125. Jayce

CHAPTER 125

Jayce

I lead Aurora outside and surprise her with an impromptu picnic under the apple tree. My mother, Klaus's grandmother Elsa, and the Fae Laurel, all sit under the tree waiting for us. Aurora's smile lights up immediately as she spins around to hug and kiss me. She moves quickly and sits between Helle and Elsa, then starts filling her plate. Well, I've officially lost my mate for the afternoon.

My excitement is at a fevered peak. I can't wait to find out whose babies are going to be born this time. The order really doesn't matter to me; I know eventually I'll get to meet my children. But for now, I can't wait to see the little ones that will be born into the family soon.

Looking across the courtyard, I see Dimitri, and he waves me over to join him. Happily, I walk over and sit close by. "I never thought I'd live to see the day that Aurora would willingly sit with other females," Dimitri says with wonder evident in his voice.

My eyes move back to observe Aurora more closely. She's all snuggled up to my mom, leaning on her and accepting her affections. "She was telling me the other day that she was excited to finally have a mom." I shrug slightly and look back over at Dimitri.

"I can't fathom a female not being raised with a mom. Though it kind of explains why sometimes she's emotionally distant." I start to fidget with the edge of my shirt, looking down at it.

"You're right Jayce, it was tough raising her. We did the best we could. But... we're guys. What the hell did we know?" He lowers his head and sighs softly.

Gently, I embrace Dimitri and lean my head on his shoulder. "You both did fantastic with her. Look at how great she turned out." I motion towards Aurora.

"She is intelligent and can take care of herself, and it's all because of you!" Lightly, I touch his cheek to get him to look at me. "You did a fantastic job. You were a great authority figure." Smiling, I look into his eyes and make a goofy-looking face at him until he laughs.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I just feel bad when she has problems." He shrugs his broad shoulders and goes back to watching Aurora.

Gently, I pat him on the shoulder before walking off. Alaric is over by what's left of the wall, watching over the dragons as they remove what remains. "How's it going, Alaric?"

"Slow but steady Jayce. Where's Aurora?" He looks around the courtyard then he notices her sitting with the other women. Alaric raises his hand and checks his pulse in his neck. "When did that happen?" He motions back at Aurora and the other females.

"Scary, isn't it?" I say half-jokingly.

"Scary isn't the word for it. Remember when Aurora was ready to slaughter Klaus's grandmother?" He gestures in their direction. "Now they're besties, it seems." Alaric tilts his head to the side as he studies the gathering. Out of nowhere, Ladon drops down out of the sky, startling us. "Holy shit, little man. Don't do that to Daddy." Alaric and I jump, both clutching our chests from the mini heart attacks I think we both had.

My hand is still firmly pressed to my chest as I try to calm my racing heart. "Is your sister with you, Ladon?" He shakes his head no and stretches his wings.

Tia's giggles carry through the courtyard as she runs from a shifted Klaus. His black Lycan giving chase. Honestly, he could easily catch her, but she keeps leaving ice patches that he keeps almost falling over. You would think he would learn by now to quit while he's ahead. Tia stops suddenly and shifts her arms to gauntlets like Aurora does. Klaus's Lycan stops and starts to back away from her. Thankfully for him, Aurora gets between him and Tia. They have a mini staring contest before Tia shifts her arms back to normal and joins the other women.

Aurora makes eye contact with myself and Alaric and shrugs her shoulders, rolling her eyes. I can't help but laugh at how similar the two of them are. "I think we're in trouble with those two, Alaric," I say it so matter of fact.

"No doubt, my friend, no doubt." Alaric half chuckles to himself, watching the two of them sit together with the rest of the women.

"How did bringing the rest of the Lycan females back go?" I look between Klaus and Alaric.

"It was rough. Most just need a good bath and a hot meal." Alaric looks down. "Some are carrying pups, most are not." His tone tells me that it was not a joyful discovery.

"Oh." There are no words to express what's going through my mind. Klaus comes walking back over after grabbing shorts.

"It wasn't a happy situation where those females were. Our healer is going to give them options." Sadness washes through the bond from Klaus. Lycans are being hit the hardest with infertility and to possibly lose these pups is a hit to the species. Aurora comes up behind Klaus and wraps her arms around his waistline. I can hear her beast rumbling to his, trying to soothe him. Gradually, she makes her way around to face him.

"Elsa and I will be going to sit with the females shortly." She lowers her eyes for a moment then presses her forehead against his chest.

"Any who do not wish to raise the pup they are carrying." Aurora swallows hard and draws in a deep breath. "I wish to adopt them and raise them. They shouldn't have to die because a sadistic asshole made a choice that wasn't his to make." Hesitantly, Aurora raises her eyes, looking up at Klaus. Doubt of her decision flickers over her before she schools her features to betray nothing.

"Do you mean it?" Klaus's smile brightens immediately. He grips her hands and looks into her eyes.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it." Aurora's eyes move from Klaus, then to Alaric, and then me. Alaric and I look at each other than smile and nod, giving her our blessing.

"Angel, besides the birth of my own pup, this is a blessing. Thank you for this beautiful gift of life." Klaus kisses Aurora's forehead and sighs happily. "We have couples in my pack that can't have children. We can place some of the pups with them as well," Klaus says hopefully.

"Whatever you think is best, handsome. We can personally take the pups to meet with prospective parents," Aurora says, smiling up at Klaus.

"Let's take Gram's with us and go talk to the pregnant females. We can give them the option of letting a childless couple adopt instead," Klaus offers Aurora his open hand; without hesitation, she grabs it and pulls him with her.

