And Then There Were Four

Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Taking Charge

Ivy POV

The conversation was over. Hoisted over Hales’ shoulder, I was carried upstairs towards my room. The swears and curses of my frustration trailed behind us as I made Damian aware of how pissed off I really was.

“I’m sick of your shit, Damian!” I yelled again before my bedroom door was kicked open and Hale dropped me down on the bed with a bounce.

“Ivy, please. I know you’re upset, but we are going to try and figure something out.”

Sitting up on my knees, l jabbed him in the chest. “That isn’t good enough. Damian’s version of trying to figure things out is when he feels like it. If Talon is being poisoned, we have to help him now!”

“I’m sorry, Ivy.” Hale replied as he backed away from me. “We can’t risk someone else getting killed.”

Jumping off my bed, I gave a frustrated groan. “It isn’t his fault, Hale. He doesn’t know what he is doing.”

“I’m aware, but that doesn’t excuse what’s happening. You can’t be involved in this.”

“Why?” I scoffed, “because I’m so defenseless and will get killed?”

Hale was silent, and as I paced up and down my room, I couldn’t help but take my frustration out on everything around me. Object after object was picked up and thrown across the room. Tears streaming

down my face, with the feeling of hopelessness building in my chest.

This had all been my fault, and that was the realization that killed me the most.

“He’s your fucking brother, Hale.” I replied with defeat as I faced him, “how can you fucking act okay with this? Why aren’t you out there yourself, fighting the situation and trying to get him home?”

Clear frustration ran through his expression, and I was aware I wasn’t being fair to him. At the same time, though, he and the others were not being fair to Talon. They were acting as if Talon was a lost cause, and he wasn’t.

“Ivy, as much as I want to go, if for some reason we did. if something happened to you, I would never forgive myself. I would never be able to get over losing you.”

There was raw emotion and turmoil running through his voice as he spoke. The way it cracked when he talked about losing me made it all the more real.

Hale felt guilty over what he did when I tricked his wolf into claiming me.

He felt guilt for not staying with me when the bond severed, and now he felt guilt over Talon.

He wasn’t the only one, though. I felt the guilt too.

Me coming to this place had changed so much of their life, and even though I hadn’t asked for any of it… I wasn’t making it better. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Since I had woken up from the incident with Caleb, I had done nothing but fuck things up one thing at a time. My biggest mess up was not listening to what Damian and the others were telling me.

I couldn’t help it, though.

There was a drive inside me that pushed me forward. It made me crave the attention of all of them, and for every moment I spent not wrapped in their arms, it was agony.

Like a wildfire, the bond made me crave their touch, their power. It drove me like a burning river to have them all, and I couldn’t fight it.

“Sometimes in life, Hale, we have to do things we don’t want to do for the greater good. Even though my life means a lot to you, it doesn’t matter… Talon is part of us, and without him, we aren’t complete.”

There was a hidden meaning behind my words that he didn’t catch on to. Never had I wanted there to be a division between us,

Chapter 65: Taking Charge

but at the end of the day, Damian had told me he would help me bring them all back.

Even if he wouldn’t help me, it wouldn’t stop me from getting Talon back. It would simply mean I would have to do this shit myself.

Hale’s eyes watched me in silence as he processed what I was saying. Slowly stepping forward, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close, letting his lips brush against mine.

“I’m sorry, Ivy. I wish there was more we could do, but these are waters we are unfamiliar with. Allison was the one who knew about this kind of stuff and, of course, as you know, she wasn’t here. Asking for her help would be like giving a child ice cream when she is already jacked up on sugar.” .

“I will ask her then,” I said, letting out a deep breath. “I will plead with her to get him home. He was like a son to her. She won’t let him die.”

“We were nothing to her but an advantage, Ivy. There is a lot you don’t know about the relationship we had with her. She wasn’t a kind woman unless it benefited her.”

“Then why did you treat her like you did?” I asked, with confusion.

Hale sighed, a soft laugh leaving his lips as he looked down at me, “because we owed her our lives. She saved us when most wanted to kill us. Granted, she wanted us for personal gain, but others saw us as monsters because of our father. The only reason Damian is Alpha is because he doesn’t have the gene Talon and I do. Why do you think I’m not Alpha?”

It all made sense now. Hale had better qualities to be an Alpha than Damian did and he was the second oldest. Damian never wanted to be Alpha, but the thing was no one would accept Talon or Hale because of the Lycan gene in their blood. The ancient wolf of chaos.

“That’s not fair-” | gasped.

“Life isn’t fair, Ivy. I wish that we could go in guns blazing, but until we know more about Talon’s situation, we just can’t risk it.”

