Chapter 20
Aurora
Creed groaned after we finished intercourse, and at first I thought it was… Male things.
Horror filled me when I realized it was more than that. He fell to the bed and it wasn’t a noise men should ever make as he held his shoulder.
I gasped as it broke in a weird way, hanging limply but then moving behind him in a grotesque way that had me reaching for him.
“No, Aurora,” he groaned and tried to push me away with his other arm that wasn’t moving as it should either. “Don’t watch. Don’t—” He yelled in pain as his ribs all seemed to break and he came off the bed.
And I wished that was the end of it.
No, it was just the beginning.
I scrambled off the bed and threw on a robe before bellowing for help. Monroe reached the room first and I swallowed a scream when I saw Creed’s legs were broken and bent in ways—horrid ways.
“Don’t watch this,” one of the witches muttered, trying to turn me away.
I pushed her from me and let my fangs out. “That is my mate. I appreciate your help, but I suffer not. Focus on him.” I brushed past her and went to Monroe. “Help him. What can I do?”
“Nothing,” he said sadly, sighing when that clearly wasn’t going to be enough for me. “There is nothing to do. I’m sorry, but this is Creed’s fight.” The look of pity he gave me cut through me. “We’ve done all we can. I promise you we did. The rest is up to him and the gods.”
No, I would not accept that.
No, I cannot have fought this much in my life to lose my chance to live now.
So I did what I knew best and… Well, not mothered him.
I took care of him as best as I could. I cleaned up and put on clothes before ordering people to bring me what I needed.
I wiped the sweat from Creed when he had a pause from the pain.
I talked to his lion and soothed him, told him not to fight Creed so they could be happy together.
All the nonsense that maybe did nothing, but I thought it might help. Promises of giving him burgers and those grilled chicken thighs that were barely cooked but he liked the seasoning. Creed’s lion was a bit of a foodie and I thought that it was endearing.
I told him as much. I told him everything. I told him that I had even enjoyed the intercourse more this time. That maybe having a potion or a bit of brownie wasn’t a bad plan because I “got out of my own head” as I’d heard people say.
And even if it was embarrassing, I told him that nothing was better than when he kissed all over my body.
That I looked forward to him doing that to me for years to come and my ability to return the favor in the future.
I promised to keep working hard in therapy so I could because I valued him that much.
But only if he fought and lived.
After two days, Monroe finally said the words I had been longing to hear.
“It’s almost over. That last layer of magic was tissue-paper-thin.
There might be one last burst of the spell fully breaking, but I promise—it’s almost over, Aurora.
” He awkwardly patted my shoulder and wished Creed luck before going back downstairs to wait.
I understood it all in theory, but it was more complicated and difficult to digest when seeing it live with someone I cared for.
Basically, the spell to bind Creed’s lion was so strong because Creed’s lion was, and it had taken such deep root because of how long it had been left alone that it couldn’t just be broken like a chain on a lock.
Or even a cycle like a washing machine.
No, it had to be peeled back in layers. Painful, painful layers to get at the seed of the magic that could be crushed by our new bond.
And while I’d taken hope in what Monroe had said, apparently he really hadn’t known much because most wouldn’t have lived through this sort of thing because when that seed of magic was finally crushed… Creed was almost as well. He was so weak and beaten up that when—it was beyond horrible.
He not only vomited until there was also blood, but blood leaked out of his nose and ears.
And mine? No one saw that coming, but somehow our new mating bond let me help carry the burden of that seed of magic being destroyed. I simply wished I was allowed to take more.
But since I hadn’t been sleeping from taking care of Creed, I was too exhausted and passed out.
I woke too warm and surrounded by fluffy… And growling?
“I’m not going to hurt her, but we need to look at her, Creed,” Monroe was saying, his tone exasperated and obviously having repeated himself.
“I’m fine,” I mumbled as I tried to sit up. I froze when there was a soft warning snarl. “No burgers if you are going to be mean to me.” It was hard not to chuckle when the lion instantly became a kitten at that threat.
“How are you really?” Monroe pushed.
I sat up more and took stock of myself. “Thirsty. A bit of a headache and tired, but that all makes sense.”
“Yes, it does, but it helps me know what to add into the tonic for you.” He turned to do that but not before I heard him muttering about the stupid jackass lion.
I found that amusing.
