It's a great time to be alive. I live for moments like this. With each polar bear that I dispatch, I feel more like my old self. Briefly, I look up and see Aurora running toward me. She sails through the air over me to take out a lycan that had snuck up behind me. His head goes flying past me and hits a polar bear’s face, knocking him out cold. I casually walk up and use my claws to rip his throat open. By the time I look back to where Aurora was, she’s long gone.
How many fucking polar bears live out here? Damn. I mean seriously, it seems like a never ending supply. On a more positive note, they can’t fight for shit.
In the distance, I see the blue glow of Nicodeamus’ fire raining down on the mass of bodies in front of him. I watch in horror as Aurora launches herself off her father's head, through his flames, and into the fray below. I did not teach that girl to fight like that!
I made a newbie mistake and stopped paying attention to what was going on around me. I feel the pressing of a sharp blade against my left rib cage, too close to my heart for comfort. Slowly, I turn my head to find Sebastian holding the blade.
“Shift back and live, remain as a bear and die,” Sebastian says in an ice cold tone. I shift back to my human form. He still has the tip of the blade pressed to my chest.
“Coward,” is all I say to him. He doesn't fight with honor. For all I know, that female, Ravenna, was his true mate and he ditched her for power. If I remember correctly, he only gained Aurora’s speed and talons and nothing else. I look down at the blade again; it’s tinted green, which means dire wolf venom. I can’t survive that, so I decide to play along and see where this rat bastard takes it. He starts pushing me toward Nicodeamus and Aurora.
I walk with my hands up in the air to show there’s an issue. One minute I see Aurora’s eyes, the next I don’t. She just went all ghost on us. This is about to get seriously interesting. Suddenly, Sebastian’s left arm is severed at the elbow. He screams in pain as he backs up, trying to escape. Aurora manifests out of what seems like thin air, and she stands there in her human form. Her hands and forearms are shifted, her heavily armored gauntlets covered in blood.
“Betrayer! False mate! Coward!” Aurora continues to call him names as she stalks closer to him, herding him back toward the edge of the ice.
The beating of wings can be heard, but Aurora is too focused on moving in for the kill. Flames rain down from the sky between Aurora and Sebastian. I leap into the air and tackle Aurora to the ground before she is burnt to a crisp. The ice chunk Sebastian is on starts to float off to sea. A large, red dragon swoops down to grab Sebastian off the ice and flies off with him. My body tenses, prepared for another attack, but nothing comes. It's almost erie silent except for the giggling that I hear under me.
“D? I think you can get up now.” Wait, shit… I look down and I still have Aurora pinned under me. She’s laughing almost hysterically, and tears are rolling down her cheeks from how hard she’s laughing. I remove myself carefully from her then realize I have the boner to end all boners. How embarrassing! I try to cover myself with both hands. I feel my cheeks flush as Aurora just keeps staring at my cock. FUCK! Nicodeamus—thank the Gods—comes up behind Aurora and slaps his hand over her eyes.
“Dimitri, get yourself under control. You can kill someone with that thing!” Nicodeamus is half joking, I think. Jayce is in a state of shock, staring at me in all my aroused glory. Fucking cock has a damn mind of its freaking own. Death and destruction litters the field around me, and here I am with a rock hard, throbbing boner. Just fucking wonderful. Now is the perfect time to go for a swim. I jump into the arctic water and instantly regret my decision. It’s much colder than I was anticipating. I crawl back out of the water, and thankfully, my cock calmed down. I shift to my bear and decide to remain in this form until after we catch up with Ellis.
Everyone returns to their animal form and begins to walk toward the first of the islands, which we can now see. Ellis comes out onto the ice to greet us and lead us back to headquarters. There’s a single cavern visible on the island, so we follow Ellis underground. He starts passing out blankets and clothing as everyone shifts back to their human form. Aurora waits until Dom secures her something to wear before she allows him to lead her into an alcove to shift and get dressed. Once she’s done, she emerges from the alcove wearing a full length gown. It's a pale powder blue and fits her like a glove. It must have been left there for her by Alaric. I wrap a blanket around me like a toga before approaching the group. They are already in a deep discussion about what happened and what’s yet to come.
