7. Victor

Chapter 7

Victor

W e spend every night in my room or Aurora’s, learning every curve of her delicate, lithe frame. My brothers and I fall back into a proper balance of duty and responsibility, eager to return home and spend our evenings courting this new female.

Even though we all know it won’t last.

Aurora is more than just entertaining; she brings a lightness we hadn’t realized we were missing. Her quick wit and infectious laughter draw us in, breaking through the tension with her effortless charm. It’s clear she’s already carved out a place we hadn’t expected in our lives.

I find myself wondering how a mate might be better than her in any possible way, but who am I to question the gods of fate?

The following week, when the Oklahoma Alphas are set to arrive, I ask her to join us for the meeting, but she declines.

“There’s no reason for me to be there,” she insists, smiling beguilingly at me, her hand stroking my cheek. “They’re not here for me.”

“I wish I knew what they’re coming for,” Fenris grumbles again, shooting me a glance as he looks out the office window, toward the front of the estate.

Aurora’s hand drops and she turns to walk out of the study, her slender hand curled around a book for reading. “Call me when you’ve finished and we’ll go for a walk in the gardens afterward,” she promises. “Maybe I’ll let you chase me if you’re good. I might even let you catch me this time.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Little Prey,” Fenris growls playfully, and she titters, but I sense a nervousness about her as she reaches for the door handle.

She casts us another look as if she might say something, but Zane pipes up, “They’re here.”

“Good luck,” she breathes, slipping out of the room hurriedly and disappearing before I can comment.

We head toward the door together—me in the lead and my brothers in step beside me as the armored SUV pulls to a stop in front of the double pillars. The Alpha’s driver hops out to open the door, and I’m mildly surprised to see a fourth with the trio as they exit. The car door slams behind them, and we greet one another.

Wyn, Rex, and Lancer Galvin stand eye to eye with us, exchanging polite, but taut smiles.

“You had no issue getting through the portal?” I ask, eyeing the fourth male—the stranger—again.

Fenris had not mentioned an extra person, but he would not be there if my brother had not made allowances for him.

“No. We were expected,” Wyn replies.

“All of you?” I nod deliberately toward the stranger with them. He’s clearly part of their pack, but I wasn’t expecting him.

“I did mention we were bringing Lachlan along,” Rex explains hastily, nodding toward Fenris.

“I explained that added security isn’t necessary,” Fenris sighs, rolling his steely blue eyes heavenward, clearly pained by the extra body.

My own eyes catch sight of one of the curtains moving on the second story, and I realize that Aurora is watching us from her suite.

If she’s so curious, why didn’t she just stay for the meeting? I wonder, shaking my head ruefully.

“He’s not security—” Lancer starts to say, but a heavy blanket of humidity drops abruptly over the estate, and suddenly, the air grows thick with the smell of smoke.

“What is that?” Wyn gags, raising his nostrils upward.

The exterior lightbulbs smash out in tandem, glass splintering, and we take cover to keep from being rained on.

“Maybe we should take this inside,” I suggest, ushering everyone through the doors.

The house energy is on the fritz again. My haunches raise as I secure the doors behind us, pursing my lips. In the grand foyer, I falter, unsure of what to do with them, my indecision troubling me. I have to decide what to do and quickly, before I show weakness in front of these Alphas.

“What is that burning smell?” Wyn asks again, and Zane brushes it off with an explanation about something in the kitchen.

“I’ll have the staff get some drinks,” I tell the Alphas, signaling the house staff as I look to my brothers. Zane ushers the others toward the dining room, and I notice the chandelier overhead swaying wildly.

Something is very off again.

My chin intuitively turns upward, and a flash of blonde catches my peripheral vision. “Aurora!” I call out to her, but she doesn’t materialize. I’m half-tempted to go up after her, but the others are waiting for me, Fenris lingering in the doorway of the office, his eyes shadowing with annoyance.

I wave him toward me and out of earshot of the Oklahoma Alphas. “Who is Lachlan, and why is he here?” I demand.

“I don’t know,” Fenris snaps. “They asked if he could come along, and I couldn’t very well say no, could I?”

“Why the hell not?”

Fenris rolls his eyes. “Zane and his peacekeeping ways are rubbing off on me?”

Grunting, I shoo him into the dining room and force a stoic expression on my face. “Refreshments will be along shortly,” I promise, taking my place at the head of the table. “Please, be seated.”

Everyone sits, and I look to Wyn, waiting for an explanation for this convention.

“Well?” I finally say, unable to continue with the drawn-out pleasantries. “What is this about?”

“We understand you have a girl,” Wyn blurts out without preamble, and I gape at him, blindsided by the unexpected declaration.

“What?” I state with equal boldness.

“You know who we’re talking about,” Lachlan blurts out.

His blatant disrespect infuriates me, and smoke emanates from my nostrils. I already didn’t like him, and he’s not doing anything to help his cause. How dare he speak to me without a proper introduction.

