AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I gave her a few minutes to collect her thoughts and then encouraged her to speak while stroking her hair. “You can tell me, Ivy.”
“At one time, I thought about trying to find my mom and dad. Everyone wants to know who their parents are. Right? I asked Caroline about it, thinking that she knew something that could help me find them.” Ivy paused. I felt the tremble in her shoulders and gave them a reassuring squeeze, letting her know that I would be here no matter what. “Caroline said that there was no birth record. Someone found me abandoned near the edge of some forest. They estimated that I was somewhere around two or three years old. Caroline didn’t bother to ask which forest, so I had nowhere to start.” Her voice turned angrier as she said, “I don’t even know how old I am.”
My breath froze inside my chest. Without any kind of paper trail, Ivy really was a ghost.
“You don’t know your age?” She shook her head. “What day do you celebrate your birthday?”
Irate eyes turned on me. Ivy scoffed. “Celebrate? What do you mean?”
It took every ounce of control I possessed not to react because this entire conversation had me keyed up and angry at the people who passed her around and never took the time to love her.
“What month and day did you choose to celebrate your birth?”
She sighed, finally understanding. “I didn’t, Luca. When another year passes, then I’m another year older. That’s it. There is no designated day.”
My wolf bristled and I took a few deep, calming breaths. Ivy had missed out on so much and I wanted to give her everything. To show her what it feels like to belong to a pack, to be loved unconditionally by a mate, to celebrate her birth.
“Would you like to?” I ducked my head to catch her gaze.
She shrugged, but I could tell she liked the idea.
“And the night in the bar. What was that about?” With her reluctance to take a mate, there had to be another reason she sought me out for pleasure.
After a moment of hesitation, she huffed. “Why not? Huh? I’ve told you everything else.” She took a deep breath and said, “Okay, here it goes. And no judging…got it?” She nailed me with a stare. I nodded. “Fine. When I’m on assignment, this magic builds inside me. But I don’t let it go, or at least I didn’t use to,” she mumbled the last part to herself. “Caroline said I had to hide it. Suppress it so I don’t get caught. My entire body feels on edge, so occasionally I seek someone out to take the edge off so I can get a good night’s sleep.”
“Wait, you only wanted a goodnight’s sleep. That’s it?” I made sure to sound offended.
“Yeah, but then you walked in. My wolf is a picky bitch, but she kept screamingmateinside my head. And after all that, I still couldn’t sleep when I got home.”
I wanted to laugh but my jealousy wouldn’t let up. “How many people have you slept with since that night?” Because I would kill every single one of them.
“None,” she whispered. “I wasn’t sure it was a shifter bar when I walked in. But I was too keyed up to leave. And my wolf likes being around other shifters. She’s comfortable, unlike me.”
Unlike me. My mind reeled with possibilities. I needed to tread lightly with Ivy, or she would bolt on me. Damn puma! I knew that I needed to give Ivy time to adjust. Learn to live as a packmate and trust us. Trust me before I could mate with her. The last thing I wanted was to overwhelm her.
My mind shifted through more of our conversation from that night in the bar. “And when you wouldn’t tell me your last name?”
She shrugged again. I was beginning to hate her shrugging as if nothing was a big deal. “I don’t really have one. Sometimes I tell people it’s Smith. Sometimes I call myself Ivy Brown.”
“Why? Why did you choose those names?” Every little bit of information I could get would help me unlock the mystery of Ivy.
“Everyone used to call me Helen and I hated it. I think the social worker came up with the name when she found me. I mean, she would’ve had to. Right?” I nodded. It made sense. “The last human home I stayed in; they had all these Ivy plants. They were beautiful and I loved taking care of them.”
She seemed a little lost in her thoughts. “I found this one Ivy plant behind the outbuilding located on the corner of their yard. It had been neglected and all the leaves had turned brown. That sort of stuck with me, so sometimes I tell people my name is Ivy Brown.” When my face dropped, she rushed to say. “Not because I want people to feel sorry for me. And I certainly don’t feel sorry for myself. It just made an impression on me. That’s it.”
My beautiful mate. I wanted to hold her in my arms, make her feel loved and protected, and never let her go.
“You understand that you cannot go back to your apartment, right?” She shrugged. “Ivy, the vampire targeted Kelly for a reason. Wolves are meant to live together. Protect the pack like you did for Devon. If he had been by himself, he wouldn’t be alive today. The vampires are organizing, which means that we have to, too.”
I cupped her face; my thumb stroked her cheek. “And I cannot let you go, Ivy. You are my mate. Now, I am not rushing you, but I need you to stay here in the house with me.” She nodded. “Good.” I pulled her into my arms for a hug, feeling humbled that she trusted me enough to share her secrets with me.
Leaning back, my eyes met hers and I wondered why the fates had rewarded me with such a precious gift. Ivy was mine to love and mine to protect. “Let me introduce you to my pack.”
She stepped out of my embrace, and a mask fell over her face. Stoic, strong, an alpha in her own right. At that moment, I knew that my pack had to earn her respect just as she had to earn theirs.
Taking her hand, we headed back to the dining room where I knew the guys were waiting on us, sans Trace. He would be sitting at his computer searching for Caroline the puma, who lost her mate over ten years ago.
“Ivy, I think you have met most of the guys. Devon, you already know. He is my head enforcer. Axel is my beta. And that guy there is Rage. He is my problem solver.” I nodded at each as I spoke their names.
