Chapter 28: Shattered Glass
Chapter 28: Shattered Glass
Ivy’s POV
I couldn’t move.
Couldn’t speak.
The silence that followed Hadley’s words felt like a coffin being nailed shut. All eyes were on me, their stares turning sharp, suspicious. I could feel the shift in the air, the tremor of betrayal rippling through the pack like wildfire.
Lucien hadn’t looked away from me.
He stood there, completely still. His jaw was clenched, his fists balled at his sides. But it was his eyes that wrecked me, cold, confused, and something worse….
Wounded.
He took a step toward me. My body tensed.
“Ivy,” he said quietly, and that single word hit me harder than a roar. “Is it true?”
I swallowed. My mouth was dry. My heart thundered against my ribs so loud I could barely think.
“Yes,” I whispered. “But.... Lucien, let me explain....”
“You lied to me.” His voice was low, even. Too even. “You lied…. while sleeping in my home. While walking freely through my grounds. While I protected you.”
“I had to,” I said, barely able to fimd my voice. “You wouldn’t have let me stay if you knew. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I was trying to survive. Please, you have to believe me....”
“No,” he cut in sharply, and his voice cracked like a whip across the clearing.
He turned to Dorian. “Place her under arrest, take her to the dungeon.”
The words landed like a punch to my chest.
“What?” I gasped. “Lucien, please, don’t do this.”
Dorian hesitated, his brows furrowed, clearly torn. But a single glance from Lucien was enough. He stepped toward me.
“No,” I said, backing away. “No, please. Lucien, listen to me, it’s not what you think. I didn’t come here with bad intentions. I was running for my life and that of my baby. I never meant to involve you or the pack.....”
“You should’ve told me the moment you stepped into my territory,” Lucien said, his voice sharp with betrayal. “You made a fool of me. You risked all of us.”
My breath hitched, eyes burning. “I was scared. I was alone. And now.... now I have nothing.”
“You made your choice the moment you lied,” he said coldly.
Dorian reached me and gently took my arm, his expression conflicted. “Ivy…. don’t fight it.”
I looked back at Lucien one last time, searching his face for some part of the man who once told me I belonged here. But all I saw was the Alpha.
Hard. Unyielding. Closed off.
He wouldn’t even meet my eyes.
As Dorian led me away, chains clinking at my wrists, I heard Hadley’s laugh echo behind me.... ragged and bitter. She had gotten exactly what she wanted.
And I had lost everything.
Again.
Certainly! Here's an expanded and deeply emotional version of Chapter 31 from Ivy’s point of view:
......
The dungeon felt like it breathed, like it had lungs hidden in the walls, exhaling stale air and despair with every passing second. The longer I sat there, the more it pressed in on me, cold and suffocating. I had stopped counting the hours. There was no light down here to separate night from day, only the dim flicker of a torch mounted too far to warm.
My knees were pulled to my chest, my arms wound tightly around them. I kept rocking, slowly, like some part of me believed motion might keep the world from crashing completely.
But it had already crashed.
Lucien’s face haunted me, eyes that once looked at me with warmth now frozen with something far worse than anger, disappointment. That was what broke me the most. Not the accusations. Not even the cell. But knowing that I had lost the fragile trust we’d been building. The thing I never thought I’d have again.
He had looked at me like I was poison.
Like I had betrayed him. Betrayed everything
And maybe I had.
Maybe hiding the truth had been a betrayal.
But how was I supposed to tell him that I carried the child of the monster who’d tried to claim and cage me? That I had run not just from a bond, but from a fate I refused to accept?
I wrapped a trembling hand around my stomach. The bump was barely noticeable yet, but I could feel it, life, fragile and defiant, beating beneath my skin. I wasn’t just fighting for myself anymore. I never had been.
How did Hadley know?
I hadn’t told a soul. Not even Lucien. Not even Dorian.
Then the realization struck like a slap.
Mira.
The only person that had figured it out
My chest tightened. My breath caught. No. No, she wouldn’t….
Would she?
Footsteps echoed down the hall, lazy and deliberate.
I lifted my head just as a shadow peeled itself from the darkness.
Mira.
She strolled up to the cell like she was paying a social visit, arms folded, that cruel little smile playing on her lips.
“You look awful,” she said cheerfully, tilting her head. “Dungeon grey doesn’t suit you.”
I stared at her, unable to speak at first. When the words finally came, they were cracked and bitter.
“You told Hadley.”
She gave a slow blink, then clucked her tongue. “Wow. You’re sharper than I gave you credit for.”
I stood slowly, my hands wrapping around the bars, knuckles white. “I saved your family. I risked everything for you. And you sold me out, for what?”
Her expression flickered. A moment of guilt? Or just annoyance at being confronted?
“You don’t get it, Ivy. This world, you think it’s all about bravery and doing what’s right. It’s not. It’s about survival. You saved my family, sure. But that doesn’t pay the bills. Hadley…. even from the dungeon, she’s got power. Connections. Money.”
“You could’ve told me,” I rasped. “If you needed help, I would’ve....”
“Oh, don’t give me that martyr speech.” Her voice snapped. “You walk around this pack like some saint, like everyone owes you. Like you’re so pure. But you’re not. You’re a liar too. You let Lucien fall for you while hiding the fact you’re carrying another Alpha’s child.”
I recoiled like she had slapped me.
“You don’t know anything about me,” I whispered.
She leaned in, voice venom-soft. “I know enough. I know that bounty the Blackwood Pack put on your head just tripled the moment word got out you were pregnant with their heir. You think Lucien won’t feel like a damn fool now that he has found out your secret?”
My blood ran cokd.
“You.....” I began, but she cut me off with a scoff.
“I played my part, Ivy. I gave Hadley what she wanted. And in return, she gave me what I needed. Loyalty isn’t free”
She stepped back, turning away, satisfied.
“But.… thanks for saving my family,” she added mockingly. “Really. That was sweet.”
I watched her disappear down the corridor, her laughter echoing off stone and steel.
And I crumbled.
Sank back onto the floor, burying my face in my hands.
Tears flowed freely, but this time it wasn’t just sorrow. It was rage. Not just at Mira. But at myself. For believing that goodness always earns goodness in return. For thinking trust wasn’t a weapon that could be turned against you.