Chapter 9

[ 1,156 words ]

Seraphina’s Point of View

I stared at Ivy like I was seeing her for the first time.

This wasn’t the same girl I grew up with. This wasn’t the meek, pathetic little mouse who used to cower whenever anyone raised their voice. The Ivy I knew would never look at me with such cold defiance. She would never dare to make demands of me.

What the hell happened to her?

I searched her face for any sign of the weakness I’d exploited for years. The trembling lips. The downcast eyes. The hunched shoulders that made her look smaller than she already was.

None of it was there.

Back in the Crescent Moon Pack, she never fought back. Never. She let everyone walk all over her. The servants treated her worse than a dog and she just took it. She was pathetic. Spineless. She didn’t even have the courage to look me in the eye.

But now? Now she stood before me like she owned the world. Like she had never been afraid of anything in her life.

Was it all an act? Had she been pretending this whole time?

The thought made my blood run cold.

All those years. All those times I had mocked her, belittled her, treated her like garbage beneath my feet. What if she had been watching the entire time? Waiting. Playing a role while I showed her exactly who I really was.

No. Impossible. No one could pretend for that long.

But looking at her now, at the steel in her eyes and the confidence in her posture, I wasn’t so sure anymore.

Ivy tilted her head, studying me with an almost amused expression. “You look confused, cousin. Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” I snapped. But my voice came out weaker than I intended.

“If you say so.” She smiled, and it was nothing like the timid smiles I remembered. This smile had teeth. “Now, about my offer. Do you accept or not?”

Before I could answer, a commotion erupted outside.

*****

Ivy’s Point of View

“Where is that insolent girl?” A shrill voice pierced through the walls. “How dare a Beta’s daughter steal from an Alpha’s daughter!”

I recognized that voice immediately.

Margot Ashford. Alpha Alaric’s stepmother.

The doors burst open before Marcus or Theo could stop them. Margot swept into the residence like she owned the place, her entourage of servants flooding in behind her. Her face was twisted with righteous fury, her silk robes billowing dramatically.

“There she is!” Margot pointed at me like I was a criminal caught in the act. “The little thief who thinks she can take what doesn’t belong to her!”

Behind her, Vivienne glided in with considerably more grace but equal venom in her eyes. Bastian’s mother looked at me with barely concealed contempt.

“Miss Ivy,” Vivienne said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “We’ve heard some disturbing reports about your behavior today. Attacking servants? Confiscating property that isn’t yours? This is highly inappropriate conduct for someone in your position.”

“My position?” I kept my voice level. “You mean as the wife of the heir?”

Margot let out a derisive snort. “Wife of a dying man, you mean. Don’t get above yourself, girl.”

She snapped her fingers, and her servants began moving toward the trunks and chests that Seraphina’s maids had been forced to leave behind earlier.

“Take everything,” Margot ordered. “These gifts belong to young Miss Seraphina. It’s disgraceful that this… this nobody thought she could keep them.”

Marcus stepped forward, his hand on his sword. “My lady, these items are in the heir’s residence. I cannot allow—”

“Stand aside!” Margot’s voice cracked like a whip. “I am the Alpha’s stepmother. My authority supersedes yours.”

Marcus hesitated, looking to me for guidance.

Vivienne added her voice to the chaos. “Miss Ivy, you should be ashamed of yourself. Causing such discord on your first day as a wife. This behavior is unbecoming. It shows a complete lack of breeding, a complete lack of class.” She shook her head with exaggerated disappointment. “But I suppose we shouldn’t expect much from a Beta’s daughter. You simply weren’t raised to understand proper etiquette.”

Margot’s servants pushed past the guards, lifting the heavy chests onto their shoulders. One by one, the bridal gifts began disappearing out the door.

Nell appeared at my elbow, her face pale with worry. “Miss Ivy,” she whispered urgently, “what should we do? Should I try to stop them? Should I call for Luna Helena?”

I watched the servants carry away the gold, the jewels, the precious silks.

“No,” I said quietly. “Let them take it.”

Nell’s eyes went wide. “But Miss—”

“I said let them.”

The truth was, I had never wanted those gifts. Not really. They were just things. Objects. What mattered was what I had gained today.

I had seen the fear in Seraphina’s eyes when she realized I wasn’t the same weak girl she used to bully. I had watched her confidence crumble when I caught her wrist and held firm. I had made her understand, for the first time in her pampered life, that I was no longer someone she could push around.

That was worth more than any amount of gold.

Margot smirked triumphantly as the last of the trunks was carried out. “There. That’s settled.” She looked down her nose at me. “Let this be a lesson to you, girl. Know your place.”

Vivienne nodded in agreement. “Indeed. Perhaps now you’ll learn to behave with proper humility.”

Seraphina stood off to the side, watching the proceedings with a complicated expression. Our eyes met briefly. I could see the questions swirling in her mind. The doubt. The uncertainty.

Good. Let her wonder. Let her lose sleep over it.

“If you’re quite finished,” I said calmly, “I’d like you all to leave my residence now.”

Margot sputtered. “Your residence? You ungrateful—”

“This is the heir’s residence,” I repeated, my voice hardening just slightly. “And I am the heir’s wife. Whatever gifts you’ve taken, this home still belongs to Dominic. And by extension, to me.” I gestured toward the door. “So please. Remove yourselves from my property.”

For a moment, I thought Margot might actually explode. Her face turned an alarming shade of purple, and her hands clenched into claws at her sides.

But Vivienne placed a restraining hand on her arm. “Come, my lady. We’ve accomplished what we came for. There’s no need to waste more time on this… person.”

With one last venomous glare, they swept out of the door, Seraphina trailing behind them.

Nell let out a shaky breath. “Miss Ivy, are you alright?”

I looked around the emptier room, at the spaces where the trunks had been, at the scuff marks on the floor from the servants’ hurried feet.

Then I smiled.

“I’m fine, Nell.” I turned toward the bedroom, toward where Dominic lay sleeping his endless sleep. “I’m just fine.”

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