“That’s before she found out what a deceptive animal you are, but I would have respected her choice,” I said, averting my eyes.
When my mother had told me about her pregnancy and who the father was, I had no choice but to tell her what Fox had done. What if she chose to love him and they had a daughter? What would Fox do to her? After I’d confided in my mother, she locked herself in a guest room for two weeks. My father just assumed she was going through her heat cycle and left her alone. I couldn’t imagine how guilty she must have felt for loving a man who had hurt her own child. She’d tried to go to a Relic to take care of the baby but couldn’t bring herself to do it. Eventually the pack took notice of her change in behavior. Then one morning, a scream poured out from the bathroom and they found my mother slumped over the bathtub with a knife in one hand and her jugular cut. Blood filled the bathtub, and two lives ended with one clean slice.
A tear rolled down my cheek, and I quickly wiped it away.
“Aww, such affection for a whore. Like mother, like daughter.”
Thunder stood up and stepped forward with his ears back. I leaned the spear against the wall behind me and sat up straight, uncertain if he was going to attack Fox. But Thunder sat down just a little closer, keeping a steady eye on our enemy.
“This is going to get ugly if you don’t come with me, Ivy. We both know this isn’t where you belong. I did a little investigating of my own, and I know one person who might be able to change your mind. It would be a shame if something were to happen to Lakota.”
In a swift movement, I launched to my feet and grabbed the spear, swinging it around until the pointy blade pressed against his neck. “Don’t you dare,” I hissed.
A rivulet of blood trailed down his neck and he pushed the spear away, rising to his feet. “Oh, I dare. Think about it, Ivy. Your mother wasn’t too good for me, and I know with a little patience, you’ll warm up to me too. We’ve known each other a long time, and I’ve always treated you better than the other girls. I know you don’t hate me like you pretend to. You’re na?ve if you think what we did was wrong. There’s nothing wrong with a little rough play between two Shifters. Let’s be real—you were old enough to know better than to wear a dress like that around an experienced wolf. But that’s in the past, and I’m offering you a high position in my pack—one you’d never be able to get otherwise. I’ve never hated you. You’re the spirit of your mother with all her beauty, if not more.”
“Get out.”
He turned away and then lingered for a few moments before looking back at me. “We both know how this is going to end. I wouldn’t want anyone you love to get hurt. Come peacefully and I’ll take some of Cole’s bitches into our pack—maybe even the lower-ranking males if they submit. You’ll still have your family. Refuse, and I’ll rip a hole wide open in your universe, and I won’t stop until the floors are stained with their blood.”
Fox left the room with a slam of the door, and the moment he did, Lorenzo shifted into human form. I was in such a state of shock that I paid no attention as he left the room and yelled out for Caleb.
I sat down in the chair and realized that the power I had reclaimed from Fox would not help me defeat him. Not if he knew where to find Lakota.
Even I didn’t know.
Chapter 11
When Lorenzo returned to the room, he found Ivy’s clothes in a pile by the wooden chair and her silver wolf facing the window. He knelt down beside her and noticed a mournful longing in her faraway gaze. Lorenzo cradled her neck with his hands and she lifted her snout higher.
“Stubborn. What’s wrong, nashoba? Why won’t you come out and speak to me?” he said in gentle words.
Lorenzo remembered the conversation she’d had with Fox. It had taken every ounce of focus to comprehend what they were saying because his wolf had fought against him.
Ivy had only one more sunrise under his protection before he would release her to Austin and Fox would hunt her down. That is, if she didn’t go to him first. Fox held something over Ivy. Or someone. The details of her mother’s suicide sickened Lorenzo. He couldn’t fathom a wolf being driven to that kind of desperate violence, but he could understand the insurmountable pain she must have endured knowing that the man she had freely given herself to had raped her own daughter. And then to be with child, forced to see him every day as a reminder unless she confessed the truth to her mate.
Lorenzo wondered if Fox had tried to force himself on Ivy more than once. What had Ivy told her father? Why did he call her the pack whore?