Attack (The Aurora Marelup Saga Book 4)

Out of nowhere, a white Siberian Tiger comes out from the tree line. He’s not acting aggressively; 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.

Out of habit, I move to place myself between the unknown variable and my children. The Tiger notices my stance and 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. Boldly, he places himself between his child and me.

Ever the peacemaker, Jayce, comes up alongside me and offers me a robe so that I can shift back. Jayce opens the robe wide and I shift back quickly. Gently, I kiss Jayce’s cheek and then reach my hand into the robe’s pocket to find the necklace. I toss the pouch to Kazimir.

“I wasn’t going to kill your son. He should, however, know better than to approach a female with her young.” I don’t pay the young man any mind as another packmate offers the man a towel to wrap around his waistline, so he’s decent.

“My Queen,” Kazimir continues. “Do you know what this talisman means?” He holds the talisman out, dangling it in my direction.

I lock eyes with my father, searching his memory for the history of the talisman. “Yes, I do. It was given to my mother as a gift, an offering of an alliance, as well as a marriage. I return it to you knowing that it once was made by hand by one of your ancestors. I figured you would like it back.” Dominik remains in his Dire Wolf form and comes to lean against my right side, waiting to see what happens. Out of habit, I thread my fingers through his thick fur, more to keep myself calm.

Slowly, Kazimir nods, then pulls out a box and offers it to his son to take. His son steps forward and kneels before me. He holds up the box to me and opens the top to see a similar talisman being offered to me.

“My name is Jagger, firstborn son of Kazimir and Anastasia. I wish to offer you and your bond mates an alliance in blood.” He sighs, forcing himself to continue.

“I know a political marriage will never yield me cubs. Still, it’s a smart decision for the safety and welfare of my people.” Slowly, he raises his eyes to meet mine, and he attempts to smile.

“Who do you leave behind that has taken the light out of your eyes?” My eyes shift to that of my beast; my mercury dragon orbs search his features for any signs of deceit and find none. I do, however, feel his pain and anguish.

Jagger lowers his hands slowly and rests the box and his hands in his lap. “My light?”

He glances down, and I see a single tear roll down his cheek. “I had two, once. One my father put to death for being male. The other, my Aribella, died in childbirth. I raise my daughter with the help of my mother.” I watch his shoulders sag, and the fight drain out of him. I look to his father and then to my mates.

“Come in and talk to me.” I look to my mates each in turn, then to Jayce. “My beloved, please make Jagger comfortable while I go get dressed.” I walk over and kiss Jayce’s cheek, then I turn and jump on Dom’s wolf’s back.

“Let’s beat everyone inside!” I hold onto his thick black fur tightly when he takes off towards the house. We beat everyone in, and I hear Elsa yelling about wild animals running through the house. I can’t help but laugh at her as we make the sharp turn into the bedroom.

I leap off Dominik’s back and run into the closet, quickly I find the outfit Dominik had picked out for me earlier. Dominik has chosen a light, flowing silk shirt with a dragon pattern on it. The top is black and white in color, which covers most of my mate’s colors. The pants are a dark-brown, faux suede with stitched-in paw prints down the outer seam.

One of the cleaning girls has returned with my ruby crown and my clothing from earlier. I look at the other three crowns I have on the shelves. I reach up and grab the Elven crown that Oberon had crafted for me. Quickly, I use the curling iron and give my hair a little bit of body. It’s times like this I wish I had different colored hair other than snow-white. I take some of the hair ribbons the girls have given me and mix them into my hair, giving it a splash of color.

Once I’m pleased with my appearance, I head out into the meeting hall. Everyone is sitting around the table, and I’m over here like, oh, hell no, “To the living room, we’re not going to war again! This isn’t an interrogation or a negotiation; we’re talking like adults.”

I make it into the living room first and take control of the coveted colossal bean bag chair. I plop myself right in the middle, soon to be attacked by my spawn. My twins run laps around me on the bean bag till they decide where they want to lay down. I softly laugh to myself, knowing full well that I am the only one to know which baby is which.

