Chapter 11

Maksim rubbed his forehead as his mother and her council spoke around the round table in the throne room. All he wanted was to make sure Ella was okay. He didn't want to be a part of this meeting and waste his time.

Maksim, Owen mind linked him. Please pay attention.

Sorry, Maksim slowly straightened back up.

"So it's decided then," Gemma said as she looked over the meeting agenda.

"Yes," Adam nodded. "I think this is a good plan, Mavi."

"Thank you," Mavi said. "Let's hope this works."

She turned to her son and asked him to stay back as the rest gathered their things and emptied the room. Maksim restlessly moved around as Owen and Mavi looked at each other with concern.

"Macky," Mavi took a deep breath. "I know you don't want to be here right now. But it is very important. This whole 'rebranding the image' plan is banking on you, Clare, Adeline and Maya. But more so on you then anyone else."

"I know," Maksim nodded.

"We know it is important to you to win Ella over right now," Owen started. "Trust me when I say I would not ask this if we had any other way."

Maksim slowly began to look up as his mind took a turn down worry lane. His parents were masters at hiding their emotions from their faces. But years of looking into their eyes taught Maksim how to pick up on their worries.

"We're asking you to stay away from Ella for a few days," Mavi said quickly as if she was trying to pull off a band-aid and get over the fear of it hurting.

"What?" Maksim frowned. "How is that going to do anything?"

"Her family is surrounded by controversy right now," Owen explained. "Like it or not, the protesters are using their story to take aim at us. Things will only escalate if they fine you with her. Also her ..... hesitation......"

Maksim waited for his father to continue but the man looked over at his wife. The couple stood together tag teaming, always catching each other. Maksim was envious. Would Ella and him ever have that?

"Look, Mackey," Mavi sighed. "Ella is a sweetheart. We love her and we understand her position right now. We really do. But you chasing her right now in front of the public eye is nothing going to make anything easy. Even if we tell the media and make an official announcement that she is your mate, the public will find some way to twist the story. Just as they did with her sister."

"The sister is fine, by the way," Owen said. "Border patrol informed us she crossed into Bulgaria with her mate."

"Brave girl," Maksim said under his breath.

Mavi and Owen looked at each other once more as they waited for their son to acknowledge what they had just said. Mavi knew the feeling of wanting to go after your mate. Hadn't she done the exact same for Owen. But she prayed Maksim would be cautious. His crown rested upon his decision.

"Maksim," Mavi walked over to her son and placed a hand on his cheek.

Maksim took a deep breath. He took his mother's hand into his and placed a kiss upon it.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'll lay low."

"We don't want you to lay low," Owen said. "We need you out there in the public eye. We just want you to stay away from Ella until the dust storm settles."

Maksim's wolf whined in his head. He hated this idea with every ounce of his being. But he couldn't refuse his parents.

"Okay," he nodded after a while.

"That means no picking her up, no phone calls or texts, no going to see her at night, no guards outside her home.....complete radio silence," Mavi wanted to make sure he fully understood what was expected of him.

Maksim rubbed the back of his neck and slowly stood up. The restless in his eyes worried Mavi as he looked around, slightly overwhelmed.

"I can do everything you just asked for," Maksim said slowly. "Just don't take the guards away. I need to know she's safe in all this."

Mavi looked to Owen as he gave her a nod.

"We can have guards in plane clothes and regular cars," Owen said. "We'll switch them out regularly so people don't get suspicious."

"Thank you," Maksim said.

Mavi's hurt sank to the pit of her stomach as she watched her son walk out of the room with his head hanging. She wanted to tell him she would make everything right. It was a bitter pill to swallow that some things were just too difficult for even mom to solve.

Owen held up his arm as he watched his wife walk towards him. He held her against his chest and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Are we doing the right thing?" Mavi asked him.

Owen looked up at the door Maksim had walked out through.

"I hope so," he said.

_________________________

Maksim sat in his car as he turned the phone in his hand. The streets were empty, the palace guards were parked one block away, all the lights in the building were off.

All the lights, except one.

As Maksim stared up at the window, he dialed Ella's number one last time for the day. After a couple of rings, he was about to give up when he heard the sweet sound of Ella's voice.

"Hello," she whispered into the phone.

Maksim sighed in relief, "Hi."

"Max....." Ella's voice shook as if she had been crying. Maksim's eyes snapped open as his wolf began to pace the corners of his mind.

"What's wrong?" Maksim asked immediately. "Are you hurt? Did they say anything to you?"

"I'm okay," Ella said in a quiet voice. "Lily.....she's....."

"Lily is fine," Maksim said. "She's in Bulgaria with Charlie and his family. I reached out to them."

"You did?"

"Yes," Maksim said. "After I found out where she was, I contacted the local pack and spoke to them. She's safe, Ell."

"Oh thank god."

Maksim could tell Ella was crying. Her voice was deep and she sniffled every other second.

"Ella...." Maksim didn't know how to begin. Their relationship was so delicate. He feared one wrong word and he would lose her. "I....I have to tell you something."

"What is it?" Ella held her breath.

"I....I have to go away for a few days."

"Go away?" Ella's voice panicked. "Go where?"

"I'll still be in town," Maksim assured her. "I just.....I just can't be in contact with you for a while until this all settles down."

There was a long pause as Ella processed the news from her room. Maksim waited for her to answer as she sniffled quietly.

"We can make this all stop, Ell," he couldn't help but say.

"How?"