Nothing new has been discussed since our last meeting before the mission. However, we gain new information from Ellis when he tells us that fire dragons, otherwise known as red dragons, have joined the fight. When we go for the second half of this journey, the gold and ice dragons will await our signal to join in on the attack.
Now, Aurora sits next to her father as he looks over the maps with Ellis and Klaus. The battle strategy is being amended due to the fact that we now know Sebastian is on the field. He knows way too much and can make this battle way too dangerous for us, so the original formation has been changed. Ellis is dividing his bears up into four groups to match our four groups of troops.
Everyone's mulling around the cavern; eating, drinking, and generally getting to know each other so, in the heat of battle, we can recognize who is friend and who is foe. Ellis is about to make a phone call to Alaric when Nicodeamus stops him. He is concerned about Alaric's phone going off and giving away his position. We ponder his suggestion for a moment and then agree that he's probably correct. It's not safe with how close we are to the enemy.
I can tell Aurora is quite distressed. Even with her sitting on Dom's lap, scales still ripple up and down her forearms. I understand her level of distress; a male she once considered her mate is now trying to attack and kill us. Jayce reappears, bringing Aurora a tray of meat and some sort of spicy drink with it. Usually, food and drink is a good way to cheer Aurora up, but she doesn't appear to be hungry at the moment. Nicodeamus has the look of a concerned father as he watches his poor child deal with all the revelations that have happened in such a short time.
I know the level of betrayal that she and Nicodeamus feels runs bone-deep. I don't know if there's anything that I can do to help her deal with everything. As a young pup, when she would get stressed, I used to give her rides on my bear and purposely toss her and roll around with her. I start to laugh a little as I think about that memory. Aurora gives me a strange look because I'm almost laughing my balls off in the middle of a serious discussion.
"Aurora, do you remember when you were a little girl and you would get upset or stressed out over what was going on around you? What would I do?" Aurora slowly stands up, looks around the room, and then snatches a drumstick off of Jayce's plate and begins to pace. I can tell that she's now searching her memory for all the crazy, little things that I used to do just to make her smile. I can also tell the moment that she figures out the answer to my question. Her smile slowly broadens, her eyes light up, and she looks almost ethereal.
"That's an easy one, D. You used to sit there and tickle the hell out of me. And when that didn't work, you would shift to your bear and roll around on the floor with me, tossing me in the air with your paws. Or you'd lay down so I could climb onto your back and grab onto your fur, and we would go running through the forest while Andre would scream at us to slow down." Aurora is almost laughing hysterically, reliving the memory. Slowly, she turns to look over at Nicodeamus. She smiles and sits down next to her dad, snuggling into his left side, still very protective of him.
"Dad, Dimitri deserves, like, national honors for dealing with me. My mood swings alone deserve hazard pay. I was stubborn and pig-headed and probably a royal pain in his ass. I definitely didn't make their lives easy, nor did I even attempt to. I had all this speed, strength, and agility and I just wanted to go. Poor Andre. I'm surprised he still had hair when you saw him last time. That poor man would be t
errified and frantically searching for me while I clawed halfway up a tree, staring down at him and trying not to laugh. Damn, Dimitri and his sneaky bear with his sense of smell would find me every flipping time. I know one thing, between those two, I learned how to hide, I learned how to evade, and I learned that you cannot trick a bear's nose for anything." The way she is smiling at me makes me feel like the king of the world—like the sun rose and set around me for once in my life. It's moments like this when I hope and pray that Nicodeamus is right and she's really mine. She has me so elevated upon a pedestal, it's like I can do no wrong. I've loved that girl since she was born and I love her still, though it's changed. The rest of the guys are watching me as I smile like a lovesick pup.