“Lachlan,” Wyn hisses. “Leave the speaking to us.”

The underling has the good sense to sit back, lowering his head demurely. “Sorry.”

My eyes narrow. “What girl?” I spit, every muscle in my body constricting. I already know exactly who they’re talking about, and I don’t like where this is going one bit.

“If you’re referring to Aurora, we already reached out to you about her,” Zane interjects diplomatically, glancing worriedly at Fenris. “Haven’t we, Fenris? Weeks ago.”

“Yes,” Fenris agrees slowly. “What is this about?”

“Yes, that’s true,” Wyn concedes. “But at the time, we weren’t in possession of all the information.”

“What information?” all three of us ask in unison.

Wyn and his brothers smile thinly.

“Is she here now?” Wyn asks, maintaining his fake beam.

Tensions run high as I’m about to lie, but Zane and Fenris speak first, beating me to the fib.

“What do you want with her?” Fenris barks.

“Why do you care now?” Zane demands.

“I think it would be best if we spoke with Aurora present,” Wyn insists, his hands curling on the surface of the table. “It’s best if we do this face-to-face.”

The air around us is fraught with ice.

“Not until we understand what this is about,” I insist, standing. “Aurora is with us now.”

Wyn also stands and all six Alphas are on their feet, facing off.

“There’s no need for a showdown,” Wyn tells me conversationally, but I can see he’s fully ready to throw down if necessary. “You know Aurora is from Oklahoma. She technically belongs to us.”

“She wasn’t an Apex shifter there, but she is one here now. She’s sworn a blood oath to our pack.”

Lachlan snorts, and my head whips furiously toward him. “Is something amusing?” I snarl, ready to teach the shifter a lesson he won’t soon forget.

Blood drains out of his face, but he doesn’t have a chance to respond.

“I’m here, Victor.” Aurora appears in the doorway of the dining room, and Zane moves protectively toward her, blocking her from the rest of the Alphas.

Wyn and the other Alphas exhale, but the walls shake lights flicker as she enters.

“Stay there, Aurora,” I order her. “Don’t come any closer. We’ll send for you if we need you.”

She stops, pressing her lips together as she looks nervously at Lachlan.

“No! Wait!” Wyn cries out. “Hear us out, Victor! She’s clearly not being honest with you!”

I balk, my jaw tensing.

“Is this her, Lachlan?” Wyn sighs, sounding irritated.

He nods, rising. “That’s her. She’s my mate.”

I recoil as if I’ve been struck in the face. “Your mate?” I scoff, catching the dumfounded expression on my brothers’ faces.

“Yes. And I’ve come to take her home,” Lachlan adds smugly.

Aurora’s eyes pop at his declaration and a familiar expression colors her face as she turns to flee, her body morphing into her deer frame as we watch in disbelief. The retreat of her hooves on marble shock me back into reality as the walls continue to vibrate around us, a whistle piercing through the air.

“Aurora!” I yell out. “Stop!”

She gallops away and I nod at Zane and Fenris to go after her, before turning back to the others gaping dubiously after them.

“Are you sure she’s your mate?” I ask, raising an eyebrow skeptically. “There’s no hint of a bond surrounding either of you.”

But even as I say it, I smell it vaguely now, through the sickening smokey smell that permeates the atmosphere around us. There’s no fire, but the magic is playing tricks on all of us in the house.

“We’re mated,” Lachlan insists petulantly. “It happened at the last full moon, and then she just left. She packed up all her belongings and took off. I guess she got a better deal over here, huh?”

He shrugs and grins cockily at me. I fly across the table to lunge at him, but Wyn blocks me from knocking him out as Lachlan cowers.

“It was a joke!” Lachlan whimpers.

“Come on, Lachlan,” Lancer grumbles. “We should have left you in the car.”

The youngest Galvin hauls the dragon shifter out of the house and away from me.

“I’m sorry we sprung this on you like that,” Wyn tells me honestly.

I frown, thinking of how evasive Aurora had been about her past. “We need to pause this for now,” I tell him grimly. “We’ll reconvene later.”

“But she’s—” Lachlan argues as Lancer drags him out.

“That’s fine,” Wyn interjects, shooting him a scathing look, cutting him off mid-protest. “We’ll reschedule this when you have a better handle on your house.”

I suck air in between my teeth, the jab not lost on me. “My house is fine,” I growl. “It’s your pack who can’t keep their mates in order.”

Wyn grimaces and waves his brothers out of the dining room without a word. The shifters move into the armored vehicle and head out of Oak Hollow—for now.

I spin around and rush through the estate, my nose raised to sniff out Aurora and my brothers, but it’s hard through all the livid smoke pouring from my nostrils.

I find Fenris in the gardens, searching for Aurora, too. He looks at me shamefully, but he has no handle on Aurora’s whereabouts.

