60. Alaric

CHAPTER 60

Alaric

December -

Once the exam is over, Elsa sits back and smiles, then kisses Aurora on her forehead like a good grandmother would. "Congratulations, my Queen, your child is healthy and growing steadily. I'm guesstimating that within the next two months you'll deliver. Considering that time frame, I'm guessing that the child is King Alaric's. Only a dragon's child grows this quickly, and with you only being a hybrid, it would take a pure-blood to accelerate this process." Elsa smiles and bows her head slightly.

"Congratulations, my Lord, on the birth of your future heir. My lady, I am at your service and wish only to serve and protect this child of yours." Elsa's eyes shine with a hint of tears threatening to break at a moment's notice. "Thank you for allowing my grandson to bring me here to witness this momentous event. It's also brought our family great honor learning he is one of your mates. If there is ever anything I can do for you, please do not hesitate to ask or call me at any point in the night." Elsa lightly bows to Aurora and then to Alaric. She walks over to her grandson and gives him a hug before departing the room with Jayce to find her suite.

Against her better judgment, the assistant remains in the room. As Aurora stares at the assistant, her beast starts that rumbling growl deep in her chest that vibrates the entire bed. I can feel the shift in power, the pull on mine, and by the look of Nicodeamus, the pull on his as well. Dimitri feels the room's shift and quickly ushers the assistant out before we end up with a bloodbath. Almost immediately, Aurora settles back down. She looks over at Dominik then back at me.

Well, I guess that solves that mystery, now, doesn't it? She carefully slides off the bed and goes into her closet. Son of a bitch, I see all different size sweatshirts, and none of them are hers. She rifles through the collection that she apparently swiped from each of us at some point and pulls out my favorite sweatshirt. I've been wondering where the hell that one went. Well, another mystery solved, it's on her now. Aurora finds her fuzzy socks in a drawer, and she has her most comfortable leggings on. Aurora throws her hair up in a messy bun then proceeds to put that ruby crown back on her head. I guess she does love her great-grandmother's crown.

It's kind of concerning that her great-grandmother's nickname was the Blood Queen. Come to think of it, that name would be very fitting for my mate as well. She has bathed in the blood of her enemies for the last four to five months along her journey. Hell, she recently bathed in the blood of a deceptive mate. Now I'm kind of curious. Since Sebastian's dead, I wonder how soon she'll wait to complete her bond with Klaus. I'm almost betting it will be sometime after the baby is born and she has a chance to heal. But who knows, I could be very wrong with that assumption.

Aurora grabs my hand, then Dominik's, and drags us out of the room and back down to the dining hall. Kind of figured this would happen, especially after the display of power that she just put on. We've concluded that if she doesn't eat with that kind of power exertion, it leads to her collapsing. It's safer to keep Aurora fed than to let her health be at risk. Out of the corner of my eye, as we walk through the halls, I catch Klaus running around with a Santa hat on, darting in and out of the throne room. I begin to wonder just what the hell is he up to. I pass Aurora off to Dominik so I can go and investigate.

I tiptoe my way into the throne room. Even as king, sometimes I just enjoy getting the drop on people. Klaus is going through the room singing ‘Oh Tannenbaum,' decorating it in very festive Christmas decorations that he must have brought from home. I watch our little elf, yeah total joke there, he's definitely over six foot. He has brought a bit of his home here so that Aurora doesn't miss out on a traditional Christmas. "Hey, Klaus, do you need any help with that?" The poor man practically jumps out of his skin hearing someone behind him, until he realizes it's me.

"If you don't mind? It would be greatly appreciated. I want our mate to experience what Christmas would be like in my home. It's a big deal for my people. Granted, we missed the first part of the celebration which is Krampus, around the seventh of the month. But a little bit is better than nothing at all, don't you think?" Klaus looks so hopeful and exceptionally pleased with all that he's accomplished so far.

I smile and start to laugh. "Yeah, I really don't think having a six foot, demon-looking creature running through the castle would put Aurora at ease at this point. Somebody would end up getting hurt and or killed just because she didn't realize who it was." I tilt my head to the side and raise one eyebrow, looking at Klaus to see if what I'm trying to get at sinks in.

"Oh shit, I didn't think about that! Thanks for saving my ass, man." Klaus had utterly forgotten how defensive our mate can be. Then again, he's known her for less time than I have.

We work together for a few hours setting the room up. My lieutenant returns with the perfect Douglas fir Christmas tree. The blasted thing has to be twelve feet tall and about eight to nine feet wide. I have to admit, he did pick a stunning tree for our first Christmas as a family. I know I still have family living, but my mother and sister are not exactly the warmest people to be around. When he was alive, my father was more concerned about war and treasures that he may acquire from those that he thought he was going to conquer. I now have a mate that's my wife, a child on the way, and bond mates to share the rest of my life with.

Who knows how many children are going to be born in this union. I can guess at least one for each of us. I watch Klaus run around the room, decorating every little thing with ornaments that he has brought from home. I send a couple of the girls who poke their heads in to grab some of the decorations I have in my private chamber. It's stuff that came from my grandmother and my great-grandmother that hasn't seen the light of day since they died.

