The Alpha I should Hate

Chapter 6

Ivy

“You don’t get to say something like that and then go quiet.”

I sat up fully, the sheets slipping down my chest, but I didn’t care. My voice cracked from emotion and exhaustion, but it cut through the silence like a blade. “Leon, what do you mean there’s something I don’t know? About my family?”

He didn’t look at me. Just stared into the fire like it held all the answers he didn’t want to give.

“Leon!” I barked.

Finally, he turned.

And I hated the look in his eyes—equal parts guilt and restraint. Like he was weighing the cost of the truth

“I wasn’t the one who gave the order to destroy your pack,” he said, voice rough. “But I didn’t stop it either.”

My heart stopped. “That’s not an answer.”

He exhaled hard, standing, dragging a hand through his hair like it physically pained him to go on. “There was a mole in your pack. Someone who was working with my father long before the war ever reached your borders.”

I blinked. “A mole?”

He nodded. “Someone who fed us intel. Someone who lured your Alpha into an ambush under the pretense of peace.”

My mouth went dry. My head spun.

“That’s not possible,” I whispered. “My father trusted everyone in that inner circle—”

Leon looked at me sharply. “Exactly. That’s why it worked.”

“No,” I said again, standing now, wrapping the sheet around me. “You’re lying. You’re trying to manipulate me. Make me doubt my own people—”

“I’m trying to tell you the truth,” he growled, stepping toward me. “The only reason you’re still alive is because I pulled you from the rubble before the fire took you too. But the person who ensured the fire happened in the first place… was someone close to you.”

I staggered back. My lungs couldn’t find air.

The only people close to me in the final days were—

My blood turned to ice.

“…Gina?” I said, barely able to form the word.

He didn’t answer.

That was answer enough.

“No.” My voice trembled. “No, you’re wrong. Gina is—was—my best friend. She’s like a sister to me. She lost everything that night, same as I did. She’s loyal she would never—”

“She didn’t lose everything,” Leon said coldly. “She was never in the line of fire. Because she knew.”

“No.”

“Ivy.” He stepped closer again, voice low now, almost gentle. “She’s here. In this pack. Living in the east wing under protection. Has been since the war ended. I didn’t know who she really was until recently—but when I saw the name on the reports… I put it together.”

My skin went cold.

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” I choked.

“Because I didn’t want to break you the first night we mated,” he said with a sharp edge. “But you need to know the truth. And you need to hear it from her.”

I was already moving before he finished. My legs carried me across the room, out the doors, down the dark hallway, the bond burning in protest.

I didn’t care.

I needed to see her.

I needed to hear her deny it.

I tore through the corridors of the eastern wing, my feet flying across the cold stone. When I reached the last door on the left, I didn’t knock.

I slammed it open.

And there she was.

Gina.

Standing by the window in a silk robe, her hair braided over one shoulder, as if this was just another quiet night in a pack she belonged to.

She turned slowly.

And when her eyes met mine, something flickered there.

Not surprise.

Not guilt.

But something worse.

Resignation.

“Ivy,” she said softly, like we were still girls back in Silver Hollow, sneaking into the river after dark. “You shouldn’t be here.”

My hands balled into fists. “You betrayed us.”

Her mouth trembled, but she didn’t deny it.

“I trusted you!” I screamed. “My father trusted you! My pack—my people—died! And you stood there while it happened?”

“I didn’t have a choice!” she cried.

“No?” I took a shaking step forward. “You were feeding them information. Luring us into traps. That was your choice.”

“I was protecting you,” she whispered.

My heart cracked.

“What?”

She swallowed. “Leon’s father promised—if I delivered the Alpha into a trap, they’d spare you. Said they wanted the heir alive, to secure the bond in case Leon refused a political mate. I didn’t know they’d kill everyone. I thought—I thought they’d just take over.”

“You sold us out,” I said, my voice a whisper. “You let my father die to protect me? You think that’s noble?”

She stepped forward. “You’re alive, Ivy. You’re mated to the Alpha now. You’re safe—”

“Don’t you dare speak about my safety.”

Tears burned my eyes. “You made me watch my family burn. You made me believe it was all Leon’s fault. And I hated him. I hated myself. All this time, you were right here, living comfortably under his roof.”

She opened her mouth, but I wasn’t done.

“You should’ve told me the moment I arrived. You should’ve begged for forgiveness on your knees.”

“I didn’t know how.”

“I don’t care.”

The fury inside me built to a crescendo.

“I trusted you,” I whispered again, but this time it broke. “You were supposed to be my sister.”

Gina stepped back like the words hit her harder than a slap.

“I am so sorry,” she said. “I made a mistake. A terrible, unforgivable mistake.”

“You’re right about one thing,” I said coldly. “It’s unforgivable.”

Then I turned and walked away.

But I didn’t go back to the Alpha’s chambers.

I couldn’t face him. Not yet.

I went straight to the training yard instead, where the cold wind sliced through my thin robe like punishment. I stood there, barefoot, teeth chattering, staring up at the night sky.

And for the first time since the mark had sealed itself on my skin—

I howled.

I howled for the girl I used to be.

I howled for every innocent life lost.

I howled for the betrayal that had stolen everything.

