Attack (The Aurora Marelup Saga Book 4)
Attack: Chapter 12

I’ve spent months in the American Lycan camp, and in all that time, I’ve only learned they are weak and disorganized. Fucking Dire Wolves kept us out of the main compound, and now we’re in some cluster fuck of a caravan heading to who knows where. At least there’s one other thing I do know; I’m closer to home, and no one knows who I truly am.

We approach tonight’s campsite, and I pull my cloth bag out of the back of the wagon and follow the rest of the group. The scent of burning wood hangs heavily in the air, masking the scent of everyone gathered. I move off away from the main forces so that my movements are not discovered. I’m quiet and stay away from Aurora and her mates so no one sees my face. I need to remain unseen and unknown. Otherwise, the master plan won’t work and Vladimir will have my head on a pike in his courtyard.

Hanging back in the shadows, I wait and watch as everyone gets comfortable. Part of me wants nothing to do with this, but my twin brother is a prisoner and will die if I don’t comply. The rich scent of meat and potatoes carries on the breeze. A huge vat of stew is being prepared for everyone to eat so I wander over there, and when the cook isn’t looking, I dump the contents of the vile in.

Aurora will be the tough one; she doesn’t eat anything her mates don’t give her. I notice the water container that her mate Jayce has left unguarded. Almost forty-five minutes later, it’s still unattended, and I quickly move to dump the stronger clear elixir into the water. Quickly, I return to the jobs I am assigned to do, part of which is bringing buckets of water. Again, I approach Aurora’s group and offer Jayce the water bucket. Jayce doesn’t even look me in the eyes for more than a moment before he takes the bucket from me. My plan is in motion. Now I just have to wait until the drugs start taking effect.

~Aurora~

So far, so good. Everyone is settling in well within the camp. The American Lycans are passing out water, and tonight they are in charge of cooking. Dominik and Klaus are out hunting for my dinner while I remain here to maintain order. Slowly, I extend my hands out to warm them by the fire. The flames dance, moved by the slight eastern wind that blows gently. Wolves are a funny bunch, if you ask me. If they don’t have an Alpha, they go all primal and start reverting mentally to their animal base urges. Moving back away from the flames, I move to sit on Dimitri’s lap so that our packmates take turns receiving my touch. Touch is yet another important thing for wolves to feel grounded, safe, and that they belong. Dire and Lycan alike each come and bow before me, wishing for me to touch them. A gentle stroke here, a caress there, some just wish to be close to their Alpha just for a little while. For as long as I can remember, it was Dimitri, Andre, and me; now my family has expanded a hundredfold. For the first time in forever, I feel like I am almost complete. I have my mates, children, and my pack and swarm. I’m not alone anymore.

Dominik and Klaus return with a roe deer for me and it’s still warm—just the way I like it. Sliding off of Dimitri’s lap, I move forward to investigate the deer that my mates brought me. Dimitri warns the others to back away because I get very possessive of my food. I strip out of my nice clothes and shift. I eat quickly, savoring every morsel. It doesn’t take long for me to finish off the roe deer. I keep a close eye on everyone that’s mingling at dinner time. It’s too quiet, and I hate to be the negative Nancy here, but it’s too peaceful. Something makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. The air feels too still and calm for some reason. Raising my nose to the wind, I draw in all of the scents around me. Nothing seems off in that regard. A sudden chill moves down my spine as I search the camp once more.

My guys hang out; drinking, eating, and socializing with our teams. I shift back to my human form and get dressed, then come back out. It’s about eleven at night, and I start noticing people moving off to go to bed. It wasn’t a difficult journey, but not everyone handles stress the same as others. I go to our cooler and pour myself some water. It’s been a long day, and tomorrow isn’t looking much better.

Pouring several more cups of water, I pass them out to my mates. That’s how it always is—the minute you get yourself something, everyone else wants what you have. We sit, watching the fire burn before us. Dominik tosses a fresh log onto the fire, and it pops and crackles as it blazes to life. The smoke keeps changing direction causing poor Klaus to keep changing his seat. For some blasted reason, it seems that the fire is following him. Laughing softly, I return to my favorite pastime of people watching. With everyone going to sleep so early tonight, maybe I might get some “lovin’” before bedtime.

I lean back against Arnulf, using him as my personal pillow, watching everyone in camp. My mates, one by one, start to yawn and become sleepy. Fucking yawns are contagious, and I start yawning right along with them.

Suddenly, I watch Alaric’s eyes flash to his dragons. “Something’s not right, Aurora.” His voice is a whisper as he fights sleep. His movements are uncoordinated and sluggish. Alaric’s eyes close, and he falls over, asleep.

I yawn again, looking at everyone, studying them. I’m fighting to keep my eyes open, and it’s becoming a losing battle. We’ve been drugged. I try with all my remaining strength to summon Dante to rain fire down upon our assailants. He doesn’t answer. Either he’s dead or a victim like the rest of us. I struggle to get to my mates, to shield them from whatever may come. Sadly, I fall short and land face first in the shallow mud. I fight to open my eyes one last time; I see a man staring at me. Is this the end for me?

~Klaus — the next day~

My hands gradually slide up my face to hold my throbbing head. My mouth is dry like I had been up all night at the bar drinking the night before. What the hell happened last night? I rub my eyes, freeing them from sleep. It takes several minutes before they focus enough for me to see clearly. I look around the camp, and everyone is in different states of trying to wake up. I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone to check the time. I stare at the time far longer than I should. It’s noon. We should have been on the road for six hours already.

