7. Sebastian

CHAPTER 7

Sebastian

How could I be so dumb to accept the advances of Ravenna? I knew I had a mate, but a hundred years was a long time to wait. Now I've sentenced both females to battle to the death. My mother yells at Ravenna's father about protocol and traditions. He's insistent we sign the contract now before Aurora arrives so that it's binding. But you can't ignore a mating call; it's impossible. I've scented my mate, currently in her adult ascended form, and damn, she is powerful. I almost feel sorry for Ravenna—almost.

Here she is, strutting around the compound, in what she calls an outfit—that barely covers anything. From what I've been told, she's slept her way through the pack, trying to find a suitable mate. I look at my watch for the millionth time when I hear the tell-tale sound of a diesel motor coming up the road in the distance. My wolf surges forth, bouncing with anxiousness; he knows his mate approaches. To be perfectly honest, I've never been happier in my life. Once this battle is over, we can complete our mating bond and move on to find the others she requires for her harem. Dimitri and Andre hop out first as soon as they park and proceed to open the back passenger-side door. My mate looks stunning as she slips out of the truck. Her long, snow- white hair is braided down her back and on her muscular form, a blood-red Body-con dress.

She turns to assess the crowd before starting to walk barefoot on our soil. Her eyes are swirling liquid pools of mercury. You can practically drown in the power that's coming off her in waves. Aurora lightly dips her head to me then locks eyes with Ravenna. Ravenna attempts to keep her eyes locked with Aurora but can't—she can't even look for more than a few seconds at a clip. You can tell Aurora is out for blood; the look on her face screams rage.

Aurora snorts before she looks to Elena. "I am ready to battle my elder." In a show of respect, Aurora drops to one knee and lowers her head to my mother.

Elena looks to Ravenna. "Are you also ready, child?" Mother is wearing her priestess robes for this occasion, a sign of her station within the pack.

A growl rips from Ravenna's lips. "There's no way she's Lycan! Look at her hair! She's an imposter! I demand my right to be mated to be honored!" She crosses her arms and smirks, thinking she has won.

Surprisingly, Aurora remains calm and stands slowly. "I am Aurora Marelup, daughter of Anca Marelup and Nicodeamus Tepish, dragon mate of my mother. I bare the royal brand." She turns her right arm, baring it so it can be seen. As clear as day, the black, raised seal of the house of Marelup is there on her flesh. Most of the pack drops to one knee, including me. My true mate is the lost Princess. She continues to stare down at Ravenna and cants her head to the right. "Get in the ring, bitch. Let's see who the real Lycan is."

Aurora turns, giving Ravenna her back, which is the ultimate insult. Without warning, Ravenna charges at Aurora. Just before impact Aurora turns, grips Ravenna by the throat, and throws her into the ring. A slow shake of her head is all that is offered before Aurora shifts. Her wolf has gained mass that almost rivals my wolf's size, and she is easily over eight-feet tall, and heavily muscled. Her claws look more like talons, and on her muzzle she has snow-white scales. Ah, the ascension must have gifted her access to some of her father's gifts. This should be interesting, to say the least. She stalks forward, growling continuously at Ravenna, who still hasn't shifted yet.

"Shift and fight!" was shouted by someone in the crowd. Aurora stands there—statue-still—waiting for her quarry to shift. Ravenna knows she can't beat Aurora wolf-on-wolf.

"I wish to fight as humans!" Ravenna shouts. Boos echo around the ring before her father, the pack's Alpha, steps forward.

"Daughter, you will fight as a wolf. You disgrace our proud bloodline. To think, I whelped a coward!" Angus is beside himself, looking at his chicken-shit daughter. First, she spoke ill of the princess, and now she is trying to change tradition. The pack starts to grow restless over her childish behavior. Aurora is clicking her talons together, waiting as patiently as an enraged she-wolf could be expected to wait. "You leave me no choice, Daughter." Angus forces Ravenna to lock eyes with him, and when she does, he forces her shift on her. She howls in pain, then lands on all fours. Her body contorted, breaking at odd angles because of the forced shift. She pants heavily, trying to regain some semblance of composure.

