Page 16

Briggs

As I’d begun doing, I knocked before I opened the door.

Technically, I unlocked it first, but I preferred to ignore that part of the routine.

If I could normalize things a little for Ivy, I would.

She was straightening the comforter and putting the pillows back in place.

My mate was surprisingly tidy and kept the room neat.

She’s bored, Onyx asserted.

Which is why we’re going on a walk.

"Ready for our walk?" I asked.

"Sure.”

Ivy’s demeanor had been pensive since she returned from Theia’s yesterday. It seemed she was still in that same headspace.

Fighting instinct, I didn’t pry. I’d had years to wrestle with the truth where she’d had mere days.

“Before we go, I have something for you.” Hesitantly, I slid the black velvet box from my back pocket.

“What is that?” She eyed it in confusion.

"It’s something I had made for you a while back.

”

Her plush lips flattened.

Instead of reaching for the offering, she stared at it like it might bite.

The tip of her pink tongue ran across her bottom lip.

“When?”

“When did I have it made?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t recall the exact date of the order, or when it was finished, but I do remember when I had the original thought.”

Ivy’s focus remained on the item in my hand so I kept talking.

“The day I first felt the pull of our bond, you were standing under a big willow with Emery, laughing. You were so beautiful. So full of life. It was all I could do not to charge over there and rut you against the trunk.”

She blushed and I was once again tempted to take her to the ground and mark the shit out of her.

The fact she wasn’t ready to mark me in return held me off.

“Not long after, I had Colten find out your favorite color. I went to a jeweler and he helped me design it. A week later and I had it in hand.”

“So you bought it before that night?”

The way she had to force that night out of her mouth, the way her lips pinched, was a flashing red warning of where her mood was currently headed.

Once I showed her what was inside, her surliness would be blunted.

She might even be pleased.

Careful , Onyx cautioned.

The necklace will smooth this over , I thought with confidence.

Women love jewelry.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I wasn’t naive enough to think baubles and trinkets could completely wipe away the past.

They could only help, though, right?

“I had it tucked away in my safe well before the Mating Moon. I want you to have it now."

Slowly, I opened the box, revealing the intricate jade and stainless steel choker inside.

Ivy's eyes widened. She reached out to touch it, her fingers tracing the delicate metalwork.

Abruptly, she snatched her hand away.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

"Is this—is it the same necklace you put around Ruby's neck?"

"No, of course not. This one is yours .”

She stared at me, clearly insulted. "No thank you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what I said. No thank you, I don't want it."

Beautiful stubborn female.

“Ivy, it's similar to Ruby’s, but it is not the same necklace.”

Her wolf’s guttural snarl had Onyx pacing.

“You’re not listening, Alpha McClellan.”

“ Briggs. ” My jaw tightened so fast my teeth audibly clacked.

“Listen carefully to my words, Briggs . I. Don’t. Want. It.”

A sharp pang seized my chest. Irrational anger boiled and foamed under my skin. How could she not want something I’d so carefully designed for her?

“Why not?” I snapped. “It’s yours. I had it made for you.”

My mate’s little hands went to her hips. “Did you have one made for Ruby, as well? At the same time, perhaps?”

“No.”

“When did you buy hers? Why was hers also jade?”

It was customary for a male to gift jewelry of some kind at a mating ceremony and I needed something to keep with pack tradition. The exchange with Ruby meant nothing to me.

I could have told Ivy the truth, that once I’d decided what had to be done I’d returned to the jeweler and picked the first thing I saw in the on-sale display case. That both necklaces were the same stone was purely coincidence and not planned.

I scrubbed my face irritably. “Does it matter?”

Ivy’s entire body tensed. Electricity zapped between us.

I think she’s going to attack us , Onyx noted warily.

She won’t. I was relatively sure she wouldn’t.

I don’t think you understand females at all.

Onyx’s slight rankled more than it should have.

I slammed the lid closed and returned the case to my back pocket. "I'll come back later for our walk."

I strode away from Ivy's room before I could make things worse.

Why wasn't she moved by my gesture? The necklace was intended as a symbol of our connection and my affection and yet she'd rejected it outright.

It felt like a slap in the face after the progress we’d made these past few days.

A part of me knew that I was being unfair. But another part of me couldn't help but crave her acceptance, her affection.

And with every setback, that longing grew stronger, as did my frustration.

I retreated into my study to take a breather and clear my head, growling when I saw Colten lounging on the couch.

“No luck with the necklace?”

“Is it that obvious?” I tossed the blasted case onto my desk, dropping into my chair.

"Briggs," Colten said calmly, his steely gray eyes piercing into mine. "You knew this would take time. You can't expect her to just jump into your arms with total acceptance."

“Why the fuck not? I'm her true mate! And her Alpha! At the very least, her wolf should be eager to have me after so long apart.”

The distance between me and my mate was shrinking but I wanted it gone. Erased. Not even an inch separating us.

“I've come clean to her. She knows my reasons and I think she understands them."

“Your pride and arrogance are going to do you in, my friend.”

“Fuck off. I’ve apologized for what happened. She knows I was only trying to save her life and keep the pack from descending into chaos.”

"Have you tried apologizing for simply being an asshole?"

“Cute.”