I watch Aurora stop by the picnic and grab Elsa and my mom. It's probably one of the smartest moves she could make besides bringing me. The three women lead the way into the castle and head towards the wing where the rescued females are resting. "That went a lot better than I expected, to be honest," I say, then look at Alaric.

"Either way, those pups, if they are allowed to be born will find loving homes. Be it with another family or us," Alaric says with a confidence that gives me goosebumps.

Eventually, Arnulf returns from scouting the surrounding areas. He shifts back to his human form, and one of the staff members brings him a robe. He surveys the scene before him, making sure that everything is safe and that he could speak freely. He comes up alongside me and Alaric, waiting to make sure it is okay to talk about his discoveries.

Alaric's eyes shift to that of his dragon as he looks around the courtyard. He leads us off and out through one of the openings towards Mirror Lake. We pass over what he calls Apple Tree Hill and then down into the lower area. The lake is off into the distance, and the sun is just starting to set. Once he is sure that we are out of hearing range and no place for anyone to hide, he motions for Arnulf to start.

"As Dimitri had earlier stated, there is a hunting cabin to the north on the far side of the lake." Arnulf motions in the general direction in which he had spotted the cabin. He finds a stick nearby and uses it to draw in the dirt so that we have a rough map to go by.

"There's several different caverns with chambers that extend far underground that aren't too far from here." Carefully, he draws those additional chambers and tunnels and how far he suspects that they go.

"Generally speaking, if there are any Strigoi left, they would be in this tunnel system here." He circles the area in which he suspects is the deepest of the cavern systems.

"I suggest that Marco and at least one other Black Dragon go to both of the openings to the cavern system." He draws X's on the ground where he would position the two Black Dragons.

"Since their acid breath is dense and heavier than air, it should creep slowly along the cavern floor. With any luck, if they breathe enough of it into the caverns, it should reach our targets if any exist."

Alaric studies the drawing on the ground carefully. He reaches out through the bond to Dimitri and updates him as to where we currently are. He also calls forth for Dominik to join us to make sure that everybody is on the same page. The only mate he does not summon is Klaus because of his important work with Aurora at the moment.

It takes several moments before everybody finally arrives and starts studying the map that's on the ground. Marco and another Black Dragon arrive shortly after and shift back to their human form. Both men come over, exchanging handshakes and back claps with all of us.

Alaric goes over the suggested plan yet again, and seeks Dimitri's council and knowledge of the area. Dimitri confirms the suspicions that the caverns do run much deeper underground than we originally suspected. "There is a secondary entrance to the same cavern system from another smaller one," he says calmly as he draws the second system with its entrance on the map as well.

Dimitri issues suggested orders to Marco and his friend, Damien, as to where they should focus their acid breath. Tonight would not be the best time to do it. If the tunnels do hold any Strigoi, they would be able to escape out into the night.

Since the Strigoi are creatures of habit and tend not to roam far from where they were laid to rest, this is the most logical place to find them. We agree that this is the best plan to make sure that the last of them fall.

We head back to the courtyard to help with the final bits of construction and destruction. According to Aurora's wishes, she just wants to have a low-lining wall close to the castle but a more formidable one further out. Her thoughts are that the babies, as they grow, need a safe place to play. She doesn't want them growing up feeling like they are trapped or prisoners, like she did. She wants them to know freedom but also safety as well. I really do commend her for being able to see past everything that she had been through. Most people in those circumstances would have been broken, but not our Aurora. Thankfully, everything that she lived through only made her stronger.

Dominik decides to head in and double check on how the renovations inside are going. Dimitri heads back to make sure that the bears are doing well with the woodworking in the throne room and main foyer.

For now, I head over to where I last saw my mother and request for her to follow me. We walk over to the small gardens that manage to be preserved and have a seat. "What's on your mind, Jayce?"

Helle knows me all too well. After all, she is a mom. I fidget with the bottom of my shirt yet again, like I always do. "To be honest, Mom, I'm a little worried. I want to be a good dad. I want to be the best mate that I can be, but I didn't have the greatest example."

Mom smiles and wraps her arm around my shoulders, and holds me tightly to her. "Yes, it's true your father was a horrible man, but you are the exact opposite of him. I don't think there is a spiteful or hateful bone in your entire body." Mom smiles and kisses my temple.

"It's easy to say that, Mom, but I have killed. I killed Sinclair of all people because he went after Aurora." I hang my head in shame, having killed someone I had once loved.

"Oh please Jayce! That drama queen had it coming to him. He went after your true mate. If you didn't kill him, I'm sure that she would have." Mom releases me and stands before me, looking me dead in the eye. Her wolf surfaces for a mere second and then recedes just as quickly. "You have a good heart, Jayce, don't ever let me hear you speak ill of yourself again." She lightly pats my cheek and smiles.

"Okay, Mom, you're right." I sigh softly and lightly shrug my shoulders. "I just don't want to fail any of the children born because I'm not good enough at being a dad."

"See, this is exactly why you will be the best dad ever. You are so worried about failing that you are going to do everything within your power not to." She gently grabs hold of my hand and starts leading me back into the castle. "Let's go have a nice cup of tea and sit in the library and find something new to read. I hear there's a new Poe retelling in there." She wiggles her eyebrows at me and starts laughing softly.

Mom and her horror stories. I swear I have no clue how she doesn't have nightmares every night. The descriptive writing of her favorite author makes my fur stand on edge. If it were me, I would be waking up in the middle of the night whimpering like a puppy. It looks like this is how I will be spending my afternoon, having tea with mom and reading books. There are worse ways to spend my afternoon, but there are also better ways. Our parents are only with us for a little while, so I'm going to enjoy the time I have with her. Maybe later this afternoon I can catch up with everybody else and see how their days went.