“Anyone who wants to listen can stay,” I said.
“Boys!” Austin boomed. “Denver, keep Maizy upstairs. We’ll fill you in later.”
Someone yelled back at Denver and the men drifted into the kitchen. All but Wheeler. He remained in the open doorway with his tatted arms folded. Ben twirled a saltshaker, Trevor and Jericho sat together on my side of the bench, and Reno placed his rifle against the wall and took a seat across the table next to Ben.
“Where’s Izzy?” Austin asked.
“I’m coming. Hell’s bells, a girl can only move so fast!” she complained. “April’s asleep. Do you want me to wake her?”
“No,” Reno said, sounding exhausted. “Let her sleep.”
Izzy was still a couple of months from delivering, but she didn’t move as fast as she used to. Jericho scooted over for her to sit beside him, but she walked around the table across from me and sat next to Lexi. “What’s going on?”
Austin flattened his hands on the table and scanned his eyes around the room. “As you know, we have a rogue band of Shifters targeting our pack. Lorenzo offered up William to stay temporarily and help out as payment.”
“Payment for what?” Ben asked, rubbing his smooth jaw.
“He was the one who struck Ivy with his car.”
Wheeler crossed the room, targeting William with his malevolent eyes. Before he reached him, I stood up and held my cane between them. They stared each other down, neither backing away.
“No one lays a hand on William,” I said, letting my gaze travel around the room. “He could have left me to die, but he took me to his Packmaster, knowing that an alpha could make me shift and heal. He’s offering his life to defend our pack, and I think that’s payment enough.”
When I lowered my cane, Wheeler backed away and returned to the doorway. William strolled behind the cabinets in the kitchen, keeping his distance.
Austin rapped his knuckles on the table and waited for me to sit down. “As I was saying, Ivy knows their leader, Fox, and has some information to share.”
I turned my white teacup around in a circle, feeling the residual warmth at the base. “Fox was my father’s second-in-command. Recently, my father banished him from the pack after discovering Fox was going through his personal things in order to find me. When I left my father’s pack, it was quick. No one was supposed to know where I was going. It’s…”
Complicated was what I wanted to say, but even that word was inadequate. I was getting cold feet while searching for an explanation that wouldn’t cast me in a bad light.
“We’re listening,” Jericho said.
I took a deep breath and pushed the teacup away. “My father didn’t entirely trust his pack. He knew that years ago one of the men had taken my virginity.”
“Years ago?” Izzy said in horror. “But you just came here last year and went through the change. You would have been—”
“Sixteen,” I finished. “My father found out and went on a rampage, but I couldn’t tell him it was Fox.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Wheeler said gruffly from the door. “That animal—”
“Yes,” I quickly said, before things escalated. “And he forced himself on me.”
There was a thunderstruck silence.
“Say again?” Reno growled, icy rage tightening his face and narrowing his eyes.
Lynn held my left hand and gripped it tight.
“Why, Ivy? Why didn’t you tell him it was Fox?” Lexi asked, not understanding.
I shook my head. “I can’t say what I’d do now, but that sixteen-year-old girl was terrified. She trusted and loved Fox as she would family, and she believed she’d done something to deserve it. She knew her father would torture and murder Fox, and maybe part of her was also scared of what Fox might be capable of doing if his name were cast into the fire. He might have retaliated against my father, my mother, and my pack. There’s more to the story, but the only thing you all need to know is that Fox is here for me. He found me, but with a band of rogues, he’s also in need of land. I’m sorry that I brought this to you, but I couldn’t have known he’d come after me. We avoided each other for years and never spoke, even living within the same house. Fox sees me as a way to secure respect and loyalty from his new pack, and he thinks he has claim on me. He’s not an alpha, but is trying to make himself out to be a Packmaster.”
“He’s made himself out to be an ass is what he did,” William said, still lurking behind the kitchen counter.
I met Austin’s eyes. “Whatever you need from me, I’ll give. Anything I can do to help. But something you should know is that I’m considering his offer to join his pack. Not because I want to, but because I might not have a choice.”