“I hear you met Otis,” James asks from behind me as I walk down Haley’s hall to the bathroom. Lucky me, I came earlier than intended because of Otis’s stalking and I caught the tail end of James and Haley’s meeting. I stop and my head falls back in annoyance. It’s been three days since I have been able to get close to Ivy. Three days since I had to stand near her and smell him on her. And at the risk of sounding dramatic, it’s been three terrible fucking days. It’s proving damn near impossible to avoid Otis, who seems to work twelve-hour shifts on me. I know it takes time to learn someone’s habits, and how they act and move, but Otis played dumb with me because he doesn’t think I’m a problem. This means I need to keep him thinking I’m not a problem by being boring and aloof. It’s far more taxing than it sounds. “Yeah, seems like a nice enough guy,” I say, turning to face James and crossing my arms over my chest. “He seems to think you don’t do a whole lot around the pack.” I sh
~Ivy POV~Sarah has been fidgety all day. I’m sure it’s her nerves, but if she keeps jumping at every tiny sound, then she is going to get herself caught before we even get the chance to walk out the door. The plan seems simple enough, but the problem with simple plans is shit always goes awry. “Sarah, you need to calm down,” I hiss as she jumps when a pan clatters in the sink. She closes her eyes and clutches at her heart, then she nods her head.“I’m sorry, Ivy,” she whispers.“Only a couple more minutes. Then we will make our way out of the house. Okay?” I give her a small smile and she nods. The doorbell rings and she nearly hits the ceiling in shock. I give her a frown and move for the door, pulling it open to see two large warriors looking perpetually perturbed. “I take it you are here to see Alpha James?” I ask, lifting a brow. “No.” one man says, sliding a look at his partner before clearing his throat.I lean on the door frame, a bad feeling settling over me. If they aren’
“Are you sure we can trust him?” I ask, sprinting through the trees behind Enzo.He doesn’t even bother to look back at me. He knows I’m close to him, even if I weren’t talking. We spent so much time training together in the more recent years that we can feel each other. The vibrations of the earth and the shift of the air. All things they taught us to pay attention to.“The only person I trust is you.” He murmurs, slowing his speed and pressing against a tree. I mirror his actions and glance around, but I see nothing and no one. “And sometimes even that trust is scarce,” he finishes as he steps out, his eyes always scanning, searching for anything out of place. I try not to let his words bother me. All I wanted was a little reassurance that Sarah was with someone we trusted and instead of comforting me and saying ‘Yeah Ivy, he is fucking great’, I’m met with learning it’s hard for him to trust me. Which, to put it lightly, fucking sucks. Enzo sighs and turns to face me before grabbi
“Then talk,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “Get dressed first,” Enzo says, pointing to a pile of clothes on the bed that I hadn’t seen him enter the room with. I toss the blankets off and brush past him, grabbing the pants and slipping them on under the towel and the long sweatshirt. Then I shuck off his sweater, laying it to the side and grab the sports bra and pull it on over as my towel slides off. I turn to face Enzo as I pull the fresh shirt over my head, realizing these are from the reserves from going on a run. One thing the pack is actually good at is having an array of clothing stockpiled all over the pack, so no one is running around naked after a shift.I throw my hands out and do a spin to showcase how dressed I am, and then I cross my arms again. There is no way I’m not coming off like a petulant teenager with how I am acting, but in my defense, Enzo has been keeping this from me.Never mind that I have been getting them too and haven’t told him. He has been wit
~Enzo POV~Ivy stares at me with pure confusion, her head trying to decipher whether I feel guilty about the crime accused or if I am guilty. I can read it on her face. The sorrow and then the flicker of anger, then the same confusion wins over and her shoulders slump. Ivy has never asked me what happened, why I wasn’t with Caleb like I was supposed to be. And I have never been forthright in admitting openly that I left him for dead so I could save her.Because even when I was sworn to duty, Ivy meant more to me than even my best friend and my position in the pack. I know how that sounds. It sounds fucked up and cruel, but it wasn’t a decision I made lightly. Caleb and I had an unspoken language, one that was made up of looks we could understand and have full conversations with.When the pack warriors alerted us to the attack, Caleb saw me lurch toward the door. I remember glancing over my shoulder and seeing Caleb give me the look. The ‘Go save her’ look. Because that was his baby s
~Ivy POV~James kisses my lips and then tucks me into his chest, holding me tight. He doesn’t ask what’s wrong, he just holds me. After what feels like an eternity, he sighs deeply and his hold on me loosens, signifying the end of our hug. I break my vice grip on him and step back, shyly tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Are you okay?” he asks with a small frown as he searches my face. “I will be. Just missing the way things used to be.” I whisper, trying to placate him. The last time he saw me I was in his home with Sarah and now hours into the night he is stumbling upon me, crying on the trail. “I needed a run,” I offer with a smile. “Your circumstances are going to change soon, Ivy. You won’t have to miss the life before being a slave for much longer.” he gives me a soft smile, but there is a sadness in his eyes that I can’t place.I give him a weak smile, hating that this life he is mapping out for us more than likely won’t come to fruition while also dreaming of a
By the time I arrive back in my room, my nerves are fried and the only thing I can think about is how to make it seem like Sarah is still just sick and not missing. I shower and change my clothes to clear my head, then I plop down in a chair in the corner of my room and try to process everything.After everything that has happened tonight, I need to force everything out of my head and focus on the present. Then things I can do here and now to move forward and protect the people I care about. Even if I barely know Sarah, she deserves a life of peace away from the sick hands of alpha Jonathon and his fucked up men. I creep down to her room and push the door open, finding her scent different from normal. It’s hard to tell if someone has been in here or if Sarah had just panicked and cleaned the place with all sorts of pine-scented chemicals. I mean, we have those kinds of sprays and bleaches, so it wouldn’t be terribly unlikely. As I look around, I realize Sarah’s room is much nicer tha
“What are you doing here?” his voice is a soft whisper in my ear as he pulls me close, locking me in his arms like he will never let me go. When his hands smooth my hair and the gentle up and down of his chest moves in time with mine, I know I made the right choice.“Everything fucking hurts,” I say on a sharp inhale.“I’m so sorry I hurt you, Mea Causea.” Enzo says, his special nickname sending a warm tingling through my body. He adjusts his arms around me, somehow making us closer than we had been before.“I killed that guy in the woods,” I tell him, my voice growing distant and cold.“You what?” Enzo freezes. “What guy? Who did you kill in the woods?” “Henley’s partner.” Enzo breaks our embrace and looks down at me with guarded eyes. He is trying to understand.“He found me in the woods after I ran into Alpha James. He said some things. I was tired of playing meek slave girl and he didn’t like my attitude.”“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Ivy,” Enzo says with a small fr