146. Dimitri

CHAPTER 146

Dimitri

Two hours, thirty-eight minutes, and nineteen seconds is what it took for us to finally get everyone packed and loaded onto the backs of the dragons. It doesn't help that almost half of us that are going are children. According to Aurora, I must have achieved sainthood at this point in my life at least a dozen times. Between her and her antics and now her and her children's antics, I'm almost at my wits' end. If they weren't so stinking adorable and one of them was mine, I think I would have lost my mind days ago.

I join Jayce and Klaus on Marco's back for the ride out to Aurora's mother's castle. Little Luna squeals with delight as she sits behind Marco's crown of horns on her father's lap. They have such a unique situation. She wasn't even an hour old and he knew that she was his. I noticed Marco isn't flying how he normally flies with the dips and the waves and the sudden turns. No, he is flying extra careful and a little slower than usual.

Alaric occasionally roars at him, trying to get him to pick up speed. Marco roars right back at him, challenging him to force him to move faster. I think only Aurora knows the reason as to why he's flying much more carefully than usual. On the other hand, my daughter is looking around curiously but has the same self-preservation that I do. Bears should not be flying.

I glance over to my right and observe Tiamat and Ladon flying right alongside their father. Aurora is hooping and hollering, ecstatic that her babies are currently flying. Arnulf is flying right along with the children, keeping pace with them. Now it's Alaric's turn to slow down to a snail's pace just so his children can get flight time. Part of me, I want to laugh and make fun of him because of the way he was yelling at Marco. The other part of me is just grateful that Aurora thought of something without alerting Alaric to the real reason as to why Marco is going slower.

A little over an hour later, we can see the castle on the horizon. My people and Klaus's people have done a wonderful job starting to repair the spires that were almost to the point of disrepair. Dante and Edgar roar their greeting to those that are on the ground. The dragons that had stayed behind roar back, letting us know that it's safe to land. Alaric lands and lies down quickly, allowing Aurora and Klaus to slide off his back. Soon after they are clear, Alaric shifts back to his human form and watches his children land.

Marco waits until both babies have landed and have cleared the area before he starts his descent. Little Luna is laughing hysterically as he swoops in gently and lands. I have never remembered the big guy making such a gentle landing in the entire time I've known him. He waits patiently until Aurora comes over to receive the baby from Jayce.

Once Aurora is at his side, ever so carefully, he lowers his head and allows Jayce and Luna to slide off safely. Slowly, he extends his wing for myself and Odette to get off of his back. His eye follows Aurora and Luna until they are at a safe distance away, and I'm safely off of his back. When he is sure that I'm clear, he shifts back to his human form and accepts the clothing from Alaric quickly.

I watch Marco hesitate for a mere moment, staring over at Aurora and Luna. Luna locks eyes with him and starts making the come here motion with her hands. There are only a few moments of hesitation on his part before he turns and obeys the little princess. Luna squeals with delight as Marco comes up alongside her. He lightly kisses the crown of her head before bowing gently to Aurora and walking off to continue where he was needed to be.

He looks at little Luna the same way the rest of us gaze at Aurora. My mind is telling me that it's physically not possible at her young age for him to acknowledge a mate bond with her. Shit, Aurora notices the way I was staring at the interaction.

Aurora suddenly changes course and comes right to Odette and me. Either I'm in deep trouble, or I noticed something I shouldn't have. She snuggles up alongside me and kisses me on my pulse point. "So, what do you think you just saw?" she asks, tilting her head to the side, staring at me.

The smart answer for me to say would be that I'm glad we have such attentive guardians. But being a father now, my concern far outweighs what may be in my best interest. "Was I seeing what I think I saw between Marco and Luna?" I tilt my head slightly to the side and raise an eyebrow. My little Odette thankfully is fast asleep in my arms and is unaware of what's going on around her.

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Aurora says in her typical riddle. What I've learned over the last two-hundred and thirty years with her, usually the first half of the answer is the correct answer. So with that being said, I am right. She is his mate, and how the fuck does that work? Cautiously, I nod slowly, pretending I didn't solve her riddle.

"If you say so, sweetheart, eventually what's actually going on will come to light." I shrug my shoulders and just smile at her. I've got her now. Concern flickers over her angelic visage. And like a little girl, she asks me not to tell. "Alaric can't know yet. It's only you, me, Jayce, and of course the other dragons that know what's going on. I'm almost afraid of how he might react," she says as she lightly strokes my forearm. Her concern is understandable and warranted. When it comes to the children, Alaric's temper is very short, and his urge to protect them is quite strong.

"You know we have to tell him at some point, right?" I say softly to her because I notice him looking in our direction. I pretend to point to something on Odette's forehead that actually is not there just to act like I was showing Aurora something. She catches on quickly and pretends to look at what is supposed to, in theory, be there.

"I know, just give me some time to figure out how without him wanting to battle Marco. Luna isn't even his, but I know because she's mine, he will go to extreme lengths to make sure that she's safe." She rocks little Luna in her arms, staring down at her smiling. "I've been so afraid for her. She's not a warrior like me, and I'm afraid she may not be able to protect herself in the future. I'm so thankful that someone I trust is going to be her mate and the one to protect her from now on." Aurora smiles softly and sighs. "I'm kind of shocked, to be honest. I didn't think the bond could snap into place or be recognized with someone so young."

"I agree. This is something that you must question your father about in private and find out exactly how that works." I gently rub her shoulders, trying to give her some semblance of comfort. I look back towards the group, and Jayce and Alaric are coming right at us. Immediately, Aurora offers Jayce his daughter; he smiles and starts making the cutest little baby noises at her. Luna, in turn grabs him by his beard and puts squishy little toddler kisses all over his face.

