Fight (The Aurora Marelup Saga Book 3)
Fight: Prologue

Ice Dragon Chalet

Night of the Wolf

November 30, 2019

The guys move as one and rip off their cloaks, flinging them aside. Before their cloaks hit the floor, I reach up and rip off the black wig I’m wearing; my long, snow-white hair cascades down my back. In an instant, Alaric and I shift our arms so that our gauntlets and talons are at the ready. Nicodeamus steps forward with Dimitri at his side.

“I am Nicodeamus, fated mate to Anca Marelup and the true Ice Dragon King!” Chaos erupts after Nicodeamus’s declaration.

Some begin to run, trying to escape, while others drop to their knees. Alaric and I turn as one to face Bane. Carefully, I point to Alaric’s scale upon my chest. An arrogant smirk plays upon my lips as I lock eyes with Bane.

‘False King,’ I growl as my eyes churn liquid mercury. The dragonic slits slowly expand and contract as I stare him down. The eerie sound of Alaric and I clicking our talons together silences the hall. Our movements are mirror images of each other as we circle Bane, isolating him from the others.

‘I had nothing to do with the death of your mother!’ Bane shouts as his back hits the wall. A look of panic crosses his features when he realizes he can’t call upon his animal.

‘Nasty little thing, Dire Wolf venom is. Mixed with a second toxin, it suppresses the ability to shift.’ Alaric smirks, looking at his father.

“Funny thing happened before the ball. Aurora and I consummated our bond. I tasted her blood and marked her as mine. Thankfully for me, her mate Jayce gave her immunity to the toxin.’ Alaric’s temper is legendary, and now everyone is witnessing it firsthand.

‘I find it funny that the man who said we must protect our own left his king unguarded. Treason really doesn’t look good on you, Father.’ Alaric shakes his head side to side before he moves to stand beside me; he kisses the crown of my head as we stare his father down.

Bane still searches the room for an ally, but none will stand with him. Bane grits his teeth then spits towards Nicodeamus. ‘Vladimir suspected you fucked that bitch of a mate of his. The blood magic could only do so much. It was good that Anca died because of that abomination!’

He jabs his finger in my direction, and I can’t help but laugh at him. ‘The half-breed finds it funny she killed her mother! Wait till her mate informs his uncle about you living, Nicodeamus. He will hunt you down!’

Alaric rips his father away from the wall and holds his arms firmly behind him as Nicodeamus moves forward. ‘I had a feeling that bastard lived. Why else would I be kept barely alive in a dungeon, held prisoner by Lucian?’ I move to my father’s left side, protecting it.

‘The pieces are all falling into place now. The Elder Dame and Elena were both sisters to Vladimir.’ Nicodeamus strokes his chin as he connects the dots.

‘Aurora’s animal, though quite young, imprinted on Sebastian’s scent, making it easy for the magic to work. After all, he was one of the first wolves she had come in contact with. Imprinting is a dragon trait, so it was a gamble if it would work.’ Nicodeamus’s eyes fall upon me and then over to my mate, Alaric.

“Daughter, I need your talons and your rage. If my people were with me the night of the attack, there would have been a better chance that your mother would have lived.” Nicodeamus’s grief is almost all-consuming until I shift to the form of my beast. The entire room falls silent as I loom over Bane, baring my canines as I look at him. The thick yellow-green venom drips from my upper canines as I lean forward and roar in Bane’s face.

“I promised my father’s head and heart would be yours, my love. Take them as a gift,” Alaric states coldly, his voice devoid of any emotion. With a single twist of his body, he hurls his father out and into the crowd. Apparently, Alaric has been paying attention; my beast likes the thrill of the hunt more than just fighting.

“Alaric, no!” Bane shouts as he flies through the air.

His body hits the marble floor hard as he rolls to a stop. Bane panics: he can’t summon his dragon to help save his ass. Stories are already being whispered by my pack about how I took down Nexus by myself.

Bane looks now to Katherine, tears freely flowing down her cheeks as she looks to her husband on the floor. “Katherine! Save me! Shift and burn them to the ground!”

Bane’s last attempt at being rescued falls on deaf ears. Katherine shakes her head as I loom over Bane. “Husband, you knowingly allowed our king to face the horde alone. His mate died because of you and your poor choices. How can I be a loyal servant of the crown and allow your deeds to go unpunished?” Katherine looks at her husband, the sadness visible behind her eyes.

