Aurora
There’s soft music playing downstairs, and I look out my large windows to see flocks of royal’s meandering through the palace doors to the gala inside. My stomach knots at the idea of being seen by so many high-ranking officials but the only thing keeping my head on straight is the idea of getting to see my parents and my closest friends.
I pace my bedroom, wearing a lengthy red dress made of silk, feeling it hug my curves while it trails behind every step as I pace the floors of my bedroom. I wear another set of heels, glitzed with diamond looking studs, the dress I wear so much more glamorous than anything I’ve ever worn on my birthdays before.
It used to be a simple affair, a night in my parent’s kitchen with a cake my mother made last minute. My friends would surround me and sing, and I would open gifts of small amounts of coins or special treasures they have found that would make me smile. It was simple then.
AuroraMy wet eyes shoot up, seeing Luke standing in the courtyard just a few paces away from me. My body is frozen, but my wolf is howling in my head, so loud that it’s disorienting, my eyes fixating on the sight of my best friend here in the palace courtyard, something I honestly thought wouldn’t happen.Despite everything going on, the millions of worries I have swirling in my mind, I jump up at once and throw myself into his expectant arms, holding me tight to his chest like he always use to, and for a moment I picture us out in front of my parent’s house, ready to go to town and find our group of friends to conquer the day together as hopeful, future warriors.But I pull away, wiping my tears, reality brushing back up my throat and making my breath hitch. At least he is here, although he forces a side smirk and both of us seem too on edge to speak first.I mustered the courage. “I’m glad you came,” I
JaxsonI’ve never had to fight so hard in my life to keep from shifting and killing someone in my way. My hands haven’t stopped shaking for two days, my fists stuck in place at my sides, worried if I pull them up even a little, I’d put a hole in the walls of the medical wing of the palace. No one will speak to me, not the healers or the guards outside the door, posted permanently to watch my mate at all hours, every day, even if I am around and capable of protecting Aurora.I should have been there to prevent this and from now on, I will be. I wanted to give her space, even while I saw her in the courtyard, upset and clinging to her old friend, I held back my ferocity of her embracing another male. I wanted her to feel a semblance of familiarity here in her new home, but seeing her runaway so upset, and watching him chase after her, I thought for sure she would have pushed him away the same way she has done me the last few weeks.
JaxsonIn my most powerful form of wolf, I stalk out of the medical room, head hunkered down while my father, in the same, black and gray wolf form, follows behind. I aim to rush down the hall, to do right by my mate and rid this bloodline of such scum, but my father’s leniency only goes so far with me.He moves in front of my path, head held high and teeth showing, wanting me to submit but even as my Alpha, he cannot penetrate my anger. I raise my head up with his, showing him I do not intend to submit to a ruling based solely on the perpetrator being his second son, and only on the severity of the harm he has caused the future Luna of our royal pack.You will stand down, son. Or I will force you.You’re being more disciplined with me than you are with the son that clawed into my mate’s back. If you intend on blocking me from establishing justice, father, then I will have no choice but to force my way through
AuroraI can hear Jaxson outside the door with his father, king Kennedy, arguing about how Xander got away and took some of the royal pack members with him in his escape. I want to feel comforted by the fact that Luke isn’t to blame anymore, and at least Xander is gone and can’t threaten me again, but I can’t help feeling like the second prince isn’t done with me yet.He wants to be Alpha. He wants to be king. And right now, Jaxson and his father are the only two wolves standing in his way. I can’t imagine what he is willing to do to get to the throne but for now, I feel safer without him down the hall from me.“Leave this matter to me, Jaxson, I mean it,” the Alpha says, his voice making me shiver.Jaxson doesn’t even sound frazzled by his father’s command. “If I catch wind that Xander is coming back to do anything to her again, I will send my guys out to have him killed. Now leave
AuroraLuke hasn’t woken from his injuries yet, but I feel obligated to try and sneak down to the medical wing as best as possible. It never works. The door is always guarded by warriors, but I have noticed a lag of protection at one time during the day.High noon.I don’t know if it’s because they are changing shifts or grabbing lunch, but I watch the steps of shadows leave the crease under the door for exactly ninety-four seconds. I’ve counted everyday since I’ve been locked back up here.When the sun peaks, my heart throbs, wondering if Luke is awake and scared of his surrounds; just like I how I feel.I watch the shadows disperse and decide it’s time to move.I grab for the fire poker, a long iron bar still hot from resting in the heated logs, and I jam it between the doors, trying to not make too much sound. The hot iron sizzles against the cold door, and I slide it down until it catches
