Chapter 10: Chapter Ten
Ivory's POV
I woke up to Hunter gently shaking me, "Ivory, wake up, hun. Time to get up and have dinner. We have a guest from your pack here too." I open my eyes to Hunter above me, looking down at me, "Who is here?" I ask, feeling slightly frightened, knowing someone from my pack was here tonight. "He didn't say what his name was, just that you two were friends back home," Hunter said. I started to think about who it could be, and I just hoped that it wasn't Marcus. He would be the one that would take me back home. "Okay, let me get freshened up real quick. You can go down if you need to." "Okay, I will see you in a little bit then." Hunter then leaves. I head to the bathroom and get myself a look over. I can still see some bruises, so I reapply some makeup, and once everything is hidden, I head downstairs to the dining hall. As soon as I hit the doorway, my heart stopped, and I trembled in fear; there stood Marcus Black. He stood there speaking with Hunter, and the moment I met his eyes, he gave me a devilish smirk.
"Ivory dear, it is so nice to see you are doing so well," Marcus says. "Good evening Marcus; it is good to s...see you as well. What brings you here?" I respond in return, trying my hardest to keep my voice from shaking as I speak. "I'm just visiting and getting a formal update on your recovery for Alpha James," he says, smiling at me. It makes my skin crawl. Hunter is watching us while we talk. That's when I heard him through the link, "If you get uncomfortable, please link one of the boys or me immediately, and we will be at your side in a moment." I nod my head, so he knows that I understand. "Ivory, would you mind walking and talking with me?" Marcus asks, gesturing towards that door. "Of course, Marcus," I am terrified to leave with him, but I know that I need to go with the flow.
Marcus had me take him around the packhouse, and that's when I noticed that he had led me towards the woods at the back of the packhouse. And Rebecca was waiting too. I was now scared about what was going on. Marcus walks up to Rebecca and hugs her, and kisses her. That is when it hits me. Marcus is Rebecca's mate, and this isn't going to be good. Rebecca turns towards me and grins; it makes my stomach anxious," I would love to stay, but I have to continue showing that I am the best in this pack." Rebecca turns her attention back to Marcus, kissing him before walking off. Marcus turns towards me, and all I can do is look at the ground. "Get over here," he says very short and with anger. "So Rebecca tells me that you and Hunter are fated together. Is that why you have not returned to the packhouse yet?" I continue to look at the ground and stay silent. What is he talking about fated to Hunter? Me destined with someone, and Hunter would never want someone as damaged as me. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I felt Marcus snatch me by the back of my head and force me to look up at him. "I guess you have forgotten how to behave when someone speaks to you. I expected you to respond when I spoke to you bitch. Is that understood?" Marcus calmly speaks as I grit my teeth due to my pain. "Y...yes sir, I am s...sorry forgive me; I was just in through. I don't k...know what you are talking about. Hunter isn't fated to me."
I trip over my words as Marcus keeps a tight grip on my hair. Before long, I feel his knee contact with my stomach as my knees buckle from the air knocked out of me. I hit the ground and doubled over before receiving another swift kick to my stomach. "Alpha James has sent me to give you orders that are expected to follow, that understand omega." He says as he continues kicking me repeatedly. I nod my head as I continue to catch my breath. "You're going to help Alpha James take over this territory. Rebecca will make sure you behave and tell a soul about what is happening. Once Alpha Hunter is weakened, we will attack this pack and kill him. Which your father will take over that pack and gain the last of this territory." Marcus tells me what I have to do. After about fifteen minutes of us "talking," Hunter links me to see if I am okay and when we are we are coming back. I tell him that I am alright and that we are heading back to the house now. Afterward, I cut the link from him and let a small whimper escape as I felt a few drops of silver hit my skin.
Not long afterward, Marcus and I head back to the house and return to our seats in the dining hall. He is sitting on the other side of Hunter; plates of food are placed in front of everyone, and Hunter starts to eat, as does everyone else. I sit and stare at my food, and then Marcus, who is watching me, sees what I will do. "Ivory, we talk about this if you don't eat, you will not recover. So please eat." Hunter says, taking my small hand into one of his. "Yes, Alpha Hunter, please forgive me; thank you for this lovely meal tonight," I respond as I bow my head and slowly eat my food. As everyone is talking and eating, I can think about what Marcus told me and what I have to do. But also the fact that he believes me and Hunter are fated. Could that be why every shirt I grab to wear smells so intoxicating or does it explain the jolts of electricity that I feel when he touches me? If so, I can't do what they want me to do. I couldn't bring myself to hurting him ever. But if I don't do as my father has ordered, I can believe that he will kill me by the end of this all. Before I even knew it, people started to finish eating and leaving, but also Hunter was watching me. I guess I was thinking a bit harder than I thought I was. "Thank you for the wonderful meal, Alpha; I wondered if you would excuse me. I feel a bit tired," I take my plate to the kitchen and then head to my room as fast as possible.
I lean against my door and pull the small vial Marcus gave me. Staring at it, I fight with myself a bit. I can't go through with this, can I really, but Marcus will make my life here a living hell if I don't. I sink to the floor, burying my head into my knees; I don't know what to do.
