Chapter 29

Two days later

Ella would not come out of her room. No matter what happened, no matter how much Maksim sat outside her door and pleaded with her, she would not come out. And if Maksim tried to sneak in, she would scream and yell until someone came and took him out.

Owen was furious with his son. He posted guards outside Ella's door and warned Maksim not to test his patience. But of course, Maksim had yet to learn that the world did not move around him. He tried to intimidate the guards when they wouldn't let him pass. When news reached Mavi, she had Owen double the guards. The more Maksim pushed, the harder Owen and Mavi pushed back.

Ella was a raging monster as she hid out in her room. After Owen had taken Maksim out, Mavi and Rye feared she would slip into some kind of depression but the opposite happened.

Ella broke everything in the room. She shattered the mirror, tore up the sheets, ripped the pillows.....the whole room was a war zone.

Maksim listened and watched all this from the outside. The one time he did manage to slip past the guards and go inside, Ella had screamed at the top of her lungs.

"I hate you!" She yelled. "I hate you so much!"

"Ella, I love you," Maksim's eyes watered.

"You're disgusting. Leave. Now. You already took everything away from me."

"Ella, I -"

"I have nothing left for you to take from me," Ella spat. "You want my life? Take it if it'll pacify your spoiled ego."

Maksim flinched from her words. He didn't know how to make any of it better as the guards pulled him away and closed Ella's door.

But the evening of the second day, Ella's family had been informed of what happened. Layla, who had known Ruby during Ruby's time at the palace, called the family. Her intentions were pure. She wasn't aware of what the Dunbar family was like. All she wanted to do was unit a broken girl with her family.

Mavi and Owen were surprised when Dean and Ruby came to the palace. Maksim was not so pleased. He begged his parents not to let them see Ella but he was in no condition to decide anything anymore.

However, Mavi and Owen did take their son's concerns into consideration. They let the Dunbars see their daughter in the family room where Mavi, Owen, Xavier and Maksim stood outside in case she needed them.

When Clare walked Ella to the family room, she avoided Maksim at all cost. Owen asked her if she was sure she wanted to do this and Ella nodded her head.

"Ell..." Maksim tried to speak to her but Xavier's angry eyes silenced him.

Ella took a deep breath and stepped inside. At the sight of her parents, her eyes watered. She had been feeling like her world had lost all contact with the sun. Seeing her parents' familiar face broke her down and made her realize how she had nothing anymore. Truly nothing.

"Shhhh," Dean whispered as he hugged her. "Don't cry."

Ella shut her eyes and let her parents hold her like they used to when she was little. Ruby stroked her daughter's hair as Dean patted Ella's back.

"Let's go home, sweetheart," Dean said to her.

Outside, Maksim took a step forward in alarm but Owen stopped him.

"Home?" Ella asked as she looked up.

"Yes," Dean nodded. "Home. This place is not your home."

When Ella hesitated for a second, her father cupped her face and looked into her eyes.

"I told you he would hurt you," Dean said quietly. "You didn't listen. And now he left you broken."

Ella's eyes began to water even more as her heartache replaced with fear. Her father's hands began to tighten around her face as she tried to take a step back.

"Ella," Ruby said. "Don't fool yourself. You are not meant to be here or in his life. Accept that and come with us. It can all go back to the way it was."

"No...." Ella said with a whisper as she took a step back from her parents.

"Don't be stupid, Ella," Dean said sternly as he grabbed Ella's arm.

Outside, Owen stopped Maksim as Xavier took a step into the room. The Dunbars looked up at him as he stood by the door with his hands folded behind his back.

"Ella," Xavier spoke in his usual calm voice. "Do you want to go with them?"

Ella shook her head, "No....."

Xavier turned to Dean, "She is legally an adult now. You have her answer. Please leave."

"Screw you man!" Dean snorted. "This is my child. I can do whatever I want with my family. Why don't you first your family and then speak."

"Papa...."Ella said in fear as Xavier took a deep breath and walked up to them.

"In my family, Mr. Dunbar," he began slowly as he stood behind Ella. "We do not belittle our children. We do not throw our children out of our homes for things out of their control. We do not mentally manipulate them and torture them to break their sprit."

"You know nothing about my fa-"

"I know enough," Xavier said. "Now please leave."

