After the events of that night, things had been rather different. For one, her security had tightened because her family feared that she was in danger. Whenever she left the house, her brothers were watching her at all times. It didn't help that she had basically betrayed her pack by siding with the omega. She couldn't blame them and she couldn't blame herself either, it was just one of those events. They were just looking out for her best interests and it wasn't as though they willingly wanted her unhappiness.
They were currently having breakfast downstairs. The room was silent. No one dared to break it. Ivy had her head down and she was eating quietly. Ashton and Archie were making gestures at each other; they were having a conversation that only they could interpret. Dean had a hand on his chin as he slowly ate from his plate. He wasn't thinking about anything rather he was thinking about the food he was eating. Colton was watching Ivy. His mind was still going over the events of the previous night. Something was eating at him. Edward on the other hand was feeling a bit sad. He didn't like punishing his little girl but he didn't have a choice.
A knock on the door pulled everyone out of their thoughts. Dean got up to open it and one of the pack members was present outside.
"Good morning. The Alpha requests that we gather for a meeting." With that said, the man strode off and Edward got up from his seat.
"You heard the man. Our Leader is back and we have to go and grace him with our presence."
They all nodded, hurriedly finishing their food before going out as a family.
…
The pack's meeting place was always the house of the Alpha. It was a huge mansion that was far south of the Ainsworth's. It helped that the man who had inherited the Alpha position had some influences in the city and was also someone with a small fortune to spend. The few times she had seen the Alpha, his name was name was Mason if she remembered correctly, she had been in awe of his confidence and the raw strength he seemed to exude. He was that kind of guy.
The meeting hall was large and from what they could notice, they were the last ones to arrive at the place. Everyone was pretty much seated and the alpha stood facing all of them, flanked by the pack elder and Max, his nephew.
"I guess that's everyone," he said as Ivy and her family took their seats. He snapped his fingers and someone brought a bowl over to him, he held his hand over the bowl and squeezed hard, drawing blood. He allowed it to flow into the bowl as his wound healed stopping the flow of blood. Everyone sat quiet as the bowl was passed around and everyone did the same. Once everyone's blood had flown into the bowl, it was taken away.
"Good morning all. I've been away for a few weeks and I have come to understand that since the mate selection ritual, there have been some peculiar events that have occurred. One of them being that an omega has entered the territory of our pack and that we also have foreign invaders."
This was what the meeting was about: the omega and the vampires. She hadn't lived long enough to had seen what caused tension between omegas and a pack, so she was hoping that this meeting would do well to shed light on the entire debacle.
"Seeing as I held this gathering for us to discuss, I would appreciate it if someone fills me in on the recent events."
The elder took it upon herself to speak. "For centuries, werewolves have moved in packs, establishing a hierarchy of government between the alpha who is the ruler and overseer of the pack, and the betas who are members and subsequent arms of the pack. This has been tradition until the start of the omegas. For those blissfully unaware of the threat of omegas, they are the venom of a pack. Rogue wolves who were banished for their behaviour and their refusal to cooperate with members of the packs. Werewolves stand for order and the existence of an omega is blemish to the order that we have established. We look after our own but omegas look after themselves. They are a stain to the werewolf name and a threat to the pack."
The Alpha was calm as he heard this. Omegas were a troublesome set to deal with. They were unpredictable, unstable and dangerous. "Has anyone seen the omega?"
"We all saw him last night," one of the pack members said. He was having a face-off with the Ainsworths."
Mason arched an eyebrow. That was interesting. He turned to Edward's direction. "Is this true?"
"Yes. My daughter had encountered him yesterday and there was a fight."
"Ivy was it. Would you be able to give an account of the events of last night?"
Ivy stiffened as she heard this but she knew she had no choice. She reluctantly stood up and almost shrunk back as she felt all eyes on her. She took a deep breath. Before she could speak however, she heard his voice.
"Please abstain from lying to us. We are your brothers in arms, a pack. We look out for each other."
