Attack (The Aurora Marelup Saga Book 4)

We run circles for what feels like forever, trying to pick up on any scent that may be left. The light rain this morning is hindering our ability to find any trace of our mate. Between the scent of rain, the rotting leaves, and the moist earth, my poor nose is working overtime trying to find any trace of my mate’s scent. My paws hurt, and I feel like I may have a pine needle stuck up my nose, but I refuse to give up. In the distance, I hear Klaus’s howl and run in that direction as fast as my paws can carry me. We all catch up to Klaus, and he’s found some of Aurora’s long white hair on a low-hanging branch.

We shift back to our human forms and start examining the area. There are two sets of footprints leading towards the mountainside. Several yards away, there’s a place where they must have laid Aurora down for a brief moment. Aurora’s scent is strong here, so it wasn’t too long ago since they were last here. I’d safely estimate within the last eight to ten hours at most. They had to be moving slowly to carry her this far. Dimitri notices an area where there appears to have been a scuffle, and blood paints the surrounding trees and leaves. Drag marks lead us to a shallow grave where the accomplice lays beheaded.

We double back to where we caught Aurora’s scent the strongest; I shift back to my Dire Wolf and start searching for any scent leading away. My brother, Jayce, also shifts and starts working in tandem with me, searching the area. Alaric, Arnulf, and Dimitri remain in their human forms on the lookout for anything our animals may miss. Klaus starts circling with his Lycan, looking for any clues that may be higher up.

Jayce suddenly stops, and his form goes rigid. Dom, double check this. I think I found the guy’s scent. I think I smell blood from when he murdered the other guy.

Carefully, I move through the leaves over to where my brother is and lower my nose to the ground. You’re right, Jayce! You found it! Everyone, follow Jayce!

Our bond mates move quickly to join us as we follow Jayce, letting him take point. We find several more places that the abductor had set Aurora down before we come to a cavern. The acrid scent of bat guano burns my sensitive nose.

“This is the perfect place to hide her; there is no way we could catch her scent over the bat shit,” Alaric says as he stands at the edge of the cavern.

Alaric shifts to his dragon and breathes his flames inside, coating everything in a layer of ice. Frozen bats fall from the ceiling and shatter on the ground. Jayce and I shift back to our human forms and start heading into the cavern. Arnulf turns on his flashlight and passes one to Dimitri. Jayce, Klaus, and I don’t bother; the light from the two flashlights is more than enough.

Our descent into the cavern is slow and methodical as we search for clues and our missing mate. The overpowering ammonia smell of the bat guano burns our sensitive noses the deeper into the cavern we go. We notice the corpse of a man lying on his side near the wall off to the side. Klaus kneels down to examine him. His veins are blackened from whatever poison he took. The needle he used to kill himself isn’t far away, and the silvery contents remain behind. In the soil near his hand, a barely legible sorry is drawn. Not far from his corpse is Aurora, her veins are a light grey, and she’s covered in sweat. Dimitri practically knocks me over as he rushes forward to pick Aurora up. I’ve never seen the big guy move so fast in the entire time I’ve known him. Dimitri runs outside with Aurora, and we follow hot on his heels.

“She’s barely breathing, Alaric. You have to do something!” Dimitri’s voice cracks as he fights the sobs that want to break free.

“I don’t know what to do,” Alaric says as he looks at a very limp and pale Aurora in Dimitri’s arms. Reverently, his hand ghosts over her pale cheek, staring down at our pale mate.

I move forward and get Dimitri to sit with Aurora, and I look her over. “I remember when assmunch was poisoned, Aurora bit her wrist and bled into his mouth. Do you think that could work?” I look between my bond mates then to Klaus as he emerges from the cavern.

Klaus’s normally calm demeanor has changed; rage bubbles just under the surface. Quickly, he schools his features as he moves to touch Aurora’s cold, pale cheek gently. “The male was poisoned by wolfsbane and mercury-based poison. I’m not sure if there’s anything we can do.” The look of defeat on Klaus’s face is soul-crushing. His eyes close slowly as he lowers his head.

Arnulf is shaking his head, digging through the bag Alaric was carrying. “I refuse to give up. We will not sit here and wait for her to die.” Arnulf pulls out a mug and some herbs he brought with him. Quickly, Arnulf slices his palm and bleeds into the mug; he adds some vodka, then looks at Alaric. Arnulf doesn’t even wait for permission; he slices Alaric’s palm over the mug. Jayce and I move in unison, waiting for our turn to contribute. Klaus runs back into the cavern, retrieves the syringe, and starts flushing it clean with water and vodka. Arnulf saves Dimitri and Klaus for last, adding the largest amount of blood from them. Arnulf adds more herbs and starts chanting over the blood. Arnulf is schooled in the mystical arts, and he is pulling out all the stops trying to save our mate. Without hesitation, he draws up an ample amount of blood. He begins to inject it into Aurora’s veins watching for any changes. He repeats the process till half the mug is empty.

