Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Current time-  “Ivy, doll. Where is my good suit?” I asked. “I set it out on our bed for you.” She replied. I smiled. Good girl. “Fuck I just love her.” Viper growled. “I know, isn’t she amazing? I will never tire of her.” I replied back to my Wolf. 

I put the suit on and did a mirror check. Damn this suit looked good. I turned around just as Ivy was walking into our bedroom with some folded towels in her arms. 

I just stood back and took in the sight. She hadn’t gotten dressed yet, she was still wearing a rose gold set of lace lingerie I had bought for her. It was my favorite set. Her blonde hair was falling in waves down her back and some was in front of her shoulders. 

Just underneath her hair on the right side, I could see part of my rose gold eight pointed star glinting on her cheek in the light from the lamp. I put my hand up to my neck and traced the area where her Vampire mark was. 

It was an upside down pentacle, a dark blood red color. We locked eyes and I got lost in her Hazel beauties for a moment. She smiled at me, and made my knees weak. I couldn’t believe how much just a smile from her could affect me. 

Ivy was my entire world. She helped me through a very dark time in my life and she didn’t even know it. For that, I owed her everything. 

I pulled her into my arms on her way out of the bathroom, and pressed my lips to hers. “I love you, angel.” I said as I released my grip on her. “I love you too, honey. Will you be long at your meeting?” She asked. 

“I shouldn’t be, but I will be home as soon as it’s over. Even one minute away from you is too long. I promise I will not keep you waiting.” I said, with a wink. She then grabbed my necklace which I didn’t realize was sitting outside of my suit and tucked it safely under my shirt. 

“I will see you soon.” She said, and I materialized to my coven meeting. I was just outside the door, and I put my hand over my necklace bringing back a slew of memories... 

Katrina and I in Rome, in the ocean. Our time together while she worked to save my brother. Her sweet kiss, the feeling of her coming with me deep inside of her. All memories of a time I had tried so hard to forget... 

I pushed the hurt those memories brought back, down to the depths of my mind. I need a clear head for this meeting. “Wait, did Ivy tuck my necklace into my shirt?” I asked Viper. “Yeah she did...” He said. 

“That’s strange, Ivy has never once in our time together, touched my necklace. She knows not to…Why would she touch it now?” I asked. Something just struck me as strange about the whole thing. 

I would have to figure out what was going on later, right now I had a meeting to run. I stepped inside and the entire room went silent. I ran through the meeting on auto pilot. Luckily. there wasn’t much to cover anyways. 

We had a pretty stable treaty with the Vampires and surprisingly, if there is one thing a Vampire doesn’t do, it’s lie. I found this out over the years. They weren’t exempt from betraying you, but they would always be honest about it once asked. 

So far they had kept their word and we had lived in peace together. As soon as I was done I fought the urge to go straight home as I promised Ivy I would. I had to find out what was going on first. 

Being with someone for 176 years, you get to know the way they are. Ivy would never do something I asked her not to. In fact she never has, not even while she was just my assistant. She never made mistakes… 

And out of all the mistakes to make, this one was a pretty big one. Something just felt off about it all. “Viper, do you think I'm being paranoid? I mean it’s just a necklace. I know she knows not to touch it, but do you think I'm overreacting?” I asked my Wolf. 

His input was important to me, we had built a fantastic relationship over the last 100 years. We had a rocky start but I couldn’t imagine not having him around now. 

“I’m blinded because I love Ivy, and I want to always think she would never do anything to betray us. But in all of these years together she’s never touched it, not even once. Why now?” He asked. 

I exhaled a defeated sigh, and closed my eyes for a moment. There was something we were missing here, I could feel it in my bones. I decided it was time to head home and face Ivy. She is a Vampire, she wouldn’t lie to me. That was one thing they never did. 

I was just going to go home and ask her, ask her why she touched it. What’s the worst that could happen? I materialized inside the foyer of my home and I could hear talking coming from my study. 