Jayce walks off with Luna towards the castle, and I watch Aurora's eyes take on their ethereal glow. Marco's eyes immediately begin to glow, and he goes to follow Jayce and Luna. Aurora winks at me as she nabs Alaric before he has a chance to question anything he saw. I watch them walk off before I head towards the bears from my village. Renee, apparently, is in charge of her mate's part of the reconstruction of the north spire. I wave at Renee, and she comes running over quickly.

"Morning, Dimitri. Oh my! Is that the new cub? She's so precious." Renee gushes and looks at me for permission to touch Odette. I nod slightly and gently touch the crown of Odette's head. Hesitantly, Renee lowers her face to sniff at the crown of Odette's head. A smile spreads across her lips as she backs away slowly. "Such a precious little angel. You have mine and my mates' protection for her. She needs something, you just let me know."

"Thank you so much. You and your mates honor us." I bow the best I can with my daughter in my arms. Carefully, I turn and head back to the main entrance. I see all the improvements that have been made already. The stonework is exemplary; you can barely tell where the new stone meets the old stone. Brock, one of the German Lycans, uses a power washer to clean the stone so that they blend nicely.

Walking through the front doors brings back memories of the night Aurora was born. The archways have been repaired as well as most of the original interior design. The original paintings of Anca's family have been fully restored by one of the local artisans. I study each image carefully, remembering the fallen. Not a single person up on these hallowed walls is left alive. Be it from the ravages of time, or they were killed the night of the invasion.

Nicodeamus has headed up a team specifically just to gather the remains of those who were left behind. With him being the oldest of us, he would have a sense in a memory of where he saw his comrades die. It's a little dark and morbid, if you ask me. Instead of remembering the good times, to only see the bad.

I'm thankful Aurora has no memory of that night. It was not something I would want her to bear. I wander my way into the throne room and find our young queen sitting there, nursing Luna. Aurora smiles softly at me and makes the shush motion at me. Apparently, little miss Luna is asleep.

Carefully, I approach and look down at the precious little angel in her arms. She is almost the spitting image of her mother at that age. Jayce comes up slowly and offers to take Luna from Aurora. Carefully, the exchange is made, and Jayce goes to take Luna to put her to bed.

Aurora smiles at me and makes the gimme motion with her hands as she stares at our daughter. Gently, I place Odette in her waiting arms. Aurora moves her top and latches Odette in place. My daughter feeds ravenously from her mother's chest. Size-wise, she may be that of a two-year-old, but chronologically she's barely five months. Aurora wants to give them at least one more month of breastfeeding before she stops. Klaus's daughter has other plans; Kirra refuses to breastfeed any longer.

I leave Aurora and Odette and head down the hall to the Grand Ballroom. Within the ballroom, I find Nicodeamus, Dominik, and Arnulf directing the woodworkers and the other artisans on how to renovate the room. Nicodeamus is telling the story of the original renovation of the Grand Ballroom. He tells them in-depth about what the stained glass used to look like and how the floors use to be. He describes the various vases and other ornamental decorations that line the mantle of the great fireplace in great detail.

It's now I notice that Nicodeamus has Aurora's sketchbook in front of him. Apparently, through blood memories, she saw the castle how it used to be and drew it for him. She made adjustments as to how things can be modernized and made more her style. I start flipping through the book as I get up alongside him and note the subtle changes that she's made instead of putting the ornaments back on the ledge that runs the room's perimeter. She has decided to spread out part of her and Alaric's skull collection in the Grand Ballroom.

Shockingly, Klaus is making arrangements for a new chandelier to be made for the center of the ballroom. The one that he's having commissioned has skulls in the center with beautiful lighting around the perimeter. In a rather creepy move, he wants to put lights inside of the eye sockets. I know my mate would absolutely love that setup. Part of me is slightly concerned about everybody else's perception of the chandelier itself.

After what seems to be a couple of hours of discussion and meeting with other artisans, Aurora finally arrives in the ballroom. Lightly, she trails her fingers over Klaus's shoulders, looking down at the sketch he has in front of him. She squeals with delight seeing what he is preparing for her. She hugs him tightly and kisses both of his cheeks before moving over to stand next to her father.

Nicodeamus points out the different designs that he already has the artisans working on. A slow smile creeps across Aurora's lips as she comes up and kisses her father's cheek before moving to me. "What do you think about it, D?" She moves away from all of us and opens her arms wide, and spins slowly. "I want to bring it back to the grandeur that it was when my mom lived. I can see it now, people dancing and drinking and celebrating again." The ethereal white glow surrounds her eyes, and she shares a vision with all of us.

An orchestra sits in the corner playing her favorite song, "Clair de Lune." She's dancing gracefully, being passed between each of us. Our children dart in and out between the party-goers, giggling happily. Her father and new stepmother are dancing closely, whispering sweet nothings in each other's ears. The biggest thing that I take away from this vision is the amount of love she feels for everybody.

Slowly, we're pulled from the vision and back into reality. One by one, we turn to look at each other and smile. I feel through the bond that the other mates who are not in the room with us shared the vision as well. We've decided that we shall make her vision come true—the amount of joy that vision gave her as well as us must happen. Aurora moves over to Dominik and whispers in his ear, then departs with him. I raise a single eyebrow looking over at Nicodeamus, who by the way, is also confused by the quick departure. I guess we're going to have to wait and find out what she's up to.