She nodded and began. "I left my house last night to look for the Omega when I came across a vampire in a dark alley. He attacked me and honestly, he could have killed me in an instant but he chose to play around with me before moving in for the kill. That's when the omega came. He saved my life again and my family came to defend me from him before he escaped."
Mason was quiet before speaking up again. "Is that all?"
"Well…"
"Are you leaving out the fact that he took your hostage to escape from some of the pack members?"
At this the gaze of the entire pack bored into her soul.
"Well… he… didn't hold me hostage of his own volition. I asked him to."
She heard gasps and from where she was standing, the gasps could mean a lot of things. She had just dropped a bomb on them.
Colton had a knowing expression on his face. He had been having suspicions on the way the scenario had played out yesterday but what he just heard was different from what he was expecting.
"Ivy." The voice of Mason was very heavy at this moment. It was a given due to the history of packs and omegas. "Do you affirm this?"
She nodded. He was quiet and then something struck him. "You said "look for the omega". Am I correct in assuming that that was not the first time you were meeting that omega?"
She didn't say a thing, instead she nodded. Her gaze had diverted to her feet and she was unable to look at anyone's face, not even her family's. She could imagine what was going through their heads at the moment and she expected it.
"Speak," came Mason's commanding voice.
She raised her head up as she recalled the unpleasant memories of the mate selection ritual. It was odd because she hadn't remembered it up until this moment. She took a deep breath as she forcibly tried to calm her nerves.
"During the mate selection ritual, something unpleasant occurred and I ended up running away from everyone. I was crying and not watching were I was going and I was high up in the trees jumping from branch to branch. I broke a branch and it all happened so fast. I plummeted towards the ground but someone saved me. It was the omega."
The pack members began to murmur but Mason silenced them. "Quiet!"
Ivy waited as all eyes turned to her again. "He saved me and he went on his way. The next day I saw him again and followed him and he smelt something and –"
"Followed him where?" Max asked suspicious of something. He had been paying extra attention since everything had begun on the day of the mate selection ritual according to her.
She looked at him and then everyone. They wanted her to answer. "To the alleyway." Once she was sure that her reply had satisfied everyone at the moment, she continued. "He smelt something and he chased after it. I followed him and we came across a victim of a vampire, completely drained of blood."
The murmurs started again and Ivy couldn't bring herself to look at her family.
"Hold on a minute. There's something amiss here." It was Max and Ivy wasn't sure what he was playing at but she was sure that she wouldn't like it.
"Ivy said she encountered the vampire at an alleyway after she went looking for this omega who had "saved" her life. From what she had said just now, she had also encountered this "saviour" in that same alleyway. Surely this is not a coincidence?"
"What are you playing at?" Ivy asked as she glared at him.
"Could it be that the omega and the vampires…"
"Are working together?" she heard Ashton finish the question and she turned to him and the rest of her family.
"Surely you don't believe that nonsense?"
She expected them to have her back but their looks didn't show that. They were cautious at the moment. Cautious of the implications this could have on the pack.
Mason was quiet. He was starting to see something but there was one doubt in his mind. What would make vampires ally themselves with a werewolf?
"I find this hard to believe," he voiced his thoughts. "Does anyone have any say?"
"Well… there is one possibility," someone in the pack said. "Omegas want to rule by force and chaos. Vampires also use similar tactics. It's just a matter of finding the common objective."
"Plus, we can't rule out the fact that she might have been compelled that night in the woods."
"It's true. Vampires are known to be able to compel."
"Yes. What if who she ran into in the woods was not just a werewolf but also a vampire or perhaps vampires?"
Ivy didn't even know what to feel. They doubted her.
Different theories where just popping up in their heads as they refused to accept that an omega may be capable of selfless acts. She turned to her siblings. "Surely you believe me?"
They were quiet. She couldn't blame them. If she was in their shoes, would she have believed… she?