Chapter 38

Xavier had someone quickly take the little blue box away from Maksim. Mavi threw her arms around her son and rubbed his back to calm him down.

But nothing was helping. Owen saw the shift in Maksim's eyes as he went from broken to down right terrifying. His nostrils flared as his hands balled into fists. Range came off of him like violent waves on the sea. Mavi tried her best to tell him to stay calm but there was no holding him back anymore.

Just then, the doors to the throne room opened and Gemma rushed in. Her braid was messy, almost half undone and her skin was flushed as if she had run a marathon. Her eyes bounced around the room before they settled on Maksim.

"We found them," she said panting.

Mavi and Owen sighed in relief as Xavier gave Alec a nod.

"Have the queen's guard ready," Owen told his brother as he started to follow him out of the room.

"Inform the New York offices," Gemma told Exton. "I'll give you the location. Tell them to surround the building."

As everyone moved around to do something, Maksim turned on his heels to follow Owen out. Mavi reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him. As Maksim stopped, Owen and Alec looked back.

"Your training isn't complete," Mavi said. "Let your dad and Alec handle this, please."

"Have you lost your mind," Maksim narrowed his eyes and slowly pulled his arm away from his mother.

"Maksim, I know how important this is," Mavi said. "Trust me, I do know. But you will be of no help to Ella if you get hurt."

"I don't need to be trained to rip off their heads, mom," Maksim said in a low voice. "Trust me when I say they will regret ever laying a hand on her."

Mvi opened her mouth to protest. She was terrified of her son being hurt. But before she could say a world, one of the Queen's guards spoke up.

"Your highness," he said to Mavi. "I think you all might want to see this."

Everyone in the room turned in the direction of the young guard. His hands trembled as he licked on one of the large screens.

"This is being broadcasted live all over the world," he said as an image of Ella sitting next to a man with a trimmed white beard popped onto the screen.

Gemma gasped as the haunting sight of Ella drilled fear and panic into all of their minds. Maksim took a step closer to the monitor. His eyes took in the many bruises on Ella's face and neck. She had a cut above her right eyebrow. The blood from it had dried against her skin. Her hands were bound to the table, wrists held in place by black metal cuffs. Maksim counted each and every single mark on her.

He wasn't going to spare them.

"Citizens of the world," the man next to Ella cleared his throat. "We, the Sons of Tovio, have a very special message for you tonight."

"Who is he?" Maksim snared as he looked to his mother.

Mavi had her eyes glued on the screen, "Roman Cosima."

"My human brothers and sisters," Roman continued to speak. "We have suffered for far too long under the thumbs of the wolves, witches and other vial creatures that pollute the world we live in. We will no longer sit back and let them dominate. We must rise up and fight. Our battle starts now. It starts tonight."

The royal family watched in horror as Roman turned to Ella. A whimper left her trembling lips as the man gripped her hair and pulled her face closer to him.

"This," Roman shouted. "We will never allow for this to happen. Our sons and daughters will never mix our clean blood with monsters. Their unholy union is an abomination to mankind."

A growl rippled out of Maksim as he watched the painful tears spring from Ella's eyes. He was going to take his time killing Roman. Behind him, Owen quietly dispatched Alec to get the guards ready. He knew Maksim was ready to blow any second now.

"Let her be a lesson," Roman said as he stood from his chair beside Ella. "The next time you think of betraying your kind for monsters, think of Ella Dunbar. She disgraced her family and her father's name for a monster."

Suddenly, as Maksim, Mavi and Xavier watched in horror, Roman took hold of Ella's index finger and snapped it back until a sickening crack echoed. Ella screamed in pain.

"Take it off air," Mavi said quickly to her staff.

Maksim felt his insides rise up as his blood ran cold all over his body. His wolf's eyes had gone dark red with murder written all over them.

"That was for her father," Roman said. He picked up Ella's second finger and broke it too, "And that was for her mother."

Ella screamed over and over, "Please, please! Stop!"

Maksim couldn't watch anymore. He flew out of the room like a storm breeze and raced towards the guards. Mavi knew after the video there was nothing she could do to stop him. And she didn't want to. She wanted Maksim to rip the vile man to shreds. Next to Mavi, Owen gave her a quick nod before he went to find Maksim.

Roman Cosima had just declared war. And Mavi and Maksim would give him a war.

The queen's guards were all ready and geared up to go. They passed through the portals and appeared on a dark empty New York block. Maksim, Owen and Alec led them in teams towards the building in front of them. The local team that was already in place joined up with them. Half had shifted into their wolves and the other half carried shields and weapons to defend the groups.

We're not here to take any prisoners, Owen linked the all the teams. Every single person in that building has made a choice to hurt innocent lives.

What are our orders, Beta? A Queen's guard asked.