JaxsonI have always had a temper, there is no mistaking my fits of rage when things don’t work out the way I had exactly planed out. I don’t like calling it meticulous by any standard but severe could be a more ambitious word to call it what it is. When I get mad, I’m furious, there is no lever lower than that.Seeing my mate curled into the lap of another male, who tenderly cradles her in his arms, I begin to ponder if there is a level higher than severe.I stomp into the room to rip her from his arms, but she flinches away from my hand, as though I am a threat, and she is helplessly at my mercy. I pause, my warriors circling the two of them, one of them threatening to grab for the mutt holding my mate but I slam a fist into his forearm, watching him recoil away from doing so.It’s obvious I’ve had this situation mistaken.I went to check in on my mate, holding another present I grabbe
Aurora“Come on, little one, don’t stop for me.”I blush, Luke leaning against the wall, his body pained but his smile the same warm grin as it’s always been. I move to hug him, stopping a few paces short, the pain of his smell so different to me now. I hadn’t noticed it on my birthday, or in the medical wing when I ran to check on him, but I smell it now.He smells like his mate, Mary.It hits me then. I have to let our love go. We wouldn’t be here if things weren’t the way they are meant to be. Me with Jaxson, Luke with Mary. It has to be for a reason, for some unknown cause that I wish I could change, but I’m not powerful enough to make that kind of change, no matter if I want to or not.He closes the gap between us, pulling me in a tight embrace, holding me off the ground for a moment so he can fully take my arms and my body into his. I smile, then laugh, feeling weightless and carel
JaxsonIt’s impossible to sleep. I don’t even pretend anymore, sitting up in bed, reading one of my father’s old war books on strategy, feeling Aurora shift under the covers and whimper for me to hold her. I let my hand rest on her bare back, watching her settle at my touch and drift back to sleep. I hardly have it in me to look at her now.Not after what she said to Luke.I had my father tell Luke he will leave by sunrise and if he doesn’t, he will die here. I can’t have someone like that around my mate. She was manipulated to kiss him, to be alone in a room with him, knowing damn well that I would have found out and been furious.She is confused, she told me that herself and I believe it, but I will never let her near that asshole again. He saved her life and that’s the only reason he is still breathing in this palace. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have hesitated to kill him the second he reached for her.
AuroraJaxson is off with his training as he does before the pups awake. I take this time to myself to tidy up the hut, pour myself a cup of coffee and watch the sun dare to break the horizon. I watch the waves lap and decide to venture toward them, seeing the sky in the distance a beautiful navy color now. The peace of this pack brings me joy unknown to me before.I wish I had seen just where Jaxson and I would have ended up before I made things so difficult. I only wanted to be free, to love without trouble, but this trouble has brought me a grand future. Thankfully he never gave up on me, and I never fully let myself lose him because otherwise, I would be left in another life, one not as fulfilling as this one.I hear the sounds of feet on sand approach from behind and the scent of my mate’s wolf is nowhere nearby. Instead I smell that of my best friend, his tired eyes coming into focus as he stands beside me in blissful awe, watching the moon expire to the morning.“Good morning,
JaxsonI still fear for my mate. I watch her more than she would ever know. She is calmer now, not as frightened or startled as she used to be. She was never meant to be scared, to be worried that the world we live in would hurt her but I am not the maker of the world. I am not the keeper of knowledge and I am not a king.I’m but a humble Alpha, a father to three pups, a mate to an amazing Luna, and I am finally okay with that. I have let my childhood fantasies run free and I stopped chasing them at last. My life has become simple, not waited on by terrified maids, worried they will be slapped for missing an order or mispronouncing a name of a royal.My Luna has taught me the right way to live, easily, and she does so even now, holding one pup on her hip, stirring a pot for dinner and tending to the other two on the floor at her ankles, playing with large plastic utensils like they’re in a band. I watch her move through her night with a flow, a vine in the wind, easy and pretty.For a
AuroraFinally, free of the pups, I relax on the couch with Jaxson, sipping our hot-coco and humming tunes stuck in our heads. It feels so empty and quiet in our house but at least we have some time to lean back and breathe. I am utterly exhausted right now but that hasn’t stopped my mind from wandering to what I’ve been mulling over all day on.Jaxson gently breathes against my back, both of us snuggled on the couch that is hardly big enough for at least one of us, so I take to sitting on his lap, practically crushing his chest, but I don’t care and neither does he seem to. His arm curls around my shoulder, keeping me close to him without any intention of letting me go.I aim to kiss his neck, his hand diverting me elsewhere, kissing his lips ravishingly. I can’t help but moan as he makes out with me so vigorously that I pant for breathes against his mouth, begging to steal some air from his lungs to have for myself.“Alpha,” I say, practically begging for more with my whimpering ton
