Chapter 17
1103 Words
Ivy's POV
The Alpha’s presence swept through the room like a storm, silencing every voice in its wake. One second, there had been chaos—pack members whispering, others glaring at me with scorn and confusion—and the next, nothing but the echo of the Alpha’s boots on the polished floor as he stepped into the hall, he was revered, and nobody dared speak while he was speaking. Heck, it felt as though nobody was even breathing, the other people that could square up with alpha Magnus were the triplets.
I felt it instantly, that commanding energy that rolled off him in waves. It pressed down on me like a weight, wrapping around my lungs and choking the breath from my throat with my head feeling heavy. Even Selena, who just moments ago had worn a smug, victorious smirk, flinched under the weight of his gaze. That was how much influence he had on everyone present in the room.
His eyes swept over the room, taking in every detail. His daughter with her artfully smudged makeup and a faint scratch on her neck. Me, trembling on the floor, cradling my wrist and barely holding myself upright. Kiernan, his stance rigid, his stare locked onto Selena like she was prey. The tension in his jaw was unmistakable.
“What the hell is going on here?” the Alpha asked, voice thunderous, sharp as a blade.
Selena didn’t hesitate. Like the perfect actress she was, she rushed to his side, clutching his arm in a show of vulnerability. Her tears came fast, too fast to be real, she was really a shameless b***h, and this proved it. I’d seen them before, the way she turned on the waterworks when it suited her.
“Father,” she cried, voice thick with fake emotion, “Ivy tried to kill me!” She tilted her chin, showcasing the scratch on her neck like it was a mortal wound. “If the pack hadn’t stepped in when they did… I don’t know what would’ve happened to me. I might’ve died!”
She sounded so broken. So convincing. The room held its breath again.
I swallowed hard, the bitter taste of injustice stinging the back of my throat. My legs felt like jelly, but I forced myself upright, my injured wrist screaming in protest as I leaned on the nearest wall for balance.
“That’s a lie!” My voice cracked, but I didn’t care. My pain didn’t matter anymore. My pride didn’t matter. Only the truth. “I never touched her! She’s lying—she did that to herself!”
The Alpha turned slowly to look at me. His face was unreadable, carved from stone. But I saw it—the flicker in his eyes. Doubt? Curiosity? I didn’t know. I just knew I couldn’t stop now. I couldn’t let her win.
He didn’t speak to me. Not yet. Instead, he turned his attention to the maid—the one who’d dared to speak earlier, the one whose voice had cracked through the wall of lies that had been building around me.
“Is that true?” he asked, his voice low and calm, but somehow even more dangerous that way.
The maid paled, shrinking back slightly. I could see the fear in her eyes, the way she trembled. Speaking against Selena wasn’t just brave—it was a death sentence if it didn’t go in her favor. But still, after a moment of terrified hesitation, she nodded.
“Yes, Alpha,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I saw it with my own eyes. Ivy didn’t attack her. Selena scratched herself. I—I didn’t know what to do.”
Gasps rippled through the room, quick and sharp like the intake of collective breath. A few pack members who’d been jeering at me moments ago now exchanged uncertain glances. The certainty they'd felt began to falter. That grip Selena had on them—on all of us—was slipping.
Selena’s body stiffened. I didn’t miss the flicker of panic that crossed her face. Her eyes darted from the maid to her father and back again. Her composure cracked just for a second, but she caught herself and straightened, her expression morphing back into cold defiance.
The Alpha’s jaw clenched, the muscle ticking at the side. He looked at Selena, his voice even colder than before.
“Selena,” he said slowly, carefully, “is there something you want to confess? Then, do it now.”
Her breath hitched. I saw it—she knew she was caught. But instead of owning up, she doubled down. She lifted her chin with that same arrogance she always carried and scoffed like the entire situation was beneath her.
“You’re really going to take the word of an omega and a maid over me? Really, father?” she said, her voice thick with disdain. “I’m your daughter, and those two plotted this together, they're trying to set me up and make me look like the bad guy here. You have to believe me father.”
That last word hung in the air like poison.
A long pause followed. Every eye was on the Alpha. I held my breath, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might break my ribs. This was it. This was the moment. If he sided with her now, there would be no saving me. I’d be cast out, labeled a liar forever, or worse—executed for something I didn’t do.
The Alpha took a slow, menacing step toward his daughter. She faltered, her posture wavering for the first time.
“And I,” he said in a voice that made the room drop to freezing, “am your Alpha.”
The words landed with the weight of a thousand stones.
“If I find out you’ve lied to me—if you’ve disgraced your position, your name, or this pack—you will regret it.”
That was the breaking point. I could feel it in the air—the shift. Selena’s confidence wavered, her smirk gone. Her eyes widened just slightly. She wasn’t untouchable anymore.
And everyone knew it.
The room was silent again. No one dared to speak. I clutched my wrist tighter, swallowing the lump in my throat. My body ached. My pride was in shambles. But for the first time since this nightmare began, I saw a glimmer of hope.
The truth was out there now. Hanging in the air like a storm waiting to break.
But I knew this wasn’t over.
Not yet.
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- Writer
