Chapter - 4

Chris' POV

I wasn't one to offer help to humans out of the blue, let alone to a girl I'd only just met.

But with Ivy, I wanted to make sure there was nothing troubling her. And when I realised how worried she was about her mother, I offered to help her find the woman.  

That would give me an opportunity to stay connected to her for some time, at least until I figured out why the hell did I feel this intense attraction towards her. 

There was something about her, something I couldn't quite put my finger on that drew me towards her like a moth to a flame. Clearly, she was a kind hearted soul if the way she worried about Lily's well being was anything to go by, but that did not mean that she was weak. Not by a long shot. 

She knew how to stand up to others and wasn't scared of much. For one, she obviously wasn't scared of me. And that was something I found extremely refreshing. 

I was used to women either throwing themselves at me, or cowering away in fear of my power, but not Ivy. She didn't throw herself at me, even though the attraction was clearly there. And she wasn't afraid to talk back to me either. She gave as good as she got, and looked extremely cute while doing so too.

Even while deep in thought, with her lips pursed and brows furrowed in concentration, she seemed adorable to me. Being in her presence, with her intoxicating strawberry scent overpowering my senses calmed me, grounded me, made me forget about all my worries even if it was for a little while. 

I stared at her some more, trying to figure out why I felt the way I did when I was close to her. Even though the qualities she possessed were befitting of a Luna, the Moon Goddess wouldn't be so cruel so as to pair me with a human. By an unspoken rule, every werewolf was paired with an equal. So, an Alpha couldn't have been paired with a mere human. But then, why would I feel this way towards her? 

I am pulled out of my thoughts as the door to the infirmary is opened. Gwen walked out, walking straight into Ivy as she did so seeing as Ivy had somehow ended up standing directly in front of it. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Ivy mumbled, her hands reaching forward to support Gwen while Gwen did the same. 

Ivy removed her hands once she felt that Gwen was stable enough. Gwen though, didn't let go of Ivy's arms, staring at her with a frown on her face as if trying to figure something out. 

Ivy looked just as confused as I felt by her reaction. "Um, Gwen? I'm fine, you can let go of me now," Ivy finally spoke up, trying to shrug Gwen's arms off of her.

Ivy's words seemed to snap Gwen out of whatever trance she was in and she let go at once. "Y-yeah," Gwen mumbled, stepping back, the frown still not leaving her face. 

I shook her reaction off, wanting to know more about Lily and the venom now that she was here. 

Gwen was a witch, and over the years I had made some pretty good connections with the witches from her coven that they had agreed to come help us out. I had hoped she'd be able to help us figure out a way to find a cure but she had said that she couldn't. However, I was hoping she'd be able to tell me something about the venom itself, anything that would help us find a cure.

I opened my mouth to do the same but then realised that Ivy was still here. I couldn't quite talk about all this in front of her, it'd raise too many questions in her mind and she was better off without all this burdening her.  

"Ivy, why don't you go get yourself checked up? You were drugged when those two idiots brought you here. Go get yourself checked so we know that those drugs won't harm you in the long run," I told Ivy, motioning towards the door with my head.

She looked like she wanted to argue, but I glared at her. While it was something I had said just to get her away from the two of us, I was genuinely concerned about her well being. "Go, Ivy, now."

She made a face at me. "I'll go but only because I don't want to die of some sort of poisoning or something. And I want to see how Lily's doing too," she said before disappearing into the room.

I shook my head at her retreating figure before turning to Gwen. "I want you to tell me everything honestly about Lily's condition. Don't sugarcoat anything."

Gwen let out a breath. "She has barely twenty hours at most," she said, repeating what the doctors had said earlier. And even though I had heard it before, it didn't hurt any less having her confirm it.

I nodded at her to go on. "I have given her a few herbs which should help ease off the pain but I'm not sure how long the effect will last seeing as we don't know much about the venom. Though, the one thing that I can tell you about the venom is that it was made of a combination of both science and magic. I could feel it when I touched Lily. So naturally, only a mix of both can help create the antidote."

I raised a brow at that. That was probably why none of the doctors or scientists all over the world hadn't been able to find a cure. 

"I will send someone from my coven to coordinate with the doctors and help create a cure," Gwen added.