Colten tapped his fingers on his thigh. "Swallow your pride and admit you’re an uptight prick of an Alpha who is used to getting his way and who doesn’t know the first thing about making amends with the opposite sex. Especially not for something so hurtful and twisted, like what you both experienced. It will mean more to her than any material gift.”

His words got through the fog in my brain. "You’re right.”

The Beta cupped his ear. “I’m sorry, what was that? Did the almighty Alpha just tell me I, his lowly Beta, was right? Quick, hand me a pen and paper so we can mark the date.”

I threw a pen at him. Hard.

Colten ducked and came up smirking. “Don’t get too discouraged, Briggs. I think you’re making headway.”

Taking a deep breath, I nodded.

On cautious footing, I returned to Ivy’s room.

She looked up from the chair, her hazel eyes guarded but curious. Ivy closed the book in her lap and set it on the small table beside her.

“I’m sorry for how I reacted,” she said, surprising the hell out of me.

I swiftly found my way to her, kneeling at her feet. “No. You don’t apologize, not for anything. I’m the impatient bastard who should be begging forgiveness. It’s just …”

“Not your Alpha nature?”

“Right.” I chuckled. “Colten told me I should just say sorry for being an asshole, for basically just being who I am. So I’m sorry. About my personality.”

Ivy rolled her lips between her teeth. Was she trying not to smile? My Beta really was right.

“Ivy, I have no experience making amends like this. I do my best to be a good Alpha, to help the pack thrive. It’s my own problems, apparently, I’m shit at fixing.”

“Well, to be fair, your, or I guess our , problem is bigger than most.”

Gently, though I felt far from being gentle this close to my mate, I clasped her hands. “Ivy, I need to know if you think you can ever truly forgive me?”

Her blue-green gaze remained steady. "I'm trying, Briggs. I really am. I finally know the truth of it all and I get that you were in an impossible position. It’s the forgetting part that’s giving me the most trouble."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. It wasn't the definitive Yes! I had hoped for, but it was better than an outright Hell no!

I lifted one of her hands and turned it over, kissing her wrist. “Thank you.”

Her small smile made me feel ten feet tall, which made me disinclined to steer the conversation where I needed to steer it.

I knew she hated the locked door. I couldn’t keep locking her in for much longer, but Onyx would go insane if she up and disappeared.

"Listen, Ivy, I know the outcome for Ruby isn’t easy to come to terms with. But there’s actually one more thing I need to tell you about the day she went into labor.”

Her brow furrowed and I wanted to kiss the little wrinkles between her eyes and make them disappear.

“How well did you know her?” I tested.

She inhaled deeply then let it out slowly.

“I don’t like speaking ill of the dead, but she had a mean streak a mile wide. Choosing someone like her was rubbing salt in the wound and imagining the two of you together made me want to come back and kill her.”

Her lower lip wobbled. “And now I feel like I actually did kill her.”

“No, Ivy, that’s not on you. It’s on me. Completely and totally on me. And since you want honesty, here it is.”

I peered into her eyes and braced for judgement. “I tried to feel bad about Ruby’s death but in the end, I just didn’t.”

“That’s appalling, Briggs.”

“It is. I had no love for her. No affection. In fact, Onyx wanted to kill her the night I rejected you. And most nights after."

Ivy’s eyes rounded.

“It’s true. I had to drown myself in liquor to get anywhere near her.”

I hated her wince, but she deserved honesty. “I can’t erase it, but if the choice was your life or hers, I’d end hers every time.”

“But the baby—”

“Please don’t. Not today.”

She opened her mouth to speak then clamped it shut. A heavy silence hung between us until I got around the lump in my throat.

"Ruby was worse than any of us actually knew," I began. "It was no secret she was shallow and ambitious—and mean, as you aptly pointed out.”

“Briggs—”

“She planned to have me killed, Ivy."

Ivy gasped.

"Before she died, Ruby confessed that she had intended to end my life and rule the pack with her true mate. Through our child .” The bitterness in my voice was palpable.

“ Briggs. ”

“Colten and I have discussed it at length and we came to the same conclusion that her mind created a narrative that it was you, my actual mate, that would perish because she was so fixated on being Luna and bringing along her true mate as Alpha, she ignored reality.”

A shudder rippled through Ivy as she stared at me in shock. “That …that conniving backstabbing whore!”

Her hands rolled into fists. “Tell me you tracked down her mate.”

The familiar thirst for blood rose. “I wish I could but we haven’t figured out who it is yet.”

Ivy seemed to deflate. “Well, shit.”

And wasn’t that putting it lightly?

"Briggs,” she sighed, “are there any more truth bombs you plan on dropping?"

I snorted. "No. But I need you to understand that keeping you safe is the biggest concern I have in life. I assume Ruby’s mate will try something. It’s why I hover, why I keep that door locked.”

Orange-gold light burned in her irises. “Don’t pretend that’s why.”

“Are you ready to submit to me? To be marked?”

On a huff, she looked away. I considered it progress her nails weren’t raking down my face.

I rose to my feet. “We can walk now or I can give you some time.”

“I need air,” she declared, ignoring my outstretched hand and flouncing out the door.

My little mate would castrate me if she knew her challenges only made me want her more. Made me want to fuck the enmity right out of her.

Ivy’s defiance would make her submission all the more sweet.