Her head whips up to see her father walking away, giving her his back. She's practically been disowned by her family for the disgrace she's brought upon them. You can tell when it clicked—when Ravenna felt she had nothing left to live for. Her wolf immediately takes over, having scented me on Aurora. Within moments, the smaller, black wolf is attacking the great, white wolf. It's kind of sad to say, but Aurora's wolf looks bored. She's playing with the smaller wolf, swatting at her and tossing her across the challenge circle.

Without warning, Aurora shifts back to her mostly human form. She only left her hands and feet changed to that of her wolf. Honestly, her shifted hands and fingers look more dragon than a wolf. Thick, rigid, white scales adorn her hands and fingers like armor. The talons at the ends of her armored hands look like velociraptor claws. Her tail still sways behind her, showing just how relaxed she truly is. There is a defiant smirk on her lips as she stares down the pissed off black she-wolf. With a flick of her hand, she signals for her to come at her.

As Ravenna charges, Aurora leaps up, right hand out and talons extended. She uses the momentum to send her over Ravenna's shoulder, sinking her claws into the she-wolf's throat. Aurora's left-hand shoots out and digs into the she-wolf's back. In one fluid move, she severs Ravenna's head and rips out her heart. Thick crimson fluid sprays the crowd as Aurora completes her finishing move. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it.

Aurora lands gracefully, head in one hand, heart in the other, covered in her opponent's blood. She saunters towards me, shifting the rest of the way back to her human form. Her face is blank, nothing betraying her emotions at the moment. She dips her head in my direction, before heading towards my mother and her guardians.

She drops to one knee and holds up Ravenna's wolven head and her heart to my mother. "I have defeated the challenger set forth before me. I offer you her head and heart to honor your bloodline." My mother gently takes the offerings from her. "I wish to petition for the right to claim my true mate, Sebastian Lupi." Her head is dropped in submission, eyes closed, waiting for the judgment of all the elders present. Aurora fought for me—for us. I am so proud of her I could burst.

"Come forth, Sebastian." Elder Grayson was the one to call my name. I move swiftly and drop to my knees beside Aurora. I lower my head in submission, as she did, and close my eyes as well. I hate waiting, but for her, I'd wait forever if I had to.

"It has come to our attention that some dark dealings have come to pass within the pack. This business of the Alpha using his position almost to force a mating when you had a mate already." Elder Grayson began to circle Aurora and me before speaking again. "How old were you, Sebastian, when you first discovered Aurora was your mate?"

I drew in a deep breath before answering. "Barely one hundred, Elder. Aurora and her guardians lived with us for a few months, before going into hiding."

Elder Grayson stops moving beside me. "How did you know she was yours, for one so young?"

I dare not raise my head or look at him like I want to. My wolf isn't happy he is questioning us. "My wolf knew by scent. I got to hold her as a baby. She was and is everything to me."

Elder Grayson snorts. "If you knew, how could you agree to start the process with Ravenna?" He puts his hand under my chin and raises my gaze. "You sentenced that girl to death today."

Aurora's growl could be felt by those close enough to her. Her eyes narrow on Elder Grayson, and his hand on my jaw. "Release my mate," she growls. Her voice takes on the pure force of her wolf, along with eyes, and canines lengthened. I watch as the fur starts to ripple across her flesh. Her wolf is fighting for control; she wants the elder dead. I just know it.

I rest a hand on Aurora's shoulder in an attempt to calm her. It didn't ultimately work, her anger is palpable. Immediately the elder releases me and joins the others. Aurora lets the full magnitude of her Alpha powers be felt as she slowly stands. Lesser wolves cower and whine, backing up slowly. Most of the elders begin to shrink back. Everyone except my mother; she just smiles proudly.

"Come, Aurora, let's feed you and clean you up. We have a mating ceremony to perform tonight for you two." My mother opens her arms, and Aurora, without hesitation, slips right in and hugs her tightly. She gently nuzzles my mother's neck, enjoying the affection being shown to her. It's kind of scary how quickly the switch flips. Aurora goes from hellhound to snuggle puppy in seconds. I can't help but smile, watching the two of them interact; it is a thing of beauty.

