The Twisted Tribrid Queen

Chapter 6 - Aurora

"You knew?" my dad asks, betrayal flashing across his face.

"No, but I suspected it. I never believed she killed herself. Gwendolyn had a lot of issues, but I don't think there's anything that would make her jump off a cliff." Her eyes soften when she looks at my dad, "I'm sorry I never told you. Even though I assumed she ran because she was pregnant, I never knew for sure, so I didn't want to get your hopes up."

They both look at me thoughtfully, my dad nods his head, "Now that I've met her, I feel like deep down I've known this whole time." He cups my face in his hands, "I'm so sorry I never tried to find you."

I swallow thickly, blinking back the tears I can feel surfacing, "you didn't know" I croak out. "It's Ok."

He presses his lips to my forehead, and I squeeze my eyes shut but a few tears manage to escape. I wipe them away hastily as he wraps an arm around my shoulders, and addresses the woman in front of us, "Fiona, this is my daughter, Aurora." He squeezes me tightly, "Aurora, this is Fiona Marigold, Coven Mother of Nature's Refuge."

Fiona takes my hand in both of hers and gives me a friendly smile, "It's wonderful to meet you, my dear." Her eyes are gentle, the light brown iris's warm and welcoming, and I return her smile with one of my own, while averting my eyes from the veins in her wrists.

"We're sorry to barge in on you like this, but we need your help getting to Dema City." Fiona's eyes widen at my fathers words, "we need you to open a portal for us to King Samael's castle."

A crease forms between her eyes, "the Dema King? What's he got to do with any of this?" She puts her hands on her hips with a huff, "what is this? Lothar, why are you even here?"

My father drags his hand down his face in frustration, and begins quickly explaining the twisted turn of events, "Cassandra had Aurora and I locked away in one of her underground hideouts, she was preparing to sacrifice Aurora by having myself and Gwen kill her in order to make her blood more potent. They gave her aconite, we were both loaded up with wolfsbane, the only option available was for Aurora to turn into a vampire. King Samael is her mate, and she had some of his blood in an elemental dagger... she turned and got us out of there."

Fiona looks horrified, raising a shaking hand to cover her mouth, and my father goes on, "we need to get her back to Samael. She almost attacked your guard out there; it'll only get worse the longer her wolf is away from their mate. The bloodlust will become too much to handle on her own."

Fiona stares at me, amusement in her eyes, "You tried to attack Serena?" She chuckles when I nod apologetically. "Consider yourself lucky you're still breathing" she says with a laugh. "Alright, alright, I'll open a portal, but I'm coming with you, I can't just let my king and my princess walk into a vampire den alone. Let me just tell Zen what's going on."

I feel a mixture of emotions over being called a princess, I think I've gotten accustomed to Samael calling me his queen. We follow Fiona back to her husband, and she scoops up the baby from the bassinet, "Mommy's going on a little trip, but she'll be back soon, yes she will, yes she will" She nuzzles the baby's face, her voice going up several octaves, "My little lucky Clover, I love you, yes I do."

She lays the baby back down and introduces me to the man sitting in one of the rocking chairs, "this is my dear husband, Zen." She gestures to me, "Zen, this is Aurora, she's Lothar and Gwendolyn's daughter."

Zen looks stunned into silence, his mouth dropping slightly, and his eyes widening as he takes me in.

"Oh." He clears his throat, "I mean, it's a pleasure to meet you Aurora." I shake his hand, trying not to focus on how warm it feels, and how I can feel the blood pulsing through him just from the small amount of contact.