The Ivory Queen
Chapter 67

***Aurora’s POV***

I spend the remainder of the day with Rosalie, Taylor and Emma, who came to thank me for Taylor’s healing. Being pregnant, Rosalie gets extremely emotional at the sight of a child and spoils Taylor with attention.

I take them to my garden while Evan patrols the perimeter. We embark on a game of hide and seek, letting Taylor win every round. At some point, we sit down to relax amongst the flower beds, weaving a few flower crowns for each other and telling Taylor stories.

I show my powers to Taylor, making a rose bloom in the palm of my hands. She squeals happily and hands the flower to her mom. I do a few more tricks for her, growing an apple tree and strawberries for her to snack on.

Emma and Rosalie just stare at me in shock.

“Your powers are so cool!” Rosalie says excitedly. “What else can you do?”

I shrug. “I’m not entirely sure. I know I control the earth and fire elements but Moon Goddess said I have many gifts. I guess I’ll know with time.”

“Goddess, I’d hate to face you in battle,” Emma chuckles.

“Yeah, well considering Evan and Oliver refuse to let me train, I doubt I’ll ever see a battle field anytime soon,” I sigh. “Wolves are so overprotective.”

“Ugh, tell me about it! William can be a handful sometimes. He almost took Taylor out of preschool after the attack. He was afraid she and I would be attacked on our way to and from the school.”

“Carter wants to move us the guest room on the first floor so I don’t accidentally trip and fall down the stairs during this pregnancy,” Rosalie laughs, rubbing her growing belly.

“Men.”

“You know I can hear you!” Evan yells out from his spot at the edge of the garden.

“Go away Evan!” I scream.

“Yeah, go ‘way Eban!” Taylor squeals and we burst into laughter at her mispronunciation.

Overall, I had a very relaxing afternoon. As the evening draws near, Rosalie and I say our goodbyes to little Taylor and her mother and head back to the house with Evan watching over us for the remainder of the night.

———

I wake up wrapped in Oliver’s arms in the morning, his naked body giving me its warmth.

It was like a fire was ignited inside him when he came home last night. As soon as he saw me, he pounced, taking me over and over again until I could scream his name no more. It was amazing.

Judging by the little light peeking through the window, I know it must be early. I glance at the clock to see it’s only 6 am and after much debate, decide to crawl out of bed knowing I won’t be going back to sleep anytime soon. I get in some sweats and a black t-shirt and quickly brush my teeth before walking out with Rio following me close behind.

Downstairs, Jaime and the pack cooks, George and Margot, are about to start making breakfast when I walk in. Sensing my presence, they bow before me.

Dang it, I forgot my medallion.

“Luna, is there anything we can get for you?” George asks. “A snack? A drink?”

I smile and shake my head. “No thank you. I actually came to cook.”

“Senorita, is there something you would particularly like me to make. I would be more than happy to make anything you desire,” Jaime smiles nervously.

“It’s ok Jaime. You’re doing a fantastic job, I love your cooking. I just want to cook today. I could use the distraction. You guys can take the rest of the morning off. I’ll take care of breakfast.”

“Oh, Luna we couldn’t leave you all alone to feed all those wolves,” Margot says.

“I can handle 12 wolves just fine. Please enjoy the rest of your morning,” I insist.

They hesitate for a moment but after several minutes of convincing, they finally leave me to my work. I’m making one of the simplest yet easily most delicious Mexican meals known to man: Huevos con chorizo, frijoles refritos and handmade tortillas de arina.

Rio follows me around the room as I start collecting my ingredients and decide to serve him his breakfast to keep him out of trouble. I start with the most time consuming part of the meal: the tortillas. I grab a large bowl and mix flour, salt, and manteca {vegetable shortening} together, dissolving the chunks of Manteca with my fingers. I grind the mixture with my hands until it’s a fine powder. The tricky part about tortillas is the adding the water. Too much water and your dough is too sticky to use but not enough water and you’ll end up with stiff tortillas. I add just the right amount and begin to knead my dough until I’m satisfied. I let my dough sit and cover it with a cloth for about half an hour. While it’s sitting, I begin to prep my station for tortilla making, wiping the counter and grabbing a clean cutting board and rolling pin. I place the comal on the stove and put it on low heat.

