Fiery Love- Chapter 49

It was nice and calm at the orphanage as Aurora sat in the kitchen with Ms. Prance, helping her make hot chocolate for everyone. Occasionally she would hear the kids laughing and giggling with Thrax as they asked him several questions or played with each other.

Talking with Damien, Ozzy, and the other cops hadn't taken long, but it did make all of them very concerned. With good reason. They brought up the worrying thought that Nature's Court might try that with the other's that they suspect to be who they're looking for. Aurora didn't think they would though. They didn't seem that desperate yet to do something so rash as exposing themselves so easily. She knew they were more rational and well-coordinated than that. Whatever they did, it was well thought out.

She had a feeling Kai being there when they attacked was more than coincidence, too. It had to be. She just had to figure out how he was connected exactly. True he was helping her when he popped up, but something about it just didn't seem right to her.

Ms. Prance looked at Aurora with a concerned look on her face. "Is everything alright, dear?"

"Hm?" Aurora looked at Ms. Prance and snapped out of her little train of thought. "Oh. Yeah, everything's fine. I was just thinking about earlier that's all." She smiled. "But it's fine." She looked at the kettle as it started to whistle, so she got up and turned off the burner as she moved it. "Looks like the water's ready."

"I'll tell the others while you mix it up." Ms. Prance headed for the door and to the living room.

"Alright. I'll bring it in there in a minute." Aurora picked up the kettle and poured the water into the mugs that were on the little island. She had already put the hot chocolate powder mix in each of them, so all she had to do now was stir once she was done pouring the water in. She finished pouring and then thoroughly stirred each one for a few seconds until the powder was completely mixed with the water. Once it was she opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a tray.

She set the tray on the island and put all the mugs on it. Then she grabbed the bag of marshmallows and put it on there with them in case anyone wanted any. She then picked it up and headed for the living room. When she reached it she saw that all the kids were playing on the floor, but Thrax and Ms. Prance weren't in there. She had a feeling she knew where they were and smiled.

"The hot chocolate's done." She set the tray down on the little coffee table. The kids smiled as they got up and went over to her. "Who wants marshmallows with theirs?"

"I do!" Jerry said.

"Me too!" Judy joined in.

"Me three!" Chloe said.

Aurora opened the bag of marshmallows. "Alright then. Three mugs with marshmallows in them." She grabbed some marshmallows and put a few in three of the mugs. "There you go."

Jerry, Judy, and Chloe took their mugs and went and sat on the floor. Then Mabel and Larry took theirs without marshmallows and joined them. They all looked up at her and smiled. "Thank you, Aurora."

Aurora smiled. "You're welcome. Do you guys know where Thrax and Ms. Prance are?"

"They're upstairs." Jerry took a sip of his hot chocolate.

"Thanks, Jerry." Aurora picked up the three remaining mugs, holding two of them in one hand, and headed for the staircase to give Thrax and Ms. Prance their hot chocolate. She walked up the stairs and saw them at the end of the hall when she reached the top of the steps. They were looking at the pictures on the wall. She smiled and walked up to them. "I brought the hot chocolate."

Ms. Prance smiled and took one of the mugs. "Thank you, Aurora."

Thrax grinned and took one of the two remaining mugs. "Thanks, baby." He took a sip. "Mm."

"You're welcome." Aurora held her mug and drank some of her hot chocolate. "Enjoying the pictures on the wall?"

Thrax nodded. "Yep. Especially the ones of you." Aurora giggled and shook her head, then turned around to go up to the third floor. "Where are ya going, baby?"

Aurora turned around and smiled. "Upstairs to do a little more thinking on what happened." She then headed for the stairs and up to the third floor. She headed down the hall and right to the room that use to be hers.

She walked in, went over to the window couch, and sat down. She looked around the room and remembered how she'd practice her martial art skills and play in there. She smiled as she thought about her memories of that place.

Her mind then went to what she had intended to think about while she was in there. The earlier attack Nature's Court did. Something about it just seemed off. Don said that they wanted to ask her questions, they attacked her, and then had her in their grasp when the one that could change into a snake came back, yet left her there. If they were really going to ask her questions, then they would have taken her with them. Since they didn't, they must have attacked her for another reason. But what that reason was she didn't know. Not yet anyway.