Alaric pauses and looks between the twins, then back to me. I watch his one eyebrow raise up as he points to the baby on my right and mouths Ladon. I shake my head no and start to laugh at him. Alaric looks so mad that he can’t tell. I twitch my finger at him, and he comes to kneel before the babies and me.

“Tia’s eyes are silver-blue like my dad’s, Ladon’s eyes are more silver-gold like yours. Also, Ladon’s eye ridges are more raised than Tia’s.” I lift each baby’s head, pointing the features out to their father. My other mates watch intently as I explain everything.

“Jayce, love, will you take the children to go get changed. I want our new ally to know who he is protecting.” Jayce nods, and the babies leave me to follow Jayce out of the room.

Klaus climbs up onto the bean bag with me as I turn to address Jaggar. “I will not trap you in a political marriage. It is against my belief to take away someone’s right to a true mate.” Gently, I rest my hand on Klaus’s knee. I’m still grateful the gods blessed me with him.

I refocus on Jaggar. “If you wish to remain at my side as a friend and ally, I will gladly accept it. Your people have the protection of my house and my packs and legions.” I shift my weight slightly and lean forward.

“In return, your people will come when called; when I plan to attack and take back my ancestral home. I request that if you know of any specialized fighting skills my people may find useful that you teach it to us.” I try my best not to have my resting bitch face in full effect like I normally maintain through meetings. Alaric has slid up behind me and is gently rubbing between my shoulder blades to help me maintain a sense of calm.

Jaggar and his father look between each other; Kazimir decides to speak in their mixed dialect. I look between my father and Dimitri, being able to discern what is being said. “It is monumentally rude to speak in a mixed dialect in an attempt to speak around your host, Kazimir. Do you wish me to challenge you for Alpha of your streak? I can promise you I can win without shifting and without ever leaving this bean bag.” My mates start getting restless. Jayce returns just in time with my babies. My precious toddlers wobble their way over to Alaric, Klaus, and me.

Sweat beads run down Kazimir’s forehead. He’s not sure exactly how much I understood. Too bad for him, I understood everything. “I meant no disrespect, my Queen. Some things just shouldn’t be discussed outside of the family.” He’s clearly fumbling for words trying not to escalate matters further.

I stand slowly and stretch my body; with each step I take, the ground freezes under me. I watch Kazimir’s eyes widen in fear as he sees me approaching. “Who was the last great dragoness to walk the Earth, Kazimir?” My eyes are that of my beast. As if on cue, Dominik hands me my great-grandmother’s ruby crown and takes the Elvish one away from me. I place my great-grandmother’s crown upon my head and stop to wait for his answer.

Kazimir swallows hard and looks up to me. “The Blood Queen. She ruled with bloody talons and little room for forgiveness. She was probably one of the scariest dragons in existence. She could summon dragons from far and wide and kill with a touch.” Hmm, that last part I was unaware of. I raise an eyebrow as soon as he mentions the death touch. I wiggle my fingers itching to test the theory out on him.

Klaus must have sensed my intentions and runs to get between Kazimir and me. “My love, please don’t kill this man in front of his son. Jaggar has lost so much already. Do you wish to cause him more pain?” I search Klaus’s eyes for answers, and all I see is his love and adoration for me reflecting back. I lean forward and rest my forehead against Klaus’s chest as he starts to move me away.

Kazimir mutters under his breath, “She’s no descendant of the Blood Queen. She’s weak and foolish.”

I raise my head off of Klaus’s chest and shift my arms to my gauntlets, my long, white talons gleam in the light. I flourish both hands in front of me without hesitation, creating an ice prison to form around Kazimir. “You dare call me weak, you foolish kitty cat.” I run my talons over the ice, causing the nails on a chalkboard sound to be made.

“Summon his generals here now. Jayce, pull the security footage and amplify his voice. I want his officials to hear what he has to say.” I look back to Alaric and then Nicodeamus.

“You two have a lot of explaining to do later.” My son and daughter come up next to me as the officials file into the room. They aren’t happy seeing their leader imprisoned like he is. After watching the footage, they agree with whatever punishment I see fit as long as the alliance will be forged.

