Chapter Four

James' pov

Again I woke up this morning, and there was no breakfast again, so I'm guessing that my lesson didn't stick, so I have to make sure that this one sticks. I slammed the door open Ivory was not there. Her backpack was still there, though. I call out to have her found immediately, but I have to get ready to meet with these other two Alphas, one useless and another one that is still just a pup and has no clue what he is doing and has no right to hold that position. So I leave the search in the hands of Warren and start heading to the Moon Stone pack and get this stupid meeting over so I can find that worthless girl, and when I do, she is going to be in a world of fucking hurt.

Hunter's pov

I go over the plan with the boys on where to meet each of the Alphas. I sent Emery to meet with Alpha Ryan from the Silverstone pack to the south, and Shayne will meet with Alpha James to the north of the grounds. I'm just waiting in my office until they arrive, and I can't help but think about the girl at the clinic as I sit there. I didn't even know that Emery and Shayne were standing at my desk with Alpha Ryan and Alpha James. I quickly snap back into reality and stand, greeting each of the Alphas, "I apologize, welcome back to the Moon Water pack. It is a pleasure that you both could be here today," I say as scripted, taking each of their hands and shaking them. I suggest that they take a seat so that we can get down to business, and I could get back to finding out who that girl is. We go over all the usual items, monthly reports of rogues spotted, future travels throughout pack grounds for the year, anything that needs to be ordered from different shops that another pack might have, etc. After we finish with the business, we usually sit and talk with each other for a moment, so I take this as my chance to ask if they know about the girl. That is the only thing I can think of. I pulled her picture out of my desk and sent it on my desk facing the Alphas. "Would either of you two know or recognize this girl in this picture? "I ask, watching their face. Ryan shakes his head, and I believe he has no clue, but James, there is anger behind his eyes, and his jaw is clenched hard. He knows who she is, and I want to know. "Alpha Jame, do you know who this girl is? She was at the Moon Water Cliffs, and she was barefoot and wasn't in wolf form. Can you tell me who she is?" I wait for his response as he quickly clears his throat and shifts in his seat. "This is an omega from my pack. Her name is Ivy Sterling. She was missing this morning. My Beta is currently leading a team searching our pack, but it is good to see she was found. But I have no clue why she has crossed the border, and I promise that I will open an investigation and handle this properly as soon as she returns to the pack," He speaks, smudged and through gritted teeth.

"Well, she was injured by my Gamma, so she is currently being treated, so until she is officially released, I have to keep her here, for the time being, Alpha James." Trying my best to keep her here instead of sending her back to whatever bastard that been hurting her. Alpha Ryan stands up and excuses himself; his daughter has her first pup. He says his goodbyes and leaves. I send Emery with him to make sure he makes safe travels. Alpha James clears his throat and begins to speak, "Is there any way that I can see my pack member while I am here and talk to her by chance." "Yes, of course, you can. I am not sure if she has woken up yet; our doctor had to sedate her for the time being," lying through my teeth cause I don't have a good feeling about this guy.

Ivory's pov

I woke up with the sun shining on my face, and as everything started to come back a bit clearer, I saw a woman standing next to my bed. I jump as she notices that I am awake. "Good morning darling, how are you feeling? Can you tell me what your name is?" She asks me in a soft and gentle voice, "Um, I'm f…fine and m…my na…name is I…Ivory Ster…Sterling." God, I'm so terrified I can't stop stuttering. "Glad to hear. Are you having any pain anywhere?" She keeps asking me questions. "No, Ma'am, wh…why am I h…here?" I finally ask the question that I want to know but also don't want to know either. "The Alpha here requested that we take care of you, and he also wishes to talk to you as well," she says, writing down something in a folder before turning to me with a smile. "Now you get your rest, you hear." I nod and play with my hands in my lap as I am left alone again in this quiet room. I sit up and curl my knees up to my chest and rest my head until I get to talk to this Alpha who I don't know. I have questions, and I want to know why I am still alive? Why did that guy stop me? What's going to happen now? Are they going to send me back and tell my father? Oh god, I hope he doesn't find out. Just thinking about it makes me tremble in fear.

