52. Alaric

CHAPTER 52

Alaric

Today has to be the absolute best day of my life. My mate flew with me, and she tended to the scales my dragon can't reach. Aurora even sought shelter under my wing when my mother approached. I feel like I'm king of the world right now.

Now, I'm only concerned about my mother's reaction when Aurora said her father is still living. She seemed to get very nervous after that. Maybe there was betrayal on my father's side? I'll ponder this later, but for now, I'm supervising the construction of my bride's wedding dress—nothing but the best for Aurora. I don't care if I don't have a title. I don't care if we have to walk through the fires of Hell to secure her birthright to her mother's throne.

I stand back and watch the seamstress work on Aurora's dress. Honestly, I don't think any fabric will ever be good enough for her. It's my own opinion, not how she feels. She doesn't care about finery or any of the usual court bullshit.

I receive news that Nicodeamus was spotted on the horizon with the rest of the packs. He's way ahead of schedule. Good, it gives me time to get them all settled, bathed, and fed before tomorrow. I tell the one manservant to prepare enough robes for their arrival. He bows and leaves to complete his task.

The second seamstress shows me the suit she's preparing for me. It's a beautiful compliment to the dress I commissioned for Aurora. I can't believe she agreed to marry me on such short notice. Our bond is different than that of her wolf mates. Our bond is bone-deep; no bite is required or even a mating. We were matched on the most primal and genetic level. If we were not a match, our scales would have died the moment they were implanted. I gently rub Aurora's scale on my chest, and I can instantly feel her joy. I wonder why my parents never swapped scales. Perhaps I'll ask my mother later.

"Alaric?" Speaking of the devil, here's my mother now.

"Hard at work, I see," Katherine says in a bored tone as she looks over the suit. She plays with the lapel, examining the stitch work closely.

"What do you need, Mother?" I tilt my head to the side and examine her body language, looking for a clue as to what her motivation is.

"I don't need anything. Why would I need anything? I'm the queen, after all." She looks at me and tries to hold my gaze. She couldn't do it for long. My mother starts fiddling with the hem of her sleeves instead of looking at me. I slowly cross my arms over my chest and lean against the wall, watching her.

"Let me guess, either you're bothered by the fact that Nicodeamus is still alive or the fact that his daughter is my mate," I smirk as I watch her eyebrow twitch, a dead giveaway that I hit the nail on the head. My mother bites her bottom lip and continues to stare at the hem of her sleeve. Katherine begins to walk around the room until she reaches the window.

"Your father knew about the attack before it came. That's why we didn't attend that night. He admitted to the knowledge a few months ago. He said those horrible Strigoi were sent in search of the last true heir. A puppet master is pulling their strings. Tomas is not the true leader; someone else is giving the orders." My mother looks frightened. I slowly move to embrace her.

"Mother, we will protect you. Aurora is quite strong; she took down Nexus all by herself." I smile broadly after seeing my mother's shock at the news. "Besides, I believe we can take back the throne, usurp my father, and assemble the nest to take back the main castle. Aurora is alpha enough to force every wolven creature to shift. I've seen the video that proves her power. Hell, I've felt her power for myself." I release my mother, and she breaks away to spin around and face me.

"Are you absolutely sure, Alaric? You know your father is a powerful male. I don't want to see my oldest son die." Katherine is practically in tears as she thinks about the possibility of me dying. A knock at the door makes both of us look at the sliding bolt lock. A single long, hooked, white talon makes its way between the doors then slices down, cutting the beam in half. A thud is heard as the door flies open. Aurora stands on the other side, partially shifted. She must have sensed my inner turmoil. Her eyes are fathomless orbs, the churning mercury not giving away where she's looking.

"My love, I know the mid-shift is exhausting. Why don't you take your full form?" I smile, looking at Aurora as she smirks then fully shifts. Her great, white hybrid beast looks down at us. I can feel my mother's body trembling beside me. "Mother, I told you she can defend herself." I smile as I look at Aurora's hybrid up close for the first time.

I slowly approach her and caress the heavy scale-like armor on her forearms. I raise her arm to look at how her scales form into gauntlets to protect her. Where the wolven claws should be, long, white, curved dragon talons exist. Aurora remains still as I touch her beast's form. I guess it's only fair; she did examine my dragon closely before.

My mother's eyes widen as she watches me manipulate Aurora's talons. My eyes move to Aurora's head; it's a unique mix of Lycan and dragon features. Her muzzle is broader with a ridge up the nose plate like a dragon. Tiny scales adorn her eyelids, almost like eyeliner. For a moment, as I stare at her mercury orbs, I can see a slightly darker shade of grey in the center of her eyes—the darker area in the shape of a dragon's slit. I simply smile at her and stroke her muzzle.