Don's words echoed in her head as she thought about how Kai suddenly popped up, as well as how they kept on saying that wasn't how it was supposed to go. That made her think even more that they didn't really intend to ask her questions. She began to wonder if Kai was connected to it somehow. She just needed to figure out how he was connected, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions either.

Aurora sighed and took a sip of her hot chocolate. "What am I missing? What do I need to figure this out?"

"Some company, maybe?" Aurora turned her head and saw Thrax leaning in the doorway, still holding his mug. His eyes moved around the room as he took a sip. "So this use to be your room?"

Aurora nodded. "Yep. I had it all to myself."

"That must've been nice." Thrax closed the door as he walked into the room, went over to Aurora, and sat down next to her.

"Yeah, it was nice having a room to myself." Aurora smiled. "I take it you're done admiring the pictures on the wall and asking Ms. Prance questions about me?" She finished the rest of her hot chocolate and set the mug down. Thrax nodded. "So what do you think of what you've seen?"

Thrax grinned. "It's nice. And Ms. Prance certainly said a lot of nice stuff about you." Aurora smiled and blushed a little. "You're still thinking about earlier, aren't you?" He set his mug down by hers.

"I can't stop thinking about it." Aurora said. "I keep on getting this nagging feeling from it. From everything having to do with this. I know I'm missing something and I feel like it's right in front of me." She closed her eyes and laid her head back on the wall as she sighed. "I just wish I could figure out what it was exactly."

Thrax put his hand to her cheek and she opened her eyes to look at him. "Maybe you should take a break from thinking about it."

Aurora put her hand on his. "I've tried, but that nagging feeling keeps on coming back." She paused. "They kept on saying how it wasn't going how it was supposed to. Then when Kai went back into the woods, Don chuckled and said I shouldn't have let him. I think.... I think Kai is connected with this somehow."

Thrax's eyes widened for a second, then he gave her a serious look. "How do you think he's connected? Do you think he's one of them?" She could tell from the look on his face he'd go and kill Kai then and there if she thought for sure he was.

"I'm not entirely sure yet." Aurora replied. "And I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I do think he has something to do with it." She thought more about it. About how he gave her a bad feeling, how strangely friendly he seemed towards her, and about how he kept Don from shooting her. The more she thought about it the more confusing it felt. "I wish I could know for sure so the nagging feeling would go away because it's all really wracking my brain right now."

Thrax lit his claw and gently rubbed her cheek with the flat end. She closed her eyes and let out a little sigh. It felt so soothing and relaxing. Then he spoke in a soft low purr. "Why don't I help a little?"

Aurora let herself relax as she felt the warmth of his claw against her skin. "Mmmm, alright." She couldn't figure anything else out about what happened so she wanted to not think about it for the rest of the day. Maybe a little break and then a fresh start would help her figure it out.

Thrax continued to rub the flat end of his lit claw against her cheek. Then he slowly trailed it down her arm and stopped making it glow as he gently scooped her up in his arms and moved to where he sat on the window couch with his legs stretched out and set her down in his lap. He wrapped one arm around her waist and brushed her cheek with the back of his free hand, then slowly moved it to the back of her head and gently pressed his lips against hers.

Aurora kissed Thrax back as he held her closer and pressed her hands against his chest. He then moved to her neck, giving it teasing bites and licks. She bit her lip and moaned, tilting her head to the side as he did it. He then moved to the other side of her neck and pressed her against him. A few minutes later he moved higher on her neck until he was at her ear and gently kissed the tip of it.

It tickled a little as she felt his breath on her ear, making her giggle. "That tickles."

Thrax chuckled and purred seductively in Aurora's ear. "You know you like it." He kissed the tip of it once more, then kissed her cheek, then her lips.

Aurora slid her hands up his chest and around his neck as they kissed and felt herself slowly lose her senses as he slipped his tongue past her lips. Slowly and thoroughly he explored her mouth and pressed her against him harder. She moaned more and balled up some of his trench coat in her fists as she tightened her grip, loving the sweet sensations she got from it.

