Chapter 81

Aurora

Jaxson stands stunned for a long, patient pause. I can’t help but hear his thoughts running in circles. He can’t possibly stand to see these royals on Dawn pack lands but in the same breath, confusion plagues his mind. He was a target just weeks ago, about to be Alpha of a slaughtered pack on the beach and sent back to his fathers hip. Now these royals come in peace, declaring that Jaxson is cleared of his treasons?

What changed?

I can’t find it in my body to stand up any longer. I collapse backwards in my chair, my head spinning while I lean forward, my stomach is heavy cramps. I rest my head in my hands, soon feeling Jaxson kneel beside me, running his large hand across my lower, pained back muscles. I haven’t got the strength to carry three pups, let alone those of royal blood.

“It’s okay,” he hums, kissing my hand, his eyes squinting back and forth from the royals in the trees and then back to me, both times his eyes filled with concern. “I’m going to go see what this is all about.”

“We can approach you, if that’s okay, sire,” one of the royals barks from afar.

Jaxson looks to his pack, curiously pondering their safety around these monstrosities. “If any blood is shed from my pack, yours will be shed soon after.”

The royal up-front nods hastily and clumsily walks through the sand to approach. “Sire,” he hums, exasperated from the walk into the beach, simply unfamiliar with the sand breaking at his steps. “Your father, Alpha king Kennedy, has requested you return back to the palace.”

Jaxson doesn’t stand, simply kneeling beside me, his hand tracing my aching back and spine. “Why would he request my return? I made my stance clear when I abandoned the pack and rejected him as my Alpha. I have no ties left with the royal pack.”

“He also wanted me to inform you of your brothers untimely passing.”

Jaxson and I both perk up in awe.

“Xander is dead? How?”

“Killed by the Alpha,” the royal says with a mere shrug. “He challenged to Alpha, stormed the kingdom, and he lost his life in the battle. It was a clean duel. This is to be said, of course, that you are now the sole heir of the kingdom and the Alpha to be of the Royal pack. Your father plans on stepping down soon.”

“He wants me to be Alpha?” Jaxson shakes his head in utter dismay. “Doubtful.”

“You can’t be serious,” I breath, panting. “After everything that’s happened?”

“All in the past, Luna Aurora.” The royal bows his head, staring intently at my growing stomach. “The king would like to welcome you both into the pack, as soon to be Alpha and Luna of the royal pack. If you would accompany us back to the palace, of course.”

Jaxson looks to me, his lower lip intently rolling between his perfect, white teeth. “What do you say, sweetheart? I can’t make this decision alone. I need your input.”

I look to the royals in the distance, larger than life and still so terrifying to me. then I look to our new pack, the Dawn pack that has held us higher than any Alpha and Luna ever could be. I’ve been with these pups for awhile in my womb and I have never seen such kindness directed to Jaxson and I. I have received gifts of adoration, cooked meals and prayers to the moon goddess for the safe delivery of our heirs.

But I also see Jaxson. I see his yearning to please his father, but more so, his need to please me. I have been his priority throughout this entire matehood and for me to make the wrong choice here and wound his pride on what he truly wants would be an insult to us as a bond. I can’t tell him how much I love our new life, and how the prospect of our old still terrifies me.

I think to the locked door, the constant missing mate who is always busy with the warriors, with wars and hell to fight, and never getting as much time as I needed to see how truly he cared for me. I recall the empty bed, the constant threats, and it wounds me to consider just how painful it would be for me leave this life for that one.

Jaxson sweeps through my mind before I can protest, before I can shield him from my truth.

He smiles, something so innocent about his curling lips, and makes me feel weaker than before. He nods, kissing my forehead, and looks back to the royals in our lands. Disclosing his decision may bring a fight, or it could bring us exaltation from the palace forever, but I think the king would hate to miss out on seeing his grandchildren, even if we decline his polite offer to take over a kingdom and a Royal pack that isn’t worth saving from themselves.

“I can’t return,” Jaxson says, his words oddly calm and rather upbeat. “My pack is here.”

The royal seems perplexed, probably not thinking he would be rejected in such a prideful offer. But my mate, my forever best friend and lover, would never return to a pack that treated his mate or his future offspring as horribly as he has witnessed in the past.

“Sire, it is really in the best interest that you consider this offer thoroughly.”

I lean back in my seat, trying to adjust my back, but the pains are building with the stress of these negotiations. I haven’t even been able to stand up for more than an hour at a time and not once has anyone given us this kind of monumental proposition. My head is spinning in stress, my joints slowly locking up as I try even harder to alleviate my aches.

Jaxson rests a hand on my shoulder, trying to rub through the tension of my muscles. “I’m going to ask that you and your men leave Dawn pack lands. This conversation is over. I have made my choice. My mate and I will remain here, where we have been shown nothing but respect.”

“But, Sire—”

“Leave!” Jaxson barks, wiping his hand over my forehead, now damp with sweat. “If not, I will take your company as a sign of attack against my ailing mate. Your offer has been rejected. My father is free to visit his grandchildren all he wants but as of now, your being here is unwelcomed and adding stress to my pregnant mate.”

The royal finally gives in, returning to his warriors in the trees. I lean against the table until they are all out of sight, releasing a heavy sigh of relief when they are out of sight. I couldn’t stand the feeling of so many posh royals around me and my half-commoner pups.

Jaxson brushes a hand across my cheek, trying to grab my attention, but I can’t keep conscious much longer. I feel so drained, like I’ve run a marathon with nothing but boulders tied to my ankles. I dare to stand, hesitating at first, before collapsing back into my seat.

Jaxson tries to calm my nerves. His soft lips graze my cheek, then my temple, before finally pelting me with a lasting kiss on my head. I sink into his arms, consuming his scent, that alone able to evaporate every ounce of my pain back into oblivion where it came from.

I look up to him and the rest of the pack who stares with awe. They probably thought the same as I had, that Jaxson would return to the palace, to rule the pack he was bred and born to rule one day. I shouldn’t have doubted my lover. He would never choose his pack over me, over the safety of our pups, and seeing my royal mate give it all up for the likes of a commoner still brings shock and joy into my system.

Don’t be surprised, sweetheart, he hums into my mind. I close my eyes, leaning to his chest, letting joy fill my chest. There’s nothing I wouldn’t give up to live a good life with you.

Thank you, Jaxson.

Anything for you, Aurora.