Chapter 74

Scarlett.

"I need to know one thing before you proceed,” I spoke lowly, staring at the woman I thought was my mother. Her actions had my stomach contents churning, looking for an exit.

"Did you know about the rape?" I looked at Silas briefly, who responded by smirking. Jax growled, wincing when the ringlets tightened. When she didn’t answer, I nodded, concluding that she knew about it. Her silence was enough to force more heated energy to flow rapidly through my veins.

She tilted her head slightly to look at Silas over her shoulder, and then she uttered, “no."

Her voice hardened, making me chuckle bitterly. “You’re lying." I shook my head, watching as Thiery trudged back with a bowl and two candles in his palm. Jax growled, choking on the sound of it as the ringlets pressed on his lower stomach. I tilted my head, observing as my mother held the items in her palms. She stared at them before looking at all of us, then threw her head back. She let out a cackle, shaking her head as red flames began to emerge from her finger tips, and then they were off.

“The ring." She walked towards Astra and spread her palms, pushing the bowl right onto Astra’s face. She expectantly waited for Astra to put the ring inside, but the woman remained adamant.

"I don’t have it." Astra curled her trembling lips.

"I’m not stupid. Silas might have thought that Jax has the ring, but I know it’s in your possession." My mother smirked, raising her eyebrows at Astra.

"I will not give it to you, and neither will I—” Before Astra could finish her statement, my wicked mother uttered a single word that had Astra paralyzed.

"Noo!" Jax shouted as my mother reached for the ring inside Astra’s trench coat. My throat burned with the same feeling that I was feeling around my wrists. She held the jewel between her index finger and thumb, staring longingly at it. That is when the initials clicked: R.B., the acronym of her name, Rebecca Baranov. A gasp tore out of my mouth as Jaxon’s words filled my head, bringing back the memory of him narrating how gruesomely his mother had been attacked.

"In a few minutes, I will become the most powerful being to walk on this earth. I will regain my full power, locked in this ring,” she mocked, turning to look at me. My nostrils flared as she beckoned Silas over, both of their lips stretching into victorious smirks. I watched silently as Silas extended his claws with a nod from my mother and walked towards Jax.

"Please, Rebecca, don’t do this. I will help you, conquer the world together, and I will bow before you as my queen." My heart broke at Astra’s voice and the broken expression and tears on her face as she crawled towards her sister. The paralysis had dissipated, allowing her to move. Once again, my mother kicked her in the stomach, shrugging her shoulders afterward.

"Look at you." Her voice sickened me.

"Begging me to let werewolves live." She laughed maniacally, then gave Silas another nod. I couldn’t explain what came over me; something powerful yet unexplainable wrapped around me as Silas extended his claw near my mate’s neck. My wolf was pushed forward by my warlock side, her mind by passing my mother’s magic. I couldn’t control her as she accessed our mind link.

“I will not allow her to break our bond; but I need you to trust me. Do not resist Silas; let them take your blood. I need more time, please,” she relayed, and with the way Jax’s eyes widened as he looked at me, I knew he got it.

"With both of your blood in this bowl, mixed together, and this ring on my middle finger, where it belongs, I will be able to reverse the spell,” she uttered, staring into space as if she were drawing a picture of how it was going to go down.

Silas nicked Jax’s vein along his neck, drawing blood. My mother moved forward and tilted Jax, making blood drip into the bowl. Once she was done, they walked over to me on the opposite side. Again, Silas was instructed to make a small cut, but on my palm. He did so, while my mother allowed my blood to drip onto the bowl.

"Rebecca, please listen to me." Astra’s voice was hyper nasal from all the crying and begging she had done. I couldn’t understand how my mother was more powerful than her or how Astra couldn’t perform any spells.

“Time for talks is over, dear sister; now it’s time for action." She knelt, putting the ball with blood and candles inside on the ground.

"Love is supposed to be beautiful," I started, gaining her attention.

"What you felt for my mate’s father... that wasn’t love Rebecca; it was a dark desire." I lowered my voice as I spoke the last part, satisfied when she sent a burning glare my way.

“Shut up! How dare you call me by my name, you ungrateful dog?" She abruptly stood and charged towards me, making Astra gasp and Jax snarl again.

"Because you are not my mother! A mother doesn’t do this to her own child!" I heaved, tilting my head to refer to everything she was subjecting me to. I was trying to buy time to get into my pack members” thoughts using magic. I was, after all, bound to them by magic the moment I cast a protection spell over the pack.

“She’s right; you are incapable of loving; you didn’t love him." Astra understood what I was trying to do by delaying the spell.

"What do you know? He even loved me back. Not enough though to override the stupid bond!" she shouted the last part, the veins on her neck straining.

"If he had, he would have told me stories about you. Well, my father never talked about you; not even once did he..."

“Shut the fuck up! All of you!" A smile spread across my face because I had just succeeded in communicating with the entire pack. Like before, I could hear whispers of everyone in a frenzy.

"Do you all think that is a joke? As we speak, your entire pack, including pups, is on its way here." I gasped, squinting my eyes. How had she communicated with them? I thought she didn’t want anyone else involved.

“That’s right. I want them to watch as I separate their pathetic alpha and useless Luna. I want to look into your father’s eyes as I drain the life out of you!" She pointed at Jax, shaking in anger.

“So you’re going to lower the bubble barrier?" Astra asked, standing shakily on her feet.

"Oh no, it is impenetrable; they will just enjoy the show." She sounded so certain as she explained, twirling like a small girl in joy.

It felt like ages, but the pack finally arrived in groups. Even the warriors who had been hiding emerged, with the elders standing on the front line. They attempted to walk towards us, but because of the bubble, they couldn’t.

"People of the Yellow Moon Pack! Welcome to this great show that is just about to begin,” my mother addressed them as they surrounded the invisible bubble, some hidden by the dense trees around the open area, their faces and body language telling. They didn’t seem confused, which meant my mother had already made sure they knew what they were walking into.

"Watch me as I rise to become your queen, and the rest of the werewolf community,” she shouted, kneeling before the bowl and the candles. I could hear gasps and murmurs among my pack members as their eyes roamed around. Their whispers of disbelief, worry, and anger filled my ears.

"Rompere e frantumare separare." She removed the candle dripping with our blood and placed it around the ball. Then she lit them up with red flames from her finger tips, despite the candles being soaked in blood.

"Rompere e frantumare separare,” she repeated as she picked up the ball and raised it high, with her eyes shut. The amount of heat in my body doubled, making a scream of agony pass between my lips. I threw my head back as my entire body burned. Jax was no different; he grunted in pain, attempting to move under the bondage of the red ringlets.

"I love you," I mind-linked him, raised a barrier between us, and shut my eyes to allow the power to flow.

"Pubblicazione,” I whispered, making the chains that bound me snap open. My mother’s eyes flew open, her mouth remaining open in the middle of her chant. Gasps spread across the neutral grounds as some of the pack members stepped backwards.

"I am not a useless werewolf," I snarled, popping the muscles around my neck. I walked slowly towards her as she started chanting, hurrying up to finish the spell.

"I told you my bond with Alpha Jaxon is unbreakable, but what I didn’t tell you was...” I squatted in front of her kneeling frame, a smirk gracing my face.

"I am a hybrid."