I look to each of my mates in turn: Dimitri, Dominik, and Alaric give an immediate thumbs down. Jayce and Klaus chose to spare him. I look to Nicodeamus, who gives an immediate thumb down. Next, my eyes fall on Jaggar. “I know he’s your father, but as future Alpha of your streak, what would your vote be if your ruler was spoken ill of?” I watch his eyes, and they harden in a second and immediately turns his thumb down.

“Hmm, maybe you shouldn’t have killed the man your son loved, Kazimir. I hereby sentence you to death in the most painful way I can think of.” I shift my hands back to human and lightly start to touch his flesh. I feel the current of his life essence flowing steadily through his body.

I reach out and grasp at it and start pulling it into myself. Minuscule wrinkles begin to form around his eyes, and the quality of his skin starts to change. The iris of his eyes begin to dull and lose color, and a haze begins to coat his cornea. We watch Kazimir start to age before our eyes as I pull at his essence slowly.

Panic slowly starts to cross his face as he realizes his body is beginning to ache, and his skin is wrinkling quickly. His muscle tone starts to degrade rapidly; a once powerful Alpha is almost half the mass he used to be. Kazimir begins to beg for his life. Halfway through begging, he starts to curse at me. Hoping that Tomas eats my heart for breakfast. That he should have signed the alliance with the Strigoi instead.

There you have it; he was tainted by the Strigoi, and it’s exactly why he killed off his son’s lover to break his will. Talk about some fucked up shit. I shift my hand quickly and reach in and rip out Kazimir’s heart to end it quickly.

My body is humming from all the extra life force I have stolen. It’s time for me to make amends with my mate’s grandmother. We didn’t start off on the right foot, and I feel horrible for how I had treated her in the past. Elsa comes in to check on everyone and spots the Kasimir mummy in the ice prison. “That’s new!” Elsa says.

I have a moment of brilliance. “How much do you trust me, Elsa?” I look at her through the eyes of my beast. Her aura is all over the place; mostly curiosity is surfacing.

“I trust you with my life. You are my Klaus’s mate and love. I know in my heart you wouldn’t harm me.” Elsa smiles, looking up at me. Time has ravaged this poor sweet woman, and her time is almost over. She has maybe another ten years tops if my theory doesn’t work.

“Come here, let me see if I can help you.” Elsa willingly walks into my open arms. I lower my head and press my lips to her forehead and concentrate on that new life force flowing through me. Tentatively, I grip it and start to slowly feed it into Elsa. I pray to the gods that my plan works for her.

Slowly, I concentrate the energy into my hands, and I place them on Elsa’s face and slowly draw them down from her temple to her chin. Through my mind’s eye, I see my hands wiping away the years of wrinkles and sun-damaged skin. I see the layers of skin and muscles underneath rejuvenating and healing from the inside out.

Gasps are heard around the room as I continue to focus the energy moving between my hands. I slide my hands down her shoulders to her ribs and down to her hips where I stop. I focus on feeling the energy rejuvenate every inch of her body. Finally, when the last of the stolen life force is spent, I stand up straight and open my eyes to look at Elsa. Elsa is absolutely radiant; her hair is back to a solid dark brown, and her skin is almost as smooth as mine. I smile as I look down at her.

“How do you feel?” I can’t help but be excited for her and happy at the same time. Klaus and I get more time with her. Definitely a bonus.

“I feel wonderful, Aurora. What did you manage to do?” Elsa then looks down at her hands then back up to me. Her eyes are wide open, and she’s looking at her hands as if they aren’t hers anymore. Quickly, she runs to the closest mirror and stares at the woman she used to be about two hundred years ago.

“How? I don’t understand. Thank you, thank you so much!” Elsa runs back over to me and hugs me tightly, kissing my cheek repeatedly. Soon as the hug-fest starts, it’s over, and out the door, she runs.

All I can do is shake my head and look at the others. My freak level just hit epic levels, and I’m perfectly okay with that. I kind of feel like Robin Hood: steal life from the wicked to give to the good. I look to my father next. Oh yes, he will get rejuvenated next, if I have anything to say about it. Life has just gotten a whole lot more interesting.