Thrax groaned and filled the kiss with such sweet passion. At this point Aurora had completely lost all her senses, her mind on nothing but that moment of wondrous passion.

~~~~~~~

Thrax drove down the street with Aurora, heading to his place. He didn't want her spending the night at her house by herself tonight. Not after the little fiasco with Nature's Court earlier. They were really starting to tick him off. A lot. There was no way he was going to let them get their hands on her.

It was pretty late at this point. The sun had gone down a few hours ago. They had stayed at the orphanage for quite a while and completely lost track of time. Not that it was a waste of time. He'd learned a little more about Aurora and what she was like as a kid. Everything Ms. Prance said was nothing but good about her. It wasn't surprising though. She was so kind.

When they stopped at a red light he looked at Aurora out of the corner of his eye. He saw her looking out the window, her eyes half open and slowly fluttering shut, and looking pretty tired. She did have a pretty tiring day. Other than what happened earlier, after he'd helped her get her mind off of Nature's Court with their little kissing session, which had been amazing, the kids played with her a bunch. He smiled as he reached over and gently pulled her hair back, causing her to open her eyes all the way and look at him.

"Tired?" Thrax asked.

Aurora tiredly nodded. "A little."

Thrax grinned, saw the light turn green, and started driving again. "You can go ahead and go to sleep. I'll wake you up when we get back to my place." Aurora smiled and went back to looking out the window. He had a feeling he knew what was going through her head at the moment. "You're thinking about earlier again aren't you?"

"Yeah." Aurora covered her mouth as she let out a little yawn. "A little. I figured I'd give it another shot before I fall asleep." She laid her head back and closed her eyes. "Still no luck, though, so I'm going to take a break from thinking about it." Slowly a little smile formed on her face.

Thrax turned the corner and saw the little smile on her face. "What are you smiling about, baby?"

"I'm just thinking about how we're going to go and see my ancestors ancient kingdom in a couple weeks." Aurora replied. "It's exciting to think about."

"Yeah, it is."  Thrax grinned as he started to think about it as well. "What do you think it'll look like?"

"I'm not sure." Aurora thought for a moment. "There might be some ruins or something."

Thrax made another turn. "Probably." That made sense that there would be some ruins there. It was pretty old.

About thirty minutes later Thrax drove up to his house, parked his car, and shut it off. He looked over at Aurora and saw that her eyes were closed and he smiled. "Are you asleep?"

Aurora smiled and opened one eye to look at Thrax. "Nope." They both laughed. She yawned and unbuckled herself, then got out of the car.

Thrax unbuckled and got out, then locked it. He went around to the other side and wrapped his arms around Aurora and held her close. She rested her head on his chest and let out a little sigh. He chuckled and gently stroked her hair. "Want me to carry you? You seem pretty tired."

"No... It's okay." Aurora said. She rubbed her eyes and tiredly looked up at him. "I'm not that tired." He could tell she was though. "Plus I want to talk to the wolves that followed the guys from Nature's Court earlier before I forget."

"Are they here?" Thrax looked around to see if he could spot any wolves on the premises.

"They're a few yards away." Aurora pointed to the trees to her left. "In that direction."

Thrax sighed, wanting her to get off to bed and get some sleep, but nodded. He knew it was too important for her to delay talking to the pack of wolves. "Alright, baby. I'll be waiting right here as ya do."

Aurora smiled and kissed his cheek. "I won't be long." She then walked over to the trees that she had pointed to and stopped.

Thrax watched as several pairs of glowing eyes popped up from beyond the trees, then slowly the owners of the eyes came into view. He watched as the wolves walked up to Aurora, stopped and lowered their heads, bowing, then raised them back up and sat down. He watched as she talked to them, though he had no idea how the conversation was going.

After a few minutes of watching, he saw her frown slightly. That couldn't be good. If she was frowning at whatever they were telling her, then something must have gone wrong. She then smiled softly at the wolves as she continued to speak with them for a little bit longer. Then they stood up and lowered their heads again and walked back into the woods. She walked back over to Thrax after they were gone.

"What happened?" Thrax asked.

"Others that could fly came and got Don and the other two out of there when they were deep enough in the woods." Aurora replied and frowned. "They weren't able to follow them for long after that. Also the one that can change into a snake never joined up with them. So they have no idea what happened to him."

Thrax frowned. "That's not good." He folded his arms and looked off into the woods, wondering where that member of Nature's Court was since he didn't join up with Don and the other two.

"It wasn't a total loss, though." Aurora gave Thrax a little smile as he turned his head back to her. "They did pick up their scents and could tell that they had been at a few other places in the woods. I'm going to check those places out later and see if I can figure anything out. Maybe a pattern or something." She paused. "And I think I'll put my increased senses to the test."

Thrax raised his brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I've really only used my increased hearing." Aurora started to explain. "I haven't used any other part of my increased senses. Mostly because I haven't thought about it much because of everything that's been going on. I'm going to see if I can catch their scent. If I can, that might help."

"It's definitely worth a try." Thrax grinned. "But first, you're going to get some sleep."

Aurora smiled and giggled. "No arguments there."

They both headed up the walkway. When they reached the door, Thrax unlocked and opened it, then they walked in and he closed the door, locking it again as he did. They then headed through the living room, up the stairs and down the hall to his room.

When they got to his room Aurora went straight to where her overnight bag was. "I'll be right back." He watched as she pulled out a pair of pajamas, then went to the bathroom and closed the door.

Thrax went ahead and stripped down to his boxers while he waited for her to finish changing. As he went over to his hamper to put his clothes in it he heard the bathroom door open. He turned around and watched as Aurora went over to her overnight bag and put the clothes she was wearing before in a side pocket. She looked at him and smiled and giggled, then went to the bed and got underneath the blanket.

Thrax grinned as he stared at her. "What's so funny?"

"The snowball fight from earlier." Aurora replied, then let out another little yawn.

Thrax chuckled, went over to her, and kissed her forehead. "Go to sleep now, baby. You've had a rough day." He then headed for the bathroom to brush his teeth. "I'll be right back." He went in the bathroom and grabbed his toothbrush, then started brushing his teeth. After he was done he rinsed with some mouthwash and put his toothbrush back.

He turned the light off as he left the bathroom and then stopped when he looked at Aurora. She was fast asleep. He smiled and walked over to the side of the bed that she was on. He pulled the blanket up a little more on her and kissed her cheek. "Goodnight, baby." He then brushed where he kissed her with the back of his hand. "Sweet dreams." He went to the other side of the bed and got underneath the blanket.

While he laid there he stared at her for a few minutes as she slept, his mind going to Nature's Court and what they were planning on doing. "Don't worry. I won't let them get you." He laid his head on the pillow and wrapped his arm around her. Slowly his eyes shut as he gave in to sleep as well.

