The Ivory Queen
Chapter 45

***Evan’s POV***

When the pack leaders arrive, I gather all the gammas in the entertainment room.

“Ok so we have a bit of a situation here today,” I announce. “My Luna’s little sister will be visiting us today.”

“And why is that a ‘situation’?” Kegan, gamma of the Jade Crescent pack, asks.

“It’s a situation because not only is Mia a Lluvia Blanca pack member and therefore arriving uninvited, but she’s also a silver wolf with a particularly dangerous gift.”

“What’s her gift?” Cameron asks.

“She can create illusions or distort your dreams at will. She makes you hallucinate, see things that aren’t there. All she needs to do is look at you and you’ll only see what she wants you to see. From what I’ve been told, her illusions are exceptionally advanced and vivid. Once she’s got you under her spell, you’re pretty much at her mercy.”

Everyone is immediately on high alert.

“If you think that’s trippy, Salvador can project his thoughts into reality. Anything that pops into his head, he can materialize right in front of him. It can be anything as simple as a trinket or something as complex as a creature. Once, he thought of a lion and it appeared out of thin air to attack me. But don’t worry though, the creatures he materializes aren’t alive so to speak. They only follow his commands and can be destroyed.”

They all look at me with horror.

That was probably a terrible thing to mention, my wolf, Bodhi, laughs.

“I know. My Luna and her family are very powerful wolves,” I sigh.

“So what’s the plan?” Nathan, gamma of the B***d Moon pack, wonders. “Will she hurt our Lunas.”

“No, Mia’s a b***h but she’s not stupid. She just wants to talk to my Luna, but I want everyone on guard. If you see her, report directly to me. Luna Aurora gets the final say in what we do with her.”

“So we’re just going to a let a potentially dangerous wolf walk in here?” Cameron asks.

“She won’t attack unless she feels threatened. So don’t f*****g threaten her and let me handle it.”

They nod and take their positions near all the entrances of the house. I take my place at the front door, greeting and directing guests to the backyard where Rosalie and serval omegas tend to them.

I’m happy to see so many wolves here to see Aurora. She deserves to be adored after everything she’s been through. As I stand by the door, I see a little boy dragging his mother excitedly toward the house. In his hand he carries a small white box.

“Isaiah slow down!” His mother calls out.

He runs up to me and glances around the room before looking at me with disappointment.

“Where is Rora?” He asks gloomily. “I brought her a present!” He gestures to the box.

I kneel down so I’m at his eye level. “Aurora is in an Alpha meeting right now, but she’ll be out soon. I’m sure she’ll be very happy to see you again,” I smile at him.

He gives me a toothy grin and leans into my ear. “I’m gonna ask her to be my girlfriend,” he whispers.

Bodhi and I can’t help but laugh.

Looks like Oliver’s got some competition… Bodhi chuckles.

I don’t know man, I think the kid’s got a shot.

“Good luck,” I chuckle and point to the yard. “Aurora will be out in just a minute. Why don’t you do me a favor? There’s a puppy in the yard who’s kind of lonely right now. His name is Rio. Will you help me take care of him until Aurora comes out?”

“Ok!” He shrugs before pulling his mother down the hall and towards the yard.

More guests come through and I direct them all towards the yard.

“Gamma, we have company,” one of the guards mind links me. “I’m pretty sure I saw a girl sneaking around in the woods directly in-front of the house.”

I call Cameron over to take over my spot.

“Is she here?” Cameron asks.

“I don’t know, but I’m about to replace out. If I’m not back in ten minutes, stop the meeting and call Oliver.”

I head down the walkway, past the fountain towards the woods and wait for a few seconds. “Mia, are you there?” I get no response, annoying me. I call out again. “Mia! I don’t have time for your games. What the hell do you want?”

Suddenly Mia walks out from behind a tree. She’s holding an envelope in her hand.

“I heard about what she did and I just wanted to know if she’s ok.”

“Don’t pretend like you actually care,” I scoff. “She’s fine. A little tired, but fine.”

“I do care!” She snaps. “And there’s something else I need to talk to her about. It’s kind of urgent.”

I stare at her for a bit, trying to figure her out. “I don’t believe this,” I mutter under my breath, massaging my temples. “You know you’re lucky Aurora still cares about your sorry a*s because if it were up to me, I would have let your a*s die in that hospital bed.”

She lowers her head in shame. “I understand that you don’t like me-“

“No, you’re wrong. I hate you. I hate you for everything you did to her. You people abused her for years!”