“Where the hell did she go?” I growl, furious that we lost her. My brother’s cobalt eyes glow at me in the fading dusky light, his own upset shining through as he glowers at me.

“Did you know anything about this asshole? This Lachlan?” I demand of my brother as we keep looking.

“Of course not!” Fenris grumbles. “Where are the Oklahoma Apexes?”

“Gone,” I reply.

“Gone where?”

“Nevermind them. Where the hell is she ? She didn’t leave the estate, did she?”

“She’s here.”

Zane emerges from the thick of rosebushes with Aurora, her chin thrust forward defiantly, green eyes blazing. “It’s not what you think,” she says before any of us can utter a word. “I told you everything you needed to know.”

“Uh, clearly not everything!” Fenris barks. “You missed a pretty big part.”

“No, you didn’t need to know about Lachlan,” she insists.

“Enlighten us,” I say coldly, folding my arms over my thumping chest. “How do you figure?”

I hate the effect she has on me, but even as Zane pulls her closer, I can’t feel the mate bond surrounding her, even though I briefly felt it moments ago.

How did I not see it, if what Lachlan is claiming is true? Would he dare lie to us? To his own Alphas? That doesn’t seem likely.

But I do feel a different kind of pull, one toward her, that I don’t understand. It’s not a mate bond, it can’t be. I’ve heard about what happens when Apex Alpha bonds snap into place, with the celestial events and whatnot. This is more primal, deeper and under my skin. I’m undeniably drawn to Aurora, as if she’s belonged to us in another life or time.

Shrugging off the semantics of it, I glower at her. “Is Lachlan your mate?”

“No!” she fires out.

“No?” Fenris echoes.

“I mean… yes… but no,” Aurora moans, dropping her head miserably as Zane pulls her forward to stand between us. In the circle of us, among the rose bushes, we wait for her to tell us the whole truth. “We are mates—but he rejected me.”

“What?” Zane laughs. “Who would reject you?”

I’m also surprised by her confession, unsure of how convinced I am by her version. “When did this happen?” I press.

“That’s why I left Oklahoma,” she tells us, raising her head quickly to look at me imploringly. “He rejected me and told me to leave. I didn’t think he was going to tell anyone, like he was embarrassed.”

“Why?” Fenris wants to know. “Of what? You’re beautiful and smart?—”

“I’m just a prey shifter,” Aurora reminds him. “He’s a dragon, part of the Apexes in Oklahoma.”

I scoff in disgust. “So he banished you?”

Aurora meets my eyes. “I guess I banished myself a bit,” she admits. “He suggested I leave, and I took his advice. That’s why I wasn’t really worried when you contacted them. I didn’t think he would tell them who I was.”

Zane steps closer, brushing his hand across her cheek. “I’m glad you left and came here.”

I swallow my anger at Lachlan and draw closer to her with Fenris, the three of us encircling her fully.

“Why has he changed his mind now?” I press curiously. “If he was so determined to see you gone?”

“He probably realized what he’s missing out on,” Fenris growls, slipping his arm around her waist. “But it’s too late now.”

“Can he do that?” Aurora asks worriedly. “I mean, he is still my mate.”

“He rejected you,” Zane insists, glancing at me for confirmation, but uncertainty plagues me.

I don’t know if Lachlan can rightfully reclaim her, despite having rejected her.

“No,” I decide firmly. “He can’t. Aurora has sworn a blood oath to us, and she belongs to us now.”

“But the Alphas came here for a reason,” Aurora protests, tipping her head back to look at me worriedly. “They must think they have some claim to me.”

“They’re wrong,” I intone flatly. “And we’ll fight to the death to keep you, if that’s what it takes.”

She smiles weakly and nods, slipping her arms around my neck as I embrace her.

“You should have told us this before,” I growl in her ear, and she exhales. “I know. I was humiliated.”

“Lachlan is the one who should be humiliated,” Zane tells her, and Fenris nods vehemently in agreement.

“He has some nerve showing up here, trying to reclaim you after rejecting you in the first place,” Fenris grouches. “I’ll put a block on them so they’re not welcome back in Oak Hollow again.”

“Not yet,” I reply, pulling myself reluctantly away from Aurora and setting her back on her feet. “I want to meet with them again and find out why Lachlan had a change of heart.”

“Is that necessary, Victor?” Aurora asks shakily. “It’s probably for the best to keep them out.”

“No,” I insist, my senses piqued. “I’m curious to know what inspired all this when he was so eager to reject her. I can barely read the mate bond between them, even now that I know about it. Arrange another meeting for tomorrow, Fen. Let’s settle this matter once and for all. I don’t want this hanging over us forever.”

Aurora’s gaze darts between us, and I cup her face firmly in one of my palms. “You have to trust me, Aurora,” I gruff at her. “We will fight for you, but you always have to be honest with us.”

She blinks and nods. “I will,” she breathes. “I promise.”

“Good. Then let’s end this.”