Owen looked at Maksim. He watched his son's eyes darken as his body prepared to leap into action.

Terminate with extreme prejudice, Maksim said. The only person coming out of there alive tonight is going to be Ella.

Alec quickly did a last minute check with all the teams before they stormed the building. The group of men standing on the first floor with assault rifles didn't even have a second to react as the Queen's guard swept through them like a silent shadow and sliced all of their throats open. Owen and Alec gave the groups their directions as Maksim sniffed the air.

I got her, he said as he caught Ella's scent.

Team two, you're with Maksim, Owen sent this best group with his son. They had all worked and trained together. He knew his men would lay down their lives for their prince. Not that they needed to. The Tovio were a group of untrained humans with guns thinking they could stop a highly trained and organized superpower.

Maksim followed Ella's scent throughout the building. His ears picked up the distant sounds of his father and uncle's teams taking on the men with guns. But just as the gunfire would start, it would end within seconds. Maksim quickly made his way up the stairs. The wolves behind him followed silently, everyone on high alert.

Maksim, Owen suddenly linked him. They have other prisoners.

A sick and twisted pain ran over Maksim's body. He paused and looked at his team. The wolves all bared their teeth in anger.

Take all prisoners out, Owen ordered. Maksim, you find Ella. We will take care of the rest.

Maksim didn't need to be told twice. He raced back up the stairs once more. Ella's scent grew stronger and stronger with each floor.

Finally, at the top of the eightieth floor, Ella's scent was the strongest. She had to be there, it was the last floor. Maksim waited for his team to get in position before he pulled the stairwell door open. They had expected to be greeted by a rainfall of bullets and smoke bombs but the hallway was empty as a graveyard.

One of the wolves sniffed the air before they carefully walked in, staying close to the walls. From somewhere along the long hallways, Maksim's hears picked up Ella's little cries. His body tensed. His eyes narrowed as his wolf pushed forward.

The hall was completely empty. There was nothing except a single door at the opposite end of the narrow passage. As the group moved closer to the door, it flew open.

Maksim stilled as he saw Ella bound to a chair with rope. She had an oxygen mask over her face. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were red with tears. They widened as soon as she spotted him and she shook her head, trying to get out of the chair. Her muffled cries only made Maksim move faster.

"Welcome, your grace," Roman stepped into the doorway. He smiled at Maksim before looking over his shoulder at Ella. "Don't worry. I took good care of her."

"Let her go, and I will make your death a little less painful," Maksim growled.

"Oh, I think there has been some miscommunication here," Roman laughed. "I am not the one dying tonight."

Maksim lunged forward but stopped immediately when Ella started to scream through her mask. A man had appeared behind her with a dial in his hands. He turned the knob as Ella's eyes widened as she looked as if she was suffocating.

"Oxygen," Roman said. "Just a beautiful thing, isn't it? Too little and we die....too much and we die."

"Let. Her. Go." Maksim said each world with so much force he feared his bones might snap.

"No," Roman said, frowning. "The world must see what happens to traitors like her."

Maksim took another leap forward. But this time, Ella's screams were overshadowed by the howl of the wolves behind the prince.

Sprinklers from above them opened up as water rained down. Maksim watched his horror as the guards howled in pain as their skin burned and their fur caught on fire with each droplet of water that douched them.

"Silver," Roman said as he cleared Maksim's confusion.

"Retreat," Maksim ordered his team. He commanded them back to the stairwell but he himself pushed Roman into the room with Ella and some other men. They all raised their guns immediately. But not at Maksim. They all had their aim locked on on Ella.

"Move an inch and we will empty all our bullets on her," one of the men said.

Maksim stilled. Only his eyes moved to Ella. Her eyes fought hard to stay open as her head swayed from side to side. Her bound hands on her lap laid lifelessly, her broken fingers swollen.

Roman watched Maksim as the prince took in all of his mate's injuries. He walked behind Ella and placed his hands on her shoulder. Maksim growled but didn't move. He knew he needed to stay calm right now for Ella's sake.

Maksim's wolf snared uncontrollably and tried to claw out as Roman placed his hands around Ella's neck. The sick man leaned down and sniffed her hair, all the while keeping his eyes on Maksim.

"She's a beauty, isn't she?" He asked with a sly smile. Maksim was sure he would lose his mind any second as he watched Roman's hand slide down Ella's shoulder towards the neckline of her shirt.

"I never fucked a queen before," the man said.

The next few seconds were unexplainable. Maksim leaped forward and kicked at Ella's chair. The chair slid back and knocked Roman off his feet. All the guns in the room clicked but before they could fire, Maksim picked up the table and swung it towards his left. The heavy metal piece knocked the men to their feet as their guns fired in all directions.