Not long after, I talked to the doctor that was there before the door opened again, and a younger guy walked through, but he stepped off to the side, and that's when my whole world came crashing down. Walking in right behind him was my father. I feel the fear wash over me as his eyes meet mine. Fuck… Fuck… Fuck.

Jame's POV

So the cliffs are where that worthless bitch ran off, so she will regret that decision quickly. If she thought that death would be this simple, she was wrong. She'd wish she jumped after I got through with handling her. We walk in silence the rest of the way to the clinic down to a room tucked off, hidden from the rest of the hospital. Hunter stepped in and then moved off to the side so that I could walk in behind him. I immediately step into the room, and I find her eyes, and sure enough, it's Ivory." May I ask you to excuse us? I want a moment to talk to her alone in private. "Yes, of course, it's not my place to stand between these matters if you excuse me." Hunter leaves, and I can see him talking to a doctor, but I feel he is still watching, so I will be more lenient talking to her this time.

Ivory's pov

I could feel the anger and rage that was rolling off of him, and it made me start to tremble and shake in fear and terror. The two of them spoke to each other; after about a moment, my father asked to talk to me in private, the young guy left the room, and my father walked to my bed, grabbed my face, and brought my ear to his mouth. "I want to make myself completely clear right now with you. You will not talk to anyone until you return to the house. Once you return, you will beg me to end your pathetic life when I'm finished with you is that completely understood," he growls at me as he squeezes a bit harder, which draws a whimper to escape from my mouth. "Y...yes Alpha u...un...understood," I choked on my words as I spoke softly due to the fear that I was feeling. He releases me and leaves the room. I can see out the window as my father talks to the young man that was in here earlier. After a brief conversation, my father leaves, and the young man walks back into the room and closes the blinds on the window. I'm starting to get a bit nervous. I close my eyes for a second in fear that I will receive another lashing just from a different person; I just let the darkness take over my body again as I drift into unconsciousness.

I wake up again to the sound of the machines that surround me, but when I open my eyes, it is dark in the room. I listen to the room, and I hear soft breathing coming from my left side. Someone was in here with me, and when I realized they had my hand in theirs, I tried to pull my hand away from whoever had mine. But as soon as I go to move, a low growl fills the very still room quickly, and I notice that the young guy from earlier is the one who is holding my hand. And he is awake now. I freeze and promptly cast my head down, and the trembles again take over my entire being. No doubt that he sees them even with it is dark in the room.

He releases my hand, and it drops limply to my side as he walks over and turns on a small lamp that isn't too far behind me. I adjust to the sudden light that fills the room. I glance at him as he walks back over to the chair on the side of the bed, dropping a thick folder on the small table labeled Sterling. He tips my head up to look at him and what I see shocks me. I see worry and sadness in his soft eyes as they reflect on me. He takes a seat and again gently grabs my hand and rubs over my knuckles, sending electricity up my arm. He's kind and gentle.

Hunter's pov

After James had left, I returned to the room and closed the blinds to her window, and when I turned around, she was asleep again. She lay there and looked like she was in so much pain. I set her folder down and shut the lights off. I sit down next to her and grab her hand. I feel electricity shot through me. As I sit there watching her sleep, I start to feel myself slip into the darkness as I let myself take a moment to rest.

I wake up to the sudden movement that I feel coming from the girl next to me. She is trying to take her hand back. I growl low and listen to it fill the room, she stiffens, and then suddenly, she's shaking and has her head down. I let go of her hand, and she let it fall to her side limply. She does not look up even when I go to get up to turn on the lamp. I grab her folder and sit back down. I tilt her head up to see her face, but what I see pains me to my soul. Her eyes show back fear and timidness, and she looks so frightened. I grab her hand and run my thumb over her knuckles before I go to speak.

"Hello, little one, my name is Hunter Price Jr. I am the Alpha here at the Moon Stone pack; if it's okay with you, can I ask you some questions?" After the mention of Alpha, I can feel her trembles get worse. "Yes, Al...Alpha," She responds softly.

