Abigail Has Commited Suicide

••• Arabella’s POV ••• “Good morning, Arra…” Max kissed me the moment I woke from my slumber. I blinked and saw that he had changed and worn a crisp white shirt and a pair of black pants, looking ready to do his business for the day. He must have finished getting ready and was waiting for me to wake up… “Morning, Max…” I greeted him back, stretched my body, and went to the bathroom to take a shower. When I was standing in front of the full-length mirror to check my appearance, Max stood behind me and caressed the spot on my neck where his mark should be. I stared at him through the mirror and knew he was thinking the same as I did - what happened last night had left us with a twinge of unpleasantness. “Let’s go down and have breakfast,” he said softly. “We’ll ask Rosa about our marks or lack thereof.” I nodded, and he took my hand to lead me out of the bedroom. When we reached the staircase, we heard shouting coming from the kitchen area. “You stupid fool!” Rosa yelled in frustration. “That’s not the way to make a cup of coffee!” “You are the stupid one!” Beta Jaxon replied with the same loud and frustrated voice. “I’ve been making coffee this way, and no one has ever complained.” Next, we heard more curses coming from the two of them and the breaking sound of a glass. Max and I shared a look before rushing downstairs toward the kitchen. I was shocked to see the mess Rosa and Beta Jaxon had created in the kitchen - coffee powder was strewn everywhere, and there was indeed a broken glass on the floor. I was worried when I saw them arguing with their cursings, glares, and finger-pointing. What happened to them? Last night, they seemed to get along well, but now they seemed to hate each other. They were so immersed in their arguments and comparing the way they made coffee that they didn't realize Max and I were standing still, not far away, looking at them. “Max, I’m worried about them. They hate each other so much it could affect our plans of fighting against Lina and the dark witches,” I mindlinked my mate. Yet Max smiled, leaned close to my ear, and said, “On the contrary, I don’t think Jaxon hates Rosa. This is the first time I’ve ever seen Jaxon get so emotional about a she-wolf.” I looked at him in surprise and asked, “Really?” “Yeah,” he nodded. “Jaxon is usually friendly toward she-wolves. He always smiles and chats with them.” Now that I thought of it, it seemed like the case. All the she-wolves in this pack seemed to like Jaxon and treated him like a friend. So, Rosa was an exception? A thought suddenly occurred in the back of my mind… Could they be fated mates? Finally, Beta Jaxon seemed to notice our presence and apologized to Max sheepishly. “Sorry for the mess, Alpha.” “Clean it up,” Max ordered indifferently and pulled me toward the dining table, pulling the chair for me to sit. Jaxon glared at Rosa, who had a gloating look on her face before he sulked and yet still cleaned the kitchen according to Max’s command. Rosa seemed to be the winner of their argument as she handed two cups of coffee to Max and me. “Ari, Max! Try my coffee! It tastes better when it’s brewed this way,” she said proudly and mocked Jaxon again, “Not in the way that stupid he-wolf brews it.” Jaxon glared and frowned at Rosa, seemingly still not convinced by the idea. Max and I laughed at the way they were arguing. Now that Max had pointed out that Rosa was able to affect Jaxon’s emotions, their interaction seemed… cute. The longer I stayed with Max, the more I saw he wasn't ruthless. Other than treating his pack members fairly and treating me lovingly, he was also nice to the people close to me. For example, he didn't mind that Rosa had just called him ‘Max’ without his title or even by his full first name. I knew other Alphas put importance on their title, but Max was different. I smiled as I looked at my mate but quickly brushed that thought away and focused my attention on Rosa. “Rosa, have you found your mate yet?” I purposely asked Rosa, who had joined us at the dining table, but I was secretly observing Jaxon’s reactions from the corner of my eyes. He seemed indifferent, but I didn't miss the way he clenched his fists a little nervously. Rosa was a hybrid between a werewolf and a witch. She should have a wolf and be able to smell the special scent of her mate if she met them. She smiled as she sipped her coffee and said, “In order to learn