I know it's a long one, but hard to split a chapter like this!
~Ivy POV~Three days ago, you couldn’t have convinced me that James had a violent bone in his body. Well, ok. I had seen flickers of a temper in him when he drank, but that had been few and far in between. But now, three days after he exploded about Sarah, I know better. I have also learned he is the kind to disappear after he detonates. I have been hoping to find out if he is my mate or not. But he fucking disappeared. Left me with handwritten instructions to clean up his mess inside the house while he tried to rectify the one I made outside the house. Getting Sarah out isn't something I feel bad about. I understand now that this pack has a sick need to own people and not just in the slave sense of the term. I have had three days to sit and ponder the words he used and the anger and desperation behind them.‘What’s mine' he screamed at me. Like I’d taken his prize possession. Like I’d taken his… mate. I frown and shake that thought from my head, wiping down the counter again. He has
James narrows his eyes, fury burning in them as he stalks toward me. But I stay in place, my shoulders back and my chin held high.“You killed all of them?” he seethesI give him a shrug. “Maybe not all of them, but definitely killed Beta Dorian.”He rears back in surprise. His eyes roam over me and his lips set in a hard line as if he is trying to come to some conclusion about me. “Maybe you did, maybe didn’t,” he whispers, his eyes growing hard. “Why are you here, then?”“That’s my business.”“Your business affects my business.” He hisses and I roll my eyes. Damn, it feels good to do that without fear of being beaten. “We have the same endgame, James.” I say flatly, “Why the fuck does the in-between matter?” “Because as much as I hate my father and want him dead, I still have a responsibility to this pack.”“Fine. We will leave the pack out of it.” I say with a shrug. I never intended on doing anything to secure or bring about the downfall of this pack. Sure in the beginning I hop
~Enzo POV~ I feel like I’m swaying with the breeze on a pleasant summer night in the meadow. Or having a dance with a lover at a ball. A tender sway that lulls you to sleep and promises only joyful things. The sway grows more violent, more rapid, and panicked as I try to snap myself out of my headspace. The place I learned to run to in order to avoid pain and allow my wolf to heal us. The world slams into me, my ears ringing, my mind splitting and my eyes, fuck, my eyes sting. I gasp for air as I blink the blackness away and pain shots through me. Every single part of my body aches and tingles. A blunt object hits my forearms, and I cry out in agony. “Ah!” someone says gleefully. “Fuck boy awakes.” I have nothing to say, no witty comeback. They have beaten it out of me. My voice has long since fled my body. Not that I blame it, I too wish I could leave this fucking misery. The worst part about all of this–the torture is knowing that I will never get to see her smiling face again.
~Ivy POV~ James rips the front door open like a petulant toddler, and I roughly shove him through it. He growls his distaste, but I’m beyond fucking caring anymore. Haley stands in the doorway behind us, completely confused. I should try to get her to promise to keep her mouth shut, or I should kill her, but I get a distinct feeling, based on her begging James to save Enzo, that she won’t say shit. James growls at me before turning around to Haley. “Don’t say a word about any of this,” he hisses, and she nods, her red puffy eyes wide in understanding as she nods her head in agreement.“And you” He glowers at me as he turns his anger in my direction and stalks the three steps toward me. He stands towering over me, his eyes full of anger and a mixture of hatred. My heart twinges, missing the looks he used to give me. The same ones he had to fake.“What about me, James?” I square my shoulders, refusing to be intimidated by his tall, muscular frame. “You will follow my lead. My father
The pounding on the front door has been relentless as Jonathon searches for his second missing person. Though I’m not sure why he cares so much about Enzo missing, other than his ego being hurt. Now, looking for Sarah is something I can understand. She was his bargaining chip over James, and now all he has to fall back on are his loyalists and the fact that he is still alive and James can’t take full control of the pack until he is mated.I have been the lucky one who is known in the pack as James’ mate, and even though I started out as a slave, today I become an official pack member. With the mating ceremony just around the corner, it is imperative that I am made a pack member before we mate. Which I know won’t ever fucking happen, but Caleb, Clem, and I have kept that little nugget of information to ourselves. At this rate, I don’t care who becomes the Alpha of this pack. James has proven to be a pompous self-serving asshole, not that I can say much. But at least I saved his mate w
~Enzo POV~The low hum of voices sounds like a fly buzzing by my ear. I try to lift my arm to swat it away but groan in pain instead. The pain in my body grows with every passing second and I inhale sharply, trying to use any part of me. My right leg seems to be the only place the pain doesn’t live, so I bend it and rest it on the surface I am on, prying my eyes open, and blinking into the dimly lit room. Using my leg, I force myself further up the bed and I’m surprised to find that my side and stomach don’t hurt as bad as my arms or left leg. After lots of groaning, a little panting, and a few cuss words, I sit against the back headboard. My chest heaves up and down with the effort, but it was worth it to be off my back. Not that it was worse than my whole hanging situation. I scan the room, finding it empty, and I frown. I am in Ivy’s room at James’ house. Which makes no sense. I take quick stock of my injured leg and grimace at the smell of it and the discoloration. The poison on
Ivy gently applies the herbs to my leg, watching me closely for any indication that it may hurt. But the combined touch of her skin and the numbing effect of the salve keep me from flinching away. She then grabs a wrap and eases my leg up as she reaches around my thick thigh and tightly wraps it around me.“It’s looking better than it did when we first got you here.” Caleb muses and I scoff.“This is better?” I ask.“So much better.” Ivy agrees with Caleb. “The herbs draw out the wolfsbane, which will allow it to heal. You will have a scare. There is no way around that, but it will heal.”“Will I be able to walk?”My eyes flit between the two of them, waiting for one of them to not only answer me but to look at me. I growl rumbles low in my chest when a moment passes in silence and Ivy sighs heavily, stopping what she is doing. “We think so,” she says. “You think? But you don’t actually know?”I look up at Caleb, who frowns down at my leg and scrubs a hand over his face. “If the bo
~Ivy POV~I slip from Enzo’s side as the sun filters in through the curtains. A slight breeze drifting through and tickling the fabric. He finally looks peaceful for the first time since, well, ever. His dark hair is an adorable mess, and his face is now free of swelling, only barely there bruises dot the area beneath his eyes and his right cheekbone. My fingers itch to run over his stubbled face where the hair has grown back far faster than it has a right to after I shaved it early yesterday morning.“I can feel the weight of your eyes,” he mumbles. My heartbeat quickens and a smirk tugs at the corner of my lips.“Am I not allowed to look at what is mine?” I ask. He chuckles lightly, his tone so airy and unburdened.“Mmm, I like how that sounds.” He cracks his eyes open, blinking away the sleepiness and drinking me in. “You look different.” he muses.“Oh, yeah?”“You are quicker to smile.” I tuck a hair behind my ears, feeling his emotions, his lust, desire, his utter shock, and comp