“I- I lost my father!” She protests.

“She did too,” I snarl. “But she never turned her back on you.”

Tears well up in her eyes but she quickly wipes them away. “I don’t expect you to get it, so do me a favor and shut up! Can I see my sister or not?”

“You know what? f**k you and your family, Mia. You got some f*****g nerve coming here demanding s**t. She’s kind of busy right now and she’ll decide if and when she’ll see you, got it?”

I blink and Mia is gone, the woods morphing into a dark empty room with a wardrobe on the far side.

f*****g Mia, are you kidding me? What the f**k is this place?

Suddenly the smell of rotting flesh fills the room. I sniff for the source and realize the smell is coming from the wardrobe.

It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real, I tell myself as take a few tentative steps towards the wardrobe.

Against my better judgement, I open the wardrobe, the door creaking eerily and I see a small child like figure sitting in the far corner, facing away from me. I slowly crouch down to its level.

“W-who are you?” I ask it.

At a painfully slow pace, the child turns her face towards me and I jump back and crash onto the wooden floor, the door of the wardrobe swinging back and forth. Her face is sunken in and pale white. Her eyes are just empty black pockets and her lower jaw is completely missing, seemingly torn off. B***d drips from her cheeks and teeth remnants down onto her body.

I suddenly down at my hands to see my flesh rotting off, maggots eating away at my muscles and I let out a piercing scream.

The woods reappear and I’m on the ground. I examine my hands and replace them maggot free. I look up to see Mia staring at me with glowing gold eyes before they shift to brown again.

“You f*****g b***h!” I say, getting to my feet.

I lunge at her, wrapping my fingers around her throat. The instant our skin touches, I feel a slight tingling sensation and I let go of her.

Bodhi, what the f**k was that?

Don’t play dumb. You know what that was…

I look back at her but her face is unreadable.

“How old are you?” I snarl.

“S-seventeen.”

“D-did you feel that just now?” I ask, annoyed.

“Feel what?”

“Nothing, it’s not important,” I growl. “If you ever f**k with my brain again, Mia, I’ll forget that you’re my Luna’s sister.”

“Well, don’t piss me off again!” She snaps, spitting fire from her eyes at me. “Look, I wouldn’t have come if it weren’t important. I need to speak to her. Please. She needs to know what’s in this envelope,” she says, waving the envelope in front of me

I shoot her a death glare as I mind link Oliver. “Alpha, Mia is here. She says it’s urgent.”

He takes a minute to respond. “Take her to my office.”

***Oliver’s POV***

“Mia is here,” I growl.

Aurora tenses up.

“Is that a problem?” Jonathan asks.

“No, I just need to speak with her,” Aurora says.

“If there is nothing more to discuss, then I say we adjourn,” I say, trying my best to keep my wolf contained.

The Alphas agree and the meeting adjourns. I invite the Alphas to enjoy some food and beverages in the yard while they wait for us to finish with Mia.

Evan looks extremely pissed when we enter the office. Mia is sitting patiently in a chair, her eyes glued to an envelope in her lap.

“Care to explain what you’re doing here?” I snap, walking over to my desk to set Aurora down in my chair.

Mia’s on her feet immediately fidgeting with the envelope. She ignores me and talks to Aurora

“Como estas? Laura me dijo lo que paso y quise saber como estabas. {How are you? Laura told me what happened and I wanted to know how you were doing.”

“She’s fine. What the hell do you want, Mia?” I snarl, losing my patience.

“Can I speak to my sister alone? This is kind of a family issue,” Mia asks, looking increasingly uncomfortable.

“We are her family and I am her mate. Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of us.”

“It’s about Dad,” she retorts.

I notice Carter and Aurora steal glances at each other before Aurora clears her throat to speak.

Those two have are hiding something and I intend to get to the bottom of it.

“I’d like to speak with Mia alone,” Aurora says. She turns to me and her face softens. “Please, Oliver.”

There she goes pushing me away again…

“No, there’s no way I’m leaving you two alone,” I say, restraining my growing anger.

Carter taps my shoulder and urges me to the door. “Oliver, we have a lot of guests here. It would be rude to keep them waiting downstairs. Let them talk it out, I can stand guard at the door and keep watch.”

Now I know they’re definitely hiding something from me, but this is not the time or place to fight right now. They’ll both explain this to me soon enough.

“You touch her and I will kill you,” I growl at Mia. “I do not care what you are. I will end you.”