123. Arnulf

CHAPTER 123

Arnulf

It's been three days of switching out to take care of our mate's needs. I feel like such a wuss. I can only last a little over an hour before tapping out. Eagle females don't go through heats. Twice a year, if we are lucky, they are fertile and that's it. Not this every three months insanity that poor Aurora goes through. Poor Aurora, who am I kidding? Poor us! I mean, it's fun for the first day or two. After that, it's like is it over yet?

Slowly, I drag my exhausted ass out of Aurora's room and head towards the kitchen. Upon arrival, I find my other bond mates all hunched over their cups of coffee, trying to wake up. "Morning," I mumble as I flop into my usual seat.

Klaus shoves the bacon down towards me. "Eat up. Try to regain your strength," he says, sounding beyond exhausted.

"Look at poor Dimitri. He looks like he's lost weight." I say and flail my arms around. Stressed out doesn't even begin to sum up how I'm feeling.

"Good news is her heat has ended. I don't smell her anymore," Klaus says on an exhausted exhale.

Dominik's eyes shift to his wolf, then back to his hazel-green. "Alaric has been informed. They'll be back by lunchtime." He starts to laugh softly. "I elect Alaric to be on Aurora duty."

It's pretty much unanimous that we all need a vacation from the last three days. I pick at my breakfast; exhaustion is real. My bacon is delicious. I just barely have the energy to eat it. Several times I catch my head falling towards the plate.

Jayce comes over and snuggles up to me and holds me tightly. "You need sleep, brother. Take a quick nap." Jayce leads me over to the window bench that we built for Aurora. He sits down and places my head in his lap. "Close your eyes for a little bit. I'll watch over you," Jayce says as he runs his fingers through my hair.

His gentle strokes soothe me to the point I fall asleep quickly. My sleep for once is dreamless and fulfilling. In my dreams, I see the babies to be born. A bear and I believe a Lycan pup and a third I can't see clearly. Wow, Aurora is going to be upset carrying three babies at once. Then again, my visions haven't always been one hundred percent accurate.

Blinking several times, I finally open my eyes to find Jayce leaning back against the wall, also napping. Carefully, I remove myself from his lap and gently lay a throw blanket over him. Smiling softly, I lean forward and kiss his forehead. You honestly can't help but love Jayce. He worries about everyone and takes care of them without any prompting. He just knows when you need him, and he's there.

I glance around the kitchen and grab some pastries before heading to check in on Aurora. Silently, I creep down the hallway and reach Aurora's door. I open it a crack and peer inside. She's nowhere to be seen; perhaps she's left already. I close my eyes and reach out through the bond to locate everyone. Alaric is back with the children and is in the courtyard. Aurora and the guys, minus Jayce, have joined them. Gently through the bond, I reach out to Jayce and rouse him from his slumber.

As I wander the hallways, I notice the signs of reconstruction that's been taking place over the last week. We still haven't settled on where we are to live yet; I'm sure that we will make that decision in the upcoming days. Once I arrive in the courtyard, I get tackled by Tia and Ladon. I can't help but laugh as I fall back, cradling both children to me. "I missed you two so much!" I rub my face against theirs, letting my bird whistle its greeting to them.

"Daddy Arnulf, your animal sounds silly," Tia says, giggling as she pets my short beard.

I can't help but laugh with her. "That's because I'm not an animal, sweetheart. I'm an Eagle otherwise known as a raptor." Tia's eyes go wide as she looks at me.

"You can fly with me?" She gets off my lap and starts jumping up and down. "Momma! Daddy Arnulf can fly with me too." Tia says with enthusiasm. "I have Daddy and Father that can fly with me." Tia hits that high pitch squeal that makes all the wolves in the family cringe.

"Okay, little one, we can fly, but first we need to make sure everyone eats and is settled after your vacation." I raise my eyebrows at her. I can see how tired she is.

"If I must, Daddy Arnulf. Will you tuck me in for my nap, please?" She tilts her head, looking up at me, and I can't help but smile at her.

"Of course." I stand up, scooping her up in the process. Ladon is fast asleep in his mother's arms and in his human form for once. He could easily pass for a six-year-old versus Tia, who appears to be about four.

I follow Aurora up to where the twins have their room. We set up their bed to be a nest where they would be comfortable as either their animal or as children. Aurora climbs to the middle of the nest and lays Ladon down. I follow suit and snuggle Tia in next to her brother. They instantly reach for each other and have to be touching in some way, shape, or form.

Silently, we leave the room and walk swiftly down the hallway. "Sorry about before, Arnulf," Aurora says. She softly sighs then looks over at me. "Honestly, I can't help it. I hope I didn't hurt you." Her eyes convey her concern as she looks me over.

I smile as I lean over to kiss her temple. "Definitely much different than the way Eagle females are." Lightly, I trail my hand down her abdomen to gently rest over her womb. "I, for one, cannot wait to see who joins our family next." Aurora's smile brightens immediately.

