The Smell Was Very Familiar…

••• Arabella’s POV ••• Abigail had committed suicide? That same Abigail who, with her mom, had tried to make my life hell? “Let’s go to the prison and check on her,” I said hurriedly to Max. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it with my own eyes. She did look weak, but I didn't think she would be foolish enough to kill herself since she hadn’t fully taken her revenge yet, and I was still alive and kicking. Furthermore, she was pregnant, and from what I could see, she loved the baby in her belly. Lina, especially, wouldn't let her commit suicide. Beta Jaxon quickly brought the car over, and the four of us went to the prison where Abigail was being detained. When we arrived at the prison, we saw Abigail lying on the floor with a bandage around both her wrists. “I heard screaming while I was on patrol and came over to find her slitting her wrist with a toothbrush that had been sharpened at the bottom, and I rushed to stop her,” a jailer explained what had happened to us. Hearing her let out moans of pain as she lay weakly and pale on the floor, I went over and unwrapped the bandages from her wrists and examined her injuries. Then I sneered and told her, “I know you weren't really trying to kill yourself.” First of all, there really was no way for her to kill herself for the sake of her baby. That was the most important point I had thought out of all the reasons I could think of. The baby in her stomach was a qualification she used to curry favor with the Evander family. She had done a lot to ensure she could be a Luna of a powerful pack, a part of Shawn’s family, so why would she kill herself after she could finally join them and be the envy of many she-wolves? Secondly, she was skilled in harming herself. The parts where she cut herself looked like they could be life-threatening, but in fact, they didn't. Those cuts were precise, causing her wrists to gush out lots of blood, but she had successfully avoided the vital arteries. Just as expected… Maybe Lina had asked her to do all these things to gain sympathy… Abigail’s expression twisted for a moment, but she quickly regained that innocent and weak look. She stretched her hands to touch me, but I stepped back, avoiding her like the plague. “Bella, please kill me,” she begged me. I snorted and felt disgusted by her act. Seeing my disdain toward her, she turned to look at Max and pleaded with him directly. “Alpha Maximillian, please kill me,” her eyes turned misty. “I don't want to go to jail. I have nothing to live for now after everything I’ve done. So, just kill me. Please...” I sneered as I heard her words. Nothing to live for? It seemed her pitiful act had gotten better. If we didn't know that she was only acting, we would have believed she had repented when we heard her words. Fortunately, we all knew how scheming she was. And did she think Max would sympathize with her after she had sex with ‘him’? “You have to be tried before you could die,” Max said with a grimace. Then he showed his ruthless self and said to Jaxon, “Beta Jaxon, call the committee here. We’ll conduct her trial now in this place since she wants to die so bad.” Beta Jaxon quickly did what was ordered, and soon, the committee members came, and Abigail’s trial was held in the prison. “I confess that I had kidnapped Princess Arabella,” Abigail said during the trial, but then she blamed everything on her mother. “But I didn't really want to do it!” she cried. “I was threatened by my mom. If I didn't do it, she would use dark magic to take the life of the child in my womb!” The Elders frowned, clearly not convinced by her confession. “Threatened by your mother,” one of the Elders said to Abigail. “Why would she do that? No mother would kill their own grandchild.” Abigail bit her lip and didn't say anything. Another Elder suddenly took out a cracked bottle with clear liquid inside it and asked Abigail, “What’s this liquid used for?” Abigail looked at the bottle with a horrified expression but shook her head and answered, “I don't know.” “This bottle was found and seized from your house,” the Elder obviously didn't believe her answer. Abigail kept shaking her head and denying knowing the bottle. “I don't know. I’ve never seen it before.” “Elder, may I examine the liquid?” Rosa suddenly spoke up. The Elder who was holding the bottle looked at Rosa for a moment before finally passing the bottle to one of the wardens to give it to Rosa. Rosa took it and examined the bottle of liquid, turning it around and over before opening the cap. With the popping sound of the cap, I suddenly smelled a faint fragrance coming from it. The smell was very familiar… Where had I smelled it before… At the same time of thinking about it, the fragrance made me feel a little bit irritable. Max seemed to sense something strange about me as he asked with worry, “What’s wrong, Arra?” I turned to look at him and asked, “Do you smell anything?” He shook his head and answered, “No.” No? It was very strange. Was I the only one who could smell the fragrance? I began fidgeting in my seat as I felt the sense of irritation in me began growing. Iris began snarling in my mind, and she seemed like she was ready to lose her cool at any moment. “Arra!” Max shouted my name in panic and shook my shoulders, but I couldn't really register anything. It was like I was in a different dimension than everyone else. Everything seemed very far, and all I saw was red. I let out a dangerous growl as I felt the need to kill someone. Suddenly, I heard Rosa shout, “Alpha Maximillian, look out!” At the same time, I felt Max being pulled away from my side by his Beta. The next second, I felt imprisoned as Rosa blanketed me with a powerful magical aura. I groaned as I fell to the ground, with my body feeling heavy due to Rosa’s magic. “Arra!” I heard Max’s very worried voice. My senses slowly returned to me, and I saw all the elders looking at me with frightened and puzzled eyes. Rosa put the cap back on the bottle and then told the elders, “The liquid in this bottle was made by magic and resembles a spell that could cause the wolf of the particular person on whom the spell was cast to go out of control and go berserk.” Although her explanation was directed at the elders, everyone could hear her words clearly due to the silence in the small room we were in. Shocked gasps were heard from those in the room. “Did you do this? Were you the one who made that liquid?” one of the elders asked Abigail. “No,” she should her head and denied shakily. “I had gotten that bottle by accident when I was still a child. I didn't know what it was used for, nor have I used it!” “But I’ve thrown it away, and I don't know how it appeared in my house!” she added in desperation. At that moment, I had fully regained my senses and recalled everything Rosa had said. The wolf of the particular person on whom the spell was cast would go out of control and go berserk when they smelled the fragrance? “Ari!” Iris suddenly shouted my name. “That must be it! That must be the reason why we kept losing our control!” The reason why we kept losing control? A realization suddenly dawned on me when I thought of how I always smelled this faint scent on the previous occasions when I had lost control of my wolf in front of Abigail. “It must be that scheming slut’s plot!” Iris seethed with irritation. “And to think she has had that bottle of liquid since she was just a little kid!” she continued fuming. “She's so evil! She must have been scheming against you for a long time and waited for the right time to use it!” I frowned as I heard Iris’ words. Since Abigail was just a little kid… Scheming against me for a long time… Suddenly, I felt myself going pale as another horrible possibility occurred to me. “Rosa!” I grabbed her hand tightly. “Ari, are you okay now?” she asked with concern. I ignored her question and instead asked, “What will happen… What will happen if the liquid is used on someone whose wolf hasn't been awakened yet?” Rosa thought about it for a few seconds before answering, “They might simply fall into a coma.” The person might fall into a coma? For a moment, an image of Aurora's face that was similar to mine popped into my mind, and I thought of my sister, who had passed away when she hadn't even turned into an adult yet, What if I wasn't the only person being affected by the spell cast on the liquid? What if Aurora was affected, too, since we were twins? What if the spell was directed at Aurora and me? What if Abigail let my sister smell the liquid when they were playing near the stream, and she fell into a coma, then fell or pushed into it by Abigail? Was there a possibility that Aurora did not die by accident at that time but was killed by Abi with this bottle of liquid?