Marked To Be Theirs

CHAPTER 3

Ivy’s POV

We drove in silence through streets I did not recognize. Xavier kept checking his mirrors like he expected someone to be following us. After twenty minutes we pulled up to a building.

"Red's place is on the top floor," Xavier said. "He's expecting us."

When the doors opened a man was waiting for us and I knew immediately that this was Xavier's brother.

Red was taller than Xavier and covered in tattoos that crawled up his arms and disappeared under his shirt. His eyes were the same shade of blue as a winter sky and they locked onto me with an intensity that made me forget how to breathe.

"So you're the girl my brother can't stop talking about," Red said and his voice was rough like he had been yelling or smoking too much.

"I never said I couldn't stop talking about her," Xavier protested.

"You didn't have to," Red said. "I could hear it in your voice when you called."

I stood there feeling awkward while the brothers stared at each other in some kind of silent conversation. Finally Red stepped aside and gestured for us to come in.

"Welcome to my humble shithole," he said. "Try not to touch anything because I haven't cleaned in three months."

The loft was exactly as messy as he warned but it was also strangely beautiful in a chaotic way. There were tattoo designs pinned to every wall and empty bottles lined up on surfaces.

"You can take the bedroom," Red said to me. "I'll sleep on the couch."

"I can't kick you out of your own bed," I said.

Red's smile was sharp. "Trust me princess you don't want to sleep where I sleep because the sheets haven't been washed since my ex left and that was six months ago."

Xavier made a disgusted sound. "You're such a disaster."

"And yet you still need my help," Red shot back.

The brothers argued while I stood there trying to process everything that had happened in the last two hours. This morning I had been alone and scared and now I was in a stranger's apartment being protected by two men I barely knew.

Red's phone rang and he answered it with a grunt. "Yeah I got it," he said. "Tell the council I'll handle it myself."

He hung up and looked at Xavier with an expression that made my blood run cold.

"We have a problem," Red said. "There's a rogue wolf sniffing around Ivy's apartment building and based on the description I think it might be her ex."

"Rogue wolf?" I repeated. "What are you talking about?"

Xavier and Red exchanged another look and this time I could tell they were deciding whether to tell me something important.

"Ivy," Xavier said slowly. "There's something you need to know about yourself and about us but I need you to promise you won't run when I tell you."

"You're freaking me out," I said.

"Good," Red said. "Because what we're about to tell you is going to sound insane but I swear on my life it's the truth."

Xavier took a deep breath. "You're a werewolf Ivy and so are we and so is Jeremy and that's why he's so dangerous."

I laughed hard, doubling over on my stomach. What else was I supposed to do when two men I barely knew told me I was a mythical creature. "Okay this was fun but I think I should go now."

"You can't leave," Xavier said. "Not when Jeremy is hunting you."

"Hunting me?" I backed toward the door. "You both need serious help and I need to get away from whatever this is."

Red moved faster than should have been possible and blocked the door. "I know this sounds crazy but just let us explain."

"Get out of my way," I said.

"Can't do that princess," Red said. "Not until you hear us out."

Xavier stepped closer with his hands raised like he was approaching a scared animal. "Look at your paintings Ivy and tell me you don't see the wolf in every single one. Your subconscious knows what you are even if your conscious mind doesn't."

I thought about the wolf trapped behind thorns and the wolf running through fire and the wolf howling at a blood red moon. Every painting I had made in the last year featured wolves and I had never questioned why.

"That doesn't prove anything," I said but my voice shook.

"Then how do you explain the dreams?" Xavier asked. "The ones where you're running through forests on four legs and hunting prey with teeth and claws?"

I had those dreams every night but I always assumed they were just stress nightmares. Besides, how did he know that? I only shrugged.

"Lucky guess."

"It's not a guess," Xavier said. "I can smell what you are Ivy and so can Red and so can Jeremy and that's why he's obsessed with you."

Red's eyes flashed blue like Xavier's had flashed gold and this time I could not pretend I had imagined it. "We're telling you the truth and you can either accept it or we can prove it but I'm warning you now that proof is going to be a lot harder to handle than just believing us."

"Prove it then," I said because I needed to see something impossible before I could believe in something impossible.

Red smiled and it was not a kind smile. "Your funeral princess."

He started pulling off his shirt and I looked away but Xavier caught my chin and made me watch. "You need to see this."

Red's body started changing that terrified me. His bones cracked and reformed, while his skin sprouted thick black fur and within seconds a massive wolf stood where he had been standing.

The wolf's eyes were the same winter blue as Red's human eyes and they stared at me with an intelligence that made it clear this was not just an animal.

I screamed.

Werewolves were real.

I was apparently a werewolf.

Jeremy was a werewolf who wanted to hurt me for reasons I still did not understand.

My entire reality had shattered in the span of five minutes and I had no idea how to put the pieces back together.