A stray silver bullet grazed Maksim's arms, but he had no time to react. While the men to the left of the room tried to struggle back up and pick up their guns, Maksim had already attacked the others on the right side of the room. He teared off the guns from their hands before he snapped their necks. One of them tried to change aim and fire at him but Maksim gripped his forearm so hard the bones underneath his muscles shattered. The man hollowed in pain as Maksim head budded him.

With in seconds, all the men in the room were either dead or incapacitated. Maksim turned his attention back to Ella and Roman. The hard push of the hair had teared off the mask from Ella's face. Her sweet voice called out to him as Roman scurried to his feet and pulled out a remote.

"Max," Ella cried. "Go."

"What?" Maksim asked, a bit breathless and confused. "Ell..."

"Go!" Ella shouted as she cried harder. "Leave!"

"Not without you," Maksim took a step forward but suddenly his skin felt as if it was lit on fire. He looked up at the sprinklers that had turned on.

Roman had activated the silver rain in the room. Maksim tried to fight through the pain and get to Ella. He knew he only had a few more seconds before the silver weakened him. He needed to get Ella out before that happened.

Maksim opened his mind- link and warned his father about the sprinklers. He didn't tell them where he was. He didn't need more of his love once in the acid downpour. In front of him, Ella cried as the water began to wash out all her dried blood from her hair and the cuts on her face. Maksim rushed towards her but a loud bang rang out. Ella screamed as Maksim sank to his knees in front of her.

Roman had picked up one of the guns and fired a silver bullet right at Maksim's chest. Ella screamed and begged the man to stop. She could already see his skin starting to turn pale from the rain. His strength was wearing out and the bullet wounds weren't helping.

"Ella," Maksim said with his last few breaths.

"No, no, noooooo," Ella screamed as she struggled to get out of the chair.

Suddenly, a dark red blood poured down Maksim's chest and Ella's screams filled the air, a red portal opened next to the prince. Roman and Ella gasped as Clare stepped through.

"Clare!" Ella screamed. "Get out of there!"

The girl looked up at the sprinklers and then down at her brother. Maksim turned his head to his sister with all the strength he had left and frowned.

"Get......out...." he said waving with his hand.

"Silver can't hurt a witch," Clare said.

Roman lifted his gun and fired another shot. Ella screamed as Maksim tried to push Clare out of the way.

The bullet flew through the room before it stopped in front of Clare's face. Roman gasped as she plucked the little silver piece out of the air and looked up at him. Ella didn't know what to say as Clare took a step towards the man.

All at once, an abundance of things started to happen in the room. The rain stopped, Ella's ropes untied, and the silver diluted water started to evaporate. Roman looked around as Ella flew out of her seat and crash landed next to her mate. Maksim pulled her closer as he struggled to rise to his feet.

In front of him, Clare watched him as she stalked closer and closer. Roman felt the gun drop from his hands as the girl's gray eyes started to swirl like the eyes of a hurricane.

Clare stopped right a few inches away from him and held up the bullet. Then, with the same tone and snare as Roman had used to talk about fucking Ella, Clare said, "I never killed a man before."

Roman's eyes widened as she touched the bullet to his chest. At first nothing happened. But slowly, Clare started to push the bullet into his chest. Roman's mouth fell open in agony as the silver bullet dug in through his shirt, his skin, his muscles, and then into his body.

Clare's eyes stayed locked with the man as her finger followed the bullet until she had it lodged into his heart. Once she was sure, she pulled her finger slowly back out.

Roman watched her wipe her bloody finger on his shirt before he collapsed to the floor. Clare gazed down at his body before she heard her brother's groans from behind her. She turned to find Ella struggling to hold Maksim up as her own injuries started to take their toll on her.

"Don't move," Clare said as she dove down beside the couple.

"Clare," Maksim said, his eyelids fluttering. "Wh....what did you do?"

"You were shot, you idiot," Clare said as she touched his bullet wound on his chest. "I need to get the two of you out of there."

Before Maksim or Ella could say another word, a red bubble appeared around them like an umbrella. Ella struggled to keep her eyes open as her body lifted off the floor and began to float out of the room, through the narrow hall.

"Clare," Maksim said again. "Are you doing this?"

Clare didn't speak as she guided her brother and Ella's body to the stairwell. She placed them down on the ground slowly and kneeled in front of them. Maksim was in a horrible condition. He was losing too much blood and Ella wasn't doing any better next to him either. Her lungs sounded terrible and her heartbeat was dangerously low. Clare placed a hand over each of their heads.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "But you can't remember any of this."

Ella and Maksim both opened their mouths to ask her what she meant when they were suddenly taken over by the most peaceful slumber they had ever experienced. All the pain and suffering of their bodies disappeared as they felt their souls sigh with relief and nuzzled closer to each other under the warm sun somewhere on a beach. 

What will happen next?