Dean looked at Ella with rage in his blue eyes, "You will regret this. You will never mean anything to them."

"They have stood up for me in the last twenty four hours then you two ever have in my whole life," Ella said.

Dean looked as if he wanted to say more, but the low growl coming from Xavier standing behind Ella shut him up. Ruby put her hand on her husband's shoulder and urged them to head home.

Outside the room, Mavi and Owen took a step back as the Dunbars came out. Their face stayed neutral as Dean walked up to Maksim and looked him in the eyes.

"She has turned her back on her family. How long before she turned her back on you?" Dean said.

Maksim's hands balled into fists by his side. His eyes narrowed as his body stirred.

Don't, Mavi opened her mind-link to him. Even think about it.

Unaware of the conversation going on through Maksim's head, Dean smirked thinking he got in the last word. He threw one last look at Ella standing inside with Xavier before storming out of the palace.

"Mavi," Xavier called from inside. "I need to speak to Ella. Give us some privacy."

Mavi nodded her head as she forced Maksim away. Owen closed the family door and guarded his son to make sure he didn't try something.

Inside the room, Ella stared at the floor as Xavier waited until Maksim was far away enough with his parents to not hear the conversation.

"Ella," Xavier sighed once he was sure Maksim was gone. "I apologize for the stupidity of my grandson."

Ella's eyes watered from the kindness in Xavier's voice. She let him walk her over to the sofa and sit her down.

"Although Mavi and Owen have tried their hardest to make sure their kids have an ordinary life, I'm afraid growing up behind the palace walls gave Maksim a false sense of what life is really like."

Ella didn't know what to say. She wiped her tears and looked up.

"I...I just keep thinking...... worrying...that the next time we have a big fight or he gets mad, he will do something drastic like that," Ella choked. "How could he...... why did he even think....."

Xavier picked the tissue box off the table and passed it to Ella.

"He's so impulsive," Ella sobbed. "When he's good, he's great. But as soon as something doesn't go this way....he does the most."

"As my wife would say, he's a brat," Xavier smiled. "And I agree. Maksim is very immature and his actions have been a concern of mine for some time now."

Ella slowly lifted her gaze, "What are you going to do?"

Xavier took a deep breath, "Well.....sometimes you have to lose everything in order to learn it's value."

"I.....I don't understand," Ella frowned.

Xavier looked into her blue eyes and said, "You are going to reject him."

_________________________

As expected, Dean Dunbar did not take Xavier's world kindly. As soon as he had gone home, he called every news channel and spilled his spineless guts.

"Maksim Radacovick stole my daughter from my family and then he set out to reject her after he was done having his fun!" Dean said to the reporters.

By the time the news circulated, there were many different versions. Some people reported Maksim had already rejected Ella, some people said it was yet to happen. Some said she couldn't give him heirs so he wanted nothing to do with her and others said he was caught in bed with Margo Watermen.

Caspian was not happy to have his granddaughter's name be dragged through the mud. Even though he was part of Mavi's council and it was his job to help advise her on how to best avoid the mess, he marched up to Xavier and gave him a piece of his mind.

"Listen here, you old wrinkled grape," Caspian said. "If Margo has to deal with another one of your grandson's shit shows, I will drown him at the bottom of the Atlantic and bury him under the Titanic."

"Wrinkled grape?" Exton raised a brow. "Isn't that just a raisin?"

"Shut up, you dumb cow!" Caspian snapped at his best friend.

"Caspian," Xavier sighed. "You are just the man I wanted to see."

"I am?" Caspian looked a bit taken back. "What do you want, fur-ball?"

"I need your council on a very delicate matter."

Exton gave Caspian a slight nod as his father led the man into his office. The doors closed and the faith of the whole kingdom was decided.

The next morning, Maksim was up fighting the guards again. Owen walked up to them and shook his head as he told the guards to leave.

"Maksim," Owen said. "Stop this. You have created a whole mess and your behavior isn't helping anyone. Especially not you."

"I need to see Ella," Maksim said. "I have to make her understand. I love her."

"That doesn't make anything better. What you did is still wrong."

"I just have to make her understand that I didn't mean it,"

"Maksim!" Owen said in frustration. "Do you even hear yourself? You didn't mean it? You took a step to reject her and now you are saying you didn't mean it. That's like burning down a house and then saying you didn't mean for it to get so out of hand."

