The next few days went by slowly, and as they did, I slowly followed further and further into the darkness, unable to bring myself up. I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into with everything going on, but I had, without a doubt, the darkest of feelings.
Every day not knowing if Damien was safe was a step putting me one step closer to completely losing myself, and the only thing holding me grounded was the twins silently sleeping upstairs in their crib.
I was an utter mess. A complete disaster.
Making my way downstairs, I tried to push away the darkened thoughts evading my mind. Heading toward the kitchen, the indistinct murmurs of conversation drew me to a complete stop as I turned and watched the many figures through the cracked-open doorway and Damian’s office.
What the hell?
“We have to tell her what’s going on,” James said softly as I watched him gaze towards Hale, whose back was towards me, staring out the window as if in deep thought.
“No,” he replied firmly, letting out a heavy breath. “We all saw how she’s changing, and you, James, of all people, saw first hand what Damian not being here is doing to her. Since she had the twins, she’s completely different.”
Hale’s response broke my heart just a little. He was never the one to keep information from me, and hearing him tell James not to include me hurt. I didn’t find myself to be completely different, and yet he was acting as if I was turning into some kind of monster.
“This isn’t right. It was delivered to the border for her. We need to let her see it.” Talon all but growled, stepping forward, his fists clenched at his side. He was obviously angry, and I wanted to know more than anything what he was referring to.
What had been delivered at the border they didn’t want me made aware of?
“It may have been delivered for her, but the thing is, I am the acting alpha right now, and I do not see it in her best interest to read this shit, Talon. It doesn’t matter what they say, we cannot give in to their demands.”
Tired of listening to what they were talking about, I pushed back the anger threatening to lash out if they made one more comment about me. Its shadows twisted and rolled through my veins as if seeking an outlet.
Pushing open the doorway, I stood there, watching as their eyes turned to me. Kate’s face fell as she seemed to pale. I hadn’t even realized she and Angel had made it back from the council land yet, but here she was, standing there with a grim expression on her face that spoke a million words without even saying anything.
“What is going on here?” I asked, narrowing my gaze as I stared at each of them. “We don’t hide secrets, so somebody needs to start talking.”
“It’s nothing, Ivy. Honestly, just some bullshit. Why don’t you head back upstairs and get some rest?” Hale replied as he turned to me with a small smile, stuffing whatever paper it was into his back pocket, as if I wouldn’t notice.
“Don’t talk to me as if I’m a child, Hale. I’m going to ask you one more time to give me whatever you just put into your pocket that was supposedly addressed to me per your conversation. Before things get worse.”
My warning was clear. If there was something he was hiding from me, he would face my wrath, mate or not. “Ivy—”
“No,” I said firmly, clenching my fists at my side. “Don’t you dare act like this towards me after everything we had been through?
Stopping in his tracks, he stood staring at me with a grim expression across his face I had never seen before. “This isn’t up for discussion. My word is final.”
When the hell did Hale decide he was going to act like this? I knew Damian had made him the acting alpha before he left, but that was no reason for Hale to let this go to his head. “Don’t you dare act like that towards me?” I growled.
I watched the tick in his jaw as he gritted his teeth. The beast within him lurked just beneath his skin. “As I said. You have seen certain sides of me, but don’t think I will let you speak to me this way for one moment. I’m doing this for a reason.”
“Hale, come on, man,” Talon said softly as he and James looked at me with soft eyes.
There was clear hesitation in Hale’s eyes as he looked around at everyone in the room. I could see he didn’t want to involve me, but everybody staring at him was clear enough of an answer that he needed to.
With Hale distracted, I didn’t waste another moment as I quickly snatched the paper from his back pocket and took a step back. A low growl came from him as he reached for it, trying to take it back from me, but the cold glare I gave him made him hesitate in his movements.
He didn’t want to fuck with me right now, because I was not in the mood.
Slowly opening the letter, my eyes peered down at the information, and my heart almost stopped. It was a letter from the Council, and they were requesting my presence in order to exonerate Damien from anything that had happened with the elders, stating they knew for a fact I was the one who killed those people.
If I didn’t reply or show up in person, Damian would be sentenced for the crimes committed, even though they had no proof of who did it.
“What is the punishment for this?” I whispered softly, without looking up at the others.
“Ivy–” James replied as if he didn’t want to say it.
Glancing up at them with parted lips, my eyes filled with tears as I tried to register what was going on. “What… is… the punishment?”
Hale stared at me for a moment for letting out a heavy sigh and staring down at me. “Death.”
I looked at Hale, Talon, and James in absolute disgust. They were willing to let Damian die for something I had done, and then hide it from me.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You weren’t going to tell me about this? He is basically on death row for something that I did!” The betrayal ran deep.
