Ivy.
I wasn’t sure exactly how I was supposed to feel. Last night, I did the one thing I hadn’t expected to do in quite some time. I allowed myself to go too hungry, and in the end, I ended up hunting another animal that was slaughtered without mercy to sustain the hunger burrowed inside of me.
Every time I did it, I felt guilty. Because that was another animal that’s life was lost because of what I was. Whereas the werewolves seemed to think it was a natural aspect of life, I did not.
I was a primal creature.
Something the world had never seen before, at least not in my lifetime or that of my forefathers. I was dangerous and unpredictable, or that was the words that the guys kept using repeatedly. As if by some mistake, I was placed here, and I should have been elsewhere.
They loved me, and I loved them. But I contemplated if what I was doing was even beneficial. Should I really be trying so hard to fit in this pack, or should I see if there was a way for me to embark on my own mission and leave?
The thought of leaving left an ache in my chest I couldn’t let go.
There was no way I could leave. I had a life with them, and I loved them. I just wish I wasn’t what I was. Why couldn’t I have been normal? Why couldn’t they have just allowed me to be a normal werewolf or even just a fucking human?
Instead, they made me a creature that wasn’t normal by any sense.
“Ivy?” Hale called from the bottom of the stairs, causing me to get up from where I was currently sitting in my room, looking at paint swatches.
“Yes,” I replied as I met him at the stairs.
“The guest room was finished, and the contractors are here, so I just wanted to let you know they will need access to your room and that of the den so that they can go ahead and get work underway over the next couple of days.”
“Oh, okay, that’s fine. I will just take all my stuff downstairs into the living room. Perhaps start organizing through a few things.”
Sagging my shoulders, I turned with a heavy breath and headed to my room to gather my belongings. While construction was underway, I would have to sleep with one of the guys, which wasn’t a problem in my eyes.
I did feel slightly awkward, though, because they were acting weird towards me, and I didn’t do well with that kind of behavior. It made me feel out of place even though I shouldn’t have.
Making my way downstairs, I listened to the muffled conversations the guys were having from the kitchen. Once again, my name was being brought up, and knowing they were talking to me behind my back was irritating.
If I was such a problem, I don’t understand why they wanted me to be their Luna.
Deciding to ignore it all, I went into the living room and sat on the sofa with the swatches in my hand. Shades of green, yellow and creams littered the cushion as I thought over my idea of a nature-based theme for the twins.
I wasn’t quite sure how everything would come together yet, but I knew I wanted to keep everything as close to nature as I possibly could.
After all, the twins’ lives would revolve around that wolves and the darkness of the woods.
“Ivy, can you get the door?” I hadn’t even realized someone had been knocking as I watched James and Talon carry things from the stairs towards the back of the house.
“Okay.”
Standing to my feet, I moved towards the door. To my surprise, when I opened the door, it was Elder Jenny Harrison standing there in front of me. She was two days earlier than I had expected.
“Elder Harrison, I wasn’t expecting you for two more days,” I exclaimed, pushing away my shock to quickly replace it with a welcoming smile.
“Terribly sorry, I just finished things quite early with the other pack, so I just assumed it would be okay for me to come. If it’s not, I’ll just go ahead and head back to where I live,” she said, faking a fake sweet personality that I could tell was anything but sweet.
“No, no, don’t be silly. It’s perfectly fine. We’re just in the middle of having the contractors here to start the process upstairs. Follow me this way, and I can show you where you will stay.” Gesturing with my arm, I opened the door wider for her to pass through.
As she stepped inside, I watched Damian make his way to where I was with a scowl on his face. “Elder Harrison, it’s a pleasure to see you. I apologize for the construction that is currently taking place.”
She looked at him with a curious glance, and a smug expression crossed her face. “Don’t worry, I’m sure that the accommodations are more than acceptable. Shall we go, my dear?”
Looking between Elder Harrison and Damian, I slowly nodded my head and gestured for her to continue following me. There was a lot of tension in the room and how the elder had acted wasn’t how I was expecting.
She seemed more smug than a woman in her position would have been. As if she thought her authority was much higher than Damian’s was.
“So, how much longer do you have?” she asked me as I looked at her, watching how she kept eyeing my stomach.
“A few months,” I replied with hesitation. “I should actually find out tomorrow what the babies’ genders are.”
“Babies. You mean there’s more than one?” she asked wide-eyed.
I suddenly realized the mistake I had made by letting that out. I guess it hadn’t registered that everybody assumed I was having one, not two. It wasn’t even something that we’d really made official within the pack.
“Um, yes, we just found out at my last appointment that there were two, not just one,” I replied, quickly changing the subject into anything else. “Where you’ll be staying is just outside of the pack house.”
With a frown of disappointment, she stopped at the back door, looked inside the house, and then looked back outside. “So I’m not actually staying in the pack house. You’re having me stay outside in the guesthouse?”
Is she seriously going to make a big deal of this?
“Yes, as I told you, we’re doing construction inside. So, unfortunately, the inside of the pack house doesn’t have any availability. Considering that rooms are being redone, but the guest house is a one-bedroom furnished place, and it is absolutely lovely. I actually stayed there when I first came here.”
With one raised brow, she stared at me. Her face was void of emotion as she nodded her head, gesturing with her hand for me to lead the way. She wasn’t impressed, and perhaps that was because she was expecting to be treated differently.
“Very well. I suppose it will do.”
Walking the steps down the path towards the small cottage, I opened the door for her and made way for her to enter. The guys had done a number in fixing the place up from the past few months of dust and cobwebs.