Once my dough is ready, I roll it into little balls and press them into flour before stretching them out with my fingers a little so they’re the size of the palm of my hand. I then take the rolling pin and start to roll out the tortillas into perfect circles before I toss them onto the comal.

I’m still hard at work when Oliver strolls in around 7:30 am, dressed in a t-shirt and sweats.

“Hey,” Oliver says leaning against the entrance to the kitchen. “What are you doing in the kitchen?”

Rio walks over to greet Oliver before laying down on the kitchen floor.

“Making breakfast,” I smile, rolling out another tortilla and placing it on the comal. We both watch as the tortilla inflates like a balloon after two flips.

Oliver comes closer to take a peak and bows when he reaches me. “Can I try?” He asks timidly.

I nod and have him stand behind me. I place his hands over mine on the rolling pin so I can show him the movements. “You have to be firm but not too harsh or you’ll rip the tortilla,” I instruct him, but immediately lose focus when he buries his face in my neck, his stubble ticking my skin, and starts placing k****s along my jaw. “Umm.. You have to use the edges of- of the pin to- uh-shape the tortilla… like this, see?” I say, rolling out a perfect sphere.

“Got it,” he chuckles, suckling on my mark.

I giggle as he wraps his arms around me and spins me around so I face him. He lips meet mine and I melt right into his arms, covering his t-shirt in flour.

“Oliver, I have to cook,” I pant as I peel myself away from him. I turn my attention back to the tortillas and place more on the comal.

“Ok, I’m ready. Let me try,” he says, grabbing the rolling pin.

This ought to be good, I chuckle to myself.

`I remove my tortillas from the comal and store them in my tortilla basket and pull out some pans for the refried beans and eggs.

Oliver starts to roll out a deformed tortilla and I burst into laughter at the finished product.

“Oh my goddess. You made Michigan!” I laugh, bending over and gasping for air.

“I don’t know what you’re laughing at. This is absolute perfection,” he laughs, lifting the tortilla up and grinning proudly at it. I place it on the comal and let it cook.

I start cooking the chorizo when I feel Oliver come up behind me and slip his hands under my arms pits and toward my breasts to give them a squeeze. I elbow him in the guts and he bursts into laughter when I turn to glare at him. He points at my t-shirt and I look down to see two perfect white flour hand prints on my boobs.

I give the chorizo a good turn, ignoring him completely. He smirks at me, daring me to retaliate. I pull out a bowl and start scrambling about three dozen eggs and pour them into the chorizo pan in batches. He slowly inches closer but I continue to ignore him, cooking a new batch of chorizo.

Finally, I turn and smile sweetly at him. “Can you finish cooking the eggs while I finish off the tortillas?”

He eyes me suspiciously so I stand on my tippy toes and k**s him. He immediately responds, wrapping an arms round my waist. Distracted by my k**s, he doesn’t notice when I reach for an egg. I pull back and smile before slamming the egg on his head.

He doesn’t flinch, however and takes the opportunity to slam an egg on my head. He bursts into laughter at my stunned expression.

“You little-“

He leans forward and bites my lower l*p playfully. “Got you,” he smirks, pecking my cheeks. “So eggs?”

I blush furiously as he clumsily pours some of the eggs in with the chorizo. Finding my focus, I wash my hands and finish up the last of the tortillas.

We continue to prank each other, smearing flour on our faces, shirts, and sweats in a meaningless flour war. He plays some music on his phone and he spins me around the kitchen while we wait for the eggs to cook. Selena’s “Baila esta cumbia” plays and I lose control of my h**s as they sway back and forth. I start dancing to beat of the music as I mash the beans.

I feel Oliver come up behind me again, grabbing my h**s and pulling me into him. “Keep it up and I might just take you right here.”