Of course, while we’re all jovial and laughing, remembering the past, Ellis gets a text message. The message is from Alaric, who informs us that the German lycan pack was attacked. Everyone survived except for the alpha. Klaus and his brother, Claude, are so distraught that both of them want to go back to their birth pack to keep everything under control. Shortly after Alaric's text message, Klaus' phone starts ringing. He answers quickly and receives a report from his younger brother about the attack. Klaus gives detailed directions to his younger brother as to what to do. He decides video chat his brother so it's projected for his entire pack to see. He reassures them that all will be well, and that he is on a mission of utmost importance to return the last living lycan heir to the throne.
Aurora chooses this time to stand up and take the phone from Klaus, and she looks down at the phone itself. Aurora slowly raises her right arm to show his pack that she bears the mark of the royal house. You could hear the chatter erupting on the other side with shouts of joy and excitement. They all begin to rally behind her, pledging their undying loyalty to her and to the remaining people of her house. Aurora stands perfectly straight, shoulders back, looking like the future queen that she is. She addresses the pack in their native tongue, reassuring them she has the drive and ability to regain her mother's throne.
She looks up and scans those who are assembled before her. Aurora gives them a nod and acknowledges her forces before addressing the lycan pack. She tells them that she will be returning to the throne, she will remain in the castle after the war is over, and she will reunite all the packs and call them home. Then, she issues an open-ended invitation to anybody that wishes to challenge her upon her arrival on Romanian soil. No one dares to speak. Aurora watches the lycans drop to their knees and lower their heads, submitting to her. Aurora lets them know that she's going to hand the phone back to Klaus, and she lets him handle the daily duties in her place. Slowly, she walks back over to Klaus and hands him the phone. Aurora gives him a kiss on the cheek and tells him that she's sorry for his loss. She creeps back over to where Dom and Jayce are, and she sits between them and starts to eat.
Her drive for vengeance has been stoked and the fire is burning much brighter than it was before. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. And I am damn sure that Aurora is going to rain hell on Earth upon those that stand against her.
Nicodeamus now chooses this time to speak with Aurora about the weaknesses of each dragon species. We all listen carefully, making mental notes of where would do the most damage—with hits that we may or may not be able to rain down on them. Let's face it, dragons are a hundred times larger than any of us, except for maybe Nicodeamus. I can see the gears turning behind Aurora's eyes as she starts to contemplate what her father's telling her. She tilts her head to the left then back to the right again. She scoots closer to her father and stares him right in his eyes, grabbing his hand with both of hers. Both of their eyes become that of their beasts. We can tell that they're having a deep conversation, privy only to them, by the way that they sit stockstill; not flinching, not moving a muscle, or barely even blinking. We can feel the tension in the air start to increase as the moments tick by. Nicodeamus is the first to break off.
"I am not a fan of this idea, baby girl. But if the opportunity presents itself, I will be more than happy to assist you to make it happen." Nicodeamus, like Aurora does, tilts his head left then right after he finishes speaking to assess whether his answer was enough. I decide to question them since his answer makes no sense to me.
"M'Lord, what do you mean? What opportunity are you speaking of?” You know that look somebody gets when they are absolutely up to no good? Well, right now, Nicodeamus looks like the cat that swallowed the canary. That's usually the look he gets when something really reckless is about to happen.
"Well, I'm kind of happy that you asked because it'll be much easier to explain it now than during battle. My crazy ass daughter wants me to launch her into the air using my wing. That way, she can sink her talons into a dragon flying overhead and rip out its throat. Honestly, from a logical standpoint, it should work perfectly. My only concern is the landing." I'm really starting to hate how Nicodeamus says everything so matter-of-fact when it has to deal with life or death.
Thankfully, Dom speaks up next and takes the words right out of my mouth, "Hold up, you mean to say that you're going to send Aurora flying through the air to sink her talons into a dragon's hide? Then, we have to be concerned about her getting to the ground safely after she kills the dragon? Just fucking wonderful!" Dom throws his hands up into the air and begins to pace. I look over at his brother, Jayce, and he is a ball of nerves. He’s definitely very anxious about the possibility of his mate getting injured. Ellis is going back and forth, shaking his head no while saying, “Aww hell no, that bitch is crazy,” under his breath.