His words weren’t the ones I wanted to hear, but with reluctance I nodded as he kissed the top of my head before turning and walking out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Part of me knew that he was right, but the other part didn’t want to listen to what he was saying. I couldn’t accept defeat in the situation. I couldn’t just allow Talon to go as he was. My heart begged me to go to him, and perhaps that is what I needed to do.

I needed to give Damian a reason to follow through on his promise.

Picking up my phone, I dialed Kate’s number. A plan formulated in my mind as she answered on the second ring. “Hello?” “I need your help, Kate,” I said softly.

“With what?” she replied hesitantly as if she had a feeling about what I was going to say.

“With Talon.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone before a sigh escaped her, “you’re going after him, aren’t you?”

“Yes, and you’re going to help me,” I stated firmly, letting her know that I wasn’t backing down from this. I wasn’t sure if I would come back alive, but it was Talon. I had to try.

Deep down, I knew I could be the one who was able to reach him. I just needed to go there, and I had no clue where to look. Kate would know though since her mate Angel was well informed of what was going on.

He was a skilled tracker, and Damian had called him in for his help.

“This isn’t a good idea, Ivy,” she replied.

“I know, but if it was Angel, you know you would do the same thing. You wouldn’t let someone keep you away from him.”

Kate let out a heavy sigh on the other end of the line before groaning. “Okay, fine. What time?”

“Be here at four in the morning. That way, the guys are sleeping.”

“Are you kidding me?!” She exclaimed, that’s so fucking early!”

Narrowing my brows, pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to keep my composure.

Chapter 65: Taking Charge

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Just do it, Kate, and you better not say shit to anyone else. That’s an order, man… Hoes before bros and all that shit.” I told her as a smile slowly crossed my lips, hearing her laugh.

“Whatever. We are stopping for coffee, though, and your ass is buying.”

Hanging up the phone, I smiled to myself, glad I was able to have Kate as a friend. It was crazy how quickly she and I had bonded, and through everything, she never left my side.

Relief flooded me, but beneath it was a mass of nerves, unsure if what I was planning to do was a good idea. Taking a deep breath, I took in the mess I had created around me. Books were strewn across the floor, and clothing scattered the bed and hung from their drawers.

My temper tantrum was unreasonable, but in the heat of the moment, I hadn’t considered it. Slowly, I began to pick up the surrounding items. My mind went over the conversation I had with Hale. If Allison could be of some help, perhaps I should trust her, and ask her to help me.

Unless that was the plan, and she really had something to do with this.

My skeptical mind was frustrated with the information and no matter how much I tried to push it away, I couldn’t. I knew how to cure Bella Donna. The ingredients we could pick up the way to where we were going and once we got there, I would have to figure out my next step.

“Ivy?” James’ voice called softly from my bedroom door.

Lifting my gaze to meet his, I smiled. “Hey, you. What are you doing?”

“I was coming to check on you,” he replied with wide eyes as he stepped inside the room and looked around. “I see you did a number on your room.”

Blushing, I bit my bottom lip and nodded, “yeah, sorry about that.”

“It’s okay.. it’s your room.” He chuckled, “I do have to admit, though, for someone as petite as you, you can do some damage.”

Chucking a pair of panties at him, he grabbed them mid-air and laughed, “oh, do I get to keep these?”

*If you want, but I would have thought you would prefer the ones on me.”

The seductive nature of how I spoke made him grin, that’s tempting.”

* As tempting as it may be, I should probably clean this up first,” I replied, gesturing around my room. “It’s a mess.”

He slowly took steps toward me and pulled me to my feet. A rush of emotions flooded me as my heart began to race. There had always been something about James that excited me, but in a way I would have been in high school.

Perhaps it was his playful boyish charms that drew me in or the way he smiled. Something about it was comforting, and through it all, he refused to give up on me.

“Who said anything about sleeping?” Kissing the corner of my lips, he ran his hand down my side and cupped my ass, causing me to giggle.

“As much as I would love to do this right now, James, I can’t.”

The whispered confession wasn’t one I knew he wanted to hear, but he nodded regardless and kissed the side of my head. “I’m sorry this is happening.”

“So am I.”

Pulling me tight against his chest, he hugged me and deeply inhaled my scent. “I know you’re planning something, Ivy. I can tell by the emotions rushing through you that you are going to do something, and I’m begging you not to.”

I couldn’t deny what he was saying, because I knew very well he could tell. However, if I admitted it, I also knew he would stop me.

“Everything I am plotting is to help you guys bring him home. I wouldn’t ever do anything without you.” It was technically a lie because, at the end of the day, they would come after me once they knew I was gone. Another part of my plan would be perfectly executed.