CHAPTER 30

"What are you talking about?" Jayla gasped with widened eyes.

"Mate, you didn't tell her that she's a werewolf?" She sighed and jumped on the bed.

"Shut the fuck up! I'm not your mate," he snarled.

"Don't deny your wolf, baby," she sang.

What just happened?

"She's your mate?" Jayla asked with narrowed eyes.

"No, she's n—"

"Yes, he's mine. Are you mad that I broke you up?" she said sarcastically.

"I'm good with my mate," Jayla snapped.

"Ah, Max. I miss him, you know," she said, making Keaton growl in jealousy.

"I'm sorry I was—"

"It's okay, mate. Jealousy is a normal feeling," she stated, and Jayla rolled her eyes.

"I was the witch who hid your true werewolf," she declared, and Jayla looked like a deer in headlights.

"The fuck?"

"Let me explain it to you."

***

"I'm scared," Jayla's mom cried in her husband's chest. He comforted her and rubbed her back.

"Mummy, what is going to happen to Jay?" Darby asked softly to his mother. He was only eight, while his sister was five.

"Darby. Go to your room," his father ordered, but Darby didn't want to obey his father.

"No, where is Jay?" he yelled in panic, darting toward her room. His father followed him and wanted to pick him up, but he had already seen it.

The scene that he forgot.

"Little boy, you shouldn't interrupt a witch," Monica sang as she threw magic to his sister. His sister didn't have any ounce of emotion in her face, her white eyes empty.

Her little body on the chair shivered from the cold.

Then Monica switched off her lights. Darby screamed and ran toward his sister, picking up her thin body.

"Jay, wake up!" he shouted and tried to open her eyes.

"What should I do about him?" Monica asked their father. He gulped nervously and tried to think.

"It would be better if you erased his memory," he suggested.

"That will cost you. I hid her appearance because Finn asked me to, and I owed him, but other than that, this will cost you," Monica said in a snarky voice.

"Fine, just do it," he groaned.

"No, Dad, don't do this. Don't do this!" Darby chanted in pain. He felt betrayed and hurt that his sister was out.

"I'm sorry, son. I hope you will forgive me," his father said sadly and nodded to Monica, who smiled wickedly and walked toward Darby.

***

"How could you?" Jayla sobbed after she heard the story.

"I had to. I didn't have a choice back then."

"Fuck you!" Jayla shouted.

"I beg your pardon?" Monica frowned while picking at her nails.

"How could you do that to a kid who was five years old? Darby was fucking eight, and you did that. You made my life miserable!" she said furiously, her hand in a fist. White smoke came from her hand, and her white eyes came back.

"You stupid bitch! I didn't give you my permission to do that," she continued.

"Your uncle did it," she smiled mischievously.

"He's not my uncle. He's a fucking asshole," she shouted, earning a scowl from Monica.

"What?" She chuckled humorlessly.

"He's a fucking asshole. No wonder Alpha Blaze killed him. Well, he did right, and guess what? I will make my pack join the other packs." Jay smirked with her fangs out.

"Jay," Keaton said.

She growled. "I will fucking kill you."

She lunged at Jay, who tried to push her back, but Monica held her arms tight with her long nails.

"Jayla!" Keaton called out and went to free her, but he was pushed back by Eglantine, who had come back into the room.

"Do not touch our mistress," he snarled.

"Mistress?" Keaton groaned.

"Now I understand, you bitch." Jayla chuckled sarcastically and kicked in her stomach, making her widen her eyes.

"So what? You're not happy that I took your crown." She smirked while holding her stomach painfully.

"Keaton, reject her," Jayla ordered as she held a lamp and used it to protect herself.

"I was about to do that anyway," he grumbled and stood up weakly.

"You can't do that." She shook her head frantically.

"You bitch! I have several reasons to reject you. Even my wolf agrees with me," he snarled and glared at her.

"I, Keaton Winston, reject Monica," he said sternly. Those words made her fall to the ground because of the pain. Jay widened her eyes and walked around her, still holding the lamp.

