And Then There Were Four by Lilith Carrie
Chapter 45

Ivy POV

I knew the moment that he kissed me he felt something, and by the look on his face when he pulled away, I knew without a doubt he was confused by what was going on.

Why wouldn’t he be?

From what I had learned from Caleb, if the bond had not been completed, then it was stripped from us all, and I was no longer bound to them.

I would have a chance at a new life… or better yet, I could decide my fate.

“Damian,” I whispered, “you have to see that what we were told wasn’t the truth. What the prophecy said was up for interpretation.”

Shaking his head, he cast his glance towards Kate who looked just as shocked as he was.

“Don’t look at me. This is all far beyond my concept of anything. I can call my father, though. Perhaps he may know something.”

Kate quickly moved from her chair and made her way from my hospital room. Damian’s eyes still staring at the spot where she had once sat, not a word coming from his mouth.

“Please say something…” I asked, hoping for the silence to end.

“What am I supposed to say?” He replied as he looked towards me. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. We aren’t supposed to be mated anymore.”

The tone he used left a sinking feeling in my heart as I tried to understand why he was angry. I thought more than anything he would be pleased with the notion that the bond wasn’t gone. That even though my initial marks from the others had disappeared…

We were given another chance.

“Do you not want me?” The question came out before I could stop it. His mouth opened and closed as he thought about what he was going to say. Never had we had a proper conversation about what he wanted with me until this point.

To be honest, I was terrified of what he was going to respond with.

Would he reject me?

“We need to go see someone.” He replied, flatly turning on his feet. “I will get you some clothes and we will leave immediately.”

Stunned by his response to the situation, I sat dumbfounded as I watched him leave the room in search of clothing, and perhaps a doctor.

******

An hour later, Damian and I sat in his car flying down the interstate heading north towards the northern part of Damian’s territory. I wasn’t sure what was up there that would cause us to need to venture that far, but whatever it was had Damian determined.

“Will you please tell me what’s going on?” I asked softly, my eyes sliding towards the view at the window, tired of his cold persona.

With a deep breath, he sighed, “the woman who told me the prophecy years ago… She lives up here. We are going to go see her and see what happened.”

Once again, his wording choice caught me by surprise.

He had to see what happened. As if being mated to me is so horrible.

“Fine,” I replied flatly, watching the rush of trees pass by my window until we turned onto a dirt road that led towards a rugged old cabin.

When the car finally came to a stop, Damian quickly exited the cabin and came around to my side of the car. Surprised by his gesture, I took his offered hand when he opened the door and got out.

“Thank you.”

He hesitated for a moment before nodding his head and turning towards the cabin. His hand slid through mine as he pulled me with him. The fact that Damian was holding my hand was a surprise on its own. Never had he shown that kind of affection before.

“Priscilla!” Damian called out loudly as he knocked on the door. “We need to have a word.”

The door opened slowly, revealing the wrinkled face of a graying elderly woman. Her brows furrowed until her eyes set upon me, and then a smile crested her face.

“Oh, my.” she said with a grin, “I see that you have been touched by the goddess.”

Touched by the goddess? What the hell does that mean?

“Enough, we need to know what’s going on,” Damian replied with annoyance.

“Very well. Come in, come in.” She retorted as she stepped aside and made her way towards the cabin’s small living room. “I suppose you are here to ask how the bond is still there, but not as you expected.”

“But how–” I gasped, not understanding how she knew.

As her eyes turned towards me, I saw the t w i n k l e in their corner, looking at me with amusement.

“There is no answer to how I know things, child. Just that I do.”

“Then explain.” Damian snapped, growing impatient. “You told me that the bond would break if we didn’t all complete it before the Harvest Moon left the sky. Well, it did. So how is it that I am still bonded to her?”

Laughter left the woman’s throat. “You complain like being bonded to this pretty young woman is a bad thing.”

“Right..” I snorted. “You would think he was more grateful to have a mate at all.”

My remark was meant to be mumbled, but the laughter that left the old woman caused me to look at Damian, who stared at me wide-eyed and in disbelief.

“Seriously?” He snapped with a huff.

“I’m just saying.” I shrugged, rolling my eyes again.

The woman leaned forward with a smile, setting her elbows on her knees as she stared between the two of us. “I like this one. She has a spark in her. No wonder the goddess chose her.”

“Choose me? Choose me for what?” I asked, not understanding what she meant.

“Well, you asked her for a gift, didn’t you?” The woman replied, causing me to think back on what she could be referring to. After a moment, the realization dawned on me and my eyes snapped back to the woman whose smile widened in delight.

“I didn’t think she would answer me—”

Damian sat quietly pinching the bridge of his nose with utter annoyance laced in his features as we spoke. “How about someone starts explaining what the hell is going on?”

