The Ivory Queen
Chapter 70

***Aurora’s POV***

Celina is on her feet when she sees me, spreading her arms out wide. I run into her arms as tears fill my eyes and crash into her at full speed. We collide and fall over on the couch, giggling hysterically and holding each other in a tight embrace.

I smile like a fool when I pull back, unable to form any words and she laughs at me.

“I missed you too,” she chuckles, pulling me into another tight hug.

“How did – When did you get here?” I ask, finally managing to find my voice.

“I flew in about 2 hours ago. Oliver arranged everything so I could surprise you. He knew we’d want a little more time together before your big day.”

Goddess I love that man more than anything!

“What about school?”

“Already finished my finals. I’m all yours for the next two weeks,” she smiles. “Mom and the whole gang will be here tomorrow night.”

“Gang? Who else did you invite?” I laugh.

“Oliver said I could bring anyone I wanted so I’m bringing everyone I can,” she smiles triumphantly. “It’s not everyday your long lost sister takes the title of Luna, ya know?”

We hear the front door open followed by the pitter patter of little paws. Rio trots into the room and stares curiously at both of us before deciding he loves us both. He jumps on the couch and begins assaulting us with his tongue and covering us in sloppy k****s.

Evan also stumbles in, his eyes nearly popping out when he catches a glimpse of both Celina and I. His shock turns to annoyance and he runs his hands through his hair.

“Oh no, there are two of you?” He g****s before looking at Celina. “Don’t tell me you’re equally as stubborn?”

“Some might say I’m worse,” she glares at him. “And you are?”

“A moron,” I answer, making Evan scowl at me. “I’m kidding!” I laugh. “Celina, this is my very annoying gamma, Evan.”

“I also happen to be her favorite person in the entire world,” he adds with a grin.

“In your dreams,” Carter calls out as he enters into the room with Rosalie in hand. He gives Celina and I a dashing smile and bows for us. “Hi, I’m Carter, Oliver’s beta and this is my wife Rosalie, Oliver’s sister. It’s nice to finally meet you, your highness.”

“Carter, Evan, And Rosalie,” Celina repeats to herself. “This is your family?” she asks me and I give her a small nod. She gets on her feet and hugs each of them gently.

“I don’t know you but I know what you mean to my sister. Thank you for existing. She was all alone before you guys came along and helped her piece herself back together. And for that reason alone, I love each of you dearly,” she says, her voice shaking a little as she pulls back from Rosalie.

Rosalie burst into tears immediately and pulls her back into another hug. “Aurora is a treasure! We’re grateful to have her here.”

“What do mean treasure? She’s incredibly stubborn and the most annoying brat I’ve ever met,” Evan snorts, frowning are me. “A tiny demon in disguise!”

I stick my tongue out at him and with that, Evan lifts me off the couch and spins my around while I fight him off. When he puts me down, I stumble on my feet, extremely dizzy from the spinning and the room erupts in laughter.

For the next 20 minutes or so, Celina and I fill each other in on the latest happenings. I’m glad to hear her relationship with Valentina has vastly improved since the shift. I let her know about the Alpha meeting I had and the information we have on Tais.

“We need to train. It won’t be long before Tais finds out I’m here, if she’s doesn’t already know. I think now would be the best time to find out what we can do.”

“I can’t train,” I sigh. “Oliver and Pin-head over here refuse to let me set foot on the training grounds,” I huff, glaring at Evan.

“The training grounds are no place for a future Luna. You could get seriously hurt.”

“That is the most bone-headed argument I’ve ever heard! So what if she’s Luna? We’re the Ivory twins for Goddess sake! If anything, it’s your soldiers you should be worried about!”

“My job is to protect the Luna. I’ll lay my life down if I have too for her. She doesn’t need training,” Evan spits back. “Besides, it’s not your decision whether she can or can’t train. It’s Oliver’s. He’s the Alpha.”

“Oliver might be Alpha but he’s certainly not my Alpha nor does he get to make decisions about what I or my sister get to do. Last I checked, a Luna is an Alpha’s equal.”

“I want to train, Evan,” I sigh. “I know you will guard me with your life but it won’t be necessary if I train and learn to use my powers. The last thing I would want is for you or anyone else to get hurt when I can easily fight off Tais.”

“You know Oliver will never agree to that,” Evan says, shaking his head. “He would rather die before letting you get hurt.”

“I’ll talk to Oliver. I’m not his mate and worst case scenario, I could use my Royal voice on him,” Celina shrugs before getting to her feet.