How could they do this to me? How could they not want to inform me?
“We will not allow you to go in there like the fool and cause yourself to get caught. It’s a trap, Ivy. They will not kill him,” Hale snapped with anger in his eyes.
“I’m a fool? Are you really going to go down that road with me? I have done nothing but try to make this work. You’re my mate, and I understand you want to protect me, but if you honestly think I am going to allow Damien, who is also my mate, to die because of something that I did, you are sadly mistaken.”
Turning on my heels, I push towards the door, not sure what I would do, but knowing I had to do something. At least give them a reply, and then settle my twins before going there.
They couldn’t hold me. I destroy them all.
However, I wasn’t quick enough. Talon wrapped his arms around me as I thrashed about, kicking and screaming at him to let me go. I couldn’t believe they were actually doing this, that they were going to let him die for me.
“Let me go right now, Talon!” I screamed even louder as Talon tried to help hold me back.
“Ivy, you have to stop. You can’t go. You have children to think about. They cannot afford to lose their mother. Are you freaking insane?” James cried out in aggravation.
I didn’t want to listen to them, though. It was my fault this had happened, and the council gave me less than forty-eight hours to respond to their sentencing, or he would be killed.
“We have to save him,” I cried repeatedly, my mother standing in the doorway with tears in her eyes. They didn’t know what it was like to lose a mate.
None of them did, and it was as if no one truly understood how much pain I was in.
Held back against my will, I watched Priscilla whisper something in my mother’s ear and then watched my mother disappear up the stairs, more than likely towards the children.
Kate disappeared right behind her, as if unable to watch what was about to happen before her. As Priscilla stocked forward, though, she looked to Hale and nodded her head. Some secret untold agreement between them I wasn’t privy to.
“Ivy, unfortunately, I understand how hard this is for you. But you cannot be given to them. It is part of the plan, and I need you to trust me when I say they will not kill him. They will not kill him because he is the bait they need to get to you.” I didn’t want to listen to her. No matter what she was saying, I couldn’t listen to her.
“Bait or not, I am not going to let him sacrifice himself for me,” I replied as tears streamed down my cheeks. This was the most agonizing thing I ever had to go through.
Knew I could save him, but also knowing they would not allow me to do so.
A rush of tingles crossed over my skin, and as I looked out the window, I watched a strange woman I had never seen before walking the perimeter of the house. A blue cloak over her head and sapphire eyes staring back at me.
“Who was that?” I asked, watching as Priscilla’s gaze turned towards the window and then back to me with a small smile.
“Unfortunately, that is an insurance policy that we had to make.”
Insurance policy? What the fuck did she mean that was an insurance policy?
As James and Talon lost their hold on me, my eyes darkened over as the power and rage ran through my blood. Throwing James aside, I bolted towards the door only to be thrown back five feet when I met an invisible barrier.
“What is this?” I screamed as I stood up, banging against the barrier once more, only to watch the blue-cloaked woman walk towards me, her dark black hair hanging loosely over her shoulders with a sorrowful look on her face.
“Hello, my queen,” she breathed. “My name is Alavandra from the fae realm. We have allied ourselves in a way with your family. I feel for you when it comes to my mate because I to have lost my own, but this isn’t about you. It’s about your people.”
Staring at the woman in disbelief, I smashed my fist into the barrier once more. “Unleash me now, or you will see what I think about alliances,” I growled as I felt the darkness wash completely over me.
The woman seemed slightly startled by my comment as she glanced toward the men I knew were staring behind. “I’m sorry, m’lady. I can not. This is to protect everyone.”
She didn’t give me a chance to say anything to her again before nodding her head and vanishing into thin air. “No!” I screamed as my legs collapsed under me, sinking to my knees. “Please let me out.”
“Alavandra is from another realm, Ivy. What is going on here is drifting elsewhere and has become much bigger than you can hope to imagine.”
Priscilla’s words weren’t comforting. Damian’s life depended on me, and while I knew the fate of the pack did as well, I couldn’t just let things go.
“Ivy–” Hale said softly as he dropped to his knees behind me. “I’m sorry… please forgive me for what I’m doing, but I promised him I would keep you safe no matter the cost.”
I was speechless, and with a broken heart and tears flooding down my face, I didn’t reply. Instead, I stood to my feet, slowly staring off at the woods that bordered our world from civilization and wept. I wept for the man I loved, and for the fate that was coming.
But most of all, I wept for the future that wouldn’t happen.
I knew my mates were trying to protect me, but I would tear apart the realms to get him.