The girls return quickly with the boxes in tow that I have requested. Most of the ornaments brought down are either made of crystal, glass, blown glass, or rare stones that I have found along in journeys. The ones that are the most special to me are what my grandmother and great-grandmother had made themselves.

We think we're pretty slick being here, with the door closed but nope, not that slick. A few hours must have passed since I came in, and Aurora became curious about where I had gone. I see her poke her head in the door and smile broadly. Through the bond, I reach out to her only. My love, please don't let Klaus see you. He wants to surprise you by decorating this room with things from his homeland. It means so much for him to be able to do this for all of us. I'm just here helping him so that he doesn't feel like he's doing it all alone.

Aurora smiles, lightly waves at me, then ducks back out the door again. This is what I love about you, Alaric, your heart is as big as your dragon. I am truly blessed to have you as my mate.

I can sense Aurora walking away from the throne room. I see Klaus looking towards the door nervously, almost expecting her to come walking through. I shake my head at him, letting him know that she's gone. He smiles, nods, and goes back to hanging his decorations, then begins to trim the tree. He's back to singing his German Christmas carols, that for the love of the gods, I don't understand a single word that he's saying.

Eventually, the door opens again, and I turn to find his grandmother and her assistant coming through, closing it behind them. "Klaus! I'm quite concerned for my assistant's life. Your mate does not like her and is continuously growling at her. You must speak to her. I don't want my assistant living in fear being under this roof. We have at least another two months before that child is born and to live in fear for that long is never a good thing." For a wrinkled old sprite, that woman has a commanding presence to her. Then again, to be an elder as old as she is, in a pack as large as she lives in, you have to be tough as nails, hard as steel, and take no shit from anyone.

Klaus audibly exhales, and his shoulders lower. I can see the defeated stance he's currently taking. This is not a battle that's going to be easily won by either side. Do you go against your mate? Or do you go against your grandmother? It's a lose-lose situation no matter how you shake it. The old crone stands there tapping her foot as if she believes her word is law under my roof. I look over at her after laying my hand on Klaus's shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Ma'am, my mother has instructed me that female dragons and dragon-kin tend to get extremely possessive and hostile when they're pregnant. I'm sorry that my mate's temperament is making your assistant uncomfortable." I shake my head from side to side slowly. "But you have to look at it from Aurora's angle. You bring a young, unmated female into her nest, while she's pregnant, around her mates. Actions like this never bode well for the invading female. As long as your assistant stays away from Aurora's mates, she should be perfectly fine." Slowly I steeple my hands in front of me in a power move.

"Let me define staying away for you. It means do not touch, do not be alone in a room with them, and absolutely by no means get your scent anywhere on them." Smirking, my eyes focus their intense gaze on Lorianne. "You can ask Dimitri what happened the last time Aurora scented another female on him. They weren't even mated yet and she shredded that woman into thousands of pieces. It took them several hours to gather up all the remains." A slight chuckle escapes my lips before I continue.

"Her beast's sick sense of humor used the woman's intestines as Christmas garland on Douglas fir trees in the middle of the forest." I cross my arms over my chest, watching the range of emotions flitter over both women's faces. There are moments of horror and fear, understanding, then back to fear again. The assistant looks back to the old crone and then states she will be in her room and will not be coming out until absolutely necessary. While this doesn't please the old crone, she understands that this is the safest bet for her assistant to live. Eventually, the old crone leaves the room, closing the door behind her. I look over at Klaus, and the amount of relief I see on his face is immeasurable. You would think I just waged the greatest battle of all times, won, and saved him by the look on his face.

"Thank you so much, Alaric. I have never in my entire life ever won a battle with my grandmother. That old she-wolf will keep attacking until she wears you down, and you just don't care anymore, you just want her to shut up. To be perfectly honest, I'm more frightened of Aurora being mad at me than her these days." Klaus and I look at each other and then bust out hysterically laughing.

We return to finish decorating the throne room, putting up the candles and lights. Klaus even thought this plan through enough to have table decorations. He wants to be able to put the different cookies out that he was having the pastry chef make for tonight. I know Christmas is two and a half days away now, but according to Klaus, it's never too early to start celebrating.

Out of the five of us, Klaus and Jayce are the most similar in temperament and thoughtfulness. While as Dominik, Dimitri, and I are battle-hardened warriors prepared to fight at a moment's notice. I leave Klaus to finish his decorations, and I head back to my suite. In the middle of the floor, Jayce, Dominik, and Dimitri are all shifted in the central living space, lying curled up with Aurora in the center, sleeping soundly.

Dominik lifts his head, and his golden eyes lock with mine. Her beast was unsettled after eating. When we started shifting one by one, she calmed down and went to sleep. I have a feeling we will be in for a rough few months. Dominik turns his head to look at Aurora, who has her head resting on Dimitri's bear's ribs. Dominik and Jayce are curled around Aurora tightly. Jayce has his head laying on Dimitri, right beside Aurora's, and Dominik resting his head on her hip. Shit, I can't shift here and join in. My dragon is way too big to fit. I move to the corner of the room and climb into the recliner so I can watch over my sleeping family.