And as the echo faded across the mountains, I felt it:

The fire inside me was no longer grief

It was rage.

~~~

The air was crisp, biting into my skin as I stood there in the training yard, my bare feet numbing against the cold stone beneath me. I hadn’t thought of where I was going—only that I needed to get away from the room where Leon waited. My pulse was still racing, my chest still heavy with the weight of his words.

There was a sick, aching pain in my chest, twisting deeper with every step. The anger wasn’t the worst of it. It was the betrayal. The knowledge that someone I had trusted had sold out my family, my people, for her own survival. That she had watched everything burn—and never once felt the need to tell me the truth.

But I couldn’t stay here. Not yet.

Not until I confronted Gina.

My feet carried me through the halls, the stone walls echoing with the memory of my last conversation with Leon. I hadn’t even said a word after he left me alone in that cold room, still reeling from the discovery. There had been no time for understanding, no time to process the fact that the one person I thought I could trust, the person I had considered my sister—had betrayed me in the worst possible way.

Gina was the only one who could explain herself.

I moved through the darkened hallways with a purpose, driven by an overwhelming need for answers. I hadn’t seen her since we’d all been forced into the aftermath of the war. She had been one of the few survivors, but I never imagined this.

The further I went, the more the tension in my chest grew. My breath came in quick, shallow bursts, my mind racing through every moment I had spent with her—every shared secret, every late-night conversation, every whispered promise. How could she have lied to me for so long?

The eastern wing of the castle was quiet, almost eerily so. The rooms here were far from the main corridors, tucked away in a quiet part of the estate. I stopped at the door to the last room on the left—the one I knew she was staying in. The door was slightly ajar, and I could see the soft glow of light spilling from the crack.

I didn’t knock.

I didn’t need to.

I pushed the door open with a harsh shove, my heart pounding in my chest. The movement was sharp, uninviting, and I was met with the soft rustle of fabric and the faint scent of jasmine.

There she was. Gina.

She stood by the window, her back to me, a silk robe hanging loosely from her slender frame, her long braid draped over one shoulder. She didn’t turn at first, and for a moment, I stood there, just staring at her. The woman who had once been my closest friend, my confidant. The woman who had now become the very definition of betrayal.

When she finally did turn, her expression was unreadable. There was no shock in her eyes, no apology. Only resignation.

“Ivy,” she said softly, her voice a mere whisper in the quiet room. “You shouldn’t be here.”

I felt a flash of heat rise in my chest. My mouth went dry, and for a second, I didn’t know if I wanted to scream or collapse in on myself. “You’re right,” I said, my voice trembling despite the anger that pulsed beneath it. “I shouldn’t be here. But you—”

“You don’t understand,” she interrupted, her voice suddenly strained.

“I understand perfectly,” I spat, stepping into the room, my hands balling into fists. “You betrayed me. You betrayed my pack. My father died because of you.”

Her eyes flickered, but she didn’t look away. “I didn’t want it to happen like that, Ivy. You have to know—”

“Stop!” I shouted, my voice breaking. “Stop making excuses. You sold us out! You made us all believe that Leon was the monster, when the real monster was standing right beside me.”

The tears that I’d been holding back threatened to spill, but I refused to let them. “How could you? How could you do this to me?”

“I was trying to protect you,” she whispered, and the words landed like a blow. “I thought if I gave them the information they wanted—if I helped them trap the Alpha—they would spare you. They promised me they wouldn’t hurt you.”

I blinked, my breath catching in my throat. “Protect me? By giving them my father’s life? By letting them destroy everything? You thought they wouldn’t kill anyone? Are you out of your mind?”

“I didn’t know it would go that far,” she said, her hands trembling at her sides. “I thought—I thought if they got what they wanted, they’d leave us alone. I never imagined they’d burn the pack to the ground.”

“You knew what they were planning,” I said, my voice cold, venomous. “You watched them do it. You watched them kill everyone I loved, and you stayed silent.”

“I never wanted this,” she choked out, her voice breaking with emotion. “I never wanted you to know. I never wanted this to happen. But I couldn’t stop it, Ivy. I couldn’t.”

Her words barely registered. My mind was already spinning, my heart screaming with the knowledge of what she had done.

“No,” I whispered. “You couldn’t stop it, because you were already too deep in it. You wanted to survive. You wanted to be safe. And you didn’t care about the price.”

Her face twisted in pain, but it wasn’t enough. It didn’t change what she had done.

“I trusted you,” I said, my voice a broken whisper. “I thought you were my sister.”

“I am sorry,” she said softly, stepping forward, her hands outstretched. “I was trying to protect you—”

“Don’t touch me,” I snapped, stepping back. “You don’t get to pretend like you’re sorry, like this can be fixed. What you did is unforgivable.”

Her face crumpled, tears welling in her eyes, but I didn’t care. She had no right to feel sorry for herself.

“Please,” she pleaded. “I was a fool. I see that now. But you have to understand—”

“No,” I cut her off. “I don’t. And I don’t think I ever will.”

With that, I turned on my heel and stalked toward the door, my steps echoing in the silence that followed. The weight of betrayal still hung in the air like a thick fog, suffocating me.

As I left her behind, the anger inside me didn’t feel like it was fading—it was growing. My bond with Leon still burned like fire in the pit of my stomach, but it was a different kind of fire now.

The rage was all-consuming. And it wouldn’t stop until I had answers.

I would make her pay for the lies. For the betrayal.

And then, I would make Leon face whatever truth he was holding back.

-

Ivy walked away, her steps quickening as she moved further down the hall, leaving Gina behind. But the echo of her confrontation still rang in her ears, and the weight of her decisions crushed down harder than before.

Where was the truth Leon had yet to share?

And what other secrets were lurking in the shadows?