"We tell everyone the truth," Maksim leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. "We tell everyone we're mates. We can be the unity this town needs right now."

"No," Ella sighed.

"God damn it, Ell," Maksim said in irritation.

"Max, I can't do that to my family right now."

"You family will be fine,"

"You don't know that!" Ella cried again. "My papa just came home from the hospital. He hasn't been the same since finding out about Lily and Charlie. Lily leaving only made this worse. If he.....if he finds out about us right now, it'll kill him."

"So then what are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know!" Ella's voice cracked.

Maksim smacked the steering wheel in front of him as he sat in his car listening to his mate cry. He felt trapped. Like he couldn't breath.

"I don't know..." Ella said again. "Why is this happening to me?"

"To us," Maksim corrected her. "This is happening to us."

"No." As Ella spoke, Maksim could feel her shaking her head.

"I almost lost my father. I lost my sister. I have to keep looking between my family and my mate....I can't think straight, Max. My life....my life was perfect......everything made sense before.....before..."

"Before I came along," Maksim's eyes darkened.

"No...." Ella cried. "Max, that's not wh-"

"Good night, Ell."

Maksim didn't give her a chance to respond as he ended the call and threw this phone to the back seat. The muscles in his jaw tensed as his wolf clawed at his heart. He wanted to call her back and demand to know if he was really so horrible for her.

Why did she think she was the only one suffering? His world without her was falling apart too. Didn't she see that?

In his anger and frustration, Maksim hit the gas and raced down the empty streets. He didn't care for the way the palace guards followed him or for the way the police outside of town caught his speed. He channeled all his frustration into his feet and held the gas pedal down.

Back in her room, Ella laid under the sheets and cried silently. All day, she felt as if she was stuck in a nightmare. Dean's somber face, Ruby's cries, Mia's anger, the police questions, the neighbor's sympathetic glances, the protesters' angry words, Lily's empty room.....

Ella wanted to sit up in bed and scream. The pressure in her chest and the heartache was too much for her to handle. The whole day, she was a constant mix between feeling absolutely numb and feeling like a volcano. She felt trapped in a cage with fat iron rods she couldn't break and every time she inhaled the cage became a little smaller.

Sleep was impossible to come by that night. After Maksim left, Ella laid awake in bed as she slipped into her numb state. She stared at the ceiling as her eyes burned from how dry they were. She feared she had used up all her tears. There was nothing left for her to cry out. When the colorless sunlight finally broke through the clouds and the alarm went off, Ella sat up in bed and pushed her hair out of her face. She looked up and caught her reflection in the mirror.

Who was that girl?

What did she want?

What was she doing?

Over and over the thought of finding some end to the darkness in her heart kept Ella's sprite flickering. But every time she thought about how drastically her life had changed since one month ago, her chest felt as if it would burst open.

She couldn't go back to what her life used to be. But she didn't know where it was headed either. Was she forever doomed to live in this misery?

With defeated steps, Ella rolled out of bed and made her way to the living room. She needed to make sure Piper and Leo had breakfast. Mia would be dealing with the police and Ruby would be busy with Dean. Piper and Leo needed Ella. Their frightened faces were hard to see. How could Ella begin to explain what was happening?

As Ella entered the living room she eyes landed on Mia sitting at the dinner table. The girl had her head buried in her arms as her soft sobs rocked her shoulders. Ella walked over to her and placed a hand over her sister's shoulder.

"Mia?" she said. "What's wrong?"

Mia picked up her head slowly. Her Green eyes ringed in red as she sniffled. She wrapped her arms around Ella and buried her face in her chest.

"Ellie," she sobbed. "What is happening to us?"

"Don't worry," Ella lied. "Everything will be fine."

"No," Mia shook her head. "It feels like we are being hit with one stone after another."

"What are you talking about?"

Mia pulled away and wiped her eyes. Ella watched as the girl tried to compose herself and control her emotions.

"Mia...." Ella sat down on the chair next to her.

Mia took a deep breath as she collected herself and put herself together. She picked up the letter in front of her and handed it over to Ella.

"It's from the court," she said quietly. "Liam.....he wants full custody of Leo."

"What?" Ella's blood chilled. "What the actual fuck? He has never seen his son. He wasn't there for anything. How can....what?"

"He's using the stories on the news about Lily to say Leo is unsafe here,"

"What the actual fuck?"

"I can't lose my baby, Ella," Mia tried to keep herself together but she broke down once more.

Ella quickly wrapped her arms around her sister, "You won't lose him."

"The court will rule in his favor," Mia panicked.

"You don't know that," Ella said. "They can't. Liam has taken no responsibility for Leo."

"His family has connections," Mia cried. "They will say I'm unfit to raise a werewolf child."

"No," Ella shook her head. "They can't do that."

"They're going to take my baby," Mia cried again.

Ella didn't know what to say. The stress on her shoulders made her bones ache. Her stomach turned as she felt Mia rock with sobs.

"Ella," Mia picked up her head and wiped her face. "You can't tell mom and dad about this."

"Why not?" Ella asked. "They need to know. Maybe they can help."

"They have enough stress right now," Mia shook her head. "The doctors said dad needs to be in a stress free environment right now and this....this isn't it. We can't tell them anything."

Ella felt as if she was floating out of her body. She looked into her sister's eyes and nodded.

"Okay."  

I was tempted to name this chapter social distancing lol get it? Cuz Ella and Max can't be in public together heheh 

Anyways, what are your thought on Ella, Max, and Mia....Your comments really keep me motivated to write <3