Slowly, Katherine moves to my side and lightly touches my beast’s back. “Do what you must, child. Vengeance is yours.” Katherine bows to me and leaves the grand ballroom swiftly.

I lower my massive head to his level and begin to growl, threatening Bane’s very existence. I’m enjoying seeing him afraid. Bane slowly stands and dusts himself off, and he looks at me smugly. “You won’t attack me like this.” He motions to my beast’s form. “I can’t shift. It would be in poor form to kill a defenseless man.”

I tilt my head to the side, pondering what he just said, then I look over at Dimitri. Dimitri then looks to Nicodeamus, who leans in and says something for his ears only. Dimitri reaches to his belt and pulls out a short sword, which he slides across the floor to Bane. When the blade hits his foot, I back up, giving him room to pick it up. Thus, in one single motion, I have given him a weapon, and he becomes fair game the minute he picks the sword up.

Bane grabs the sword quickly and dives for me, trying to catch me off guard. Bane aims the sword at my stomach. Quickly, I drop my gauntleted hand down and grab the sword before impact. I feel my eyes begin to glow a ghostly white as frost coats the sword. A quick twist of my wrist and the sword shatters in my hand. Several different clanging tones echo in the silent hall as the broken sword pieces hit the tile. Being the sarcastic bitch that I am, I attempt to make my beast curl its lips in a smirk as I stare at the now-terrified Bane.

I shift back to my human form, leaving only my arms shifted. Bane is so distracted by my nudity he doesn’t realize what I’m about to do before it’s too late. With one quick swipe with frost-covered talons, I sever Bane’s left arm from his body. My talons, covered in permafrost cauterize the wound on contact. Bane screams out in pain and falls to his knees, holding his shoulder where his arm used to be. Dominik comes over to me and offers me his button-down shirt and assists with slipping it on. While we are distracted, Bane grabs what is left of the sword and lunges right at me.

Alaric sees what his father is planning and he’s already in motion before Bane gets anywhere near me. Alaric’s taloned hand punches through Bane’s back and out the front, emerging with Bane’s heart in his hand. Blood spray covers Dominik and me. Me being me, I immediately start laughing as Alaric pulls his arm back out of his father’s chest. With a quick swipe of my talons, Bane’s head is severed from his body, sending more blood flying. The guests present are shocked at the scene that has just played out before them.

I watch Alaric’s moves with rapt attention as he bends down and picks up his father’s head with his free hand. When he stands directly before me, he drops to one knee and holds up his father’s head and heart. It’s such a romantic gesture. Slowly, I bend down and kiss Alaric gently on the lips before accepting my prizes.

“Friar, the wedding will go as planned in about twenty minutes. I need to go get cleaned up.” My eyes move to my other mates and close team; they nod and smile at me, accepting my choice. Nicodeamus and two handmaidens escort me out of the grand ballroom and back to my bedroom to clean up. Squires arrive before I leave, carrying clean shirts and slacks for the men.

~Alaric~

Approximately thirty minutes later Nicodeamus shuffles us back into proper position. The band starts playing again and everyone turns their gaze to the double doors. Looking at the hall now, no one would be any the wiser that there was a killing in this very room so recently…

The double doors open, and the first person to appear is Dimitri in a tuxedo. Hell has officially frozen over—the big guy is in a fancy tux. You know that is Aurora’s doing. Dimitri steps aside and reveals Aurora in a new gown: a replica of the one her mother had worn on her wedding day, blood red with gold embellishments. Seeing my mate as the bride she was meant to be earlier is breathtaking.

Aurora holds her head high and walks with fluid grace. Her steps fall in time with the music, as if she has done this a hundred times. Aurora arrives at the altar and bows to her father and then to each mate in turn. Her eyes finally fall on me, and she lowers her head and remains in a curtsy before me. I cannot allow her to lower herself before me.

Quickly, I step down the three steps to arrive before Aurora. For appearance’s sake, I lightly touch under Aurora’s chin and allow her to rise. Traditions suck! Especially this one. Fucking old school bullshit. Aurora joins me before the Friar yet again.

The Friar begins the ceremony again, this time with Nicodeamus at his side overseeing the whole thing.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I stand before you a corrected and humbled man. The pair before me… not only are they fated and true mates, they have also done the ancient scale ritual. The ritual itself dates back to the first dragons that walked this earth. A prized skull is sent along with an offered scale.” On the monitor behind the Friar, Aurora’s video of her receiving the skull and scale from me plays.