Roxie POV
As I walk to the training grounds, my mind races over what Ivory told me. How could one person go through so much and still be so strong? Still, she didn't tell me everything, which makes me wonder... What could be worse than years of abuse and neglect at the hands of your father and your pack? And just like that, my mind replays what happened earlier. Rebecca … That fucking bitch. She had the nerve and the audacity to believe that she was better than Ivory, my brother's mate, our future Luna. And to harm her, while she's in recovery at that, is grounds for a beating. And lucky her, because I just so happen to be looking to give one. Once I get there, I see everyone already lined up. I stand before them and speak out across the yard. "At attention!" Everyone stands up straight, arms at their sides, staring forward. I nod and continue. "At ease. Today we will be sparring, and since there is an uneven number of us, I will be training with one of you personally. Find a partner and stand next to them; you have 2 minutes."
Quickly, members line up with their partners, and I can see that I know who was left without a partner, even from up here. It takes everything out of me not to smile in glee at the luck I've been given. Standing alone is Rebecca, looking slightly pale as she stares up at me. I nod, and she grows even paler. "Alright, everyone, get into position. Now listen very closely. Your goal is not only to subdue your opponent but make sure they stay down. The worst thing you can do in battle is showing mercy to an opponent. They'll stab you in the back if you even give them the slightest advantage." I look at them, and I see them all nod in agreement. "On my mark, subdue and submit your opponent...." I wait a moment, the silence stressing with nervous energy as everyone stares down at their partner. "BEGIN!" Everyone lunges at their partner, and I turn away from them and walk toward Rebecca. I have my opponent to subdue.
I walk over to Rebecca and hear her heartbeat pick up every step. She's terrified. Good.
"You know that she's been asking for this for a while, right?" Claire's sweet voice enters my head, and I laugh on the inside. "Of course. She hurt Ivory, our future Luna, and our brother's second chance mate. There's no way I'll let this bitch mess that up… He barely survived the first time.." I feel Claire almost surround me in comfort, and I can't help but relax.
"Our brother will be fine. I promise. But first… this one needs to learn a lesson… a good one." For a moment, it was almost like she had left, and I was just about to continue walking when I heard a whisper that brought a smirk to my face that I could not hide. It's soft, almost childlike. And if anyone else heard it, it would chill them to the bone. One of my favorite things about Claire.
"Make her wish she hadn't survived this…" Rebecca steps onto the mat, and all I see is red the minute I do. This mutt needs to learn her place. I will be happy to remind her...
*Five minutes later*
Lily looks at me and sighs. "Roxie, you can't do this every time someone pisses you off." I watch the nurses pick Rebecca up off the ground with the gurney and shrug. "She had it coming. She doesn't take training seriously. I'm tired of her coming in here and thinking she doesn't have to participate. So I made sure that next time she'll do something." I know that's not the real reason. But I'm not wrong either, and Lily is a very logical woman. She won't read too much into this, which I'm betting on; Lily looks at Rebecca and nods. "You're not wrong there. Well, I'll get her back into the clinic. You did a number on her. She won't be moving for a while." She then turns and follows the nurses.
"Why didn't you tell her about this morning?" Clarie yells at me. "Because Shayne notified Hunter. This is payback." "I see. Need to know, as always…" Claire smiles her mischief smile. "As always...."
Claire goes back into her space and seems to have fallen asleep. Being that angry always takes a toll on her. I'm almost to the packhouse when I hear a slight thud. Thinking that the pups are probably throwing oranges at the birds again, I look to see Ivory in the clutches of a man. Her head is down, and her knees suddenly buckle as she falls. I'm about to jump out and fight this guy when Claire pipes in.
"Wait! Just watch…"
I'm stunned for a moment and watch as he kicks her again. He leans down and says something to her, and I can't make out anything, but she seems to nod. I can't see her face, but I know she's in pain. She soon gets up as if nothing happened and returns to the packhouse with the man. "Who was that, Claire? And why did you stop me?" I was pretty angry with her for stopping me. "I'm not sure. But jumping in would have made it worse for Ivory. She's hiding something from us. Maybe this is how we find out." Clarie sounded a bit uneased. "I think there's more to it. We'll keep our eyes peeled for a while longer. Maybe we can help without Ivory knowing. I don't want her to be in pain. And we can't help if we don't know what's going on." "And Hunter? He will want to know immediately.."
"We'll tell him once we know the truth ourselves. We can't come up with half-baked accusations. Our brother is still the Alpha." "As always, so sneaky." Claire laughs, trying to lighten the mood. I smiled, but it didn't reach my eyes. I'll do whatever it takes to make this work. I'll find out the truth.
Unknown's POV
The light of the flames constrained within the fireplace cast dark shadows across the walls. A glass of scotch is half empty as the bottle sits frozen beside it. A phone rings and is immediately picked up, and a profound voice answers. "What is it?"
"The message has been given."
"Anything else?"
"The pawn has been incapacitated. It may be a couple of days before we can move forward." The silence stretches for a moment as sweet as death. A smile crosses the man's lips.
"Perfect… Return for now. Let's see how well bitch follows instructions." The man hangs up the phone and laughs, loud and deep. "It's only a matter of time before all the pieces come together. Soon… very soon." The man laughs hysterically and drains the rest of his glass. "I will always win… every time."
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