36. Ivy

36

IVY

“Attending the Valentine’s Day festival alone, Ivy? Again?” Sean gave me a pitying look. “Where’s your pack? Shame. I really thought you made it work this time.”

The shock of seeing him back in town trapped every screamed protest in my throat. Why was he here? His presence unearthed so many awful feelings I’d been working so hard to process and let go of. All I could do was curl up defensively, wishing he would disappear.

The touch of a hand on the small of my back sent warmth rushing back into me.

Logan.

“Problem?” he bit out, tucking me protectively into the circle of his arm as he loomed over Sean.

“Of course not.” He was slimier than a frog. “I can say hi to an old friend, can’t I?”

I choked, unable to stomach such a bald-faced lie.

“Sean was just leaving,” I said, finding strength in Logan’s presence.

“I was. Laura’s been talking nonstop about this festival. Can’t resist spoiling her.” He grinned, showing far too many teeth.

An old version of myself may have thrown him a how nice or lucky her out of politeness.

“Bye Sean,” I said flatly instead.

We watched him leave, just as Rome and James joined us.

“What happened?” Rome was immediately on high alert. He cupped my face in his hands as he scanned my features.

“Nothing. A ghost from the past who won’t move on,” I sighed wearily.

Stanley’s timing was impeccable as always, waltzing over before Rome could press me for more details.

“Ivy, you must come help Rosie with the love letter station,” he cried.

Caving to Stanley was not ideal, but Rosie was a sweetheart. I was happy to help her.

I mouthed a quick apology to the guys as I followed our impatient mayor. James pointed at the food pavilion. “We’ll wait for you there!”

Poor Rosie was struggling big time with the wax seals, her table a veritable graveyard of ruined envelopes.

“Ivy, I’m hopeless,” she wailed.

The chronically clumsy omega had burnt herself twice and I already knew Char and Gavin were going to absolutely lose it when they found out.

“You’re not hopeless, you just need someone to show you how to do it properly,” I assured her calmly, slipping into teacher mode. “Like this, see?” I showed her the best way to angle the glue gun filled with wax over the letter until a circular blob bubbled up. Then I quickly pressed the design into it to form a near perfect round seal.

Rosie blinked. “Damn, you made that look so easy.” She tried again and whooped when she succeeded. “This booth is kind of sweet, isn’t it? I like hearing the nice things everyone is writing to each other. I’m having a lot of fun,” she beamed. “Minus the, er, burns,” she added sheepishly.

“We should take turns running it then. I’ll do it next year and you do the year after,” I offered with a smile.

“Deal.”

I left a much more confident Rosie behind and went to find my pack. As much as I loathed to compliment Stanley, the Valentine’s Day festival was a fun day out, regardless of your relationship status. The town square was a pink and red fever dream. Kenny was wandering around selling candy heart shaped balloons, holding so many I was worried he would float off into the sky. At least he was sparing us exposure to his questionable hot dogs.

Carmen and Marisol always ran the kissing booth with their dogs dispensing sloppy smooches. I waved excitedly at Lucy and Summer at their ‘Love Potion’ booth. Summer would have poured enough liquor into that gigantic glass bowl to take down a linebacker and Lucy looked like she had taste tested it a little too well.

I craned my head around the large statue of Starlight Grove’s founders, trying to spot my pack.

“Ivy.”

An arm looped aggressively around my elbow, pulling me behind the tall marble block. Soap. Laundry. Starched and overpowering.

Why does this keep happening to me?

“What is your problem, Sean?” I snapped, my patience wearing out.

His demeanor was so different from earlier. He was squirrelly and agitated, his lips pressed so tight they almost vanished. “Do you think things could’ve been different, Ivy?”

“What are you talking about?” My unease skyrocketed as he stepped closer, backing me up against the statue.

He ignored my question. “I always wondered, you know. What it would’ve been like if we had bonded.”

Screeching sirens blared loudly in my head. “You’re married , Sean,” I emphasized. Where was Laura?

Sean ran his hand angrily along the short bristles of his hair. “What’s different this time? Why are you happy being an omega with them and not with me?” he asked bitterly.

I was caught like a deer in the headlights. I didn’t have a good answer for him. “It’s in the past, Sean.”

He stepped even closer. “You want me to fight for you? Is that what your omega needs? An alpha who can show you who you belong to?” His hands hit the side of my head, trapping me.

“Sean, you need to back the hell?—”

Five fingers closed hard over my throat, his cheek sliding roughly against mine. Scent-marking me. The prickle of his uneven facial hair was like needles, his breath shaky and putrid.

“God, you smell so fucking good.” He shuddered. His powdery scent swamped my senses horribly. “I haven’t knotted anyone since you, Ivy.”

I shoved at his chest. “Get off me!”

He looked rabid, on the verge of losing control.

“We were doomed from the start, Sean,” I rebuked him. “I could never be with someone who expected me to give up what I loved for them.”

His caustic laugh sliced through me. “ Please. You think they’re going to put up with that for long? They’re a pack , Ivy. They’re going to want you tending to their needs constantly the way an omega should. On all fours, where you belo?—”

I slapped him. Hard. The sharp sound reverberated like thunder.

“Never speak to me again, Sean,” I said fiercely. “Don’t even look in my direction. If you see me on the street, you turn around and walk the other way. Do you understand?”

I was done giving him my politeness, my time, my town.

He panicked, realizing he had gone too far. “Ivy, wait?—”

I walked away, not wanting to waste another second on him. His scent was all over me and I could feel myself losing it. My bravery. My conviction. Strength drained out of me, each step shakier than the last. I needed my pack. I needed their scents to erase him. I hiccuped, trying not to cry. Each breath I took felt like an invader in my lungs.

Rome was the first one to see me.

“Ivy. Baby . God, what happened to you?” He took in my ashen face and uncontrollable shaking.

“H-he scent-marked me,” I sobbed. My backbone had completely disintegrated and I was reduced to a blubbery mess.

The immense spike in alpha aggression almost drove me to my knees. Instead of being cowed, my omega relished it. Reveled in calling her pack to war.

Show him who you really belong to.

“I’m gonna kill him,” Logan snarled.

Rome’s fist curled. “He’s dead, Ivy. That fucking asshole is leaving town in a body bag.”

I think both of them were completely serious.

James held my face in his hands. It was hard to focus on him, my head was in shambles. “You can’t stay here any longer, can you?” he said softly.

I was torn between wanting justice and needing to get Sean’s scent off me.

“Lucky you have two alphas, then,” James said wryly.

Suddenly I was in an alpha sandwich. I huffed their scents desperately. A long comforting drink in the quiet shade of a rising forest. Some of the nausea lifted.

“James and I will get you home first,” Rome promised from behind me.

Logan lightly traced the exact spot Sean had marked me. “Let me take care of him for you.” He said it so sweetly, yet it was probably the most dangerous I’d ever seen him.

“No actual murder,” I whispered. I felt like it was really needed to clarify that. “Don’t do anything that will get you arrested.”

Sean wasn’t worth that.

“Of course not, princess. Only what he deserves.”

I gazed into the burning eyes of my big, protective alpha and nodded.