“If accepted, the scale is cut into the female’s flesh, and they wait to see if it heals.” The Friar motions for Aurora to show the crowd my scale on her chest. Once she does, he returns to the ceremony.

“Alaric’s scale lives on Aurora’s chest. In turn, Aurora picked out a skull and a scale and sent it back to Alaric.” The video changes to Ellis videoing Alaric receiving Aurora’s scale and skull. I then unbutton my dress shirt to show the audience that Aurora’s scale lives on me. We turn to the Friar as he repeats the sash ritual as before.

At the end of the ritual, Nicodeamus steps forward with a ceremonial dagger. He offers the blade to me, then holds his hand out. Quickly, I cut Nicodeamus’s palm, and he allows his wound to bleed over our joined hands. “With my blood, this I swear.” Nicodeamus places his bloody hand on top of Aurora’s and mine for a few moments, then removes his hand.

Nicodeamus takes the dagger back from me and slashes my palm. My free hand bleeds over mine and Aurora’s hands, then I lay my palm over our joined hands. “With my blood, this I swear.” I lean forward and kiss Aurora’s lips after speaking my part of the vow.

Aurora smiles radiantly at me and offers her father her free hand. Nicodeamus hesitates a moment before slashing Aurora’s palm. Aurora bleeds over the bindings and then on my hand. “With my blood, this I swear.” She smiles and places her hand on top of mine after completing her part of the vow. The blood itself is the vow; it’s a promise to always be there. It’s a promise to be loyal forever; to fail the vow is to accept death.

Nicodeamus moves and places his bloody palm over the top of mine and Aurora’s hands again. The Friar looks at the completed ceremony, then back to the crowd. “I am honored to announce your new king and queen, King Alaric Kraus and Queen Aurora Kraus! They will jointly rule the Ice Dragon clan as well as the Lycan clans. Long live the king and queen!”

The Friar completes his part of the ceremony then departs through the side door. The cheering lasts for almost an hour straight before the crowd settles down enough that we can finally hear each other over the noise.

The celebration carries on well into the early hours of the morning. All the guests come and swear allegiance to Aurora and me in turn. Aurora makes it a point to introduce all of her mates to the dignitaries as they approach. None are above the others in her eyes, and she will maintain it that way. Every song, she finds herself in a different mate’s arms. It warms my heart to see how loving and devoted my mate is to all of us within her bond. Unlike the Lycan rulers of the past, she actually puts others before herself.

Towards the end of the night, Dimitri finally gets the balls to ask Aurora for a dance. Dimitri leads her out on the dance floor and the lights are dimmed. Dimitri has picked “The Blue Danube” to be played for their dance. It’s a lovely, spirited waltz that holds meaning for the two of them. Aurora tears up slightly at the thoughtful gesture. It happens to be the first song he taught her to dance to. They spin and waltz around the entire dance floor alone. No one else dares to interrupt the fluid beauty of their movements. The poise and grace these two apex predators display is impressive. Aurora looks like a sprite dancing next to Dimitri’s hulking form. Both are smiling like school children as they move in time with the music, not a care in the world.

The song changes to another, more modern slow song, and they remain together on the dance floor. Aurora moves and rests her head on Dimitri’s chest, like a scene out of a romance movie. Dimitri’s large hand spans the width of Aurora’s lower back as he holds her tightly to him. Their movements are perfectly timed and slow beautifully with the current song. A man attempts to cut in, and Aurora damn near kills him. Dominik and Jayce move the gentleman away from Aurora and Dimitri. It’s been a long time coming, those two getting together.

Four slow songs later, and Dimitri and Aurora call it quits, finally. Nicodeamus and I have been fielding questions about the unlikely pair spending so much time together. I decide to jump into the current conversation and tell the dignitary that Dimitri is a mate of Aurora’s yet to be bound to her. The Dignitary bows his head and accepts my statement as gospel. Aurora moves to Jayce’s side and whispers in his ear that she’s tired. Dominik approaches Nicodeamus and me to let us know that Aurora needs to rest as we watch Jayce escort her out of the room.

The party comes to an end around dawn, the last of the guests are ushered out the door. There is a lot to be discussed once everyone has slept. There are massive changes on the horizon, and plans have to be made to accommodate them.

Nicodeamus ushers the guys into the large room that they share with Aurora. The main room is a sitting room and several bedrooms branch off the main room. Everyone separates and heads off to sleep.

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