“How are you feeling?” I asked Creed… And the lion rolled his eyes at me. “Yes, of course, you cannot speak. I’m not daft, Creed, but you’re being sassy with me. You can nod or shake your head.”
Except I hadn’t asked a yes or no question.
I rephrased it, but he didn’t do either.
“So not good but not as bad?” I hedged, glad when he nodded. I rubbed behind his ear. “Are you stuck like this? You’re not trapped, right?” Relief filled me when he gave a slight nod. “So this is healing for you?”
“It’s fear he won’t change back,” a deep voice said from the door, startling me.
I yelped when Creed jumped up so fast he knocked me off the bed and I landed hard on the floor.
“I’m a friend and you know it,” the voice snapped. “And you just hurt your mate. Are you fucking nuts? I get you’re getting acclimated, but don’t be a dickhead.”
Creed backed down and came to check on me, licking my face when I promised I was fine. But he was swatting his tail.
“I would gather he doesn’t like a single man in our bedroom even if borrowed, Gerald,” I surmised, glad when that got me another lick. “But I appreciate you checking in. Let’s take this to the living room.”
“Yes, of course, but Monroe was worried about you and Creed can’t catch you in the moment.
” Gerald snorted. “Apparently, he’ll just knock you on your ass like a dipshit.
” He rolled his eyes when Creed growled.
“No, you deserve it, dumbass.” He pointed to me.
“She is your first, second, and third priority always. Hurt, injured, or fucking dying. You’re a lion. Act like it.”
“I don’t think that was about us,” I mumbled under my breath, glad when Creed nodded. I hissed when I went to stand and decided not to lie when Creed bumped my hand to check on me. “You’re a huge animal. Yes, it hurts when you plow me over. I’ll be fine.”
I was glad I said that because he calmed down when we were in the living room with others. He wouldn’t leave my side, and it was clear he was nervous—on edge for sure, but it wasn’t as bad. He let Monroe give me a tonic, I fed—normal things.
It was nice of Gerald to visit, and he offered to go for another run with Creed when he was ready. Something was going on there, and I was fairly sure it was to teach Creed’s lion that other lions could truly be friends and not threats or problems like he’d been taught for so long.
Once I was feeling better, I jumped into handling as much as possible. No matter how much food I prepared for Creed, he was still all over me, and after a bit I realized he wanted me to go to bed and get more rest. Which was sweet.
Or so I thought.
I woke the next morning to him back in human form, leaning over me with a wild look in his eyes and stroking himself much rougher than I would ever have thought pleasurable.
“The guards can get their own food, Aurora,” he said calmly.
Too calmly.
He gave me a heated kiss before I could even reply. “I know it’s too much but please. We have to have some male guards for now, so please stop fucking feeding them.” He groaned my name and I felt wetness on me before he kissed me again.
But then he was gone. A warning to not wash that off with soap so others smelled him on me and then he was out of the room.
I blinked out at the mostly dark room and then down at my stomach where his seed was all over my nightgown and had questions. Lots of them.
I probably could guess the answers—or at least some of them maybe—but that was a rather jarring way to wake up.
And it didn’t get any better. Creed kept marking me. I was cooking and suddenly he was pinning me to a cabinet and demanding that I expose skin to him so he could leave his scent on me.
I did what was asked, but then he just left again to do… I wasn’t really sure?
But it hurt my feelings, and after several days of it, I couldn’t take it anymore when it was clear it wasn’t going to stop.
“Look, I’m glad you reached out,” I heard Gerald say when I was searching for Creed. “That’s a great sign that your lion can accept you don’t have to be a loner.”
“More like desperation because I can’t take the grief and pain we sense from my mate anymore,” Creed grumbled, sounding heartbroken.
“I don’t know what to do. I just see her and want to fuck her, man.
Like… I want to make her scream my name and be rough and—I can’t get a grip.
The only way I can like not scare her is just to mark her. ”
“Yeah, that’s rough,” Gerald sighed. “Obviously, I don’t know anyone who’s been through what you have, and your lion is crazy powerful and throwing a fit at being caged so long. I can’t even—fuck, you’re going through it. No one denies that.”
“I can’t hurt her,” Creed choked out. “She’s been through so much and the only reason I’m still alive—want to be alive after learning what they did to my lion. She pulled me out of the darkness and told me I had value when everyone kicked me in there and gave up. And I want to hurt her.”