Aurora pulls out of my mother's arms and looks at me, smiling. She wiggles her index finger at me as if to say come here. I rise to my full height and slowly remove my button-down shirt, offering it to her. Typical Aurora, she cants her head to the side and slowly slips my shirt on, buttoning up the front. She lifts the fabric of my shirt to her nose and sniffs. A slow, gentle sigh escapes her lips as she raises her eyes to look at me.

"Thank you, my love." Those four simple words falling from her lips in almost a whisper rocks my world completely, tilting it on its axis. Aurora's steps are cautious as she approaches me—I can tell she is a little unsure of herself. Her hand rests over my heart, and her eyes lock on where her hand rests. "I do not enjoy killing lesser beings. But I will burn the world to the ground to protect what is mine." She leans forward and kisses my chest over my heart before looking up into my eyes. Her eyes are human, a pale steel-grey, and I knew the woman had said what was in her heart, not the wolf.

"Aurora, my love, I feel like I've waited a lifetime for you. I will continue to wait until you are ready. I am yours, you are mine; we are one." I rest my hand over hers as I speak, a slight swirl of mercury surfaces in her eyes then vanishes. Both woman and wolf agree. We turn, hand in hand, heading to the main hut to catch up with my mother. I bet she's already counting how many grand pups she wants to have. I shake my head and laugh to myself as several females rush up and try to steal Aurora away. She's instantly a big, growling mess.

"Ladies, my mate isn't used to being handled. Just ask her to follow, I'm sure she would like to get cleaned up before the ceremony." Aurora nods slowly, and hesitantly follows the females, stopping to look where I am. I almost want to laugh. This badass bitch just ripped her opponent's head off and ripped out her heart, but is concerned about following a bunch of females to a bath. A large hand lands on my shoulder, turning my head slightly to find Dimitri. He has that psycho Joker smile going, and it looks kind of disturbing. "What can I do for you, big guy?"

Dimitri's eyes bleed gold, then back to hazel. "Not much, future Prince. Our girl did good today, Da ?" He crosses his arms over his chest—he's fucking huge, six feet tall and easily almost four hundred pounds of man-bear.

"Aurora was phenomenal. That finishing move, holy shit, it gave me chills. But seriously, I hate that part of the tradition. Usually, it's two males fighting, not females—there's so few fertile females left. To lose one is a hit to our species as a whole." I look out across the great hall watching everyone preparing for tonight's ceremony.

"There are even fewer great bears, if there's any left, besides me." He looks down at his beer stein and then takes a long pull of the amber fluid. "I knew that day, way back then, that Aurora was yours." He draws in a deep breath, getting lost in the memory. "Not many hundred-year-old males would want to fawn over a pup all day." I smile thinking about it. Those were the best three months of that year. "You were the only one that could get her to stop crying. I believe in my heart she knew you were hers back then too." Dimitri's eyes lift to meet mine. You can tell he is holding back laughter as he begins to speak. "I kept the shirt you gave to her to soothe her until your scent was gone. Man, did that little hellion have a fit to end all fits that day." He starts laughing hard. "She clawed the hell out of Andre and bit his nose when he leaned over to take the shirt away."

"That wasn't funny, Dimitri! That was so many shades of wrong!" Andre bellows from the other side of the hall. Damn eagle has excellent hearing and eyesight. I start laughing just as hard as Dimitri. Man, if only I could have seen baby Aurora go postal because my shirt was taken from her.

I was so distracted I didn't notice my mother emerging from the alcove. In my mother's hands, she is carrying a blood-red, crushed velvet tunic. A smirk crosses her lips as she hands it to me. Don't get me wrong, I love Aurora with everything that I am… but holy shit! I'm finally taking a mate, and she kind of scares me. I don't care that she's a princess, but fuck me, she's the last Lycan Princess and fucking lethal. Honestly, I'm more nervous that I will fuck this up and not make this perfect for her. Quickly I run over to my good buddy Pete, and give him instructions for what I need him to do for me. I'm hoping that Aurora likes camping and that my favorite spot pleases her. Otherwise, this is going to be a very long and miserable night, potentially.