"I don't need this right now," Maksim said as he took a step around his father and pushed Ella's door open.

His eyes scanned the room before he ran to the bathrooms and the closet. All were empty.

"Where is she?" Maksim snared. "What did you do to her?"

"She's at the temple," Owen said calmly.

"Why?"

"Go see for yourself."

Maksim's jaw tensed as he walked past his father and ran towards the temple. The palace halls were empty and quiet as he navigated through them and entered through the large double doors.

The temple was lit only by the sunlight coming in through the stained class windows and the candles at the altar. Maksim didn't bother to slow down or show his respect as he marched in and looked around.

"Ella!" He called out to her, his voice bouncing off the walls. "Ella!"

The rows and rows of benches were empty in the massive hall as the prince spun around looking in every direction for his mate.

"Ella!"

"You shouldn't raise your voice in a house of worship," the high priest said as he came out of the room from the side of the altar.

"Have you seen Ella?" Maksim asked him. "She's tall and has blonde hair and blue eyes."

The head shaman, an old man, smiled and looked into his office, "I believe he's talking about you, my dear child."

Maksim followed his eyes as Ella stepped out of the room slowly. His eyes relaxed for just a second upon seeing her before he began to worry again.

"What are you doing here?" Maksim asked her as he rushed up to her. He tried to hold her face but Ella quickly took a step back.

"Ella," Maksim's voice shook. "Baby, please we need to talk."

"There is nothing to talk about," Ella shook her head.

"There is," Maksim begged her. "There's so much. I love you and you need to understand I made that request way before you-"

"Way before I left my family," Ella said looking down at her hands. A short, hurtful laugh escaped Ella's lips as she wiped her eyes. "What if i didn't come to the palace that night, Maksim? What if I never fought my family and I was still living with them?"

"Nothing would have happened!" Maksim tried to make her understand. "I would never reject you."

"But you did," Ella turned her broken eyes to him. "When I asked for time, you left me. Instead of being by my side and trying to help me you went ahead and prepared to reject me. Why? Am I really that big of a disappointment?"

Ella's words cut into Maksim's skin. He knew what he did was wrong. It was so wrong, but why couldn't she see that it was all before he fell in love with her. When he pointed it out to Ella, she shook her head in frustration.

"It doesn't make it better!" She said. "It doesn't matter when it happened. What matters is that the going got tough and you looked for a way to get rid of me. Life didn't go the way you wanted so you thought you had every right to do whatever you wanted. This was a part of my life too. Did that ever cross your mind?"

"Ella," Maksim took a deep breath. "We can talk about this somewhere else. Please, I'm begging you. Just come back and we can work this out."

"No," Ella shook her head. "You don't get to decide anymore when we work things out."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I'm done," Ella cried. "I'm going to finish what you started."

"No." Maksim said sternly.

"Maksim Radacovick Dorin," Ella started to speak slowly. "I, Ella Dunbar."

"No," Maksim felt his stomach twist. "Ella don't. Please I'm begging you."

Ella broke down into sobs. She covered her mouth with her hands and cried as Maksim rushed up to her and cupped her face.

"Baby," he said desperately. "Look at me. Look at me, I love you. I love you so much, don't do this. Please, I'm begging you."

"The decision is already made, Maksim," Xavier said as he walked into the church.

Maksim looked over his shoulder. Xavier and Maksim's parents walked in with Alec and Gemma following behind.

"Stay out of this," Maksim said in anger as he turned his attention back to Ella. "Baby, I'm going to make everything better."

"Please let go of me," Ella begged as she tried to take a step back.

Maksim dropped his hands and took a step back. He ran a hand through his hair as his eyes pleaded with Ella.

Xavier walked up to Ella and the shaman as Maksim watched him with angry eyes.

"Continue, Ella," Xavier said. "No one will stop you. You have my word."

"Why are you doing this?" Maksim glared at his grandfather. "I'm nothing without her."

"Should have thought of that before he wanted to reject her," Xavier said.

"Stop putting things in her head!" Maksim yelled.

"Maksim," Mavi scolded him but he didn't listen.

"You just can't stand it that you are no longer King!" Maksim said to Xavier.

"Owen, stop him," Mavi begged as their son growled.