"I can see your eye slits," I say in a teasing tone as I look up at her. Aurora's ears flicker before she tilts her head to look at me, then rolls her eyes. Her long, white tail whips from side to side in irritation. I'm guessing I'm right; I can see where she's focusing her gaze.

"Are you sure that's safe, Alaric? She could be unpredictable," Katherine states from her spot near the window. She looks like she's ready to jump at any moment.

Aurora growls and begins to freeze the room. Her alpha power is unleashed, driving my mother and the seamstresses to the ground. In the distance, we can hear Nicodeamus's dragon's roar. Aurora answers back in a mixed sound that can only be explained as a howling roar.

Then she approaches my mother and shifts back to her human form. "What do you know about the night my mother died?" I can see a fine line of scales ripple down Aurora's spine all the way down to her tailbone. This happens several times before my mother speaks.

"My husband knew and kept us here. He knew about the attack and didn't let our clan attend or even think about leaving the nest." Katherine lowers her eyes and puts her hands over her face as she begins to cry. Aurora looks back at me. I can see she's struggling for control.

I unbutton my dress shirt and wrap it around her. Her oppressive alpha power slowly diminishes, and everyone else can start moving about again. Aurora looks up at me with tears in her eyes. I can't tell if they're rage or pain tears. She slowly lowers her eyes, just staring at my chest. I gently kiss her forehead and hold her. What else could I do? I mean, the twins were right; she's quite scary when she's dealing with an emotion outside of rage. For all I know, she could lose her shit and take out everyone in this room in a few seconds. My mother seizes this moment to escape out of the room as quickly as possible.

Aurora, completely uncharacteristic, speaks in a soft voice. "You know I'm going to kill him, right?" She doesn't bother to look up at me. I rest my head on top of hers and just smile.

"Consider my father's head a wedding present." Aurora backs up and looks at me, my shirt barely staying on her shoulders. Her smile rivals the sun. I haven't seen her this happy since she went flying for the first time. Aurora's smile turns mischievous as she tilts her head to the left.

"Do you really mean it, Alaric?" Her hands slide down my chest to rest on the edge of my pants. Her fingertips slowly slip under the waistband and slide back and forth, touching my lower stomach. I can feel my cock come to life, quickly becoming almost painfully hard. Her scent has changed. In the back of my mind, I know her heat recently should have ended, but there's always that slight chance she's still fertile.

"Aurora, we should be careful. It's still so close to when your heat ended." I'm trying to be responsible. I don't have condoms here, and I don't want her to regret our first time together.

Aurora's fingers make short work of my belt, my button, and then my zipper. My trousers fall to the floor, leaving me bare for her inspection. Aurora's eyes slowly roam over every inch of my body. Her mischievous grin turns into one of appreciation. I'm now very thankful for all the extra training sessions I did every single week. Aurora shrugs my dress shirt off and tries to herd me to the desk behind me. She's got another thing coming if she thinks I'm going to allow myself to be dominated by my mate.

When we get close to the desk, I grab her by her waist and spin her around. Aurora's palms slap down hard on the desktop. I wrap her thick, white hair around my left fist and pull back so her neck is exposed and her back is arched. I press my body flush with hers, and my cock rests between her plump ass cheeks. My right hand comes up to lightly grip her throat as I growl softly. "We do this my way, love. I can't promise to be gentle. Your scent is driving me insane."

Through our bond, she responds, Anything, my love, I need to feel you. Aurora's breathless voice echoes in my head, making my cock leak with anticipation.

I slowly move my hips back and feel my cock slide down her ass crack to her dripping folds. Once I'm lined up, I thrust into her roughly. Each stroke out is agonizingly slow, but my thrust back into her is fast and hard. Aurora's moans are music to my ears. The soaking wet slaps of flesh on flesh drives me to start fucking her harder. I tighten my grip on her throat as my thrusts start to become erratic. All of a sudden, Aurora's powerful cock-crushing orgasm rips through her. My balls begin to tighten, begging for release.

A fresh gush of Aurora's cum spurts out of her pussy, drenching my cock and balls. I'm too close to my own orgasm to hold back any longer. I use Aurora's hair to move her head to the left. I roar as my orgasm rips through me, and my canines descend just before I sink them into the muscle of Aurora's shoulder. I feel my seed pulse in waves into her womb, every shockwave rippling through me. Instinctually, I know what's happening. I keep making small thrusts, milking every last drop of seed I have into her. I carefully withdraw my teeth from her flesh and lick the wounds clean. I release my grip on her throat and hair and start kissing her skin. "I love you so much. I hope I wasn't too rough?"