"Please call me Hunter no need to be formal with me, little one. First, can I ask you for your name?" "Ivory B...Blane Sterling," she says, shaking and stuttering with every word. "What a beautiful name. Can I ask you some more personal questions, and I'd like you to be completely honest with me?" She slowly nods. "Alright, let me start with a simple and easy one, the man from earlier that talked to you. Do you know who that is?" Just knowing what I already know makes my blood boil. "Yes, that was Al...Alpha James of the Opal Moon pack." You can hear the fear in her voice. "Yes, and can you tell me what the relationship is between the two of you?" She freezes a moment and doesn't say a word, but the fear is there; it's written all over her face. "Ivory, can you tell me what the relationship is between you and that man," I ask again, and this time, she seems to snap out of her thoughts. "Are you going to send me back t..there?" Is all that she says? I'm shocked at what she says? "Don't you want to go back home?" She shakes her head and now, at this point, is full-on trembling as she sits there. I turn her face towards me and look her in her eyes again. Who was that man to you? Are you scared of him?" She turns away but shortly after speaks, "No, I'm not afraid of him; that was Alpha James. He is the head of the pack. He has no relation to an omega like me," She says, but something inside me tells me that she is lying, but why would she lie. "Okay next question, why were you heading to the cliffs? Was there something you were going to do there?" "No, I enjoyed the sound of the water and wanted to see it all; I didn't mean to cross over the border between your territory and ours." Again I feel like Ivory told another lie. "Ivory, I had seen the scars, bruises, and cuts that litter your body. Can you please tell me how you got those?" She again freezes as if she is thinking about what to say next, then breaks the trance she was under. "I am a clumsy person. I fall all the time and get hurt," again she lies to me for the third time.

I finished asking my questions, and we sat there for a moment; out of nowhere, I raised my arm to stretch, and I saw her flinch and jump at my sudden movement. "Ivory, do you get abused by anyone in your pack?" She stops and looks down, "No, Sir, I'm treated very w...well." "Lies, you've been lying a lot. Right there, you could barely say that without looking sad and scared. So I like you to be honest now." Sounded a bit upset at this point for all the lies, she again looks at her hands and nods. I hear her stomach growl. "When was the last time that you ate?" She looks like she is thinking.

"I can't remember the last time I ate," she says. So I called the kitchen to bring me a burger with everything and fries for myself, and Ivory asked for some soup and crackers for herself. After I ordered, I hung the phone up and looked at her. She was playing with the hem of her shirt. "What is your relation to Alpha James?" I ask, making sure I catch her off guard. "I'm not supposed to talk to anyone while I'm here; he'll find out if I do, he always does, and I have already said too much," she says as she trails off at the end of that statement. "Did he threaten you when he was here?" She nodded her head so softly that I almost missed it.

"Ivory, I will let no harm come to you while you are here, and if you are honest and open with me right now, I will promise you that you will never have to return to that place ever again, okay," I stare into her eyes so she can see the seriousness in that promise. Food arrives; I set her down in front of her helping her sit up and get comfortable, and set mine on the table next to me. I look over and see that she isn't touching the food. She is waiting for something, it seems. Does he make her wait to eat until he tells her she is allowed to eat? "Ivory, please eat and enjoy your food. You don't have to wait for permission here." She nods and starts to eat; she takes her time as she eats her soup and takes the most petite bites of crackers here and there. "Ivory, who is that man to you, and this time, remember if you are honest, then I promise you never have to go back there." She nods as she sets her utensil down and takes a sip of water from her cup. "Alpha James is my father even though he treats me as if I was never his kin," she says, and I can hear the sadness that was in her voice. "Ivory, again, I will ask, are you abused back at your pack?" She looks down, but this time, I see the tears that escape from the corner of her eyes and roll down her face. "Yes, if I fail or screw up or even make a mistake, I am beaten; sometimes they do it just for fun."

I get more aggressive from hearing the truth, but I need to know more to handle this accordingly. "Can you tell me who?" "Anyone and everyone ever since the day that my father dropped my status to the omega rank." Again I can hear the sadness in her voice. "If your father is the Alpha, why are you an omega? Would you not be the next Luna in line from your mother?" At the mention of her mother, I see her face darken with sadness and guilt, "I am an omega because I was the reason my mother and Luna were...killed." "What happened to your mother?" "She was killed by rogues that had entered our territory, and I got in the way, and they killed her in protecting me instead." She goes on to tell me the whole story.