The Ivory Queen
Chapter 107

***Aurora’s POV***

“Michael!” I scream with joy, eager to take him in my arms but his menacing growl stops me in my tracks.

Michael’s ears are fully erect, the fur on his body stiff and bristled. His lips are curled back, the large canines in his mouth on full display as he growls at me. He’s crouched on his hind legs, ready to pounce on me at any moment. But worst of all, his once mesmerizing silver eyes were now b***d red, clouded in pure anger.

“Michael?” I call out again, my voice just above a whisper.

I crave his touch but his growling warns me not to get any closer.

“Michael, i-it’s me,” I whisper as he inches closer, his snarling never ceasing. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you doing this?”

He doesn’t listen, coming closer and closer until he’s only a few feet away from me.

“Aurora, get away from him,” Evan pleads. “Something’s not right. That’s not Oliver.”

My mind is screaming at me to get out of the way, begging my legs to move, but my heart refuses to let me go. I’m frozen in place, every fiber in my body aching for his touch, for his k****s, for him. Somewhere inside this angry wolf was my mate. All I had to do was figure out how to reach him, to pull him out of his fury and free him.

I take a tentative step forward only to take a step back when Michael’s jaw tries to clamp down on my outstretched arm.

“Michael… please look at me. I’m right here! Look at me. Fight it!” I whimper, on the verge of tears.

Nikolai roars in laughter. “He’s not your mate anymore, Aurora. He’s a rogue now. You’re just a piece of meat to him!”

He cries out in pain as Evan sinks his teeth in his arms, b***d spilling onto the vines currently holding him in place.

“Michael, I know you’re still in there… I’m begging you, please come back to me!” I cry, using all my will power not to give into my despair and collapse on my knees.

A few tears spill onto my cheeks as he once again growls at me.

“Olivier please!”

His ears twitch slightly when I call his name and my heart flutters with excitement.

He heard me! He’s still there!

“Olivier?” I call out again, taking a step once more towards him.

His body goes stiff, his eyes still swirling with anger, but he doesn’t growl. As I take another step toward him, he takes two back, almost as if he were afraid of me.

“It’s okay, Olivier. Just come back to me. Please come back.”

He lowers his head to the side, clenching and unclenching his jaw as an internal war wages in his mind.

“That’s it, Oliver, you can do this… Come back to me.”

His ears perk up again and when he looks up at me, the world stops. A pair of deep sapphire blue eyes look back at me and I feel a sob caught in my throat. I reach out a hand to touch his snout, happy tears streaming down my face.

“I love you Olivier,” I whisper. “I’m right here.. I’m right here…”

“Aurora look out!” Evan cries just as Oliver’s eyes shift back to b***d red and he leans back on his hind legs before pouncing.

I can’t move, however, bracing myself for impact when a silver blur rushes in front of me just in time to take the blow.

Before my eyes, Michael and Chava battle for control, clawing and scratching at each other viciously. For a second, it seems Chava might win when suddenly, Oliver gets a clean bite on his paw, nearly tearing it off. Chava’s body stiffens and a loud whine can be heard across the battle field. Michael then pins Chava down, clamping his jaw onto his throat.

“Chava!” I scream as Michael slices his throat open, a river of b***d staining Salvador’s beautiful silver fur.

Michael looks up at me with those deadly red eyes before a black owl flies over head, it’s own crimson eyes sparkling with joy at my misery.

I aim a fire ball at it but the owl maneuvers out of the way and starts flying toward the woods, Michael in tow. Roots sprout from the ground and rush toward his wolf in an attempt to detain him. The owl flies lower, it’s wing slicing through the air, opening a portal to a place I don’t recognize.

Just as Oliver is about to jump through it, one of my roots wrap around his hind leg and pull him back. The owl, however, flaps its wings, sharp feather like shards flinging through the air and cutting off the root. Freed once more, Oliver and the owl bolt through the portal and vanish into thin air.

With no time to waste, I rush to Chava’s wolf, placing two trembling hands on his throat to stop the bleeding.

“You’re going to be okay,” I whimper, “It’s going to be okay.”

Chava wheezes, his labored breaths coming in short and haggard. His eyes flutter open and look at me, his muddled thoughts entering my head.

I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you…

“It’s okay,” I cry. “I- I-“

Tell Mia I love her…

“Shh, stop it. You’re going to be just fine,” I coo, focusing my energy on his body.

He’s too far gone… Reyna says. I don’t think he’s going to make it…

Shut up, you stupid wolf! Shut up! I snap at her and she falls silent.

A jolt of energy leaves my finger tips and enters his body, Chava stiffening with the feeling. I pour every ounce of strength I have left but his heart beat only grows weaker and weaker, until it’s only a murmur.

Come on, come on, come on. Please work….

The energy keeps pumping through his body, healing his wounds but his heart refuses to react. Seconds seem like hours as I work tirelessly to fix him when suddenly, Santos appears out of thin air. beside me. The little hummingbird perches on my shoulder, giving me one last peck on the cheek before it vanishes once more.

You’ll always be my sister…Aurora

And then his heart stops.

“Chava?” I cry, shaking his body as it goes limp, the life draining from his eyes. “Chava!”

He’s gone. Reyna whimpers.

No… I shake my head in disbelief. No, he can’t be…

“No! No! Chava wake up! Wake up!” I wail, pulling his head onto my lap and stroking his fur. “Chava please,” I cry, burying my face in his fur. “Don’t leave me alone again.”