“I don’t want you using your Royal voice on him. I want him to understand without us having to force him,” I say, grabbing her arm. She sighs, gently pulling her arm from my grip.

“We need to train, Aurora. Whether he likes it or not.”

Before any of us have a chance to stop her, she sprints up the stairs to the third floor. I run after her, hoping to convince her otherwise. Celina makes a B-line for every door, opening and closing each one. I follow her close behind, begging her to let it go and come downstairs with me. I don’t want to face Javier at the moment. As she searches, I notice she’s getting antsy, almost frantic.

Finally, she finds the door to the office and busts in. For a split second, Celina is completely still, almost in a trance. We both hear Javier’s comment, however, and she snaps out of it, her fury taking over.

“What did you say?” she snarls.

***Oliver’s POV***

I watch Aurora walk out of the room, her heart pounding in her chest. I hated sensing her fear when Javier walked into the room and I knew instantly that i***t played a role in her torture all those years. Michael wants nothing more than to tear Javier limb from limb for having hurt her and for once being her crush, but I’m on a mission. I need Javier alive.

I take a seat and Javier does the same. We eye each other for a few seconds, the hostility feeling strange and unnatural. Once upon a time, he, Wesley and I were great friends; we were ready to lead together. That friendship ended, however, the day I declared Aurora as my future Luna. Javier and Wesley were furious. Having been close to Emiliano, Aurora taking the title was a huge slap in the face for them. Javier and I haven’t spoken since but this was an urgent matter.

“Oliver what’s this about? What do you want from me?” Javier demands, clearly still fuming from his encounter with Aurora. He wasn’t too happy to see her here, but I could care less what he liked or disliked.

“Do you know what Aurora is?” I ask, trying my best to keep my growing anger contained.

“What, you think a makeover changes what I think about her? She is still Emiliano’s killer!”

Without thinking, I start laughing and his face contorts in anger. “Little do you know the real killer has been living under your roof under your protection all these years. You’ve been torturing the wrong girl this whole time like the idiots you are!”

“What the f**k are you talking about?” he snarls.

“The night Emiliano died was orchestrated by none other than Karina,” I say smugly. Javier scoffs and gets up from his chair.

“I knew this was a waste of time!” he snaps, heading for the door. “I don’t even know why I bothered coming here.”

“Aurora was supposed to die that night,” I continue and he stops in his tracks. “That was what Karina wanted. She turned her niece over to a witch for Mia and Salvador’s protection. A witch who hates Silver and Gold wolves with a passion. A witch who is currently hiding in the city. The same witch that almost killed Mia not too long ago,” I snarl, getting up from my chair. “She’s going to end your pack, Javier. And as much as I’d love to watch you all burn to the ground for what you’ve done, Aurora still cares about your pack.”

“Wow, I give you props, Oliver,” he shrugs, a cold smile on his lips. “You have an extremely creative imagination. But I’m done listening to your bullshit.”

“I watched Aurora complete her first shift this past Monday. How the f**k could she have killed a silver wolf without shifting? How could she have gone rogue, Javier? Think!”

“How do you know it was her first shift?” he snaps back. “She could have lied to you.”

“Because Aurora is an Ivory twin. She couldn’t shift without her sister, it would kill her!”

“What the actual f**k are you talking about?”

I sigh with frustration. Do I have to spell it out for him? I proceed to explain Aurora’s lineage and her long lost sister. When I’m finished, Javier looks angrier than before.

“This is some bullshit, Oliver. Why the f**k did call you me here just to feed me a stupid myth?”

I’m honestly exhausted with this guy.

“You are about to take over as Alpha for Lluvia Blanca. I called you here because I want to bring you back into the treaty. Your father won’t listen but I’m hoping you will. Your wolves shouldn’t suffer because of his incompetence,” I answer.

“His incompetence? You just told me the dumbest fairytale I’ve ever heard. I don’t know how you’ve managed to convince the other Alphas but this is f*****g ridiculous!”

“I also wanted to warn you, Javier. You were once my friend and I respected you at some point. I know your father is trying to work out a treaty with the Amethyst Lake pack and I’m giving you some advice. Don’t do it.”

“Finally, we are getting somewhere. That’s why you called me here, isn’t it?” He smirks. “You’re afraid we’ll be stronger than you?”

I laugh at this. “That’s funny. You and I both know the four Allies are infinitely stronger than you and Amethyst Lake combined, even with your silver wolves.”