AuroraIt couldn’t possibly be more tense in this tiny hut if we tried. We have been lingering on the porch for what feels like hours, Kennedy and Jaxson mulling over conversations that vary from subject to subject. I try not to pry in the talks all that much. I don’t necessarily care firstly but secondly, I fear for my friends, my family, and the other commoners of Dawn pack while the king Alpha’s men all stand on the beach, prepped for trouble.My stomach aches at the mere thought of trouble in our paradise, especially when my three sleeping pups have to woken up soon from their afternoon nap so they can have dinner.Jaxson gives me an all-knowing look, his eyes heavy with concern. I give him the same somber look and the king must notice, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. I watch as he twiddles with his thumbs, sensing our hesitation, and I don’t think any of us are interested in dragging this out longer.“I know you were pregnant,” Kennedy sighs, finally breaking the tension. “My
AuroraWhen the panic subsides, Jaxson and I move slowly, trying to keep the pups quiet enough to inspect the living room first. Snowflake is startled and froze upright, worried as she looks out the front window. I follow her gaze, the morning simple and bright and warm as it pours into our small, quaint hut.Jaxson clings to one pup, while I juggle the other two. He gives me a daring look of caution.Stay close but stay behind me.I give him an approving nod, not stupid enough to face anything when I’ve got a perfectly capable, super strong Alpha with me. He and I both leave the hut and make our way to the beach, turning in every direction to see everything seems rather calm outside, like nothing happened at all. Everything except for a tall stack of black smoke in the distance, trailing into the sky.“Aurora!” My mother finds me first, thankfully taking Dawn from my grasp, clinging to the little pup. My father is next, taking Lily from Jaxson and then taking the young male pup from
Aurora“Please, tell me you’re joking,” I breathe, feeling to stunned to believe it.Jaxson kisses my temple, shaking his head. “It’s true sweetheart.”“Every—Everyone?”He nods once more. I feel tears form in my eyes.“Because of Xander’s death and the treason on me lifted for leaving the Royal pack,” Jaxson says, brushing a stray tear off my jaw, “I just thought it was now safe enough to allow everyone to come live in Dawn pack.”I throw myself to my mate, feeling him grab me, hold me, and never intend to let go of me. I cry gently into his chest. I was worried he would miss the royal pack and crave to be the royal king Alpha more than he would want to create a mating bond with me but I was terribly wrong. He has now proven tenfold that he cares for me so deeply that he would invite my parents, my best friends, into the pack we have chosen to live our lives in.I do worry though, truthfully, that Luke has come for alternative reasons. He hasn’t spoken to me since the beach and I don
AuroraI manage to slip on something to wear, feeling so clouded in my mind that I don’t even notice I have managed to slip into a summery white dress while holding Dawn on my hip throughout it all. I kiss her pale nose, her bright blue eyes a wonder to this world. She is too precious to believe and yet, I know she is special, like her two little siblings.She winks awake and back asleep a few times, attempting to finally fall back asleep but I can’t stand another sleepless night where Jaxson and I have to take turns with cooing these little pups back to sleep.I pace outside to the living room, seeing the beach full of people. I spot Jaxson first of course, his arms full of little Jax and Lily who is busy pulling at his hair in the fistful. He doesn’t seem to mind it as much while he converses with the newcomers.I know them all, of course. I’ve just been too nervous to say anything to them. I cling to Dawn, like a shield, or a distraction, and carefully step off the front porch and
AuroraLily Opal Knight, Dawn Emerald Knight, and Jax Hunter Knight.I hold them all three in my lap, my wolf ready to pounce and lick each of their faces separately, lovingly, so desperate to be their favorite admirer in all forms possible. I lean back in bed, cradling each sleeping child in my tired, limp arms.I haven’t been able to do much since the fight it took to give birth, and I’ve been out of my mind ever since. I have even sworn to hear Luke’s voice outside the hut, especially when Jaxson pounces to go to the kitchen or any other reason he has given when leaving the bedroom. I relish when he returns, aiding me in the smallest of acts that truly make me feel thankful to have a mate like him by my side.He never fails to hold me when I feel the nagging after-ache of what my body has been through, and he helps me rest in the shower, letting the warm water drown over my body when I need a break from my otherwise, perfect angels. I patiently wait for his return now, seeing him b
AuroraI see my parents.They were always so supportive. I never expected them to want to have children. We lived a hard life, the three of us brought up in a world where commoners are mistreated and slaughtered, if not used by royals as nothing but slaves. I always figured it would be hard for me to bring up children, knowing they could see the same fate as so many others I have witnessed fall victim to royals before.Meeting Jaxson changed all of that, but not at first. I still recall the coincidental moment that made him find me, and I recall spending so many days and weeks thinking it was a nightmare, that I had gone crazy and my mind was unsafe for me. I couldn’t come to accept what he claimed to be true. He had to have been mistaken.I see the moments where I asked him to just reject me, to make both of our lives simpler, but my mate never gave into that outcome. I even rejected him and it only pushed him further to be with me. It sent us closer together. It made sense at the ti