"What did you to the mistress?" Eglantine asked with anger in his voice.

"Is she still your Queen? Because I'm about to take her crown," Jayla growled at him, showing her fangs and white eyes.

Eglantine bowed down at her, feeling ashamed of his actions. She sighed and walked back to Keaton, who was clutching his heart tightly.

"I'm sorry." He sobbed quietly and hugged her tightly.

"It's me. I should be sorry," she whispered and caressed his hair softly.

"My Queen, what should we do about her?" Eglantine asked her, followed by Piper, who had a flabbergasted face.

"Bury her. She's dead because of the loss of her mate," she said coldly. They nodded and picked her up.

"Keaton, I'm so sorry." She begged for his forgiveness. It was her fault that he lost his first mate.

"The Goddess made a mistake. I'm pretty sure of it," he said sadly. She sighed deeply and helped him stand up.

"That bitch is not my mate anymore, and I'm glad." He spat in disgust and glared at the empty spot on the ground.

"Piper, call Foreigner to gather everyone," she commanded to Piper, who nodded.

"What are you going to do?" Keaton asked his queen, who walked toward the dressing room. She picked up a dress and a cape.

"I'm going to introduce myself as their queen." She walked toward the bathroom and saw a lot of products there. They must be Monica's makeup. She rolled her eyes, took a quick shower, then made herself look like a queen.

She pulled on the red dress with a white cape around her shoulders.

She chose to put on some light makeup and straighten her wild hair. She sighed in front of the mirror. There stood another girl, a confident girl. Even though she didn't forgive her uncle or parents, she wouldn't let anyone take her rightful place as a queen.

She pulled a smile on her face and walked out of the bathroom, and she saw Keaton groaning in pain.

"The pain isn't over?" She dashed toward him.

"Fuck, I can't believe this," he said. She bit her lip too hard, trying to think.

She had an idea but didn't know if she should do it on Keaton. But, when she watched him groaning in pain, she couldn't help but help him.

"Let me try out something," she said and held her hands out on his chest. Then, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

White smoke came out of her hands again; she gasped when she opened her eyes. He opened his eyes and smiled in satisfaction.

"I feel better." He sat up weakly and gave her a small smile that showed relief.

"Well, I'm happy that you are okay," she said and was about to crouch down on the ground, but Keaton pulled her to the bed.

"I can't let my queen sit on the dirty ground when she looks sublime," he smirked lazily, and she chuckled while rolling her eyes.

"How do you feel about it?" she asked, and he answered with a shrug.

"Don't know, to be honest, but I hope I will find a second chance mate," he said with hope in his eyes.

"Of course, you will." She smiled softly at him and rubbed his shoulder in a brotherly way.

"My Queen, I've gathered everyone in the main hall. What is going to happen?" Piper entered the room with exhausted breath as if he had sprinted.

"Piper, you will be my beta. Is it possible?" she proposed to Piper, who widened his eyes in surprise.

"Of course, your majesty." He kneeled on the ground and showed respect. She stood up and placed a hand on his head.

"You can stand up," she said softly, and he stood up with a smile.

"Let's go," she said to the boys, and she followed Piper.

"Don't be nervous, your majesty," Keaton joked beside her.

"Shut up," she hissed sharply to Keaton, who laughed.

Piper took hold of her arm and helped her get on the stage. She sighed and walked on the stage to stand in front of everyone.

She gasped when she saw everyone. There were maybe 200 or 300 people here.

"Fellow pack members, I, as the Alpha, wanted to make an announcement that we finally found our queen, Alpha Finn's niece!" Foreigner yelled loudly, earning several cheers from everyone.

She smiled tightly and cringed when she heard him saying that she was related to that monstrous man.

"Any words for your people, your majesty?" Foreigner bowed down with his ugly smile. She still couldn't get over his smile. She nodded and snatched the mic from him.

"I wanted to say that I'm so happy to take the crown, to replace this witch who has done nothing and didn't improve our pack. But now, I'm here, and I'm going to change our pack. I promise," she said, leaving a sigh at the end. She heard claps and cheers from her people. She smiled and turned toward Keaton, who smiled as well.