“Of course, but who said it was just the two of us” Javier chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest and smiling at me. “As far as I know, Maple Moon and Desert Sky are still neutrals. Who’s to say Lluvia Blanca can’t offer them something they can’t refuse?”

I want to laugh. I’ve been working on a deal with Desert Sky and Maple Moon for months now and recently made a breakthrough in the negotiations. Their Alphas will even be attending Aurora’s ceremony on Friday.

“Well in that case may the best pack prevail,” I smile coldly.

He smiles back triumphantly. “Thank you, we will. As for your offer and advice, I’m not interested.”

Cocky bastard. It’s going to be fun watching him crash and burn.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope this treaty with Amethyst Lake doesn’t back fire on you.”

Celina bursts through the door with Aurora by her side as Javier claps back at me.

“Yeah, well, I genuinely hope your mate doesn’t try to murder you in your sleep.”

In an instant, Celina’s cool silver eyes fill with rage.

“What did you say?” She snarls.

***Celina’s POV***

I quickly realize I have no idea where I’m going as I search for Oliver up on the third floor and just start opening doors hoping to find him. Aurora is at my side begging me to go downstairs. I can sense her fear and it pisses me off.

Who is she afraid of? It better not be Oliver. I’ll snap his neck if he hurts her again.

As I search, I feel my wolf getting restless with every passing second but I don’t care at the moment. I’m going to give Oliver a piece of my mind. I finally stumble upon the office when the most intoxicating smell of fresh eucalyptus and oranges fills my nose.

Mate! My wolf, Sarai, squeals.

“Yeah, well, I genuinely hope your mate doesn’t try to murder you in your sleep.”

That comment is enough to snap me out my trance.

“What did you say?” I snarl.

The man before me turns around and our eyes meet. His brown eyes look red when the light hits them and I have to close my mouth to keep from gasping at how beautiful he is. How absolutely perfect and delicious my mate is.

Mate! Mate! Mate! Sarai purrs.

I feel Aurora’s hand wrap around my wrist as she trembles. Her heart is beating like crazy and I can tell she’s holding back tears.

She’s afraid of him. She’s afraid of my mate….

“You…” he says, his mouth curving up in a crooked smile. “You’re my-“

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?!” I spit through gritted teeth. “WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY SISTER?”

His gaze shifts between Aurora and I before a look of horror replaces his smile.

“…You’re Aurora’s sister…” he mumbles absent mindedly as he turns back to Oliver. “You were telling the truth?”

Is he f*****g stupid? Of course I’m her sister. We’re f*****g identical!

“I told you I wanted to help. I wouldn’t joke about something this serious,” Oliver answers. “Javier, meet Celina, Aurora’s identical twin. Celina, this is Javier Salazar. He’ll be taking over as Alpha of the Lluvia Blanca pack in two weeks,” he sighs, rubbing his temples.

“Javier… ” I turn back to Aurora who has her eyes glued to him. Her fear of him is clear as daylight and an anger fills me up. “Aurora?”

She can’t stop staring at him. Her eyes are glazed over with unshed tears and I know he must have been one of those despicable wolves that tortured her. Javier, on the other hand, glares at her then turns back to me and smiles.

Monster.

“Aurora?” I ask again, shaking her a little and she finally responds by looking back at me and blinking hard. I pull her into my arms and whisper in her ears. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen. I thought you were afraid of me talking to Oliver.”

“Talk to me about what?” Oliver asks, coming over to us quickly and pulling Aurora out of my arms. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing important,” I reply. I try to grab Aurora’s hands and Oliver growls at me. I fight the urge to burst into laughter.

Did he really just growl at me?

Aurora scowls at him and wriggles free from his arms to grab my hand. I stick my tongue out at him and am about to walk out of the room with my sister when Javier’s voice stops me.

“Celina wait!” Javier calls out. “You’re my-“

“Stay away from me,” I growl. ” I, Celina Maite Altamirano-Reyes, princess of the Sol the Oro Kingdom, reject you, Javier Salazar, future Alpha of the Lluvia Blanca pack, as my mate. Go to hell.”

I double over as the pain of a burning fire flows through my veins. Sarai cries and screams at me to take back the rejection but I can’t. I’m mated to a monster. Javier is on the floor writhing in pain at my rejection while Aurora screams and pulls me into her arms.

“What did you do? What did you do?” She shrieks. “You shouldn’t have done that!”

