Aurora
With Jaxson laying behind me, his legs pulled to my sides, I hold myself to his chest and breath soft kisses across his neck. His head tips back, giving me access to his throat, and I allow my kisses to spread across his collarbone and up behind his ears. He releases a soft, pleased moan, while I can feel his excitement under the surface of the water, hitting my inner thigh.
I feel my body twitch, freezing, the image of Xander standing over me flashing through my mind. I cringe when he grabs at my upper thigh, taunting me, pushing my leg aside while I laid on the floor helpless, as though to give him access to— I can only imagine.
Jaxson’s hands slide up my arms, taking me back to this moment, seeing his brow furrow while I blink back the fear Xander instilled in my body. I thought for sure he would do something I wouldn’t be able to ever live down. Instead, my mate wipes my cheeks gently, minding the marks, the fear of my
JaxsonI don’t agree with my mate pushing herself to the physical brink, trying to prove something to herself, maybe even to me, that she won’t let Xander win. It’s hard to watch but I know she needs this. The wolf’s-bane has finally left her system and she feels normal, but she won’t let me into her experiences at the cabin with Xander.I worry he hurt her beyond repair.It only drives her to move faster, to do better, and it’s been weeks of her training at the depth of night just to improve on something small, on anything at all, and it breaks my heart to know she is still scared in the palace.It won’t help that tonight is the Blue Moon Gala. We will be at our most powerful forms, and with her injuries still apparent, I doubt she will want to attend. I’ve had this event planed for over six months, long before I met her, and I’d hate for her to miss the festivities because of her last e
AuroraJaxson holds me for what feels like forever. I enjoy every moment of it, too. He sways to the side and steps when necessary, making it easier on me as his thick arms show me where to turn and when to stop. I give into his control, feeling this powerful prince be so gentle in this moment.The music inside comes to a halt and so do we. I subdue a shiver, but he notices anyways, peeling his uniform coat off and sliding it over my shoulders. He smells of cedar, of his perfectly musk scent, and he leads me back inside while waiters pace through the ballroom with trays of food. The entrees are immaculate, set out for everyone in array of beef steaks, exotic fish and herbs, and chicken dipped in creamy sauces. My stomach growls as we sit at the table, Jaxson getting to be next to his father while I sit directly next to Ann.She takes my hand under the table, gleaming, and I don’t feel the need to speak on the last time we had been together. T
JaxsonI balance my fork on my fingertip, noticing that as time passes, Aurora has yet to return to the table. I know her nerves probably got the better of her but after Ann returns from the washroom with a somber shake of her head, it’s apparent she has no intention of coming back to the table tonight.Everything was going great, other than her feeling sick, but that doesn’t mean she should leave this event without letting me know how she felt. I wouldn’t have mind taking her up to bed and then returning to play nice with my constituents but to just up and leave without a second word to me, to my father, it makes me a little mad.I aim to find her, walking through the busy room, someone stopping me with a light tug of my arm. Stella stands in a miniature, far-too-short dress of beige sequins and she offers me a grin, tucking her light brown hair behind her pale, bejeweled ear.“Stella, have you seen Aurora? I can&rsq
JaxsonMy father is waiting in his office, the gala still playing out downstairs. I’ve decided not to return to the party, holding my hands in my lap as I take a seat at his desk. Tears are sitting stale on my face, cold on my neck, and they don’t show signs of stopping. My father seems perplexed at the sight of me weeping. I’ve never done it before in his company.“Son, what is it?” he asks, leaning forward over his desk, his head cocked. “I have a lot of people that need my attention tonight, this isn’t a good time to be upset, Jaxson. We have to keep appearances and even Aurora needs to participate. Did you find—”“She’s dead,” I say meekly.Even if the words aren’t true, they break me like they are.His eyes widen and he sits up straighter. “Why—I don’t—What did you just say?”“I found her in the orchard,”
AuroraI feel warm fingertips on my cheek, brushing down my lower lip, and when I recognize Jaxson’s smell, I immediately jump up, alert. My body isn’t ready for that movement. I hit the floor, out of a bed that I don’t recognize, and my stomach churls painfully.Whatever is in my system, isn’t done with me yet.I stumble toward the sink across the room, my tongue so dry it’s rough in my mouth, and I pull myself to a stand so I can flip on the faucet and let the cold water run out into the sink. I splash it all over my face, tipping a handful down my throat, and try to make sense of my surroundings while the room spins endlessly in my eyes.There are footsteps behind me, and I can’t pinpoint why, but I expect Xander to burst into the room and taunt me with more pain, something that has been replying in the dark laps of dreams in my head. I turn expectantly, spinning around too fast and instead falling back
AuroraI talk through the link with Jaxson constantly, needing to hear his voice in hopes it will make up for the fact that I can’t feel his touch. Luke tries to get me to cheer up, to get me out of bed and join him outside, but I never feel ready for something like that.I pretend to be dead, and I act dead, my heart dead as well.I wait through the day to hear from Jaxson, hoping he has solved the problems by now, but as days turn into weeks, the pauses of silence elongate more and more. I go awhile without hearing from him. It worries me, but in the same breath, it is only affirming to my initial feelings that maybe we aren’t fated mates.Luke tried for an hour to get me to leave bed this morning and I finally obliged, seeing that Mary hasn’t been coming around the cabin anymore. Ever since the night Luke and I held one another in an innocent embrace, I’ve noticed she has no interest in staying here anymore. In one
JaxsonIt’s been forty-three days since I’ve seen my mate.Every single moment since then, I’ve been working to find out who tried to kill her, working to find Xander and rid him of my list of problems, but I know I have failed her in a way that has costed me determinately. In my endless efforts to fix these problems, I neglected her, and I know she feels rejected but that doesn’t excuse her actions.I can still feel the pain in my heart when I knew something was wrong, when I could feel that my fated was being kissed by another wolf. It broke me down in the middle of a meeting with my father. I couldn’t tell him why I was in pain, everyone still assuming she’s gone for good, but that moment almost ended the whole secret.I wanted to break out and find her, remind her how much I love her, and I realize too late that I should have been doing that all along. She felt neglected and alone, and I should have kn
AuroraThe last few days have been chaotic, to say the least. It’s grown tiresome to block Jaxson out of my mind, and Luke refuses to speak to me most days. He is conflicted, same as me, but he still comes by to drop of groceries and etcetera. I have yet to see Mary, something odd going on with their relationship.I get the feeling he has told her what happened because he seems so distant to me now, so lost in his own world, and it breaks my heart to think of the predicament we’ve gotten ourselves into. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss Jaxson sometimes.Even waking up with him in bed beside me, something so simple, I wish I had more of before I destroyed it all. He was just starting to learn my little quarks, and I had just started to see his eyes on me even when he didn’t think I’d notice; I always noticed. I just threw it away after a month of feeling so disconnected from my mate.Luke perches on the