The sweet scent of rosewater-white chocolate stirred next to me as Ivy slowly snuggled closer to my chest. She looked so peaceful sleeping. I just still couldn’t believe someone would want to harm her like that. I’d thought most everyone in the company was on good terms with the pack—clearly that was not the case. I wanted whoever hurt her to pay for their actions. I wasn’t normally one to feel aggressive, but after yesterday, I felt like punching anyone who so much as looked at Ivy wrong.
“What are you thinking?”
I turned my head to see Ivy’s eyes open, looking up at me. She pressed a soft kiss to my chest before returning her gaze to me.
“I’m thinking I want to punch somebody right now,” I said. I didn’t like this aggression coursing through my body. I wanted to feel settled and content with Ivy in my arms, not anxious about her safety.
“Hopefully not me,” she joked.
“Never you,” I said, gently kissing her forehead.
On the other side of Ivy, Lukas gently stirred awake. “Ivy, how are you feeling this morning? How does your toe feel?”
“It’s a little tender, but not too bad at the moment,” she replied. “The doctor said I got lucky where the glass embedded itself. Anywhere else in my toe and it could have done serious damage.”
I shuddered at the thought. This whole omega scent-matched dream of ours could have abruptly ended in tragedy last night, but I didn’t even care about that at the moment.
I let out a sigh as that thought sat with me. A month ago, I would have given anything to have my dancing omega by my side to perform onstage, but now I just needed her by my side, no performance necessary.
“Ivy, here’s your pain medication,” Demetrius said from behind us, holding a glass of water and two pills. Ivy reached for the water and quickly swallowed the pills down.
“Want me to carry you to the kitchen?” Isaac asked. He was sitting up on the bed below us and gently rubbing her shin with his hand.
“Guys, I’m fine and more than capable of walking by myself,” Ivy said, working to stand up. As soon as she put her full weight on the foot with her injured toe, a pained expression shot across her face before she masked it right up.
“Nope,” Demetrius said. “We’re carrying you around today. You can try walking tomorrow.”
“I’ve got her,” I said, standing up out of bed and wrapping my arms around her. “It’s not a real day in my mind if I’m not carrying Ivy around in some way.”
She giggled in my ear as I lifted her off the floor. At least Ivy was in good spirits about this whole thing because I could tell the four of us were anything but.
***
Demetrius
“Alright, everyone, settle down,” I said as we all settled into our seats at the table for breakfast.
Ivy’s foot was elevated next to me on a pillow; I gently rested my hand on the arch of her foot. She wiggled her toes playfully at me as she bit into a piece of fruit.
I looked around at the rest of the pack before letting out a sigh. “We’ve only had Ivy under our care for a week, and she’s already been hurt.”
“Wow,” Ivy said with a slight chuckle. “You don’t have to put it like that.”
“It’s true,” Isaac said. “We didn’t do a good enough job protecting you with everything going on.”
“I don’t think any of us could have predicted this,” Ivy said, but Preston immediately waved her off.
“No, I should have done something sooner,” he said, the guilt across his face very clear. “The vibe during company class Friday was way off.”
“I know you feel that right now, given what happened last night,” Ivy said. “But if it wasn’t my shoes, then it would have been my costume, or headpiece, or spot at the barre. Maybe a prop would have cut me or something. You four can’t protect me from every possible scenario.”
“Ivy’s right,” Lukas said, seated next to her. “We have to surround ourselves with people who support us, not those who wish us harm. Only then will these things stop happening.”
Once again, I agreed with Lukas. “I’ve asked Lukas to investigate who could have done this. For obvious reasons, we don’t have cameras in the dancer’s lounge, but maybe somebody saw or knows something.”
“Ivy, were there any other direct instances of someone bullying you? Anything else that’s happened to you?” Lukas asked.
Ivy grew silent for a moment as her gaze dropped down to her plate. “Yes,” she quietly replied. “Someone put a large rock in front of my locker with a message attached that called me an anchor.”
