Ivy POV
Rough hands gripped a hold of my waist, causing my eyes to flutter. Looking up, I watched as Damian’s rugged good looks came into view. The steely, fierce force of his gaze upon me as he lifted my body and carried me forward.
“What are you doing?” I whispered in a raspy tone.
“You’re injured. We have to get you to the hospital.”
The monotone way he spoke to me did nothing but leave me puzzled. Glancing up at the sky, I watched as the red faded from the moon.
The harvest moon was ending.
“Stop, we have to complete the bond.” I moaned softly, trying to move from his grasp. “Put me down.”
“No–” he stated softly, “it’s over. There is no time.”
I was astounded by what he was saying. If we didn’t complete the bond, there would be no turning back. The matebond would be lost forever. “Do you not want me?”
Tears filled my eyes, realizing that I was losing them.
“It isn’t that…” his eyes gazed down at me as he stopped in his tracks, “it isn’t right for us to keep you from what you want in life. Since you have been here, we have done nothing but cause you problems.”
“Put me down.” I gasped as I blinked back tears.
“No.” He replied before a car door was opened, and I slid into the back seat.
Darkness over taking my thoughts. I tried to keep my eyes open. Drops of crimson stained my shirt as I looked down at my chest.
There was no changing his mind, and just as I had gotten used to it all…
He decided he didn’t want me.
**************
As the pull of light drew me back towards reality, I slowly opened my eyes to see the white tile ceiling above me. The sterile smell of cleaning supplies stung my nose as I looked around my room.
The last thing I remembered was being carried, and then—Damian.
Trying to sit up, I took in Kate’s sleeping form sitting in the gray armchair. Her eyes closed, and a white blanket pulled up to her chest.
“Kate,” I whispered roughly, jolting her from her sleep.
“Oh, my G o d !” she exclaimed, scrambling to her feet as she rushed to my beside. “You’re finally awake.”
“Finally?” What did she mean finally? I had only been asleep for a few hours.
Her eyes looked at me questioning before she slowly nodded her head, “Ivy… you have been in a coma for two weeks.”
Two weeks?!
That wasn’t possible… the harvest moon… They guys…
Where were they?!
“No,” I mumbled, shaking my head in disbelief. “That’s not right.”
Kate sighed, looking at me with pity, “I’m sorry sweetie… “
“Where’s James… Hale? Talon?” The fact that I had woken up and they weren’t here with me caused a pit of despair to open within my stomach. The betrayal of their absence leaves a sinking hole in my heart.
“Let’s not talk about that right now.” she muttered softly, “we need to get you better.”
“No!” I screamed, the beeping of the heart monitors becoming erratic. “Where’s Damian!”
“Ivy, please… Calm down!” Kate yelled, trying to make me see the reason. However, no matter what she said, it fell on deaf ears.
Pulling at the cords that were attached to me, I forced myself from the bed, wanting to progress further. I had to find Damian. I had to know what was going on.
“Damian!” I screamed again, wanting to hear from him about what was going on. “Get me, Damian!”
My screams of protest echoed throughout the room until the door opened, and Damian’s dark and sultry gaze peered at me from beneath dark lashes.
My heart s k i p p e d a beat seeing him, and even though we had so many issues in the past, he was still able to make me feel some sort of way.
“You wanted to see me?” He replied with a thin-lipped expression. His eyes were unreadable, causing an uneasy expression to pass over me.
“What’s going on?” I whispered, searching for anything to tell me this wasn’t happening. Those things were still okay between us.
“I don’t understand what you mean. You were injured and have been in the hospital, healing.”
“You know what I mean. Why weren’t you guys here with me? Where’s Hale, James, or Talon… What’s going on, Damian?”
Letting out a deep breath, he nodded. “They aren’t coming, Ivy.”
“What?” I gasped in disbelief, “but they are my mates… Why wouldn’t they come?”
“Because they aren’t your mates anymore. The moon passed, and the bond wasn’t completed, so it vanished.” Damian replied with a solum stare.
It was true then. The harvest moon had passed, and I was no longer bonded to the guys.
The men who had captured my attention, and made me feel alive and desired for the first time in my existence. “Where are they?”
“Ivy, this is better this way. You have the chance of a normal life. One away from wolves, just like your mother.”
My mother? “You know nothing about her.” I snapped the anxiety over the situation rising within me.
“Sweetie,” Kate replied softly, “your mother is more than you know. None of that matters, though. Damian is right. Now that you are awake and getting better, it’s time we go home to Georgia.”
“No!” I screamed, not wanting to accept what she was saying. I wanted to see Hale. I had to see him. Out of the four of them, he was the most logical and could tell me the truth.
Did they really think they were doing this for me?
Or was it because they actually didn’t want me?
“You will be leaving.” Damian replied with a formal tone, “that is final.”
“F u c k you, Damian. I understand you never gave a sh it about me, but you don’t get to speak for your brothers.”
I was done dealing with him. Since the moment I got there, he had done nothing but give me s h i t. More than once I had tried to do something to make him happy, and then to top it all off, I was captured by Caleb and Mandy because of him.
Then, to repay me, he wants to take away people I cared about calling it ‘a normal’ life.
Rolling his eyes, he stepped forward with a pained expression, “don’t ever think I don’t care for you. You have no IDEA how much I care for you.”
“Then why–why are you doing this?” I was desperate at the moment to get him to change his mind. I didn’t want him to give up on this. To give up on me.
“It’s too late.” He whispered softly as he stepped closer and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “They have gone their separate ways.”
Closing my eyes, I let out the breath I had been holding and allowed the tears to roll down my cheeks. They had left me. There was nothing holding them back now.
“James wouldn’t leave me.”
As much as I wanted to believe the admission, I knew I couldn’t. I couldn’t accept what he was saying because deep down, after everything we had gone through, I didn’t want to believe they would leave me.
“I’m sorry, Ivy. But you don’t deserve a life of chaos. You deserve to be happy with ONE man who can give you everything you need. Not shared between multiple men, never knowing what was going to happen.”
Damian’s words stirred a determination in me.
I wanted those things, though. I wanted to be with them all, and even though I was confused before, my mind had been changed.
“Do one thing for me. If you still feel the same way afterward, then I will go.” I replied softly as my eyes cast up to meet his.
“What’s that?” He replied with an edge of concern.
“Kiss me.” The demand was clear, and taking a step back, I knew he was hesitant about fulfilling it. “If you still feel the same afterward, I will go.”
A quietness flowed over us as he stared at me. Slowly his feet moved, and before I knew it, his lips were upon mine.
Damian had only kissed me once before, and I can’t understand why I had never taken the initiative to do it more often.
The feel of his lips against mine caused me to moan softly as my heart raced. I could still feel the swarm within my stomach I had once felt with the others, and the emotional rollercoaster tipped me over the edge.
“That isn’t possible.” He whispered as he pulled away.
“You feel something, don’t you?”
The realization that what they thought was real wasn’t causing my head to spin. I wanted him at that moment, no matter how I had to get him.
The Moon Goddess hadn’t given upon us.
She had only chosen to change the stakes of the game.
