Page 15

Ivy

“She said she’s looking forward to seeing you.”

“Thank you, Alpha Mc—Briggs.”

The male tried to hide his grin.

He’d been inside me just yesterday.

We were a little beyond first-name intimacies.

Don’t overthink it , Rieka suggested.

Briggs hadn’t batted an eye when I asked if I could speak with Theia.

He simply pulled out his phone and made two calls.

One to Colten and the other to the Seer.

“Are you sure you want Colten to take me?” I double checked.

“Are you going to try to maim or murder my Beta?”

I barked an unexpected laugh.

“Uh, no. Not today, at least. And I’m almost certain Emery has dibs on maiming him.”

I hadn’t planned for her name to slip.

Though, that situation would need to be addressed soon.

“Undoubtedly,” the Alpha grinned.

“But to answer your question, yes, I’m more than okay with Colten taking you. In fact, I insist.”

“Okay.”

“Ivy, I want you to feel like you can speak freely without worrying if I’m around to overhear.”

“I could have that, going there on my own, you know.”

He tugged on a piece of hair that had fallen out of my braid.

“I know. But there are some things going on with another pack and it would make me feel better if you weren’t alone.”

“What things?”

Briggs opened his mouth right as Colten’s gunmetal Bronco rolled up the driveway.

“We’ll revisit the issue at another time.”

I reached for the handle but he beat me to it.

“Buckle up,” he ordered and shut the door.

“Hey, Ivy. You ready?”

I looked up the Beta.

“Not really.”

“Fair enough.”

We took off down the drive.

Colten didn’t attempt to make small talk and I caught myself wondering what he thought about everything.

I kept stealing glances at him, his rugged features set in a somber expression like something was on his mind.

“Are you alright?" I finally asked, breaking the silence.

“Yes.”

“You sure?”

My insistence earned me a glance from the big blonde. “Positive.”

We’d gone about a mile further when he said, “Thank you.”

The corners of my mouth turned down. “For what?”

“Asking if I was alright.”

Colten signaled to turn and eased us onto a gravel road. “It’s been a long time since anyone’s asked.”

I knew the feeling.

“It’ll be nice having a Luna who gives a shit.”

“Oh, I’m not—”

“We’re here.” He pointed to the right.

The cabin belonged to another time, its weathered timber walls witnessing multiple generations of the Livingston family’s lives.

“Colten?”

He was already out his door and opening mine. “I’ll walk you up.”

We stopped at the door and Colten knocked.

"Enter," came Theia's calm voice from within.

The door to Theia's cabin creaked open with an ominous groan. Colten gave my back a light nudge and I stepped across the threshold.

The scent of dried herbs filled my nostrils. The Seer sat in a wooden chair by the large stone fireplace, her cloudy eyes reflecting the fire's glow.

"Hello, Ivy," she greeted warmly, her voice resonating with an otherworldly echo. “Come, sit with me. Ask your questions.”

I hesitated. My shoes suddenly filled with lead.

“Ivy, I’ll wait out here.” Colten closed the door and I found myself in the chair across from Theia.

“You want to know if he gave you the truth?” she asked.

“I …” I didn’t think he lied. “I think maybe I need to hear it from the source.”

Theia tsked. “True. All of it. Whomever he mated would fall with child. The mother of the first was the one marked for death. I can’t say why. Such a thing isn’t for me to know.”

"And there was no way to prevent it?" Distress laced my words.

" None .”

The finality of her words wrapped around my neck, a noose of inevitability. His choice saved me and knowingly damned another.

And if that weren’t enough, it took a tiny, precious life—and that was the true injustice of it all.

It was so awful I choked up. Sadness and grief could easily be turned into resentment, something I was rather good at doing.

“You should not judge the Alpha so harshly. The burden has been heavy for him to carry, especially with the loss of the child. Nothing in my visions hinted at that tragedy. But I can tell you, had he not taken a mate, Darkwood, the entire pack, would have suffered greatly.”

Most of the fight drained out of me, leaving behind nothing but the cold truth of her words. Briggs had shouldered so much.

Being left in the dark, unable to help him carry some of the load, added to the discord between my head and my heart.

"Knowing one's fate can be a curse," Theia murmured.

I hadn’t said a word.

The Seer patted my knee. “Some truths are too heavy for the soul to bear.

Plus, your wolf would never have stayed away.

Now it is you who is left with the choice.

”

Forgive him, Rieka pleaded.

Shh, Rieka.

Not now.

“No visions to point in any particular direction?” I joked lamely.

“Not today, my dear. But come back to me before the winter solstice and we shall see.”

Theia rose and went over to her herbs, effectively dismissing me.

“Thank you,” I said on my way out.

Once Colten had his SUV turned around, he started dropping little bombs on me.

“I barely spoke to Briggs for a year after you left.”

I twisted to look at him.

Really look at him.

He was Beta to the Alpha, Briggs’s best friend since they were toddlers.

“I’d never been disappointed in him before. He was— is my best friend. He was pissing all over fate and I just knew there’d be some horrendous price to pay.”

“Like losing his mate?”

“If you mean Ruby, no. Losing you temporarily was part of the plan, at least in terms of choosing a mate. The price, though, the real one? Wasn’t losing a mate.”

He was referring to Briggs’s child.

I felt like crying again.

For the babe.

For Briggs’s suffering.

“He told me that he eventually let you know what he’d done,” I said.

Colten nodded.

“I suspected something was off but not to the degree it was. He was a miserable sack of shit and I couldn’t do anything about it. When he got around to letting me in, he was already in terrible fucking shape. He put up a good front. Led the pack, made tough decisions, settled things like he always did. But Briggs and Onyx? They were not okay. They were so out of sync and unhappy I worried he might do something crazy.”

I thought about that for a bit, hoping Briggs and his wolf had found common ground again.

“Would you have done the same, if it were your mate?” I blurted without thinking.

“Shit. Sorry. You don’t have to answer that.”

A frown creased his brow.

"I'd like to think that I'd be strong enough to do what he did. To save my true mate, even if it meant she hated me."

"Even if it destroyed you both? Ended with the death of innocents?”

"Especially then," he answered quietly. “It’s completely fucked up, but male wolves? Our base instincts will always be to protect the one on the other side of that bond, no matter the cost. The prospect of offspring isn’t tangible, not until they come screaming into the world and our wolves get their first whiff of their pup’s scent. It’s different for females.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can feel that life inside you. Your wolf’s instinct will always be to protect your young first. Your mate’s instinct will always be to protect you first. It’s a hierarchy designed by nature, like everything else with wolves.”

“I’ve never heard it put quite like that.”

“It’s true,” he shrugged. “I’m just glad Briggs never knew the real price he’d have to pay.”

My mind created an image of Briggs cradling an infant. I hurt for him and for that unimaginable loss.

Was it his punishment for skirting fate by choosing Ruby? It was too hefty a sum. My life wasn’t worth more than anyone else’s.

Colten was right. It was completely fucked up and unfair.

When I entered the Alpha’s cabin, a tiny flicker of hope ignited. Though I was terrified to let it grow, it clung to life—stubborn and defiant—as I crossed the threshold back into captivity.

Knowing the truth had me contemplating forgiving the male. Unfortunately, forgetting was another matter altogether.