18. Chapter 18
Ivy
The night felt like slow torture. No matter what I did, all my mind could focus on was Pack Vale out with Arabella.
I could see her now in my mind’s eye, enchanting them like how she did with everyone else.
I tried not to think about how Elias would look at her, or about how Ronan would try to protect her.
Or how Hunter would fall for her. She looked perfect like always tonight - how could they not fall for her? She was everything an omega should be.
It wasn’t fair. Out of every pack I’d ever met, why did she have to match with them?
And what on earth did they have in common?
I tried to distract myself all night with work, but my mind kept drifting to the thought of them with her - my tormenter, my nightmare of a stepsister.
In what world would the kind, considerate men of Pack Vale ever match with Arabella?
The sound of tires crunching over the driveway drifted through the kitchen window, and despite everything that had happened over the past week, my heart still sped up.
I hated that it did. I hated that after hearing they matched with my nemesis, that my body still reacted to the idea of them approaching.
I was sitting at the kitchen table pretending to work when the front door opened.
Arabella practically floated into the house.
Her cheeks were flushed pink, and there was a triumphant smile on her face.
And then, behind her, I saw them come in.
I was half anticipating them in dread, but the biological part of me hadn’t gotten the message.
My body was still excited to see them, though I felt the torment of the impossibility of them in my heart.
Hunter and Ronan greeted everyone politely. Elias smiled as he stepped inside, and for one painful second, our eyes met. Then, he quickly shifted his attention toward Arabella.
“Thank you for this evening, Arabella,” Hunter said, lifting her hand to his lips. She blushed, and Ronan nodded at her. “We’ll see you soon.”
Ronan turned to leave, but then glanced back, his eyes meeting mine for just a moment.
He gave me a single nod and a smile. I couldn’t bear it.
I could sense Hunter looking as well, but I gazed down at the table, unwilling to subject myself to the pain of seeing them.
I heard them leave. The entire family gathered in the living room almost immediately.
Clara was already demanding details before Arabella had fully taken off her coat.
"Well? How was it? You have to tell us everything." She asked.
Arabella laughed and sank dramatically onto the couch. "Oh, it was perfect. Simply perfect." She sighed, flinging an arm over her forehead like she was in a movie.
Clara immediately sat beside her, as excited as Arabella. "Start from the beginning! Tell us everything." I clenched my jaw. I didn’t want to hear this.
"Oh my God, where do I even start?" Arabella said, her face dreamy. "The restaurant was incredible. Hunter had reserved an entire private dining room that overlooked the whole city, and there were flowers already waiting at the table."
My stomach twisted at her words. I wanted that to be me. The image of her sitting with them was like knives through my chest. Arabella glanced at me before continuing, and I shrank down lower, my shoulders hunched.
"And they were all so attentive. The entire evening felt like it was fate. They kept asking for my opinion about everything."
One of my fathers smiled proudly. "They were trying to get to know their mate." He said fondly. Mate. That word, one which I’d been thinking in my head so often recently, now felt like a trigger to me. Arabella nodded, a huge smile on her face.
"Exactly. Hunter asked about what I wanted for the future. He said they were waiting for me their entire lives.” She sighed.
I felt my skin start to prickle. “And that they would give me anything I wanted. Anything for their match.” She said, her voice loud and boastful.
Arabella sure wanted me to hear all of this.
I looked down at my hands and ground my teeth, trying not to let the feelings of jealousy and despair take over.
"They were so sweet," Arabella continued. "I mean, Ronan was so protective. He sat right next to me, making sure to serve me water every so often. Gosh, a huge alpha serving a small omega like me. So sweet!” She said, and I fought not to roll my eyes. I pushed my chair out, ready to go to my room.
“Ivy, aren’t you interested in hearing?” Arabella said sharply, and I looked over at them from the table.
“I’m glad your date went well,” I said, trying hard to keep my voice from wavering. Arabella looked at me smugly before continuing. Arabella loved winning - not just for herself, though. Success wasn't enough for her. Someone else had to lose for her to feel good. And I was usually the loser.
“They are just perfect! Elias even told me that he was using his research as an excuse to come over and be around me more often.” She added, making sure to stare at me.
I felt my stomach lurch, my eyes wide as I looked down at the kitchen table.
Was Elias using work as an excuse to come here for her?
My mind raced back to all those times when he’d come to speak to me about my projects, all those moments when he’d brought research papers and asked my opinion.
That couldn't be right. Arabella had been in the same house, yet he’d come straight to me every time.
"I guess all those research meetings worked out after all." One of my fathers chuckled. I tried not to react. The research meetings were with me. Why did everyone just gloss over the past and rewrite history? I felt the agitation grow inside of me.
"And Ivy," Clara said suddenly, saying my name like she was forced to. I looked up from the table.
“Yes?”
"You need to start creating some distance." She said in an admonishing tone. I frowned at her words.
"What do you mean?" I asked, already feeling another jab on the way from her.
"The situation has changed," she said sharply. "Pack Vale is courting your sister now. So, you’ll need to give them plenty of time with her. No more meetings with them one-on-one." My mouth dropped open at her words. Before I could respond, my father nodded in agreement.
"It's probably inappropriate for you to continue spending so much time alone with them." He said, and Clara eyed me as if I were somehow the problem here.
"What? I'm working with them. I’m not doing anything inappropriate.
It was their idea to work on research and brainstorm with me!
" I argued. That was the truth, although I couldn’t imagine how difficult it would be to work with them now, knowing that they had such strong feelings for Arabella. Clara continued, not convinced.
"And you need to be careful with your scent." She warned. I sat up straighter at her words.
"What?" I asked incredulously.
"No perfuming around them. No accidents. It would be disrespectful to Arabella." The family nodded at her words, looking at Arabella with sympathy as if I had already done something to offend her.
"I don't perfume around them." I argued back. I didn’t perfume around anyone. The last time I had even let out a scent was my hidden outburst at the gala. I’d been diligent with suppressants and descenter since then.
"Good," Clara said. "Then it shouldn't be difficult."
The conversation moved on immediately afterward.
Apparently, my role in the family had officially shifted from forgotten daughter to potential problem.
Finally, I found a way to excuse myself and headed upstairs, unable to listen to another word from Arabella’s date.
It felt like she just wanted to rub all of it in my face.
Inside my room, I changed into my pajamas and sat on the edge of my bed. Today had been exhausting. My dreams of a pack, as unrealistic as they were, had been shattered. Arabella won again.
I should be used to it by now. She would always win.
She was always going to be prettier, cooler, more interesting.
But that didn’t stop the pain of knowing that I might have just been used as an excuse for them to be closer to her.
My emotions felt frayed. I felt like all my energy and motivation had been zapped out of me.
I tried to brush my teeth, but even that felt like a huge effort.
I took a double dose of suppressants and sprayed my body with descenter again.
My body felt strained lately, and it wasn’t just from the emotional exhaustion of today.
Lately I'd needed even stronger doses of suppressants and needed them more frequently. Pushing away a heat wasn’t good in the long term - I knew that.
But my heats were a disruption for the company, and Arabella would go ballistic if I had one now.
So, I took a third pill and planned to stay out of the way when Pack Vale came over in the future.
My exhaustion was so strong that I crawled back into bed early, the muffled sounds of my family still talking about Arabella’s date just noise in the background as I fell into a restless sleep.
The last thing I remembered was the faint ache beneath my glands and the growing sense that something inside me was starting to break.
Whether it was my body or my heart, I wasn’t sure of yet.