Compliant

The packhouse hasn’t changed at all.

Dark walls, massive windows with thick dark red curtains, gothic ancient furniture and bad juju. Seriously, there’s some dark vibes in this house that can’t be cleansed, even with the strongest sage.

It never ever felt like a home, not even during my best days in here.

“Ivy Doreen, right? Welcome to the Silvan packhouse,” A young girl says when she spots me lurking around the foyer, walking briskly to us. She’s an omega and clearly a new worker, so she doesn’t know I’m not exactly welcome here, “Alpha Remington, the council is waiting for both of you already. Please, follow me.”

“Thank you, Felicia,” he responds behind me.

My boots echo against the floor as we follow the omega down a familiar hallway in painful silence until we reach the Lion’s den.

The council chamber looks different. Same stone floors, but now they have 6 high-backed chairs arranged in a semicircle like some kind of tribunal. The air smells of something faintly metallic. The members sit at their stations, silent, watchful, and entirely unimpressed.

The members are all Silvans and that makes them Remington’s family, but he still calls them ‘the Council’ because that’s just the type of people they all are. Family means shit, love means shit, they only care about maintaining their power and position. And money.

"Miss Doreen," says the oldest among them—Elena Silvan, the grandmother, "Welcome back."

"Didn't have much of a choice," I murmur and go sit down in the empty chair in front of all of theirs. Remington walks to the chair in the middle, the Alpha’s seat, "Let's skip the pleasantries… what the hell do you want from me?”

A few of the members exchange glances. One even smirks like he finds me funny. That’s the one I don’t hate that much, Damian Silvan, Remington’s uncle. His son was my friend back in the day, he was probably the only other rebel around here.

"Then let's get to it,” says Tatiana—Remington’s bitch of a mother, “There has been rogue activity around the country and is not random. It's coordinated. Packs are being targeted. Especially packs with weak or unstable bloodlines."

I roll my eyes.

“We have a lot of omegas in this pack, sadly,” Viktor—the father—continues, then he looks at me like it’s my fault. Typical, “And you, Ivy… we believe you're the reason they're coming here.”

The room drops into a sudden, tense silence.

"Are you seriously just blaming me for everything again?” I snap, because that’s all he used to do back then too.

"Because of the prophecy, child. It isn’t just about an omega ‘with fire’, that’s metaphorical,” the grandmother says, waving a hand in the air dismissively. That makes me feel relieved because it means they don’t know shit. My secrets are still mine, "It speaks of an omega who brings chaos anywhere she goes… does that sound familiar to you?”

“Hmm,” I pretend to think about it, “Nope. Not really.”

“Your family. The foster house. This house. You have brought death, ruin and disarray to each of those places,” Tatiana spits out, just as hateful as before, “We think the rogue wolves are looking for you. And they’re moving north, it’s just a matter of time until they get here.”

Suddenly I don’t feel too snarky anymore. I actually can’t speak. Because I know for a fact they are right, everywhere I go has blown up in flames either metaphorically or literally.

This prophecy shit is more real than anyone here thinks.

If I only had myself to worry about, I would probably just thug it out and try to escape and survive on my own. But it’s not like that.

“So, what do you want me to do about this?” I ask, clearing my throat. I look directly at Remington this time.

“We want to keep you here. That way you’ll be safe and hidden,” he says, voice colder than it was out there. But of course, he can’t show any emotion with these people, “We want to protect you and everyone in this pack. There’s an available room for you in here, I will work with my men to find the rogues and finish them before they even try something.”

Fuck.

“What if… there’s…” I clear my throat, my face getting hot when everyone sets their intense eyes on me, “People I can’t leave behind?”

“You can bring them here,” Remington responds, not thinking about it too much, “There are five available rooms in the house at the moment.”

“This isn’t a hotel,” Tatiana barks at me, “Who are these people? How important are they?”

“That’s none of your business. If you want me here, I need another room,” I say, my voice harsh. Once upon a time, I tried to be respectful to this woman but there’s no need for that anymore, “Take it or leave it. We all know I am chaotic, so you can just let me continue my life and bring those rogues right into this pack. I will bring them to you specifically, Tatiana, and I will love t—“

“Ivy,” Remington stops me, “Enough. You can have another room. Is there anything else?”

“How long do I need to stay here for?” I ask, not looking away from him.

“As long as it takes for us to end the issue,” he responds, “I don’t think it will take too long, I believe they’re planning to attack next week or the other. All we need is for you to stay here. We will provide anything for you and your guest for as long as it takes us to deal with the problem.”

That sounds like absolute hell. Dealing with these people is going to suck, but trying to hide Ashton for two weeks? Impossible. That boy might be even more chaotic than me.

But like I said, there is a BIG possibility I am the bitch they’re talking about in that prophecy and because of that, I have to risk it. It’s not like Remington will be around all that much, right? He’s the Alpha. And this ‘packhouse’ is basically a castle with a huge garden in the back, I think I can go hide my son there every day and then come back to hide him in our room at night. Yeah.

“Alright, then. I will comply,” I say, then I get up, “Knowing you all hate this as much as me is putting me in a good mood.”

“Wait,” Viktor says, his intense eyes set on me. I really hate how handsome he is because it means Remington is going to continue being hot for another thirty years too, “There is something different about you, I can feel it. What is it?”

That makes everyone pay more attention to me. I have to take a deep breath and I open my arms wide, not hiding myself.

“I’m not an omega,” I respond, “Not anymore. My wolf woke up three years ago.”

That starts the disarray they were just talking about. Everyone starts talking over one another and getting agitated.

They are really, really scared of me.

The only one not saying anything is Remington, he’s just looking at me with those serious eyes.