~~~~~~~

Kai sat in the room with Darius, Rune, Don, and the two members that they had do the pretend attack on Aurora with him. At least it was supposed to only be a pretend attack. It hadn't gone as planned.

Don wasn't suppose to have a gun and Kai had a little more trouble losing Thrax than he thought he would. But what also made it hard was how skilled a fighter Aurora was with her martial arts skills.

Rune and Darius glared at Don as he sat in his chair looking at them, a little scared and not thinking it was such a big deal. "I don't see what the big deal is. I wasn't going to actually shoot her."

"What did we tell you before you left to do it?!" Rune jumped up from his seat and slammed his hands on the table, making Don jump in his seat. "We told you no weapons! It was supposed to be a fake attack."

"Well yeah," Don frowned a little. "but the gun made it look more convincing in my opinion."

"Where did you even get a gun?" Darius asked, just as annoyed as Rune. Don swallowed hard and didn't say anything.

"Answer the question." Kai calmly spoke up, though he was just as annoyed as the others, if not more so. "Where did you get the gun from?" Don looked at him, still unsure if he should say. "We're not going to hurt you, my friend." He assured him, Though he actually did want to hit him for pointing a gun at Aurora. "We just want to know where you got it from."

"Well..." Don hesitated. "I found it in one of the storage rooms you have here when I was looking around. I thought it might come in handy... so I took it. I didn't think you guys would miss one little gun."

Kai closed his eyes. "What were you doing looking around in one of our storage rooms?"

"I was just looking around." Don replied. "I was curious."

"Ever hear the phrase curiosity killed the cat?" Rune growled. "You shouldn't have taken one of our guns and you shouldn't have brought it along with you."