"Your majesty!" a rogue warrior yelled in panic.

"What is it?" she asked him sternly.

"T-the Knight Pack?" Her mate's pack. She felt relieved.

"What about them?" She smiled in relief.

"T-they are m-massacring o-our w-warriors," the man stuttered. She was shocked; she didn't know that her mate's pack would kill anyone.

She pursed her lips. "Everyone, get in a safe place," she said into the mic.

The pack members ran out of the main hall. Jayla sighed and walked towards where the war was happening.

"You are not going, your majesty," Piper said. She turned toward him.

"He's my mate. He will listen to me," she reassured him.

"The filthy rogue is right, Jay. You can't go in there." Keaton stopped her. She glared at him.

"He can't kill my people just because we are missing. I'm going to have a talk with him."

"I have to go," she said, shaking off his hold. She ran toward the field. She didn't care about the people following her, calling her to stop. She didn't care about her dress.

The only thing she cared about was her mate and her people.

She reached the field and gasped when she saw most of the knights killing her warriors. There was blood everywhere, on the ground and in the trees. They were destroying nature, and she felt her power coming out of her body.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped to her mate, who was killing a warrior. He killed her warrior. Max stopped torturing the warrior and called everyone to stop killing the rogues.

"Jayla," he said with an exhale. She glared at him and pushed everyone blocking her from reaching him.

"How dare you?" she yelled and pushed his chest. He widened his eyes and caught her hand before she could hit him.

"Jayla, what's wrong with you? Why the fuck are you wearing the filthy crown?" He went to throw away her crown, but she pushed him before he could throw it.

"I'm the Queen of the Rogues, Max. I belong to them," she said with a deep sigh.

"You don't belong to those filthy rogues. Who the fuck brainwashed you? Tell me." He shook her shoulders.

"You're mine—my queen. Not theirs!" he snapped harshly at her.

"Then we are enemies," she said.

"No fucking way." He laughed humorlessly.

"What are you doing, siding with them? They are fucking manipulating you," he said slowly to get the words into her brain.

"You are the selfish one, Max. Why did you hide the truth from me? Why the fuck am I not normal? You kept everything from me! That's not fucking fair!" she screamed.

"I'm sorry," he said with his head down.

"Sorry isn't going to solve this," she spat.

"Your majesty, maybe you should forgive your ma—"

"Don't add anything else, Piper." She glared at him, and he squirmed under her glare.

"What do you want me to do? Beg your forgiveness?" Max asked with his sad eyes. Sadness washed over his face, and it destabilized him so much, but he couldn't let go of his mate.

"Accept me as the Queen of the Rogues and also yours. Join the pack," she ordered.

"Are you fucking crazy? I don't want stupid rogues in my w—"

Cole was about to yell to Jayla when Keaton punched his face.

"Don't come close to my queen," he snarled at Cole, who narrowed his eyes. Max felt jealousy. He was jealous that Keaton cared for her.

"Why the fuck are you protecting her? She's my mate, not yours!" Max growled possessively, his wolf coming out.

His wolf didn't come to the surface, thanks to Jayla.

She slapped him.

"Stop it," she said after a moment of silence.

"He lost his mate, Max. Stop being so fucking possessive." She sneered at him.

"Are you going to reject me?" he asked with his eyes on the ground.

His question left a big silence. The tension was difficult.

When he didn't hear anything, he was about to kneel to beg for forgiveness, but she stopped him before he could do that.

"I can't reject you," she said, crying on his shoulders. Both of them stayed on the ground together.

She hugged his waist tightly and cried on his shoulder.

"I can't reject you because I love you." She sobbed loudly on his shoulder. Meanwhile, Max was shocked, unable to respond. He was happy but at the moment sad that his mate was crying.

She loved him. He couldn't believe it.

"Do you love me?" he asked again. He wanted her to repeat it.

"Yes, I love you, Maxwell Black," she cried and grabbed his chin to smash her lips against his.