I bowed my head in gratitude. "This means a lot to us, Gwen."

"I know, I am only returning the favour though," Gwen said, probably referring to the time when I had sent my warriors who had been close by over to protect her coven's next of kin from a sudden rogue attack. 

I nodded at her in thanks. 

"Alpha Chris?" 

"Yeah?" 

"This girl, Ivy. I believe there's something different about her." 

Gwen had definitely piqued my interest with that statement. "Different, how?" 

"I can not quite put my finger on it, but her aura is unlike anything I've felt before. And it was only when I touched her did I feel it. It's almost as if her true self has been cloaked," Gwen explained frowning deeply. 

"I feel the same way about her, like there's something different about her," I admitted. "Is there a way to remove this cloak you're talking about?"

Gwen chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "I can try. I'll meet you in the lounge room in a few." 

That was good enough for me. I nodded at her before going into the infirmary to fetch Ivy.

What I saw in there upon entering made my heart clench almost painfully in my chest. 

Ivy was sitting beside an almost delirious Lily, clutching the little girl's sweaty palm in her own. She reached forward with her other hand and tucked the hair which had gotten stuck to Lily's forehead behind her ear, gazing down at her lovingly. "...and then you will be able to go back to your granny," Ivy finished with a small smile.

"I will?" Lily whispered back, looking up at Ivy hopefully.

"Of course! I'll come visit you, and we can even bake those cupcakes you were telling me about together."

My heart gave another painful squeeze as Lily cracked a smile through her tears. "I'd like that. We can make some for Alpha Chris, he loves the ones with choco chips in them," Lily replied, blinking rapidly in an effort to stay awake.

Oh, Lily. I moved towards the pair. "I thought the cupcakes were our little secret," I said, looking down at Lily even though it pained me to see her like this.

Lily gave me a barely there smile. "It's okay, Ivy promised not to tell anyone else. I trust her, she's really nice," Lily mumbled drowsily, her eyes shutting close.

Ivy folded Lily's arm over her chest as the little girl succumbed to sleep before getting up. "She's a really sweet girl, Chris." 

"I know," I whispered, shooting one last look at Lily before turning away. I couldn't bear to look at her like this, the once full of life, playful little girl now fighting to stay alive. All because her Alpha couldn't protect her. 

I focused my attention on Ivy instead. "Did you get yourself checked?" 

She nodded at me. "Yes. Dr Winfield said that I was good to go. No poisoning of any kind."

I nodded at her. "Come," I told her before turning around. 

The sound of her footsteps told me that she was following behind me. 

We made our way to the lounge room where Gwen was already waiting for us with a plate of cookies and three mugs of coffee for us.

"I figured we could all use a break," she said, taking a seat in of the plush white sofas.

"God, coffee, you have no idea how long I've been craving a cup," Ivy said, taking a seat next to Gwen before she grabbed a cup and took a sip. 

I took a seat opposite the two. Two sips later, Ivy looked about ready to pass out. 

Gwen took the cup from her hand and placed in on the table just as Ivy slumped back in her seat, unconscious.

"What hap-"

"I figured since she seems to be a human, you wouldn't want her to know our true identities yet. So I added a few herbs to her coffee to make her loose consciousness for sometime so I could check what's been cloaking her," Gwen explained, cutting me off.

I nodded at her in understanding. "Okay. Go ahead, then."

Gwen got up and went to stand behind Ivy. She placed both her hands on Ivy's head before she began chanting in latin.

I watched as Gwen did her thing, her chanting growing louder and more intense with each passing second.

Suddenly, she stumbled back with a loud gasp.

I was on my feet and running towards Gwen in a flash. "You okay?"

She nodded, staring at Ivy with equal parts shock and curiosity as I guided her to a sofa.

"Whatever is cloaking her is much too powerful for me to remove it alone. You'll have to bring her to the coven. I'll need help to figure this out."

I frowned but nodded all the same. "Okay, I'll bring her over soon."

Gwen nodded before getting up. "I'll get going now, take care Alpha." 

I mind linked Beta Ryan to drop Gwen off back to her coven seeing as it was pretty late at night already. 

I turned to Ivy once she had left.

Who are you Ivy Emerson?