Don looked at Rune. "Look I'm sorry, okay? Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

"Because you are suppose to be abiding by our rules my friend." Kai calmly replied. "By exploring where you shouldn't, taking the gun, and bringing it along with you, you broke those rules." Kai opened his eyes and looked at Don.

Don looked from one to the next, a little scared. "You're not going to do anything to me, are you?"

"I might." Rune changed into his wolf form and glared at Don. "If you keep on pushing it you little-"

"Rune." Kai sternly said. "That's enough." Rune changed back into his human form and sat back down, still glaring at Don.

Darius looked at Kai. "Do you think it still worked? Do you think they trust you at all?"

Kai turned his head to Darius. "Only time will tell now since it didn't go according to plan." 

Don looked down at his hands and mumbled. "At least it didn't go as terribly as the first time my men tried to kidnap her."

Kai immediately turned his head to Don. "What was that?" They all then looked at him, wanting to know exactly what he said.

Don looked up at them and got a little nervous. "N-nothing. I was just saying how it didn't go as bad as the first time I had my men try to kidnap Aurora."

Rune raised his brow in confusion. "The first time?"

"You tried to kidnap her more than once?" Darius asked.

"Only one other time." Don replied.

"What happened then?" Kai asked curiously.

"I don't really know the details." He looked at them, feeling a little nervous. "Thrax killed them before I could really find out anything. It's probably nothing, though."

"Tell us anyway, if you please." Kai sat back in his chair and waited for Don to tell them what he heard.

"All I heard was that my men were acting hysterical and talking about the woods and wildlife being after them and attacking them." Don paused. "Or something like that. But that's all I heard. Nothing else."

Kai closed his eyes and thoughtfully held his chin as he thought about that little bit of information. He then opened his eyes and smiled as Don. "It's still very helpful."

Don tilted his head. "Really?" He didn't think it was much help at all.

Kai nodded. "Yes. That helps us even more. Why didn't you say anything about it earlier?" They all looked at Don and wondered the same thing.

"Yeah, why didn't you?" Darius asked.

Don looked at them and shrugged. "Well I just didn't think much of it. I mean, it's such a little piece of information and I didn't even hear it directly from them."

Kai stood up from his seat. "It's still very helpful." He looked at the two that had gone with Don. "James, Ron, you are dismissed. Go get some rest." They both nodded, got up from their seats, and headed out the door. "Don, you're dismissed too." He looked at him. "But in the future please restrain your curiosity and do as we say. Alright?"

"Alright." Don got up from his seat and went around the side of the table that Rune wasn't on, then left the room.

Darius waited a few minutes to make sure Don couldn't hear them before he spoke up. "Do you think it's her? Do you think she's the one?"

"I'm not sure." Kai looked at Darius and smiled. "But it definitely narrows it down even more for us. Either she knows who it is that we seek and is being protected by her, or she is the one we seek. Either way, we'll find out through her. Now we know we don't have to worry about watching the others."

"We just need to watch Aurora now." Rune said. "Let's hope you can get close to her then."

