The Ivory Queen
Chapter 76

***Javier’s POV***

I watch Celina leave and know there’s no way in hell she’ll ever forgive me. With my heart shattered in pieces, I turn back to Aurora.

“Aurora?” I whisper, unable to look her in the eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I-I know there’s nothing I can do to take back what I did and I don’t deserve your forgiveness so I won’t ask for it, but I need you to know I regret everything I did.”

“Look her in the eyes, you coward!” Oliver snarls. “Face what you did!”

“Michael calm down,” Aurora coos, pecking his cheeks. I watch as Oliver’s silver eyes return to their dark blue before Aurora’s voice grabs my attention.

“A few moments ago, I told you I thought I would never recover from the pain you guys inflicted on me. I was wrong. I stood here before you, feeling hopeless, with an anger so potent, I thought it would consume me just as it had consumed you all these years.” She pauses, turning her head to k**s Oliver on the lips. “And then Oliver walked in … and I found my sanctuary.” She smiles at him. “I’ve found someone I can trust unconditionally, someone I can love without any fear of being betrayed. I thought of Evan and Carter and realized I’ve found friendship and loyalty again. Celina and Rosalie have given me courage and strength. After 5 long years, I’ve pieced myself back together and found my home.”

Aurora looks back at me with her kind gold eyes and I’m taken back to a time when she and I were close friends. “I gave you a taste of what I felt…” she swallows hard and takes a deep breath. “I will never forget what you did and neither should you. It’ll always be a part of our story and our history, a reminder of what hatred can do to us. A lesson to never do it again.”

“I would like to move on and so for my own sake and sanity, I forgive you for what you did all those years ago and for the pain you helped cause. I choose to not let fear and hatred lead my life and hope you do the same.”

She gets off of Oliver’s lap and sits beside me. I can hear her heart pounding in her chest now that she’s away from him and I know this simple action took a lot of courage on her part. She’s still afraid of me but she refuses to let it hold her back any longer.

“I don’t trust you yet but I wish you nothing but the best of luck as the next Alpha of Lluvia Blanca. As for Celina, I-I understand your pain. I know how much it hurts.” She glances up at Oliver who looks her in the eyes, unashamed of his guilt. “Just be patient. If it’s meant to be, she’ll come to you. But you have to be prepared that it might not be.”

I’m overwhelmed with emotions and take a moment to collect myself. “Thank you,” I sigh in relief. “I’m glad you’ve found yourself again despite everything I did to destroy you. I’ll work on earning your trust back, even if it takes me a life time.”

I pause for a bit to keep my voice from shaking and swallow the lump in my throat. “I know things between you and Chava are really f****d up but I’ll do everything I can to help him understand the truth. Even if you don’t forgive him, he needs to acknowledge the truth. It might take a while, though. He has a lot of demons to work on. As for Mia, she really is sorry.”

“I know she is and after thinking about it, I get why she chose to keep it to herself. She was afraid of losing me.”

“What do you plan to do with Karina?” Oliver interrupts.

What should I do with Karina? She’s an incoherent drunk now…

I take a moment to think before I realize it’s not I who should decide.

“It’s up to Salvador and Mia really. She’s their mother. I’m sure they’ll confront her soon and I believe her punishment should be their choice. I think they should be the ones who end this story. I know a lot of people will have a hard time believing she’s to blame for Emiliano’s death, most of all my parents, but in the end, it doesn’t matter what they think. The truth will always be the truth, no matter how ugly it is.”

Aurora smiles and nods her head to demonstrate her agreement and I look up at Oliver, seeing the fire in his eyes. If I’m not mistaken, I swear, I see a hint of jealousy there as well.

Funny… He was never this jealous when he was dating Adeline.

I clear my throat. “If it’s not to late, I’d like to take you up on your offer, Oliver.”

Oliver glares at me but Aurora gives him a warning look and manages to calm him down. He grunts his annoyance. “I thought Lluvia Blanca was signing with Amethyst Lake?” He says in a mocking tone.

“Lluvia Blanca is holding off on the signing until after I take over. My dad wants it to be my first official act as Alpha.”

“Yeah, well good luck figuring out how to back out of that contract without pissing off Amethyst lake and starting a war.”

“I’ll figure something out,” I reply, holding out my hand to him. “What do you say, Ol’s? We were raised to lead together. I’d still like to do that.”

He looks at Aurora, obviously not happy with me, but one pleading look from her is enough to make him give in. Oliver takes my hand. “Just so we’re clear, we are not friends. I’m not doing this for your sake either so don’t make me regret this,” he snarls.

She’s got him wrapped around her finger, I chuckle. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

The ring! My wolf, Adan, reminds me.

I scramble to reach into my pocket. “I almost forgot. I have something for you, Aurora.” I say, pulling out a gold ring from my jeans. Oliver growls and I hold back a grin and focus on Aurora. I exhale, relieved to be moving forward with her. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to give this to her since yesterday.

“Your father was more than just my mother’s gamma…. He was family. He got me through a lot,” I take a deep breath to calm my shaking voice. “I-I uh – I was nervous for my first day of warrior training….Emiliano gave me this ring to hold onto for safe keeping. He said it belonged to the greatest leader he knew, his older brother, Mateo. It was his way of telling me to not be so afraid to lead.”

I hold out the ring to her and she takes it, tears welling up in her eyes as she examines it. The gold band is encrusted with diamonds while the square center is engraved with a Lion and Eagle emblem.

“It’s the Alpha King ring of Sol de Oro…” she murmurs. “It bears their coat of arms.”

“I was instructed to pass it on the next great leader when the time came and well … I-I think they would both want you to have it,” I smile before bowing my head to her.

She clasps the ring in her right palm and tentatively takes my hand in her left. I can feel her trembling as she gives me hand a squeeze. She takes a deep breath and holds my hand for a moment before finding the strength to speak.

“Thank you for this,” she murmurs.

I wish I could hug her and let her know I will never hurt her again. Growing up, Aurora was always so expressive, giving hugs and k****s to anyone who would take them. It breaks my heart to see her struggle just to hold my hand because of what I did. I peer back at Oliver and hold back laughter at the look of jealousy in his eyes as we hold hands.

“You can leave now,” he growls and Aurora releases my hand to stifle a chuckle.

“Sorry,” she laughs. “I may have told Oliver and Celina I had a crush on you growing up,” Aurora whispers sheepishly and gets up to sit on Oliver’s lap.

I can’t stop my blush, infuriating Oliver even more. “You told him about the k**s?” I ask nervously.

Oliver’s eyes widen with shock and Aurora glares at me.

“Stop. Talking. Now!” she hisses through gritted teeth.

“Sorry,” I mutter, feeling uncomfortable under Oliver’s gaze.

Smooth, Adan whispers.

Shut up. How was I supposed to know she omitted that part?

“You two have kissed?” he eyes her and she blushes.

“I-it was a long t-time ago,” she defends herself. “Y-you’ve kissed Adeline and I don’t mention it or get jealous!”

“I beg to differ!”

Before I know it, they start bickering about exes and crushes. Feeling like a third wheel, I get up front the couch and clear my throat to catch their attention.

“If it’s okay with you, I’d like to wait here until Celina returns. I just want to make sure she gets home okay.”

Aurora turns back and nods. “Are you hungry? Dinner should be ready soon.”