magic, I had temporarily closed off my ability to sense the matebond, and now, to the general public, I am a wolfless witch, which actually is safer for me.” I was surprised but understood where her words came from. As a hybrid, she would be powerful, and if she had both the werewolf and witch’s abilities, she might attract many enemies who would want to kill her off to eliminate the risk of having a powerful enemy. Jaxon, who apparently had finished cleaning the mess in the kitchen and was walking toward us, muttered under his breath, “What good is magic? It is not as good as the absolute power of a wolf!” Although his voice was soft, we all heard it, and Rosa rolled her eyes at him. “Why are you asking me that question, Ari?” she asked. I didn't want her to know about my suspicion of her being mates with Jaxon, so I changed the subject, saying, “We… Max and I have a question for you. We want to ask you something about mating marks.” Rosa raised an eyebrow and waited patiently for me to ask my question. I thought how best to ask her about it because… Well… Because marking was actually a private matter. Everyone knew werewolves mark their mates during the throes of passion. How should I set the question without embarrassing myself… As I was thinking hard, I heard Max speak. “We marked each other during sex last night, but the marks didn't materialize. Do you know what could be the cause of it?” he asked Rosa calmly with a straight face. W-What?! I blushed like crazy when I heard him ask that question without batting an eyelid like that question was not embarrassing at all! Oh, my Goddess! Even though Rosa and Jaxon could be considered as close friends of ours, did Max have to be that blunt? And why did I have the feeling he was proud while saying we had sex??!! What was wrong with this mate of mine?! Did he have no filters whatsoever for whatever was on his mind? Argghhhhh… I wished to strangle him for embarrassing me like this! Luckily, none of us were sipping our coffee, or we would have spat it back out. Jaxon coughed softly and turned his head away while Rosa looked serious for a moment as she examined the temporary marks on our necks. “It might be because of the dark magic,” Rosa said to Max and added, “I’ll need to use a little bit of my power to detect the dark element in your body, but it might hurt a little.” “Alright,” Max nodded and agreed with no hesitation. Rosa then stood up and stepped away to a clearer space, with Max following her while Jaxon and I were still seated and observing them. Rosa lifted her arm and pointed her palm toward Max. A few seconds later, we saw Max surrounded by what seemed like a red halo, but he frowned, and the red halo couldn't envelop him entirely, as though he was resisting it. After a few minutes of great concentration, Rosa gasped and withdrew her hand abruptly as if she were burned by fire. She was sweating profusely, and her body swayed a little, but fortunately, Jaxon moved fast and caught her, steadying her body before she lost her balance and fell to the floor. “What happened? What’s wrong?” Jaxon asked her anxiously. Rosa shook her head and explained what just happened. “The curse on Max has weakened a bit, but it’s still considered to be very strong. That’s probably why Ari and Max couldn't make their mating marks on each other visible.” Although I was anxious, I also felt slightly relieved since this was caused by black magic rather than me having a fake matebond with Max. Max came to me and pulled me into his arms, seemingly knowing what I was thinking as he said, “We are fated mates, and our matebond is real.” I nodded and hugged him back. “Does this mean we have to kill whoever put the curse on me so Arra and I could become normal fated mates?” Max asked Rosa. “You are partly right on that aspect,” Rosa answered him. I lifted my head and frowned. “Partly right?” “Other than destroying the one who put the curse on Max, we still need to find the root of the curse,” Rosa replied. “Max’s curse will be broken for good after doing those two things,” she added. We all fell into silence, lost in our own thoughts. The root of the curse… The person who put the curse on Max… Lina had escaped, and the only way to breakthrough was to start with Abigail. “Shit,” Max suddenly muttered. “What happened?” I asked him. “One of the guards I’ve stationed in prison has just reported that Abigail has committed suicide,” he said.