“There are clean linens on the bed right now. Make yourself comfortable. I know you’re going to be here for just a couple of days, but there is food and drinks in the fridge. If you should get hungry, we will have dinner tonight, though, in honor of you being here as our guest.”
“Of course, that sounds delightful,” she replied as the awkwardness between us grew.
“Wonderful. Well, I will just go ahead and leave you to get set in, and I will have one of the guys come fetch you when dinner is ready.”
Turning quickly, I made my way from the cabin and hastened my pace back up to the main house. Now that she was here, I regret allowing her to come. I should have given the phone to Damian and allowed him to be the one to tell her she couldn’t stay here.
Closing the door behind me, I stood there for a moment, lost in thought as to what it was about her I just didn’t like. “Are you OK?” A voice said, catching my attention.
Looking up, I met Damien’s eyes and watched as he looked at me with concern before casting his glance out the window behind me towards the cottage.
“I’m OK. There is just something about her…. I don’t know. I’m just being hormonal. She’s getting settled in. She is very lovely, and I told her that one of you guys will go fetch her for dinner.”
Without another word, I moved past him quickly and made myself scarce. I had to find something to preoccupy myself with because that woman had gotten me all bent out of shape.
A few hours later, we all prepared to sit down around a long dining table, waiting to enjoy the food that had been made. The dining room brought up all sorts of memories I wasn’t expecting to relive but pushing them aside, I dealt with it.
With a delicious meal of meats, pastas, fruit and vegetables laid out on display, we all took our seats around the table just as Hale walked in with Elder Harrison. “This looks all delicious.”
Smiling sweetly at her, I looked towards the food and looked back. “Thank you. We hope that you enjoy everything.”
“I’m sure I will. You honestly didn’t have to slave over the stove, Ivy. I would have been perfectly fine with something small.”
Her comment shocked me. She had actually thought I had cooked this. With a grin spread across my face, I looked around the table, only to land upon James, whose mouth had dropped open, and an utter look of disgust crossed him.
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t cook this,” I said to Elder Harrison, trying to contain my laughter.
“Oh, dear. I’m so sorry. You must have an excellent cook, then. Nowadays, it’s hard to hire people who can decently cook.” Her comment further caused the snickering around the table, and slowly she furrowed her brows in confusion.
“James is the one who cooked dinner. He loves to cook, and typically he is the one that does all the cooking. If the twins don’t decide to help him, which I believe tonight, you both took the opportunity to help cook.”
Hale nodded his head as Talon sat with his arms crossed and a stone sharp look on his face. He wasn’t pleased with the elder being here, and I didn’t blame him. She was a very odd character. James, however, still had a look of absolute disgust on his face as he scoffed before quietly digging into the food in front of him while mumbling under his breath.
“I’m so terribly sorry I didn’t realize that the four of you cooked. It’s not typically normal to find men that are in your position that are so willing to cook.”
“Well, I’m not sure what alphas you are accustomed to meeting, but here in this pack, things run differently,” Damien said, drawing elder Harrison’s attention to him.
“Alphas?” she asked with confusion and a smug smile upon her face. “There is only one Alpha to a pack, Damien. I’m sure that you, of all people, are aware of this. You are the only alpha. Your brothers are not.”
Growls emitted around the room, and quickly I snapped my gaze at each of them, telling them to excuse themselves if they could not control themselves.
This was obviously going to be a conversation I would have to settle because as the Luna of the pack, I decided what conversation was acceptable at the dinner table, and I wouldn’t tolerate her insulting my mates.
“Elder Harrison, with all due respect, that may be the customs of other packs have, but no pack has ever been faced with something such as we have. So each of them holds a specific title that an alpha normally has, combining one full authoritative entity.”
“Of course. My apologies, Luna,” she said as she quietly returned to eating.
The apology was fake, of course, but I was glad the conversation was over. The last thing I wanted was to watch Damian or any of the others lose their shit on this woman.
To think… they were fucking worried about me!
I think they gave themselves way too much credit when it came to correcting situations.
“Ivy, I wanted to ask you one question, though, if I may?” Elder Harrison said, causing me to internally sigh as I turned to her with a smile as fake as her own.
“Of course. What’s on your mind?”
Adjusting herself, the woman sat a little straighter as she placed down her fork as if preparing for whatever outcome was about to explode upon the room. “Well, now that you’re a Luna, I want to talk to you about the customs we have to test gifted wolves.”
“Absolutely, fucking not!” Damian said, standing to his feet. “She will not be doing anything of the sort, nor will she be going anywhere outside of this pack. I should have known that was why you were here.”
“Damian, it is in your best interest to sit down.” The elder growled, showing Damian nothing but disrespect, and that was something I wouldn’t tolerate.
“Do not speak to my mate in that tone. You’re a guest on my land, and you have done nothing but thrown insults since you arrived,” I snapped at her, watching her eyes grow wide.
“Your eyes…” she murmured, placing her hand over her mouth. “I didn’t want to believe it…”
Great. Just fucking great. Of course, my eyes would flicker when I’m pissed.
“Yes, my eyes,” I growled slowly, standing to my feet. “The council has no jurisdiction on my land, and what I do with my mates, children, and pack members is my business. I will remind you once more that you’re a guest. If you don’t like it, you’re free to leave in the morning.”
The fear and surprise on the woman’s face brought me delight. Internally, I wanted to bathe in her fear, but I knew how important it was to keep myself together. Slowly, I moved from the dining room and made my way up the stairs towards the closest bedroom I could find.
Which happened to be Talon’s. I had to get a hold of myself because if I couldn’t, I’d kill her.