"You had your share of the throne, now leave," Maksim didn't stop. "The throne is mine now and she is going to be my queen. You can not sabotage me."

Xavier took a deep breath as he listened to Maksim's words. He looked at Ella who stared at her mate in horror.

"Ella, let's go," Maksim commanded.

"Do you want to go with him, Ella?" Xavier asked.

"No," Ella shook her head.

"Damn it, Ell!" Maksim groaned as he rubbed his face. "Baby, please. I'm begging you."

Maksim watched in horror as Xavier gave Ella and the shaman a nod. His mate turned to him and bit down on her bottom lip.

"Maksim Dorin Radacovick," Ella began again.

"No."

"I, Ella Dunbar,"

"No, Ella," Maksim's voice shook. "Marry me. Marry me, Ella."

Mavi and Owen took deep breaths as they shook their head at their son.

"I, Ella Dunbar, reject you as my mate," Ella said the words with a painful look in her eyes.

But Maksim didn't lose hope. The words meant nothing until one of them shed blood on silver. Their bond would not break until blood was shed. However, as the head shaman pulled out a small silver needle, all hope in Maksim's heart vanished.

"NO!" he yelled as he tried to stop Ella. "Don't!"

Alec and Owen held him back as he dropped to his knees in front of his mate. Ella held out her hand as she covered her mouth with her other hand and sobbed.

"No, no, no, Ella! Don't do it!" Maksim begged her on his knees as the head shaman pricked Ella's finger.

A cold breeze blew through the room instantly. Half the candles flickered off and the other half held on for dear life. Maksim felt his mind go numb as his heart dropped to his stomach before disappearing.

Owen and Alec released the boy as he slowly rose to his feet. Tears poured down Maksim's face as he started at Ella.

"Ell..." he said, his voice haunted.

Ella couldn't stop her sobs. She couldn't look him in the eyes either. Maksim slowly walked up to her as Xavier hovered nearby.

Everyone watched as Maksim reached out with a trembling hand and touched Ella's face.

A loud gasp left his lips when he felt nothing. Absolutely nothing.

No sparks, not electricity, no fireworks.....

"Ella?" Maksim's voice shook.

Ella couldn't bear it anymore. She took a step back and jumped into Xavier's arms as he shielded her.

"Don't touch her!" Maksim yelled at his grandfather. "You took her away from me!"

Mavi screamed as Maksim leaped forward to attack Xavier. His wolf was in rage and it had full control.

"Max, don't!" Ella yelled just as Xavier grabbed Maksim's arm and slammed him to the ground.

"You are not worthy of her," Xavier said. "You are an impulsive brat."

Maksim growled as Xavier eased off of him. He jumped to his feet and looked over to his parents.

"How can you let all this happen?" He demanded.

"We warned you," Mavi said. "Maksim you have all of us to advise you. And we did. But you didn't listen and you went behind our backs. Your impulsive, rash, and impatient behavior will not do."

Maksim stilled as he watched the seriousness in his mother's eyes, "What will you do? I am the future king. The crown is mine."

"You are not fit to be king," Xavier said sternly. "You purposefully ignored the council of your Queen and a former king. You let your anger and selfishness get the best of you. You have shown none of the qualities of a good king."

"Screw you all," Maksim snared. "What are you going to do? You already took my mate from me."

"And now I am taking your title," Mavi said with a deep breath. "You are no longer my heir. I am passing the title to Clare."

Maksim felt his mother's words slap him across the face. He stood, stunned, as he looked around at his family. Just yesterday, he was the happiest man in the world. And now.....

He had nothing.

No mate. No Kingdom.

"Ella..." Maksim didn't know where he found the strength to call out her name but he had to. He couldn't let her go. "Please, Ella......."

"Maksim," Owen said slowly. "I spoke to your grandmother. Arrangements have been made for you to move to Juniper."

"Ella?" Maksim continued to speak to her as if no one else in the room mattered. "Baby, come with me. We can go....."

"She's not going anywhere," Mavi said. "She's staying here."

"Ella...." Maksim begged her. "Look at me, please."

Ella slowly turned to face the boy begging for her. As their eyes met, Ella felt her heart shatter to a million pieces.

"I love you," Maksim whispered.  

Max has done what no Radacovick or Dorin has ever done before.....now what?