"Neither can I, to be honest." She starts to laugh softly. "It'll be tough to tell the difference between Jayce's and Dominik's pups." She shakes her head still giggling. "Eye color is a dead giveaway unless they have my color." She shrugs her shoulders.

A hearty laugh escapes my lips. "I guess we will worry about that when the time comes." Gently, I pull Aurora to me as we head back out to the courtyard.

Several shifted dragons work on knocking down the remaining walls and the towers after they were emptied. "My Queen?" Marco says, then bows deeply.

Lightly, Aurora places her hand on Marco's shoulder. "Yes, my dear Marco?"

"We are almost finished with removing the walls as well as the towers." He motions to all the work going on behind him. "Do you wish a new wall to be built?" He tilts his head to the side, awaiting an answer.

I watch Aurora's facial expressions as she surveys the courtyard. "Yes, we will rebuild them. This time stronger than before." Aurora pulls away from me and starts to turn slowly. "Construct the walls with my children's safety in mind." Marco nods slowly.

"As you wish, my Queen," he says as he brings his fist to his heart and bows deeply before taking off.

Aurora has a look on her face I can't quite decipher. "Something on your mind, my love?"

A soft sigh escapes her lips. "Yeah, Marco and my other guards are well over five hundred years old. None have met their mates yet." She looks longingly at me then my other bond mates. "Now that the war is over, I can only hope they find their mates."

I understand where she's coming from. In reality, I never thought I'd be blessed with a mate. "All we can do is hope. I'm curious, though."

Aurora spins to face me, and her eyes narrow. "What do you know that I don't know?"

Crap on a cracker, she's gotten good at reading me. "What if one of your daughters ends up being one of their mates?"

Aurora looks quickly between Dante, Edgar, and Marco. "I couldn't ask for more loyal and protective males for my children." She smiles and nods slowly. "It'd be cool."

"What if it's Tia?" I raise an eyebrow trying to gauge her reaction.

Aurora's eyes dart from the guys then towards where Tia is in the castle. "I'd be happy for her. Alaric may or may not be as accepting." She busts out laughing. "Who am I kidding? A king of a powerful nation could be her mate, and he'd still try to keep her from the world."

Another hearty laugh escapes my lips. "As long as he doesn't lock her away in a tower, it's okay." We share a good laugh as we walk around the courtyard.

"Angel?" Klaus says softly. "Don't forget we have all of those young males you spared to deal with."

Aurora rolls her eyes. "I know, did we retrieve the females from where they were being held?" She takes on a very serious demeanor.

"Yes, angel. Grandmother and Helle are seeing to their care." He smiles softly, knowing that has appeased her.

"Please have Elsa visit with me later. I wish to be checked over and start my vitamins," Aurora says as she lightly touches her stomach.

"Do you think it took?" Klaus asks as he and I look at her excitedly.

"My heat is over, and well, all of you took very good care of me," Aurora says, smiling. "We'll know for sure in a few weeks."

Klaus and I look at each other before he takes off running towards where Dante is. Dante strips and shifts almost immediately, and they take off. I start laughing hysterically. "I guess he's a bit excited." I lean in and kiss Aurora's cheek.

"I bet you all are as excited as I am." Aurora leans into my side before kissing my cheek and heading back inside.

Slowly, I make my way over to where Dimitri and Alaric are. They are looking over plans for the reconstruction. "Need any help, guys?"

Alaric lifts his head, and a knowing smirk crosses his lips. "So?" He starts to chuckle. "How was your first heat?" Alaric can barely contain his chuckle at my expense.

Exhaustion is evident on my and Dimitri's faces. There are dark circles under our eyes; we've both lost weight. Generally, we look worse than we did when we went to war. "How often does this happen?" I ask as I run my hands down my face.

"About every three to four months, give or take a few weeks," Dimitri says on a yawn. "That is unless she's given birth. Then we're safe until the babies are done being breastfed." Dimitri rolls his eyes then runs his hand down his face.

"My children didn't need to be breastfed long, so her heat came back three months later," Alaric says, then tilts his head. "There are herbs we gathered while we were away that will stop Aurora from going into heat. Well, that is until she wants to." Alaric starts to laugh again. "Depending on who managed to have a baby this time." He shrugs his shoulders. "I figure we have at least four more heats and vacations for me."

Honestly, I never thought about it that way. I look around the courtyard at the various other mates that are present. Any one of us can be the father this time. Granted, Dimitri and Klaus have the best chances since they were with her first and tended to last the longest.

Then again, you have the twins, so it's twice the chance that the child is a wolf. I don't mind either way; I know that eventually, my time will come and I will have a child as well. I'm just happy to belong to a family that is so loving and caring. Alaric doesn't have to leave to make sure that each of us has a chance at fatherhood, but he does.

"I'm going for a flight. I'll be back for dinner," I say to my bond mates before stripping out of my clothes. Carefully, I fold them and leave them on the nearby bench. Shifting to my Eagle is always so freeing for me. For now, I'll scout the area, making sure there's nothing left uncovered.