Chapter 71

Aurora

Jaxson must have spotted the carnage on the beach from afar because I watch his black wolf sprint down the shoreline until he spots my gaze and zips over to my side. His eyes are practically red in color, something furious rippling through him as he tips his head and drags me up the beach a little, circling me as I lay safe in the shallowest of ebbing waves.

I shiver, cold from the water but chills brushing down my naked body from the hot blood covering my side and hips. The cut is on my back, a claw mark or teeth mark bleeding profusely from puncture wounds behind my hip, covering my lower half with severe, iron blood.

He doesn’t shift back though, standing over me with every leg protecting me, cornering me under his shield of a body, staring at the few wolves still lingering in the aftermath of the fight not far from here. The Apogee pack has defiantly won, mostly due to the sheer number of wolves that rushed the royals unexpectedly.

Xander shifts back to his less dominating presence, stirring a slow pace around the battle ruins, as if making sure each royal is really dead and seemingly amused with his success in battle. He flicks an uninterested look up to Jaxson, hovering over me like he anticipates his old brother will charge us with every intent to kill, or wound, or torment me some more, but Xander simply paces away without appearing threatened at all.

Jaxson must see this as his opening to shift, feeling safe enough to do so while our number one enemy has seemed to let go of whatever grudge he had with his half-brother. I assume it’s because Jaxson has rejected the pack of their father and stepped aside in the fight against him, but it is never safe around Xander. Never.

“Sweetheart,” Jaxson growls, holding me to sit up while I dare to move my legs, only one of them following my initial intentions. “Can you stand? Where are you hurt? Dammit, Aurora, say something, tell me where you are hurt—”

He is speaking so fast that I can’t answer him while he continues to ramble. It’s nauseating to think of where all I am hurt but he spots to mark on my back, the clear holes poked into my skin that bleed all over the beach where I sit. My hand brushes my knee, already black and red in bruises. It’s crooked, and there’s no fixing it anytime soon.

I meet my mate’s eyes, so unconditionally filled with fear.

“I’m fine,” I lie, gritting my teeth as I hold my breath to ignore the agony of my wounds. “What happened in the village? Is the pack okay?”

He shakes his head, his cold glare on my broken knee. “No. Lots of injuries. Three deaths.”

My heart stutters with his words. “Who is dead?”

He doesn’t answer, instead looking off at the aftermath of the Royal’s dead on the beach, the Apogee handling their own casualties. Jaxson swaps looks back and forth from me and his half-brother, both of them bruting over the tense silence that is palpable between them.

“Should we be scared?” I ask, breathless.

Jaxson gives me a sympathetic grin, albeit forced. “No, sweetheart. He is done hurting us. His focus can be on overthrowing the Royal pack. I’ll be fine with whatever outcome may come of that as long as you are safe.”

His eyes drift down my bloody, crooked body.

“Let’s get back home and I will handle the rest of this terrible night,” he hums, snatching me off the beach in a swift move, a long, hollow scream leaving my lips as I’m yanked up to his chest. He kisses my cheek, tears falling as the pain hits me harder. “I didn’t want to make it slow, sweetheart, I’m sorry.”

I hiccup a cry in his arms, relishing his hold but hating the pain in this moment with my mate. I stare up to the moon ahead, pink and delicate and so subtly watching the world rip itself inside and out in chaos between packs.

The sound of Jaxson walking through the broken glass makes my head hurt. The hut is overturned for the most part but the wooden bed frame is broken, splinters laid out on the floor where Jaxson steps over the remanence of it. He sets me on the mattress, sheets and blankets thrown aside and ripped from the Royal wolf who attacked me here not so long ago.

I feel my blood soak into everything within seconds. I don’t care though, finally relaxing as Jaxson pulls his arms from underneath my body, his eyes so somber while he leans over, his hand caressing my cheek.

“I have to go help the village, and make sure Apogee doesn’t try to attack any commoners while here,” he hums, his lips pressed into a long firm line for a long silent moment. “I’ll see if someone maybe has a potion that will help. I could also—” he looks aside, ashamed.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to be like him.”

My body lurches in an involuntary flinch just at the memory of Xander marking me to keep me alive. Granted, it seems to wok pretty well with my body and my wolf. It will be the third save, the third time I’ve been healed by being marked, and if history repeats for a fourth time, I’ll be in trouble. This is the last time I want to be marked. I know Jaxson is my mate. I want this to be it.

“It’s not about the mark,” I breathe in whisper. “It’s about you being my fated mate.”

He flashes a small, fleeting grin. “You’ll be lousy for a while, sweetheart, so when I do this, I’ll have to go help the others clean up the village. Is that okay?”

“As long as I have Snowflake,” feeling a pinch of fear as I picture the wolf that stormed our little hut, my faithful kitten bursting out of my arms in the moment. With the broken window out front, it’s a wonder if she had escaped. “Oh, no,” I cough, weeping harder. “She could have escaped, Jaxson, please—”

“I’ll fix everything, sweetheart,” he hums, his hand wiping the blood and sand off of my neck. He eyes the skin, over the faint scar, and my skin perks with chills. My wolf is ready, as am I, and he hums a light noise against my throat. “I will fix it all.”

His fangs poke into my neck, gently at first, his hands brushing my face and shoulders, trying to keep me still so I don’t ruin my forever mark. I only groan and try to push him off of me from the sheer feeling of pleasure I’m feeling from this mark. My stomach tingles and I feel so wet.

When he pulls back, his eyes flicker down the length of my squirming body, the smell of my hormones clear to us both. He only grabs a blanket from nearby and brings it over my body, still so focused on his task to help clean up the mess the royals made.

I lean my head back, feeling the weight of the mating mark finally make itself known. I feel dizzy at first, a little nauseous, but I keep my eyes closed to prevent slipping away further into the oblivion of my sleep. My back tries to mend itself, my leg still so sore but slowly fighting to snap back into place.

Jaxson leaves after kissing my forehead, my body so hot and frustrated with these wounds that I hardly felt the kiss at all. Watching him leave hurts but at least I can have a piece of him with me back forever. I have had my share of doubts, that’s obvious, and I’ve had times of such intense and overwhelming love.

Right now, I’m filled with mostly concern. I don’t want him out there dealing with the mess of the Royal pack. What if more warriors are on their way or Xander decides to have Apogee attack us as well, just because he knows where we are now? A million worries cross my clouded mind in such a short amount of time; I feel so lousy and exhausted.

It will be okay, sweetheart, Jaxson says into the link, something so familiar and wonderful about his voice being that much closer to my mind, even when he is far away. I will be with you soon, I promise. I love you.

I love you too, Jaxson.