I've decided that I'm in the middle of some sort of crazy rom-com that's gone horribly wrong. Aurora has lost her mind, and her father's not far behind her. Her two dire wolf mates are the only ones making any sense. The poor polar bear is beside himself. And I'm sitting over here, thinking what the actual fuck just happened? I know Aurora can be reckless at times, but this absolutely takes the bloody cake. How does she expect to get to the ground without killing herself? I mean seriously, these dragons are what, 10 to 20,000 feet in the air when they're flying? Even if she gets lucky and one swoops down close enough for her to launch at it, Who's to say he's not going to gain altitude to try to shake her off?
Between Aurora and her father, once they have their mind set on something, it's virtually impossible to get them to change their course. Tomorrow is going to be a shitshow. If we make it out of this in one fucking piece, I will be absolutely amazed. For now, I have to try to figure out a way to talk some sense into that girl before she ends up becoming a dirt torpedo.
Klaus walks over, listening to Aurora and her father discussing ideas for her to become a lycan projectile. Poor Klaus ends up face-palming and starts shaking his head in disbelief at the lunacy that he's listening to. I really can't blame him right now. I'm still pondering how the fuck I got myself into this shit. I've lived almost 200 years—past what my species should have lived—and now I'm probably going to die because the princess lost her mind.
Aurora runs over to the fire pit, grabs a few pieces of charcoal that have cooled, and then heads over to the cavern wall. She starts drawing pictures of flying dragons, her father on the ground, little circles in stick figures that are supposed to be us, and then a giant smiley face flying up toward the dragon. I thought her homicidal tendencies were kind of frightening, but this absolutely takes the cake. She explains that, when the timing is right, she's going to run toward her father. He's going to lower his wing, she's going to stand on his wingtip, and he's going to launch her into the air like a frisbee. I really can't see this working; no way, no how.
But if I start thinking a little bit left field with this, I can almost see it working. Shit, just like that I'm starting to see the brilliance in her insanity. Both of her mates are attempting to talk her out of her hairbrained scheme, but it ain't going to happen. We'll just have to wait and see what happens tomorrow. Hopefully, she stays in one piece and we can all go home happy little campers.
I have no bloody clu
e what time I went to bed last night. But shit, if I could get about three more hours of sleep and a giant pot of coffee, I'd be golden. I look at the assembled group in front of me; all of us are well rested and fed. None of us really know what we're walking into today. What I do know is that Alaric is quite anxious this morning. I raise my hand and start rubbing his scale, trying to soothe him like he's done for me so many times already. I feel him relax and I honestly think, somehow, he knows what I'm planning to do. It really doesn't matter though. It needs to be done. Without air support during the attack, we're sitting ducks.
I know my strengths and weaknesses though. I don't think the boys completely understand how strong I truly am. And I don't mean physical strength; I mean strength of will, drive, and integrity. After everything my father showed me about attacking the dragons, I know their weak spot is their neck—especially if I can get up close to the head just under its jaw and sync my talons in there. The scales there are so tiny and spread out that it'll be easy for the tip of my talons to get in and start ripping. I just have to figure out how to land the fucker. I wonder if I can make dragon surfing a sport?
I better not say anything about that to the guys because they'll really start to panic. It's bad enough I slept in a twin taco last night, neither one of them wanting to let me move. I really do understand their level of concern, but if I have the opportunity, why not take it? Through my dreams last night when Alaric visited me, he said that he wouldn't be far away. I'm counting on it. But again, if more dragons than what he's expecting shows up, then dang, I guess I'm going flying. Either my father's going to have to launch me into the air or Alaric is going to have to carry me. That way, I'll only have dive bomb off Alaric and onto the dragons below him. Either way, I fully intend to get the job done.
Hunt Little Wolf: The Aurora Marelup Series Page 17