I keep swaying my h**s against him and I feel the bulge in his sweats harden.

“Aurora…” he hisses. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”

I tease him a little longer, grinding my a*s against him in circular motions and I hear him growl in my ear. Satisfied with his reaction, I then reach my hand down to his and pull it up to the potato masher. I wrap his fingers around the handle before slipping right under his arms and running away.

“What the-“

“Finish the beans,” I grin as I dance around the room.

After another 40 minutes, we’re both done cooking and clean up our mess.

“This looks amazing,” he says. “We make a pretty good team.”

I’m beaming with pride at my amazing mate. We’re covered head to toe in flour and egg residue from our pranks but we managed to pull through and make breakfast together. Oliver is showing me more of his silly and stupid side and I love it. I’m truly happiest whenever he’s around.

“Yeah… we do,” I smile, reaching up to wrap my arms around his neck and pulling him into a k**s.

He snakes his arms around my waist and pulls me closer, reaching a hand down to squeeze my a*s. Rio gets up from his spot and starts snarling.

“Oliver!”

We both pull away and turn to the entrance of the kitchen to see David and Simone watching us.

I don’t think I’ve ever been this embarrassed in my life. Oliver’s hand prints are all over my boobs, a*s and waist while egg shells litter the top of my head. Oliver is no better off, he clothes ruined with my flour hand prints and some yolk still in his hair.

David practically drags Simone into the room and they bow before me. Rio bares his teeth at them and I rush to pull him back by his collar.

“It’s ok Rio, they’re not strangers,” I coo, crouching down to his level and giving his ears a good scratch. He starts to calm down and I walk back over to Oliver’s side.

“What the hell are you two doing in my house!” Oliver snarls, finally reacting and pushing me behind him.

Simone glares daggers at me while David tries to calm her down. Oliver grabs my hand to calm himself down and comfort me. His parents are intimidating but then again, who’s in-laws aren’t?

David clears his throat and shifts uneasily. “We came here to make amends with both of you and apologize for our behavior towards Aurora.”

“Absolutely not!” Simone snaps. David tries to hold her hand but she steps away from him and walks towards me. Oliver growls at her, warning her to back off and she does. “I came here to see my daughter whom I’ve come to find out is pregnant!” She explains. “I came to make sure she is well taken care of.”

Oliver trembles and pants with anger, his wolf coming to the surface. “I can take care of my sister just fine so get out!”.

I know the man in front of me is no longer Oliver and I bury my face in Michael’s back. “Michael?” I whisper. “It’s ok,” I soothe, wrapping my arms around his waist. His breathing starts to calm down.

Michael turns around and buries his face in my neck, licking my mark and taking in my scent. “I won’t let them hurt you, Princess. No one will hurt you!”

I take his face in my hands and force him to look me in the eyes. “I know. Let Oliver come back. He needs to deal with his parents. He needs this,” I murmur.

Michael k****s me before his eyes shift back to blue.

I pull away from him and glance over at David and Simone who’ve been watching in silent shock at how quickly I managed to calm Oliver down. Thoroughly annoyed by the turn of events, I step up.

“Would you like to stay for breakfast?” I ask nonchalantly.

“Are you out of your mind?” Oliver snaps.

“Rosalie will be down in bit. I’m sure breakfast would be great for you guys to catch up. I’ll have the plates set for you. Please wait in the living room while we get things ready and wash up,” I smile politely.

Simone looks like she’s about to protest but David quickly accepts the invitation and drags her out to the living room. When I turn back to Oliver, he looks furious.

“Why?”

“Your mom misses you guys,” I shrug. “And I will not be the reason Rosalie’s baby never meets her grandma. I will be the bigger person even if she refuses to accept me as your mate. I think talking to them will do you two some good.” I straighten myself up and smooth my clothes. “Now call Evan and have him and the other pack members eat while you and I get cleaned up. I want this to be a more private meal for you guys.”

Oliver angrily storms out of the kitchen, leaving me and Rio alone in the kitchen.

This is going to be a long morning.