Through the bond, the slow tingling of Aurora’s essence can be felt once again. We can sense as her heart becomes stronger, and her beast begins to stir under the surface. The gray tint to her veins starts to fade away with each passing moment. Arnulf moves and injects more blood into Aurora’s veins, trying to speed the process along. Aurora’s mouth suddenly opens, and her canines descend. They’re not entirely wolven anymore; they are longer and sharper, almost like a dragon’s. We all turn to look at Alaric, and he seems to be just as shocked by what he sees as we are.

Aurora starts to thrash violently in Dimitri’s arms; Alaric and I move to help him hold her so she doesn’t hurt herself. Scales begin to ripple all over her body. Did her Wolf die? What has happened to her because of the poison?

“She’s changed, evolved. She’ll live.” We jump, hearing the musical tone of Oberon’s voice behind us.

Jayce moves and kneels before Oberon and lowers his head. “M’lord, what do you mean she’s evolved?” Jayce doesn’t raise his eyes, nor does he move a single muscle.

Oberon moves away from Jayce and kneels next to Aurora. His slender fingers brush her hair off her forehead. He bends down and places a kiss on Aurora’s forehead, and the thrashing stops. Once she stops, he stands and dusts himself off, then turns to face us. “She will live, but she’s changed. Aurora was always more dragon than wolf, though she will never know flight. She will know her dragon ancestors’ strength and longevity. She still retains the shape of the Lycan, but with more dragon upgrades, I believe the humans say; the wolf will sleep until it heals.” Oberon taps his chin before disappearing in a wisp of glitter.

“What the fuck just happened?” Klaus growls, frustrated with the lack of real answers concerning our mate’s health.

“I’m not sure. All I do know is between what Arnulf did and what Oberon did after, she feels stronger.” I tilt my head to the side, watching Aurora closely.

Aurora suddenly gasps and shoots up, sitting up in Dimitri’s lap. I think she scared years off of our lives with that unexpected movement. “I don’t feel right,” Aurora says, her voice raspy from lack of use.

Carefully, she rolls onto all fours and looks at all of us as her body starts to break and reshape. Her blood-curdling screams tell us she’s not shifting of her own volition. She’s watching her body reshape with a look of horror on her face. She seems afraid of what’s happening to her, and that concerns me greatly.

This shift is different; she’s in pain, and we all feel it and can’t do anything to help her. It feels as if every square inch of her is on fire. Eventually, the burning and ripping feeling subsides, leaving her altered beast standing before us. Aurora faces away from us, and some changes are already apparent. She has sharp spines down the back of her neck all the way to her tail. There appear to be scales under her fur, especially around her neck for added protection. We watch her posture closely, and we can tell she’s examining herself.

Aurora’s fear and pain bleeds through the bond to the rest of us. She’s afraid we won’t like what we see. I nod to my brother, sending him over to look at her first. A soft whine escapes from Aurora’s lips, though it still sounds wolven. Perhaps nothing else has changed with her.

We watch Jayce’s facial expressions because he can’t hide shit, and from what we can see, he’s shocked. This can’t be good; we know that Aurora isn’t going to be happy. Carefully, Jayce grips Aurora’s gauntleted hand and prompts her to turn to face everyone.

Aurora’s beast’s face has more raised bone ridges like a dragon does, and she has a nictitating membrane that moves to protect her eyes now. Hesitantly, she opens her mouth, and her teeth are definitely more dragon and not completely wolf anymore. Her tongue is still wolven, which is interesting.

Aurora’s chest and stomach are now covered with a thick layer of scales to protect her vital organs. A light layer of fur covers the scales, so they can’t be seen unless close up. Her feet are still paws but are now heavily armored, and the claws resemble talons.

Aurora’s sadness is palatable; her eyes still roam over her changed form, trying to understand what has happened to her. Cautiously, she raises her eyes to us; her brows are knitted together in the middle. She looks as if she wants to cry but can’t in this form. I’m the first to move and embrace her tightly. Her beast is running hotter than usual, and I can feel the heavy plated scales under her fur. Gently, I nuzzle her chest and let my wolf rumble softly to her.

Behind me, Alaric shifts and lowers his dragon’s maw to her. I move out of the way and allow their two animals to comfort each other. It’s now that I can really compare how Aurora looks versus how she was before. It’s more pronounced now that Alaric’s dragon was next to Aurora with the changes that have occurred.

I feel the loss as Aurora’s presence leaves my mind. I sigh softly as I feel everyone reaching out to her through the bond to soothe and reassure her. Aurora finally calms down and shifts back to her human form. We rush towards her, all of us needing the contact. Alaric is the last to approach after he has shifted back to his human form; he lets the rest of us soothe our beasts first.

Aurora cautiously untangles herself from us and launches towards Alaric. He catches her mid-air and spins with her for a second. Aurora climbs him like a tree and kisses him fiercely; owning him, dominating him. The look of shock on Alaric’s face is priceless. It’s about time the big guy got owned. Carefully, Aurora slides down Alaric’s body, mindful of the major hard-on she has caused.

“I’m tired; let’s head back to camp,” Aurora says, then promptly yawns.

 I shift quickly, then run to her and lie down, offering her a ride. Aurora smiles and carefully climbs onto my back. As gently as possible, I rise to my paws and start the long slow journey back to camp.