Reyna tries to calm me down but to no avail.

This couldn’t be the end. Not when we were so close to being a family again. Not when I wanted to give him a chance.

“Aurora-” Evan screams, but it’s too late.

I feel the bite on my shoulder before he even finishes his sentence, the rogue’s teeth burrowing into my flesh. I let out a scream, clawing at the massive wolf’s head in a desperate attempt to free myself. My will to fight drains with the b***d pumping out of my body as the rogue bites down harder.

Don’t give up! Reyna snaps. Fight back! Fight for Chava! Fight for Oliver.

But I was so tired. I was so so tired of losing everyone I cared about.

Fight! Reyna snaps. You haven’t lost everyone. Your pack still needs you!

It’s as if the world is moving in slow motion. Despair screams in Evans eyes as he races towards me, leaving Nikolai tied up in my vines on stage. All around me, wolves were fighting on my behalf, laying their lives down if need be. Did I have a right to just give up after all my pack and allies had done for me?

No… You don’t. Reyna snaps. So get up and fight!

Forcing myself to react, I grab the rogue’s head between my hands, my palms creating a current of lightning that flows into the wolf, electrocuting them. I feel their body vibrate against me, going numb from the 140 Volts I was delivering. When I feel their jaws relax, I let go of their head and reach for my wound. Before I can finish them off, Evan pounces on the wolf, tearing out its throat so that it lays lifeless on the ground.

I crawl to Chava’s side, the attack sparking an idea in me. I could still save him.

“I will not lose you,” I whisper to myself, fighting the urge to give into the darkness tempting me to sleep. “Wake up!” I snarl, placing my hands on his chest. “I said ‘Wake up’, damn it!”

Lightening ripples from my arms to my fingertips, jolting his body.

Nothing happens.

Aurora, stop. Reyna sighs. It won’t work.

I ignore her, charging up my hands again and delivering another shock.

Suddenly, he sucks in breath and his eyes burst open.

“Chava?” I call out, afraid I might be hallucinating.

He coughs, his eyes darting around and blinking hard as he takes another breath.

“Chava!” I sob into his b***d stained fur. “Oh goddess! I thought I lost you again…” I whimper, pulling his head to my chest. “I thought you left me.”

His wolf whines, licking my arms and nuzzling me. I smooth his fur down and pull him to my chest, kissing his forehead. He licks me once more before pushing himself back on his paws, shaking his fur.

He nudges me with his snout, prompting me to get up. I look around at the fight still in full force, Lluvia Blanca’s land bleeding with the war Nikolai had started.

Nikolai. The man who had helped cause me so much pain. It was time for him to pay.

On the stage, the vines were still holding him down. Our eyes meet and for a split second, fear flickers in his eyes. I stumble towards him, pushing through the pain in my shoulder and Reyna itching to be let out. I tighten the vines gripping his limbs and he shakes against them violently.

“Let me go, you b***h,” he growls.

I climb the steps slowly, never once breaking my gaze on Nikolai.

“You think I’m afraid of you?” he asks, desperately trying to free himself from my vines. “This is only the beginning of the end for you!”

He’s mine, Reyna declares. Let me do it!

I crouch down on all fours, my dress tearing to shreds as my bones crack and rearrange into my wolf. Nikolai’s face pales as Reyna bares her teeth at him, leaning on her hind legs ready to pounce.

“What are you-“

He cries out in pain as Reyna tears into his body, ripping out chunks of his flesh, staining her pure white fur in his essence. She clamps her jaws on his arm and it comes flying off in a clean strike. He howls as more of his b***d spills onto the stage. Her claws dig into his throat, slashing it open until the life leaves his eyes and his cries end abruptly.

But Reyna wasn’t finished. No, not even close. All she saw was red… the red eyes of that wicked owl… the red eyes of rage that clouded Michael and Oliver’s mind…the red b***d that once poured from Emiliano’s wounds all those years ago… the red b***d almost draining from Salvador only moments before… Red… all she saw was red…

She was ready to pay back every single moment of pain I lived because of him. She continues to claw at his limp body, ripping him to ribbons so that all that remains are bits of skin and bones.

She only pulls back when Evan’s voice coaxes us out of our rage.

“He’s dead, Aurora. You can stop now,” he says timidly, his gaze set on his paws. “Its okay, we won.”

I look up from the c*****e and notice the fighting has stopped, all the rogues sprinting back into the woods while the Lluvia Blanca and Cerulean Sea wolves gawk at me. The Amethyst Lake warriors are frozen in their places, anger and anguish lingering in their eyes. I had killed their Alpha and as tradition follows, I was now their new leader.

I step away from Nikolai’s mauled body, completely devoid of any emotion. I feel so empty inside as I stare across the field. Chava climbs up the steps as I shift back into my human form, barely managing to stay up on my own.

Take this, He thinks, projecting a cloak in my hands and turning away as I wrap it around myself.

My vision is getting blurry and I find it hard to stay up my own two feet, the adrenaline finally starting to wear off. My shoulder burns, every movement enraging the nerves torn to shreds. I look down at the wound, shocked to see b***d still seeping profusely from each tooth mark.

Lean on me, Chava says, stepping in front of me when I my knees buckle and I nearly crash onto the floor.

“Luna!” Evan cries as he rushes up to the stage. “Come on kid. Get on my back. I’ll take you-“

His words drown out as I take another step and fall into oblivion.