“Aurora?” I call for my mate and receive no reply.

My heart is pounding furiously in my chest; I can’t feel her like I normally do. Quickly, I stand up and shed my clothing and shift, which helps tons to clear my system and help me focus. I tilt my head back and howl, calling for Aurora’s beast to respond to me. I’m cheating, using a distress howl to get her attention. Still no response. This time I howl, summoning all the Lycans in my pack and the American pack. I’ve never tried an Alpha move like this, but it’s an emergency, and right now I need help.

My pack gradually awakens and comes to me; we’re two wolves short from yesterday’s headcount. Alaric and the others come running over, and I shift back to human quickly.

“Has anyone found Aurora?” My bond mates shake their heads no, and the sadness is overwhelming.

“I can’t feel her…” Alaric says, rubbing the scale on his chest. “She’s alive but I… I… gods, why!!” He drops to his knees, holding his head. Alaric’s anguished tone pulls at our own pain and fears. Jayce is crying; his face is buried in Dominik’s chest. Dimitri is trying to be strong for everyone.

“Fuck this!’ I growl with the tone of my beast. “Pack, we search!” I turn to face my pack and snap them all to attention and start barking out orders. Whipping around, I look at Dom, Jayce, and Arnulf. “Arnulf, take to the skies with your people to see if you can spot tracks leading away from camp.” Arnulf shifts immediately and takes off to start his search.

“Jayce, gather your packs’ best trackers and give them Aurora’s scent and have them circle the camp.” Without regard for his clothing, Jayce shifts and takes off towards where his packmates are to start on his mission to track Aurora. “Dominik, you and Dimitri are the muscle here; start interrogating anyone who may have had anything to do with what happened last night.” I’ve never felt this dominant in my life. My mate needs me, and I swear to the gods I will rip the world apart to replace her.

~Further away — Jacob~

Deep within the dark and dank cavern, I’ve hidden my quarry. This plan’s major downfall is the amount of guano from the bats. I hate bats. The smell of musty-ammonia alone makes my sensitive nose burn. But of course, Vladimir thinks this is the best place to hide Aurora. I force her mouth open and drop more of the elixir into her mouth to keep her sedated and me safe.

The male I tricked into helping me, I killed and dragged his body in the opposite direction of where the cave is. Hopefully, it throws them off my trail at least for a little while. I send two texts to Vladimir and to Tomas, letting them know I have Aurora. I also send a picture of her as proof that she’s my prisoner.

Two messages come in, and both are from Vladimir, warning me of how dangerous Aurora is. She’s drugged and harmless right now; I’m not the least bit concerned that anything is going to happen. Several hours pass and my brother shows up. I rush over and hug him, thankful he’s safe.

“Back off, Jacob, where’s the hybrid bitch?” Josef says with a snarl. He was always the mean one out of the two of us.

I motion toward the back of the cavern. “Vladimir told me to keep her towards the back so her scent can’t be picked up easily.” I smile at my brother, proud that I pulled off the abduction mostly by myself.

“Wipe that smile off your face; you look like an idiot. We need to poison this bitch and be on our way.” Josef holds up the poison, and I can tell it’s a lethal dose of wolfsbane and something silver.

“What’s in the syringe?” I move closer and take it from my brother. I slide the contents back and forth, looking it over, trying to figure it out for myself.

“Wolfsbane and Dimethylmercury, the combination should kill her in a matter of hours. After all, she’s just a white Lycan, and the fucking abomination needs to die.” Josef spits on the ground, then looks at the back of the cavern and heads down to investigate how I have Aurora situated.

I look at the syringe in my hand and then towards the back of the cavern. Honestly, I didn’t think we would be killing her; I don’t believe in hurting females. I think back to how I had positioned her in sleep in the back of the cavern. Aurora looks like an angel, innocent and sweet. My mom used to say that still waters run deep, and we never know what’s happening in the depths.

Josef returns and looks down at his phone, then back up to me. “Don’t fuck this up, or Vladimir will kill us both over it.” Josef looks at me with his eyes so full of hatred. I don’t know what happened to him, but this isn’t the brother I once knew.

Once Josef is gone, I walk to the back of the cavern. I stare at Aurora, and honestly, I can’t kill her. I can tell the drugs are starting to wear off; she should wake up in the next few hours. I need to slow it down and slow her down at the same time. My eyes fall on the syringe in my hand. I have a total of five milliliters of poison, and it seems the majority of it is mercury.

Tears flow freely down my cheek as I come to the decision I’ve dreaded. I’m a dead man if I don’t do Vladimir’s bidding. I grip Aurora’s arm and turn it so I can inject from below, keeping as much mercury out of the needle as I can. I push the mostly wolfsbane solution into her vein, trying to avoid the mercury. It’ll slow her down and make her sick but shouldn’t harm her too badly. I accidentally push a little of the mercury in and silently curse myself for my stupidity.

I withdraw the needle from her arm and sit on the floor with the remaining poison that I have decided to use on myself. I shake it up real good and inject the contents into my own vein. It’s pretty fast-acting as I feel it getting harder to breathe. My veins are starting to blacken as a result of the mercury. Falling to my side as I look at Aurora, her veins are faintly blackened. I can only hope she’s stronger than me. I use my finger to write I’m sorry before I close my eyes. My body slowly starts to shut down, and all I can think of is how sorry I am for what I have done.