight of our guests. As soon as we are visible, Dante raises his head and roars, announcing our arrival to the clans. I wink at Klaus and Alaric and step away from them. Each step I take from this point on, the ground freezes, leaving a trail of frost behind me. Jayce runs over, and queue’s up G-N-R’s “You could be mine’ for my walk to the throne. I look over my shoulder at him and wink, approving of the musical selection. The opening line always gets me, and I love it still.

I march my happy ass up to my skull throne, spin dramatically and sit up straight, looking out over everyone gathered. My children sit on pillows at my feet in their dragon forms, watching the people in front of us. I do a flourish with my right hand and Dante and my children breathe fire at the same time. I see fear in the eyes of some, but most watch and stare in wonder at the sight before them.

It’s now that I decide to test the strength of my Alpha powers. “Welcome one and all.” My sultry tone booms out across the gathering crowd with minimal effort on my part. “Thank you all for making the long journey to get here. My mates, packs, and allies, thank you for coming here.” I maintain the strength and power of the tone of my voice.

Most are looking at me in wonder. Most times, the Alpha is male and pureblood; I am neither male nor pure blood. I look briefly up to Dante, and he snakes his tail out in front of me. I rest my hand on it then leap up to stand on the flat blade. Slowly he elevates me up and out over the crowd. “I seek additional allies in the hope of taking back my mother’s castle in the Carpathian Mountains. I seek to utterly destroy the Strigoi stronghold and return my people back to their ancestral home.” Dante moves me over the crowd, then back to my throne, and gently sets me back down.

I walk to the edge of my platform and notice new arrivals. I make Alaric aware of the arrivals, and he goes to escort the Siberian Tigers leader to me. The leader is flanked by four men, all of them appearing to be of various mixed bloodlines. Two men distinctly have an Asian appearance, two seem to be more Russian, and the third male is a perfect blend of the two. As they get closer, I slowly move and meet them halfway.

My father rushes ahead and greets the men in Russian. Part of me is pissed he interfered, but they relax in his presence, and well, I’m kind of a wild card. My father makes introductions so that I am aware that the Alpha’s name is Kazimir. He greets me and attempts to move in to kiss me; my skin quickly coats with frost as I back up and into Alaric. Within seconds my mates surround me, placing a hand on me, offering comfort. Dimitri is the first to speak to me as my father apologizes to Kazimir.

“My love, he was just trying to greet you,” Dimitri says to me softly. He knows deep down my beast doesn’t like strange males near me.

“You know how I am! I don’t like other males touching me. It makes my skin crawl. I can’t help it. I’m sorry.” I look over at the tigers and apologize in their native tongue, explaining my issue with touch outside of my mates. It then dawns on my father the grievous error he had made, assuming it would be fine. Nicodeamus leads the tigers off and into the crowd heading towards the food. I pull Dominik with me and plop him on my throne, and I decide to use him as a chair for a while.

Sometime around eleven in the evening, I hear Dante sound the alarm overhead. Edgar, who is behind me, looks down, and I motion for him to lower his head. Quickly, I scoop up one baby and Dominik grabs the other. We run to Edgar’s side and place the babies between his wings and send him into the sky with my children. My other mates are already shifting and battling Strigoi. Most of the clans are shifted and entrenched in battle with the Strigoi as well. I motion for Dominik to shift, and he does so quickly. I run back up, behind my throne and strip out of my nice outfit and proceed to shift. My beast was ready for this, waiting for the attack to come. We climb quickly to the tallest building we can find and look out over the masses, seeking out who appears to be the leader of this rabble.

Off to the side and far in the back is a man with a large staff and a beard that would make Santa jealous. He appears to be the one in control of the Strigoi. I leap from building to building, searching for Ellis. I find him surrounded by Strigoi and backed into a corner. Silently, I land behind the group surrounding him. With one swipe of my talons, I remove the heads of four. Quickly, I attack the others, ripping their heads from their bodies, leaving a trail of black blood in my wake. I shift back to human speedily, and so does Ellis. I make the shh motion to him.

“There’s a man on the hill with a Santa beard and a glowing staff. I think he’s controlling the Strigoi. Thankfully, there’s still patches of snow in the shadows on the way up to him. Take some of your men and hit him from the back. I’ll go hit him head-on.” I look at Ellis as his eyes swirl to that of his bear.

“We’re good!” is all Ellis says before taking off to meet up with his crew. I watch the bear fade off into the blackness.

Through the bond, I reach out to Dominik and Jayce, their black fur would blend in perfectly with how dark it is right now. When the guys catch up to me, I shift and show them my plan. I’m heading straight for the man, and I want them to come in from the sides while Ellis and his bears attack from the rear. The man will be so focused on me that he won’t have time to brace for the other attacks. We reach the point of no return and charge towards the man. I swear he has a sixth sense because he looks right at Dominik before sending a wall of ice towards him. It’s times like this I pray our bond has gifted my mates with immunity to ice. I don’t stop or slow down as the man attempts to attack Jayce and me both with ice. He doesn’t realize that Ellis is up on his hind paws behind him till it is too late. With one quick swipe of Ellis’s Polar Bears paw, the man’s head goes rolling downhill.

I nod my head towards Ellis, then move to check my two Dire mates. Neither are injured, more so in shock that the ice didn’t harm them or stop them. Gently with my talons, I remove what ice is stuck to their fur. Honestly, they made out a lot better than I had anticipated. I have something I really want to try, but I had to wait till we got back in the privacy of our bunker. I walk around with the twins to find the rest of our family stacking Strigoi heads in a pile in the center of the camp.

Slowly, I draw in a deep breath, close my eyes and reach out, sensing all of the dragons. I feel my group’s heartbeats, then I sense the faster beating of my babies’ hearts. Gently, I give them a slight tug and reach out to Edgar to tell him the babies will fly to me. Soon I sense the excitement of my children’s flight as they make their way back to me. I reach up carefully with my taloned hands to pluck both babies out of the air. I snuggle my hatchlings to my beast’s body.

Out of nowhere, a white Siberian Tiger comes out from the tree line. He’s not aggressive; he looks at me curiously and starts to circle, making my mates assume aggressive stances. Alaric has already shifted back to his dragon form and has summoned the babies to him. The tiger lowers his head to me then shifts back to his human form. I have to admit he’s beautiful, but I’m not interested.

The Alpha Kazimir comes running from out of the tree line. “My Queen, please spare him! He’s my only son!” Kazimir skids to a stop and drops to his knees before me.

To be continued……

Book 4 of the Aurora Marelup Saga – Attack