The Elemental Mate

Aurora POV

I hear screams and fighting as the rogues and pack warriors fight. The sounds feel like they only last for a few moments before I feel tingles flood around me as Xander reaches my side. The sparks try to push the pain down, but it refuses to completely leave.

“Xander, I can’t-” I try to speak but the words sound struggled against my throat.

“I know,” his voice cracks from the pain he can feel in our bond, “I need to move you, sweetheart.”

My body cringes as I wiggle my leg an inch, the pain screaming through my veins, “No,” I whimper.

“I don’t have a choice, sweetheart,” he whispers, fear and concern swirling in his eyes. He moves closer to wrap his arms around my back and under my leg. The movement causes me to scream out, “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” he whispers into my ear over and over as he stands with me in his arms.

I can’t say anything in reply, all my focus trying to shut the pain out of my mind. Xander starts to walk towards the trees and further into the pack.

As we leave the clearing, I notice the aftermath of the fight. Multiple rogues are dead with a few of our soldiers bleeding. There were only about ten bodies in the dirt, so I assume most of the rogues had taken off after Iris killed herself.

My eyes connect with Ivy’s on the ground as Hayden is holding her close. Tears are pouring down her face as she tries to dig her nails into her own wrists. Hayden is trying to hold her back from harming herself, but by the anguish in his features, the pain he can feel from their bond isn’t dissipating any time soon.

The last sight I see before we leave the clearing is the statue of Iris, her pain and sadness forever trapped on her face.

I tucked my head into Xander’s chest as I squeeze my eyes closed.

“I’ve got you,” I hear Xander’s soft words as I feel the darkness reach for me, pulling me down until I can’t feel any pain at all.

I woke to the smell of Xander surrounding me. I let out a soft sigh before I opened my eyes. I’m met with the brightest green eyes watching me.

“Hey stranger,” I give him a soft smile as he moves closer to me.

“Hey,” he breathes, love shining in his blues.

I lift my hand to touch my vocal cords lightly, “Why can I talk?”

“Michael's body wasn’t there. When the fighting stopped and the remaining rogues took off, your brother's body wasn’t in the clearing. It was like he was never there.”

“An illusion?” I was shocked but the hope that my brother was alive seeped through my body, "Iris never had him. It was all a trick."

“I can't be sure,” Xander says quietly, "But if you talking is anything, it means that he is alive, right?"

I nod my head in agreement. My brother is alive. I may not know where he is right now, but I know he is alive.

“How long have I been asleep?” I ask him, my body feeling heavy from lack of use.

“Almost two days,” his eyes look tired as I take in his disheveled form. His clothes are the same as they were during the fight; dirt and blood still splattered onto his clothing, “I thought I was going to lose you.”

I leaned into the palm resting against my cheek as a whimper escapes me, “Xander.”

“I love you, sweetheart,” he leans forward to place a soft kiss on to my lips, “Please don’t ever do that again.”

“I’ll try not to,” I try to smile, but as I think back to the fight, the memories start to surface to the forefront of my mind, “Iris’s dead, isn’t she?”

He nods his head once, “She is. She turned herself to stone.”

The picture of her broken and grieving cemented in my thoughts. Ivy brought all of her pain to the surface and it broke her, “What about Ivy? Is she alright?”

“She is home with Hayden. After the fight, Amara told me that the blowback was extreme,” he tells me, debating for a moment whether to tell me everything, “Ivy tried to kill herself.”

“What?” I try to get up, but Xander pushes me back down on the bed.

“You can’t get up,” he tries to tell me, but I keep pushing against his hands, “Hayden and Amara are keeping an eye on her. She’s going to be fine.”

“You don’t know that,” I start, “I need to talk to Amara.”

“I’ll have Asher bring her,” he says, quickly agreeing if it means I will relax, “Please just lay down."

I nod, agreeing to wait as he quickly mindlinks Asher. As we wait, Xander stays close to me and recaps what happened after the fight. Most of the rogues died or were captured while a few ran away. Besides for a few injuries, none of the pack was extremely hurt thankfully. Iris had kept the fight between us as she wanted.

A knock not ten minutes later echoed through the room, drawing our focus to the opening door. Amara walks in slowly, giving me a soft smile, “How are you feeling?”

“I’ll be fine,” I wave her off, “How’s Ivy?”

She looks over to Xander for a second. He gives her a quick nod before they both turn back to me, “She had to be sedated. She was pushing out without meaning to and the wolves around her couldn’t control themselves.”

I look up towards the ceiling as I try to run through everything I could do for her. I should have been able to defeat Iris. I never should have suggested Ivy be trained to fight or to force her to use her gifts.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Xander tells me, squeezing my hand. He reads through my thoughts of denial as he keeps talking, “Ivy knew what would happen. Hayden told me that it was he tried to stop her from coming to the clearing, but it was she did anyway. It was her choice.”

Although he may be right, it didn’t stop the guilt I felt over the pain she was being forced to feel now.

“I called our old coven,” Amara tells me, “But since Ivy is in a wolf pack and not a coven, they have no connection to her magic. They can’t calm her.”

I nod my head as I take in the information, running through every idea I could think of.

“Wait,” an idea struck me, “They said they couldn’t connect because she wasn’t part of a coven?”

“Yeah,” Amara nods, confused on where I was going with this.

“What if she was?”

Xander looks back and forth between the two of us, not following the conversation as a confused look stays on his face.

Amara gives me a strange look as the same idea I had reaches her head, “You don’t mean to create a coven?”

“We ground ourselves to Ivy and we can help her calm. She might even get more stability if her magic is grounded to a coven," I tell her, "We create a new coven.”

“Ignoring the fact that a new coven hasn’t been formed in over five centuries, how are we suppose to break the connection we have with our old coven?” Amara questions.

“We don’t have to. They’ve already been cut,” I tell her, “Iris broke my connection to the coven when I was found guilty.”

“And mine was broke when I attacked Iris,” Amara whispers, shock at the absurdity of what we are going to do running through her, “We’re going to ground ourselves inside a wolf pack.”

I give her a soft smile, “We are going to create a coven.”