24. Chapter 24
Hunter
I’d been looking forward to dinner with Arabella and her family. Something inside of me felt off, and I knew that being around my mate would soothe it. I noticed it in the pack, too. We’d been on edge lately, and we all needed that calming presence that only an omega could provide - our omega.
The restaurant was top tier, and I’d made the reservation to include everyone. Yet someone was missing when they arrived - I noticed it immediately. Ivy wasn’t here. Arabella approached the table, her family still handing over their jackets at the coat check.
The other thing I noticed right away was the texture on Arabella’s cheek as she sat down next to me.
A few thin red lines ran along her cheekbone, partially concealed beneath makeup but still visible whenever she turned her head.
The sight of it immediately triggered every protective instinct I possessed.
"What happened?" Ronan asked first, his voice tight with concern.
Arabella's hand immediately lifted to her face. "Oh. It's nothing." Her voice was weak, and I felt something surge inside of me.
"What happened?" I repeated the question, my voice dangerously low.
Arabella glanced down at her menu. "I really don't want to make a big deal out of it."
My entire pack exchanged looks. “You can tell us, Arabella,” Elias said. He’d told us that Arabella and Ivy were at odds, with Ivy potentially self-harming to get attention. We’d been planning to monitor her at this dinner to see for ourselves. Arabella let out a small sigh and lowered her eyes.
"It was Ivy - she attacked me." The words hit the table like a bomb.
"What?!" Elias said, his hands hitting the table as he stood. I felt my pack’s horror and anger shoot through our bond.
Arabella twisted her napkin between her fingers. "She got upset." A wave of anger immediately surged through me. Upset wasn’t a sufficient explanation. An upset omega didn't leave scratches on someone's face.
I felt a growl practically erupt from my chest. Arabella was our mate. Seeing evidence that someone had hurt her made my alpha side demand action before logic had a chance to intervene.
"What exactly happened?" I asked, my knuckles turning white under the table as I watched Arabella’s every move.
Arabella hesitated before speaking. "She - she was upset that you were courting me. She feels that I’m not worthy of a pack like yours." Her voice was frail, so different from the confident omega I’d heard before.
Her words were so bizarre that I had trouble even imagining it. Ivy was extremely submissive to others, almost scared at times. But this connected several pieces of information that hadn't made sense before - Ivy’s recent distance, and the way she'd been avoiding us.
Arabella looked genuinely uncomfortable discussing it. "I tried to explain to her that some things are inevitable. Like our biology, for example, or the matching process." She said softly. "But she just snapped."
Ronan frowned. "She attacked you?" His voice was almost incredulous. Arabella sighed.
"She gets irrational sometimes.”
I sat back in my chair, trying to contain the anger building beneath my skin. All I could picture was Arabella frightened, the look on her face as a feral omega scratched her. This was my mate. The fact that someone had hurt her made every protective instinct in me demand justice.
The situation only became worse when Clara and the rest of the family joined us midway through dinner. The moment Clara noticed our rigid posture and barely concealed anger, she let out a sigh.
"Oh, dear. Arabella told you." Clara’s weary tone made me think this might not be an isolated incident.
"Ivy did this?” Elias asked carefully, gesturing to Arabella’s face.
Clara nodded. “Ivy gets extremely jealous, and also emotionally attached very easily," Clara continued. "She always has."
Ronan looked at her like she was crazy.
“Really?” He asked, eyeing the family. “We never saw any sign of that before. Why didn’t anyone mention it to us?” He asked. I could feel his disbelief through the bond. If anyone could have predicted this, it would be Ronan. Clara shook her head.
"We've spent years trying to help her navigate it." She said.
"Navigate what?" I asked.
Clara looked at me. "Well, I didn’t want to bring up her personal issues, but… Ivy’s always struggled with boundaries." She said, and I saw Elias tense next to me. “She gets these ideas in her head… they aren’t based in reality. It comes and goes.” Her voice was forlorn as she looked down.
"There have been other situations over the years, too. Ivy has some unhealthy attachments to various people. She gets ideas in her head about people and sometimes struggles when reality doesn't match what she hoped for." Clara’s words were concerning.