“That’s strange.” Viper said. I turned on my Vampire hearing but didn’t move a muscle. If I could hear her, then I knew she could hear me. I was lucky if she didn’t already know I was home. 

“How do you expect me to just take it? He never fucking takes it off. I’m not even allowed to touch it.” Ivy said. “Well you will fucking figure it out. You knew what you were getting into when you agreed to help us.” A males voice said in a low growl. 

I heard Ivy breathe in deep  and then exhale. “It’s not fair, I didn’t expect to fall in love with him. I didn’t mean to!” She said. Instantly my chest exploded with pain. I fought to stay standing while my heart literally shattered into pieces inside my chest. 

It felt like my entire world came crashing down on top of me. My chest was heavy, and I was weak under the pressure. Within seconds I heard a loud thud and something crashed onto the floor. The sound of shattering glass echoed through the foyer. 

“Who’s goddamn fault is that? You knew the risks, Kendy. You chose to continue on. This is on you, and you’re going to fix it.” The male voice hissed. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think, I couldn’t even form a coherent sentence. 

This wasn’t happening, there had to be an explanation. This was my life, my love… How could she betray me like this? It can’t be real. I could hear Ivy’s soft cries and against my better judgment I didn’t rush in to help her. 

“Deliver the amulet, as promised. Do not make me come back here a second time.” The male voice growled, and then I heard Ivy hit the floor with a small groan. 

I materialized into my room before the man came out of my study, that way he didn’t see me. I gripped the windowsill in my room trying to gain my composure after what I just heard. 

How could this be happening? It was like a nightmare, it wasn’t real. It couldn’t be… I watched him leave from my window. He was tall, with dark hair and dark eyes. I had never seen him before and he wasn’t a Vampire. 

I wasn’t sure what he was. I took a moment to try and gather myself. My shattering heart and Vipers howls of agony were all I could focus on. I could hear Ivy crying from my study but resisted the urge to go in there. 

“Who the fuck is Kendy?” I said to Viper. “I don’t know but this is getting worse and worse by the second.” He said. He was right, and she definitely knew I was there, she knew what I heard. 

She didn’t even try to compose herself or clean my study. She knew I was home, and she knew what was coming next. I walked down the stairs to my study to find Ivy on the floor with her hands in her face, crying. 

The picture of us that was hanging on the wall had fallen next to where she sat, and glass shards littered the floor. Against my own wants, I didn’t try to help her up, I didn’t offer my hand. 

“Who are you?” I snarled. The betrayal was clear in my tone. She looked up at me with those tear soaked hazel orbs that melted me into a puddle of mush, but I kept my composure. I would never let her see the hurt she was causing me. 

She took a ragged breath in. “My name is Kendy.” She said between sobs. I ignored the pain that radiated through my chest at her words and I tried to hide my shock. And what do you want, Kendy?” I snarled. 

Saying her name sounded so foreign. This was Ivy. She was my mate, my entire fucking world. Not this imposter. This wasn’t fucking happening. 

“I want the amulet you wear around your neck.” She said. I put my hand to the amulet that was tucked safely under my shirt. “This isn’t an amulet, this is just a necklace, you know this! Why do you want it?” I asked. 

“Actually, don’t answer that. Answer me this instead. Do you love me? Did you ever love me in all these years?” I asked her. She didn’t answer right away, confirming my deepest fears. 

“Yes, yes I did, and I do love you. Rowen, I'm so sorry, none of this was ever supposed to happen.” She cried. I remained emotionless on the outside, but inside a hellfire was raging out of control. 

Then it happened, a single tear fell from my eye onto my cheek. I stuck my hand out and helped Ivy up from the floor, instantly slamming her into the wall behind me.  

I kept my hand on her throat, holding her in place. 

She didn’t move or try to resist me. She knew I was stronger than her, she was never a match for me. 

“You know I have to kill you now, right?” I growled through gritted teeth. 

As hard as I tried to keep them in, the tears fell from my eyes as I choked the words out.