"Ivy." The disappointment in his voice was unmistakable."You need to stop this before you destroy yourself."
I watched Ivy flinch, and for the briefest moment I felt like something sharp pierced my chest. Looking at her like this made me ache in a way I couldn’t explain. I realized what it was - I was extremely disappointed. I’d never expect something like this from her. Not only was it theft, but it wasn’t a smart crime. It was sloppy, and obvious. Ivy was smart, more sensible than that - at least I thought she was. And she just sat there, looking broken.
Then Arabella wiped at her eyes, and every protective instinct inside me immediately redirected itself toward her. Whateverconfusion I felt about Ivy, Arabella was still our future mate. She was the one standing here humiliated. Without thinking, I moved beside her and rested a hand against her back.
"It's okay." I rumbled. Arabella immediately leaned into me, seeking comfort, and although the gesture should have felt reassuring, that strange unease returned stronger than before.
After a few more awkward seconds, I took the necklace and I placed it in my pocket. No one would try to take it from me. I could practically feel the whispers following us throughout the area. Ivy disappeared shortly afterward, herded out by her fathers and away from the event. Once she was gone, my pack gathered privately in one of the side rooms. The atmosphere was grim.
"That was beyond unacceptable. I underestimated how serious this was," Elias admitted.
Hunter rubbed a hand across his jaw before nodding. "I did too. I knew there were issues between them, but this was extreme and beyond what I thought she’d ever stoop to.”
Elias remained unusually quiet until finally speaking. "If she's genuinely struggling this badly, she needs immediate help.”
"She's been getting help," Hunter replied. "The family has been trying for years."
Elias looked ashen. “Obviously it’s not working. She’s getting worse, from what little I’ve observed. Arabella is at risk, and asmuch as I hate to say it, Ivy shouldn’t be around her at all at this rate.”
"Can you imagine living with that?" Hunter finally asked.
Suddenly the emotional distance we'd felt from Arabella made sense. Her hesitation to open up, and the lack of deeper connection all seemed easier to explain. If she'd spent years dealing with an unstable sister, perhaps she simply didn't know how to trust people. She’d learned to protect herself emotionally. And we had been so concerned with Ivy and how to help that we’d missed the signs. Arabella had probably been through so much more than we witnessed, and she was afraid to tell us. I felt horrible. Ivy was not who we thought she was.
Yet, I couldn't stop seeing Ivy's face when the necklace was discovered. The confusion had looked real. However, people lied all the time, and I'd built an entire career around identifying deception.
But Ivy’s reaction felt genuine, and that bothered me. The necklace had been in her bag. There was no arguing with that fact, no other explanation that she’d offered to make any sense. I felt like I had watched something terrible happen, but some part of it didn’t make sense. And my body wouldn’t let it go, no matter what I told myself.
Chapter 33
Ivy
The launch party felt endless. The whole day was supposed to be an opportunity, one for me to get closer to Pack Vale, hopefully to somehow show them what was going on. I felt like I had made progress with Elias and hoped that he, of all of them, would put two and two together.
But then it all went to hell. After I’d been accused of stealing, my fathers told me to stay put in the back and not cause any more trouble. I sat there in shock, still unable to process what had happened. Arabella had set me up in a way that made me look insane. It looked bad - even I would have trouble believing I was innocent if I were looking from the outside. She’d simply walked into the VIP room and smirked at me, then grabbed her bag and started screaming like a banshee until our whole family, and Pack Vale, came running in.
I sat there, my body aching with the need to run to my mates. I needed their comfort, I needed them to believe me. It hurt more than anything to see the disappointment in their eyes when they saw the necklace in my purse - one that I knew Arabella had planted. I sat with my knees to my chest, trying to breathe in deeply. I had to get through this. I had to.
People walked by occasionally, though the few that had witnessed the incident looked at me warily. Every smile I forced onto my face hurt. I could see everyone else enjoying the event despite the drama. Hundreds of people were here to celebrate the launch. But all I could focus on was the sight of my mates standing beside another woman.
My mates. Even thinking the words hurt now.
I had spent weeks trying to convince myself that I could survive this. I had tried burying myself in work. I had tried avoiding them. I had tried suppressants, descenters, and every distraction I could think of. None of it worked. Every time I saw Hunter's hand settle on the small of Arabella's back or Elias smile at her, or Ronan standing close to protect her, my omega instincts screamed that it was wrong.
Yet somehow I was the only person who seemed able to see it. I took a deep breath and got up to grab some water. I’d been exhausted lately, my body begging me for relief. Even with extra suppressants, my biology was nearly overriding the drugs. I would get flashes of heat at night, sweat beading across my body any time I was stressed - like right now. I walked toward the drink station and grabbed a glass. I was standing in one of the side hallways when Arabella appeared.
The moment I saw her approaching, I knew it was bad news. She was carrying a glass of red wine and wearing the expression she always wore when she knew she had won.
"What now?" I asked quietly, my body shaking with anger that I didn’t dare show now. Arabella smiled.
"Aren't you having fun?" she asked sweetly. I looked away, willing myself to stay calm.Just get through this, I thought to myself.
"What do you want?" I asked, desperate for her to leave me alone. Her eyes moved toward the ballroom where Pack Vale stood talking with investors.
"I just wanted to thank you." She said, giving me that damn stupid smile.
"For what?" I asked, my patience thinning.
"For finally learning your place." Before I could respond, her wrist flicked, and red wine splashed down the front of my dress. Arabella gasped theatrically.