Taking a moment, I sighed, “when I thought I was dying… I prayed to the goddess to take just my life but disconnect me from your brothers so they may live. I knew that losing me you would be able to overcome with their help, but losing us all would destroy you.”

Silence filled the air in the living room as Damian sat staring at me with confusion.

“You willingly would have died to save them… To save me?” He mumbled as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Of course, I would. You may all get on my nerves, but I do care about each of you in a different way.” I replied, not knowing how else to explain how I feel about them. They were all so complex, and in a perfect world, things would be easier.

But unfortunately, our world wasn’t easy.

Damian’s eyes lingered on me for a moment more before turning towards Priscilla.

“So what does this mean, then? Are we all still bound?”

“No, not exactly.” She replied, picking up a teacup in front of her taking a sip. “Everything is now in Ivy’s court. She can decide to allow the mate bonds to form, or she can decide to have nothing to do with any of you.”

The pressure weighed down on me heavily with what she was saying.

No longer could they initiate anything. They wouldn’t feel the pull like they did before that drove them to mark and mate with me before. Instead, they would only feel the connection by physical touch if I gave them the chance.

I was the Alpha in charge of this situation, and that notion blew my mind.

“Whoa—” I muttered, leaning back in the chair, letting the information sink in. “Talk about being put on the spot.”

“Yes, but you are strong, independent, and fierce. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do. You take the initiative of your own life. You don’t even have to accept all four of them. In the end, you can pick just one if that’s what you want or none at all.”

After finishing up our small conversation with Priscilla, we learned more than I had been prepared for. My mind was a rushing rollercoaster of information that would take an eternity to process. Stepping into the car, I sat there in silence with Damian, whose hands gripped the steering wheel.

“I will book your flight to go home tomorrow.” He said out of nowhere, catching me off guard.

“What?” I replied with my eyes darting towards him, “what makes you think I want to go home?”

Shaking his head, he looked at me perplexed before putting the car in reverse and heading back to his house.

Hours passed and eventually, the pack house came into view as Damian parked his car. Never once did he bother to address what I said or even acknowledge the other questions I had. Instead, he was stuck in his own mind playing the silent treatment, acting as if everything that had happened since I got here was nothing.

“Damian!” I yelled, grasping his attention. “Don’t f u c k i n g walk away from me.”

“What do you want?” He snapped, turning to face me, “you’re leaving tomorrow. The sooner the better.”

His bitter reply didn’t phase me. I realized a while ago when he acts like this it’s deflecting his true feelings because he is scared. Determination set into me as I stormed towards him, gripping his arm and turning him to face me.

“I’m not leaving!” I yelled at him, “stop running away from me you f u c k i n g coward.”

His eyes widened as he growled, his wolf not appreciating how I was speaking to him. “Watch your tone with me, girl.”

A smirk crossed my lips as a plan rolled through my mind. “Make me pup.”

Without another thought, I found myself pressed against the car and Damian’s lips upon my own. A sexual frenzy flowed through us as the electric volts of pleasure touched parts of me that longed to be played with.

“I want you,” I whispered, earning a growl of satisfaction from him.

Pulling at our clothing, we left a trail from the door up the stairs towards his room. My back hit the bed with a soft thud as his tongue devoured my core, causing me to scream in pleasure at the way he made me come undone.

There was no holding back anymore. The animalistic side of him was done playing games, and when Damian lined the head of his thick erection with my center, the thrust that filled me made me scream in pleasure.

Repeatedly, he plowed into me. His rough aggression turned me on like no one else had ever done. The sensation that every inch of my body was on fire and alive took me to a level even the others hadn’t done.

“What do you want, Ivy?” He whispered in my ear, holding me tight against him, “do you love me?”

“Yes–” I replied with a moan, “I want you. Mark me.”

He didn’t waste another moment before his teeth came down upon my neck, marking me as his for all eternity. His seed spilled into me as another rippling o r g a s m passed through my body, making stars dance before my eyes.

The swell of his knot held us together as he retracted his teeth and looked down at me with a smile. “There is no going back…”

“I know there isn’t, Damian.” I replied with a smile, “but I want the others too. You are all close, and each one of you completes a part of the Alpha position of this pack. You are all stronger together, and we need to get that back.”

Daman sighed. for a moment as he slid from me and rolled over onto his back, pulling me close to him. My head rested on his chest as his fingers danced through my hair.

“Then we better get packing, because they are s c a t t e re d around the globe and we will have to go there to convince them to come back.”

I wasn’t sure about what he was saying, but one thing I knew for sure…

I couldn’t do it without him. It was going to take all of us to make the future work.