"What kind of situations?" I asked carefully.
Clara hesitated. "Oh, I don’t know. She starts to get delusional, believes that she should be with public figures, or successful alphas, that she would read about online.
Researchers she admired. She'd talk about them constantly for a few weeks and then move on to the next thing.
" She said. I sat back, my concern growing.
This omega was clearly going through something, but that was no excuse for attacking anyone - especially Arabella.
“And what consequences did Ivy face?” I asked, looking toward the alphas of pack Carrington. Ivy’s fathers looked fatigued.
“She was taken care of. As you can see, she will not be joining us tonight, or any time in the near future. She’s on restriction until she can control herself.” Phillip said, and I felt the pressure in my chest subside slightly.
“Good. I think it’s best for everyone involved that we don’t see her any time soon. And she should not work on any collaborations with Pack Vale from here on out.” I said, my words clear and final. I saw Elias turn toward me, his mouth open. But he would never go against me in public.
Phillip nodded. “I agree. I was going to tell you privately, but as you can see, what happened to Arabella isn’t something we can hide. I agree it’s best if you keep your distance from Ivy until she’s learned to control herself.” He said, his voice gruff. Arabella’s shoulders sagged with relief.
“Thank you for the support, Hunter.” She practically purred as she held my arm.
“She doesn't mean to be that way, but she’s just… not right.” I pulled her closer to me, rubbing her arm as I tried to comfort her.
I kept waiting for the ache in my chest to ease more now that my mate was here.
But it stayed tight, and even after dinner was done and over with, I still felt the pain of loss deep inside me. Loss from what? I wasn’t sure.
Back at our home, I sat across from Ronan and Elias, the entire night fresh on our minds.
An uncomfortable picture had begun forming about Ivy. She was clearly lonely and emotionally unstable. She became attached too easily and was extremely jealous of her stepsister. And now, we found out she was capable of violence. The scratch on Arabella's face was shocking.
“I think we know where Arabella’s trauma comes from,” I said as we sat at the table, all of us feeling the weight of the revelation.
“I never, ever would have thought her capable of that,” Ronan said, almost to himself. “I should have seen it. There was no sign of it.” He said, his voice low and incredulous.
Elias finally spoke. "I'd like to hear Ivy's side of it."
My head swiveled in his direction. “What? Why?” I growled. Elias’s brows creased over his soft grey eyes.
"Because something feels off. Omegas do sometimes attack each other under extreme stress. But everything I’ve seen so far indicates that Ivy was the one more likely to submit in that pack hierarchy.
” He said, his voice thoughtful. “I’ve also seen signs that she over-used descenter.
There’s something going on, and I think she might need professional help, rather than discipline. ”
I leaned back in my chair, my teeth clenched. "She hurt our mate." My words came out terse.
"I know. But something happened. I’ve never seen signs of delusion or jealousy in Ivy, and I’ve been working with her all this time.” He said, his grey eyes pleading as he looked at me.
"We won’t be working with her again,” I said, and I knew he didn’t like that.
"I think she's struggling," Ronan said quietly. I turned toward him, and his words irritated me even more.
“Have you all forgotten that our mate is also struggling? The extreme trauma she endured is probably because she lives with a psychopathic omega who hates her. She might be struggling, but she can struggle somewhere far away from our mate.” I practically yelled.
I almost never lost my temper, especially with my pack mates. But I knew how volatile a family could be when the pack structure was wrong. We had the opportunity for the perfect match, and I didn’t want to risk Arabella.
"I don’t want that girl around Arabella. Our mate shouldn't have to worry about being attacked." I declared.
"No one's arguing that," Elias said.
"Good. I think Ivy needs space," I said finally. "She needs ample time to calm down. She doesn’t need to be near me, or our pack, or Arabella for the time being. For her sake.” I added.
The others nodded at me, knowing that deep down I was right.
But in our bonds, I could tell each of them felt conflicted.
Whereas just a few weeks ago we were closer than ever, now I felt the bonds fraying.
We should have felt invincible with our mate nearby.
Yet despite our night with Arabella, I somehow felt further away from them than ever.