The Poisoned Truth

Chapter 20

Ivy’s POV

"What?" I whispered, the word slipping out before I even realized it.

My mouth hung open. I couldn't close it. Couldn’t breathe, even. Had I heard Jack right?

“You’re my mate, Ivy. The one I’ve been waiting for.”

That one sentence sent my world into a tailspin. It felt like someone had opened a trapdoor beneath me and I was free-falling, my heart left fluttering in the air behind me.

Jack, this stranger I barely knew… just told me I was his mate?

He smiled, like what he said was casual. Like it didn’t just rip through the confusion in my soul and add another crack to the already fragile state of my heart.

He walked to the passenger door and opened it for me. “Let’s go to school,” he said gently. “I’ll take you.”

I just stood there for a moment. Everything inside me was tangled in knots. Should I trust him? Could I?

Jack was kind. His presence calmed me. His words made me feel seen. But Damon…Damon had carved himself into my thoughts like a scar I couldn’t look away from. Even when I tried.

Still, I walked forward. I got in.

The ride to school was silent. The kind of silence that buzzed inside your chest and filled your head with every thought you didn’t want to think.

My mind kept going back to the Lycan King.

The way he looked at me before he carried me back to bed, that lingering gentleness in his touch… the rage in his voice when I tore the robe from his past. The broken way he yelled that he hated me.

Why did it all hurt so much?

Why did I care?

He didn’t even want me.

He said I wasn’t his type.

So why was his voice still in my head? Why did my chest feel tight when I thought about him?

And worst of all, I couldn’t even remember his face. Damon had erased it from my mind, It was gone, like a dream I forgot the second I woke up.

“Are you okay?” Jack’s voice broke through the fog.

I turned to him, startled. “Yes. Why do you ask?”

“You’ve been quiet,” he said, glancing over at me.

I forced a weak smile. “I’m just thinking... sorry.”

“There’s no need to say sorry,” he said, shrugging casually. “After class, let’s go out. Dinner. A proper date.”

He was coming on strong. Maybe too strong. And maybe on a different day, I’d have blushed or giggled or said yes without hesitation.

But today… everything inside me was scrambled.

Why was I hesitating?

I wanted this. Didn’t I?

I wanted someone who wanted me.

Someone who wasn’t haunted by memories of a woman named Aria. Someone who didn’t wear a mask to hide the ruins of his soul. Jack was that someone. He was offering me love and light and the chance to finally move forward.

So why was my mind still stuck on Damon?

He has his own ghosts. He’s still hung up on someone else. I owe him nothing.

I could still have it all, revenge for my parents… and love. A second chance at life.

And yet…

My mind drifted again. This time, to the healer.

That moment still lived in my bones.

After the healer treated Damon, his fingers brushed over my skin and he frowned. He stared at me in silence for too long. And then, he spoke.

“You’ve been poisoned,” he said solemnly. “You caught a disease while trying to remove the chains from him. You have limited time to live.”

Those words shattered me.

Me… dying?

I could barely speak. I remember grabbing his arm in desperation, my voice trembling, “How? How did this happen?”

He’d told me to check the old book in the restricted archives, the one that held the curse of the Lycan King.

I did.

And there it was, printed in worn ink.

Anyone who attempts to break the cursed chains shall be struck by the disease of the soul, and their days will be numbered.

I had tried to break them.

And now I was cursed.

I told no one. Not even Damon. I begged the healer to keep it secret. I didn’t want pity. I didn’t want Damon to carry that weight, not when he was already burdened with so much.

Besides… I didn’t feel sick. Not yet. Maybe the book was wrong. Maybe I was stronger than the curse.

“You’ve zoned out again,” Jack said, snapping me back to the present.

I blinked, realizing we were already parked outside the school.

“Oh,” I murmured, forcing a breath. “Thanks.”

I stepped out of the car and felt dozens of eyes snapping to me. Whispers started before I’d even reached the steps.

“Is that Jack with the cursed Lycan’s bride?”

“She’s letting him hit on her? Isn’t she married?”

“Does he want to die?”

The words were sharp, jagged. I walked faster, heart thudding.

Jack didn’t seem to hear. Or maybe he just didn’t care. Either way, I kept walking.

After class, I didn’t say a word to anyone. I followed my driver home like nothing was wrong.

The castle was quiet. Hollow. Damon hadn’t come out since our last encounter. He was locked away, either nursing his wounds or avoiding me. Or both.

Later that evening, my phone buzzed.

Jack: I’m outside. Waiting.

I looked through the window, and there he was, leaning against his car again. Confident. Casual.

Part of me waited, expected, hoped, Damon would appear. That he would storm down, furious and possessive and ready to stop me. Just something. Anything.

But… nothing.

I even delayed getting dressed. Slowed down brushing my hair. Still, nothing.

So, I went.

The restaurant Jack took me to was cozy, candlelit. He looked perfect. Spoke kindly. Smiled like I was everything he wanted.

But I couldn’t focus.

My skin started to feel hot. My vision blurred. My head swam.

I was sweating. Dizzy. Weak.

“Let’s go home,” I whispered, barely able to sit upright.

“What? We just got here.”

“I can’t stay here,” I said quickly, stumbling to my feet. “I’m sorry.”

I rushed outside. The night air hit my face, but it didn’t help. The dizziness was getting worse. My knees buckled. My legs were failing me. My vision flickered like a dying candle.

Is this it? I thought. Is this what the healer meant?

I was stumbling blindly, barely seeing the road ahead, when I fell forward.

But I didn’t hit the ground.

I fell into arms.

Strong, warm arms.

My eyes fluttered open… and I saw the mask.

Damon.

He held me against his chest, gripping me tightly, panic dripping from his voice. “Ivy? Are you okay?”

His voice cracked. His breathing was ragged. Even behind the mask, I saw it—l, terror. Real, gut-wrenching terror.

And I don’t know what came over me.

Before I could think, I grabbed him by the collar and kissed him.

Deep. Desperate. Raw.

And just like that… I felt better.

The dizziness faded. The heat in my chest cooled. My strength returned like a flood.

I pulled away, stunned, breathless.

We stared at each other.

What the hell just happened?