I feel Oliver scoop me up in his arms as my knees give out. Javier snarls when Oliver touches me and I snarl back.

F**k him.

Oliver’s eyes fog over and within seconds Evan is there.

“What the-“

“Take her to the bedroom. I have to deal with Javier,” Oliver instructs as he hands me over to Evan.

I whimper as waves of pain wash over me. Aurora grabs hold of my hand while Evan carries me to her bedroom and sets me down on the bed. Aurora climbs in with me and I settle in her arms. I feel electricity enter my body from Aurora’s hands and in an instant, the pain starts to fade away.

Sarai?

I get no response and I know she’s angry with me. It doesn’t matter though. I’m not taking Javier back. He can’t stand Aurora and I won’t be mated to someone who willingly brought her unimaginable pain, even if it means giving up a part of my soul.

“Celina?” Aurora whimpers. “Why did you do that?”

Aurora’s puppy comes trotting in and curls up in between Aurora and I.

“You know why,” I reply, trying my best to hold back my tears. “I saw the way he looked at you. There was so much anger in his eyes for you and you were so scared. I look exactly like you. If he could hurt you so easily, what makes you think he won’t hurt me?”

“You’re his mate. It’s different. Don’t do this for me. I won’t let you give up your mate for my sake. You don’t need to. You can love him if you want.”

“I wasn’t asking for permission, Aurora. I already rejected him. I won’t take it back,” I snap.

“Javier is your mate?” Evans asks. “That f*****g sucks. He’s a piece of s**t if you ask me.”

Aurora glares at him. “Get out! You’re not helping.”

“Don’t scold your gamma for being honest,” I chuckle. “He is a piece of s**t and you know it.”

“No he isn’t-“

“Then why are so you afraid of him?” I growl. “What did he do to you?” She falls silent, pursing her lips. Aurora shakes her head at me and for the first time since we met, I hate that she refuses to open up to me. “Aurora, tell me.”

“I’m going to go get you some water,” she says quietly, getting out of bed.

I reach out to grab her wrist but she gently pushes me away and storms out of the room.

I stare blankly at the door. “What just happened?”

“That’s Aurora for you,” Evan sighs, clearly accustomed to her antics. “Some things she keeps to herself. Even Oliver doesn’t know the full extent of the things those monsters used to do to her. I don’t think anyone ever will.”

Rio barks and I give his belly a good scratch.

“I don’t like that,” I say, sitting up in bed. “That’s too great a burden for her to carry on her own.”

“I know.”

“How she could even try to defend Javier when she was shaking like a leaf in his presence a few moments ago!”

Evan takes a seat at the edge of the bed and stretches. “Aurora will always put others before herself,” he sighs. “No matter how much it hurts her. It’s the type of person she is. She doesn’t know how to be selfish.”

We’re both quiet for a moment, petting Rio and waiting for Aurora to come back.

“Do you agree with Aurora?” I ask. “Do you think I’m being stupid for giving up my mate?”

He shakes his head. “I, unfortunately, find myself in the same position as you.”

“What do you mean?”

He lays back on the bed, Rio resting his cute head on his stomach and sighing. “Mia is my mate.”

I sigh. “Does Aurora know?”

He shakes his head again. “No. Mia doesn’t even know. She’s not 18 yet so her wolf can’t sense our bond… but I know it’s there. My wolf felt it when I touched her once.”

“And you hate her?”

“She watched her mother and brother torture my best friend and did nothing. I don’t care that Aurora has forgiven her. I could never love her. The second she turns 18, I’m rejecting her. You don’t know what it was like … seeing Aurora lay almost lifeless in that bed for four months. All the scars on her tiny body… I don’t know how she survived all these years….” A few angry tears run down his cheeks and he quickly wipes them away. “So no, I don’t think you’re crazy for not wanting Javier. I don’t know what he did nor do I care. He’s a monster like the rest of her family and they’ll always be monsters.”

I take a deep breath, thankful some else agrees with me, but saddened to not be alone on this mate-less journey. From what I can tell, Evan didn’t deserve this pain.

“You should have been my mate,” I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

He shudders. “Don’t get me wrong, you are a very beautiful girl but it’ll never happen. You look too much like Aurora for me to fall in love with you… it’d be like kissing my sister.”

I burst out laughing. I can see why Aurora adores him.

“Well, then we shall be great friends,” I smile, extending out my hand to his and shaking it. “And I’m sorry about Mia.”

“I’m sorry about Javier.”