Aurora lays her chest on the desk and stretches. "Fuck no! That was phenomenal!" She turns her head to look at me over her shoulder. I withdraw from her slowly then slide her whole body onto the desk. I crawl onto the desk beside her as she rolls onto her back. Aurora bends her knees and places her feet flat on the desk. I lightly run my fingers over her soft abdomen.

"I have to say it's a first for me to have fucked here. I'm just glad everyone had enough sense to leave." I chuckle softly as I watch Aurora look around.

"You know I need to return the favor." Her fingertips trace where I bit her. She raises a single eyebrow and looks at me before she covers her mouth to yawn. I carefully extract myself from the desk. Aurora seems so happy and peaceful when she sleeps. I gently scoop her up in my arms and carry her to my room. Lucky for me, a maid is cleaning up in there.

She looks up, startled by my arrival. A knowing smile graces her lips, and she turns down the bed so I can tuck Aurora in. Once she's settled, I go and take a quick shower. When I'm done, I leave my room and make arrangements for Aurora's dress and appropriate jewelry to be left for her to choose from. I handpick attendants to help her dress for the wedding.

The castle herald announces the arrival of Nicodeamus and his army. I run downstairs as fast as I can to greet everyone. "Welcome home, everyone!" I approach Nicodeamus first and embrace him. In a whispered tone, I speak to him. "We need to talk. Gather the twins and Dimitri; we'll meet in the library." Nicodeamus nods then moves off into the crowd. I finish greeting everyone, then make arrangements with the servants to get the troops fed and food and drink to be brought to the library.

I wait for the guys to arrive in the library. My hand rests on the decanter for a moment before I lift it to pour a few glasses of well-aged bourbon. Once the guys arrive, and everyone is inside, I lock the doors, pass out the drinks, and turn on some music to prevent anyone from listening in.

"I have news," I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. "Apparently, my father knew about the attack, and that's why there were no dragons present at the festivities. The second bit of news is Aurora and I are getting married tonight, so her claim to the dragon throne is stronger." The guys start talking among themselves then Dominik speaks.

"Aurora agreed to go along with this? She doesn't believe in putting one mate above the others." Dominik looks pissed, and so does his brother. Thankfully, our angel makes her appearance.

"You're right, Dom; no mate is above the other. The very public wedding tonight is part of a two-fold plan." Aurora holds up one finger. "It appears to be a political marriage since mates don't need a wedding. Our enemies will believe I haven't gained power from him. Without a true dragon mate, they will believe me to be weak and a target." A sadistic grin creeps across her vermillion lips as she holds up the second finger. "Then, I will kill them all and add their skulls to my throne." The way Aurora says it so matter-of-fact is kind of scary. I'm starting to understand why Nicodeamus said her dragon side is quite strong.

"Daughter, what would you have me do? I'm supposed to be dead." Nicodeamus smirks, then looks to me and bows his head for a second.

"That's easy, Father. You're walking me down the aisle. Let those fuckers gawk all they want. The first to raise a hand will die by my talons." The minute the word talon leaves her lips, she shifts both arms, displaying her weapons. I notice her scales have changed. The ridges are more prominent and now have sharp edges. Nicodeamus is the first to take notice as he reaches for Aurora's hand.

"What's the word? Upgrade?" He carefully twists Aurora's gauntlet in his hand, admiring the change. "I see you two had time to work on your bond." Nicodeamus smirks as Aurora looks between me and the twins, then finally Dimitri. Her eyes fall to her own arms, looking at how the scales changed. Her eyes light up and churn liquid mercury, except they're now adorned with dragonic slits. I'm guessing her vision is also altered by the way she's studying things.

"Are you okay, my love?" I move closer and shift my arms like hers. My scales are just as rough looking. They have shades of mostly blues and whites with the occasional fleck of gold. I lightly touch my talons to hers to get her to look at mine. Aurora has a look of wonder as she lines one of her arms up with mine. Almost identical in every way, except color.

"Wow. I guess I know what gift I got from you, Alaric." Her father almost chokes on his bourbon. I can see the guys' noses working as they catch her scent. The change in it is subtle, but it's there. I watch Nicodeamus huddle the twins together and bring them up to speed. Shock isn't even the word to describe the look on the twins' faces. Poor Dimitri just shakes his head and throws his arms up in the air. It's too soon to alert Aurora of the possible cargo she may be carrying. We'll know more in a month if it's taken root.

"What the actual fuck is wrong with you four? This is cool as shit, and y'all are over there measuring your dicks in the corner. Where's the damn food? I'm starving!" Aurora practically growls out. Dimitri and Jayce bolt out of the room to get more food while Dominik, Nicodeamus, and I deal with a heavily armored, hungry hybrid.

Lucky bastards made it out.

I'm almost jealous.