"Let's hope so." Kai's mind went to how Aurora fought and he smiled as he thought about how skilled she was. "She'll certainly be a challenge. Have a couple of the guys do a little digging on what happened when Don's men first tried to kidnap her and explore the area that it happened in. It's definitely worth looking into." He then headed for the door. "In the meantime, I think I'll go and check on her real quick."

~~~~~~~

Aurora woke up in the middle of the night and heard a tapping at the window. She rubbed her eyes and looked in the direction of the tapping. At the window was a little bat, one of the ones she was having keep watch around Thrax's house. She got up, went over to the window and opened it slightly, feeling the cold chill of the night air blow into the room as she did.

The little bat bowed before speaking. "Forgive me for waking you, your Majesty."

"It's alright." Aurora assured him. "What's wrong?"

"One of the members of Nature's Court was spotted at your house." He replied.

Aurora blinked in surprise and rubbed her eyes to help wake herself up a little faster. "Do you know why they were there?" She didn't think that they would be doing something like that so soon.

"The bat that was at your house said she thinks he was looking for you." The little bat said. "He looked through your bedroom window and then quickly left. We think it was because you weren't there."

"Was she able to catch his scent?" Aurora asked.

The little bat nodded. "Yes she was. It was the one whose from is a snake." Well, at least Aurora knew where he was now. Not that she liked him sneaking around her house trying to find her.

Aurora smiled at the bat. "Thank you for letting me now."

The bat nodded and bowed. "You're welcome, your Majesty. I'll leave you to rest now." He then flew away to continue keeping watch.

Aurora closed the window and stood there, staring out of it as she thought about what the little bat just told her. She frowned and sighed as she folded her arms and put them on the windowsill. She then lowered her head onto her arms and continued to stare out the window.

She felt a heaviness in her heart as she thought about what the bat told her, what Yvaine told her, and what Nature's Court did earlier and was going to do if they found out it was her they were looking for. It was starting to really worry her. She wondered how they would even get her to use her powers if they did get their hands on her. Not that she'd ever give in. She'd rather die than help them destroy the human race. She knew they'd never stop until they had her though.

She buried her face in her arms and felt a tear trickle down her cheek. It felt like a repeat of what happened with her parents, but worse. They were killed by a maniac who heard they were hiding something powerful and wanted to use it as a weapon, though he didn't know it was her or what she was capable of. Nature's Court on the other hand, they knew exactly what she was capable of and wanted to use her like a weapon to destroy the entire human race and would stop at nothing until they had her. All for a desired revenge and hatred that stretched across generations.

Aurora didn't want to be used like a weapon. She just wanted to live her life in peace, without worrying about people she cared about, as well as others, being in danger because someone wanted her powers.

It was worrying her so much now as she wondered how they were going to even put a stop to them. They couldn't just put them in jail. They would have to do something else. Plus she was going to have to be extra careful using her powers against them so that they didn't know it was her. Hopefully they would never find out it was her they were looking for.

She sniffled a little as she felt more tears trickle down her cheeks and started to silently cry. She cried for her ancestors who had to deal with what she was dealing with. For what she knew she would go through sooner or later. For the innocent lives that were taken in the past because of Nature's Court. For the unavoidable fight against them that she knew would come and couldn't be stopped, no matter how much she wished it wouldn't come.

As Aurora continued to silently cry she felt a pair of hands gently place themselves on her shoulders and she knew it was Thrax. Then she heard him gently speak. "Aurora are you alright, baby?" She could hear concern in his voice.

Aurora sniffled and swiped away a few of her tears as she lifted her head and looked up at him. "No, not really."

"Oh, baby." Thrax gently pulled her away from the window and close to his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. "Come here." He gently rocked her and stroked her hair.

She rested her head on his chest as more tears came. "Thrax. I'm worried. I'm worried about what's going to happen if Nature's Court finds out it's me they're looking for... What they'll do... And what they might do if they don't... They're not going to stop with what they're planning on doing. I know they won't. I know we'll be able to stop them somehow... but it still worries me."

Thrax wiped away her tears and spoke softly. "Shhhh. It's alright. They're not going to get their hands on you. I'm not going to let them. I promise, baby."

Aurora closed her eyes and took deep shaky breaths as Thrax continued to rock and soothe her. She felt so safe and warm in his strong arms. It felt as if everything she was worrying about could never get to her. She listened to his heartbeat and slowly relaxed in his embrace, feeling much better now.

"It'll be alright." Thrax placed his claw underneath Aurora's chin and gently made her look up at him. "Like you said, we'll stop them." Aurora smiled and wiped away a tear that was still hanging on. "And I'll kill each and every member of Nature's Court that tries to even get anywhere near you." He put his hand to her cheek and kissed her. She pressed her hands against his chest and kissed him back. He then smiled softly. "Now let's head back to bed."

Thrax scooped Aurora up in his arms and carried her bridal style over to the bed and she giggled as he did. He gently laid her on it, pulled the blanket over her, and kissed her forehead. Then he went over to the other side, got underneath the blanket, and wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.

"Goodnight, baby." Thrax said.

"Goodnight Thrax." Aurora yawned and rested her head on Thrax's chest. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Thrax kissed her cheek. "Sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams." Aurora let the sound of his heartbeat lull her back to sleep, no longer worried about what might happen. They'd find a way to stop Nature's Court and put an end to their plans. She knew they would.