Seven(Ivy’s POV)

The night air clung thick against my skin as I moved deeper past the treeline. The beat of music and laughter from the Moon Ceremony had long since faded, leaving me with only the crunch of leaves under my boots and the uneven rhythm of my heartbeat.

The silence was too heavy as if every shadow held its breath.

I kept walking, deeper past the treeline, trying to ignore the knot twisting in my chest. “Damon.”

His name was the only thing echoing in my mind. I hadn't even said it out loud, but the syllables seemed branded to me.

I could feel the weight of his gaze, the sharp intensity of those silver eyes when the guard had appeared.

My chest was still burning from the moment in the clearing with Damon, his hand on me, his eyes catching mine like a trap. I hated how safe I had felt when he pulled me behind him.

My secret would’ve been dragged into the open, and the whispers I had spent years avoiding would have turned into screams but instead He covered for me.

Why? Why would an Alpha like him cover for me?

I pressed a hand to my chest as if I could hold my worried heart still. My wolf stirred, restless, while something else; the darker, colder part of me I tried to bury. The witch blood I carried. The part of me I feared the most was waking up.

The further I walked away from the party, the stronger it felt. A current beneath my veins, pulling at me to let go. My fingers tingled. The air thickened, and for a terrifying moment I thought I saw shadows move with me.

“No,” I whispered sharply to myself, digging my nails into my palm. “Not here please.”

I couldn't lose control. Not when people were already suspicious, not when Damon had looked like… I stopped dead, that feeling again.

A shake across the back of my neck. Sensed that eyes were on me, tracing my every step. My first thought was Damon. Had he followed me? He didn't seem like the type to just let me slip away easily not after what happened moments back.

My stomach twisted at the thought of him watching me from the darkness, those piercing eyes seeing far too much.

I clenched my fists instead, my wolf went still inside me, ears straining, as though she had caught the edge of a predator’s growl.

“Hello?” I whispered before I could stop myself. My voice cracked, too small for the endless trees around me. No one replied. But the silence did.

A tree branch broke behind me. My body locked, my breath seized, heart slamming against my ribs so hard I thought it would shatter. I turned slowly, but the darkness stretched between the trees like a wall, hiding whatever had made the sound. I wasn't alone.

I quickened my steps, forcing myself not to run. Running meant prey and prey meant chase. I knew the rules too well. My wolf snarled inside me, but the witch part, the one I tried to bury stirred with something like a warning.

I heard another step. This time it was getting closer. “Damon?” My voice was tight and desperate. “If this is you, please.. stop.” Then laughter followed, it wasn’t loud. It wasn't clear, just a breath of sound.

I stood still. The laugh had not come from Damon, or from any guard, it came from something else. Something that already knew me.

“Running away?”

The voice was soft and far too close. I backed up until my shoulders pressed against the rough bark of a tree. My hands curled into fists, nails biting into my palms.

“Who’s that?”

The shadows shifted, and then he stepped out tall, lean, predatory. His hair fell in dark strands over his forehead, his smile sharp enough to cut. His eyes glowed faintly under the moonlight, not the warm amber of a wolf, but colder.

Jace Vale.

I didn’t know how I knew his name. Maybe because I heard whispers of him from the Elders, in the same faint tones they used when warning children about monsters in the woods, Hybrid, outcast are dangerous..

And now he was here. “You shouldn’t wander alone, little Ivy Morrin,” Jace said, his voice smooth as silk, but threaded with mockery. “Bad things happen in the dark.”

I forced myself to breathe steadily, though my legs trembled. “Stay away from me.” He smirked, tilting his head. “But I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you.”

My pulse stuttered. “You’re mistaken.” “Oh no.” He took a slow step forward, the leaves crunching under his boots. “I never mistake destiny.”

The mate bond hummed faintly inside me, as if reacting to his presence, but no, it wasn’t that. This was something different. Something unnatural. His aura pressed against me, choking, as though he wanted me to remember who and what I was.

Half blood and half witch.

I stumbled backward, clutching at the rough tree bark for balance. My secret, the one I buried so deep, seemed to flash to the surface under his stare. “You don’t belong here,” he whispered. “And soon, everyone will know it.”

Fear exploded in my chest. Before I even realized, my legs moved on instinct. I spun and bolted into the trees, branches clawing at my arms as I shoved my way through.

“Run,” Jace’s voice echoed after me, cruel. “Let’s see how long you last.”

I darted right, breath hitching. My wolf howled inside, urging me to shift, to let go, but I couldn’t hear.. If anyone saw me lose control, my secret would be exposed.

I froze when I felt his presence again. Jace stood at the far edge of the clearing, as if he had been waiting for me all along.

Then, a flash of silver ahead. Relief surged as I recognized the faint glow of lanterns marking the border of pack territory. If I could just reach it. Another snap, this time directly to my left.

“Pathetic, you think you can run from what you are? he said softly, shaking his head. I backed out nodding. “I’m not like you.”

“Oh, you are exactly like me.” His eyes glinted, and for a moment, I swore I saw them flash a witch’s violet before returning to cold silver. “You just haven’t woken up yet.”

My throat closed. He stepped closer, but then paused, nose lifting as if catching another scent on the wind. His smirk deepened. “Ah. Your little Alpha is near.”

“Another time, Ivy!” Jace chuckled low.

And just like that, he melted back into the shadows, gone as though the forest had swallowed him whole. I sank to my knees, gasping for air, shaking so violently my teeth chattered.

I dragged myself up and stumbled toward the safety of the lanterns. I had escaped but deep down, I knew it had not been a victory. It had been a warning.