I stare at Enzo. There is nothing else for me to do but stare. The nickname he has had for me since they assigned him as my guardian means ‘my reason’. He wasn’t being dramatic or making shit up when he said he loved me. Enzo wasn’t lying when he said it’s been since the beginning. He has spent years pining for me while I could only feel anger and spite. He found in me a reason to live while I sought a reason to die while honoring my family. “Don’t” he warns me and my eyes focus on him. “Don’t do that” But his warning falls on deaf ears. How can I not blame myself for my stupidity? “I’ve been so blind…” I start and He sighs heavily. “You have had other things to deal with, Ivy,” he says looking conflicted. “Five years, Enzo. Five years.” I exhale angrily. For someone trained in the art of meticulous observation, I have been incredibly blind. “And I would have waited for five more.” He runs a hand through his hair and drops his head back on the bed frame. “Ivy… You don’t have to

I make my way up a tree as Henley continues to sprint toward the wide camouflage complex. There is a wall of trees surrounding the dark green-colored building and ivy that crawls up its side, inching closer to the roof. It makes it seem like the building has been here for centuries. The only clue that it hasn’t is the trees. The trees surrounding the building are all younger, and shorter than the massive tall trees the forest usually produces. Where the trees around the complex are small and smooth, the old trees are wide and rough. The more I stare, the more out of place it seems to appear as though someone was trying to create a camouflage look, but somehow overdid it. Yet, I still never saw it. There had only been one area I hadn’t explored in the pack, and I was certain that was the area Henley would lead me to. He had started to at one point. But then he turned. So instead I tailed him to an area I had checked many times but still missed this. Had I allowed my mind to be preoc

I pull away from Caleb and just stare at him, my fingers touching his scar and running over his face as I try to make sense of everything. This feels like a dream. I went from being alone, having no one but Enzo, to having my brother back. It doesn’t seem like he has had an easy five years either. My smile slowly fades and my aching eyes well up again when he takes my hands in his. I can see that they are rough and discolored, even in the crappy lighting. “How are you alive?” I ask, sucking my bottom lip in on a sharp inhale. “Enzo said he left you…” I tilt my head, that familiar burn in my chest when I think about the day that changed everything. “Shhh, Ivanya,” Caleb says softly. “We can talk about that soon. Right now, let me look at you.”He takes a step back as I look at the woman. After a minute, I look back and Caleb’s eyes are guarded and his lips pursed. “What?” I ask, looking down. “You have a bruise on your jaw…” he says. “Is that from Deacon?” He asks and I shrug. I h

~Ivy POV~Three days ago, you couldn’t have convinced me that James had a violent bone in his body. Well, ok. I had seen flickers of a temper in him when he drank, but that had been few and far in between. But now, three days after he exploded about Sarah, I know better. I have also learned he is the kind to disappear after he detonates. I have been hoping to find out if he is my mate or not. But he fucking disappeared. Left me with handwritten instructions to clean up his mess inside the house while he tried to rectify the one I made outside the house. Getting Sarah out isn't something I feel bad about. I understand now that this pack has a sick need to own people and not just in the slave sense of the term. I have had three days to sit and ponder the words he used and the anger and desperation behind them.‘What’s mine' he screamed at me. Like I’d taken his prize possession. Like I’d taken his… mate. I frown and shake that thought from my head, wiping down the counter again. He has

~Enzo POV~ I feel like I’m swaying with the breeze on a pleasant summer night in the meadow. Or having a dance with a lover at a ball. A tender sway that lulls you to sleep and promises only joyful things. The sway grows more violent, more rapid, and panicked as I try to snap myself out of my headspace. The place I learned to run to in order to avoid pain and allow my wolf to heal us. The world slams into me, my ears ringing, my mind splitting and my eyes, fuck, my eyes sting. I gasp for air as I blink the blackness away and pain shots through me. Every single part of my body aches and tingles. A blunt object hits my forearms, and I cry out in agony. “Ah!” someone says gleefully. “Fuck boy awakes.” I have nothing to say, no witty comeback. They have beaten it out of me. My voice has long since fled my body. Not that I blame it, I too wish I could leave this fucking misery. The worst part about all of this–the torture is knowing that I will never get to see her smiling face again.