Chapter 63: Bound in Fear

Ivy’s POV

How?  

I hadn’t moved. I was tied down, helpless. So how could I possibly have—  

No. No, it wasn’t me. It couldn’t have been.  

But the blood was warm, fresh, trickling down my fingertips like a confession I wasn’t ready to hear.  

The metallic scent filled my nostrils, thick and overwhelming. My breath came in ragged gasps as I fought the nausea rolling through me. My heartbeat pounded in my ears, drowning out the silence that had settled in the room.  

Then, I remembered.  

The voice.  

The same one I’d heard when I was being kidnapped, a whisper at the edge of my consciousness, lurking in the shadows of my mind. I had dismissed it then, thinking it was nothing but the remnants of an old nightmare. But now?  

Could it be?  

Was my wolf awakening? Will I finally get to shift?

Tears pricked at my eyes as I struggled against the ropes binding my wrists. Any werewolf could snap out of this—so why couldn’t I? Why was I still so weak?  

“Hello?” I whispered hoarsely, my voice barely more than a breath.  

Silence.  

I searched the corners of my mind, desperate for something—anything—that could explain what just happened. But I was met with nothing. Utter emptiness.    

Then, from a distance, I heard it.  

The chilling, hunting sound.  

A humming, eerie sound that sent ice down my spine.  

No. No, no, no—  

The Keeper.  

I hadn’t heard that sound since that night at my house when I hid in the panic room. I had convinced myself I was free of it, that I had escaped that nightmare long ago. But now?  

So I escaped one horror just to be thrown into another?  

I swallowed hard, my body frozen in terror as the sound grew closer. The air shifted, the temperature dropping as an unnatural gust of wind swept through the warehouse.

I had to move. I had to escape.  

I twisted my wrists, rubbing the rope against each other in a desperate attempt to escape. The rope burned against my skin, but I ignored the pain.  

The chilling tune came again—closer this time.  

The Keeper wasn’t alone.  

I could hear footsteps now, slow and deliberate, moving with a predator’s patience.  

Fear threatened to choke me, but I gritted my teeth and kept sawing at the rope. Come on. Come on.  

I could still hear it—the Keeper’s hunting tune, the chilling wind that carried its presence, the slow, deliberate footsteps approaching. But my body refused to move the closer it got.  

It was as if I was having sleep paralysis only that I was fully awake. My whole body began to tremble as fear paralyzed me.

Out of nowhere. I whispered his name, my last desperate plea before the void claimed me.  

“Leo, help me. Please.”

But Leo wasn’t here. No one was.  

I drifted in and out of consciousness, my mind caught between waking and dreaming. Shadows twisted around me, memories bleeding into nightmares.  

Then, warmth. A distant scream and a muffled voice.

Strong arms lifted me, pulling me away from the cold, filthy floor. A scent—faint but familiar—cut through the iron stench of blood. It was…  

No. That couldn’t be right.  

Leo?  

No, it had to be my mind playing tricks on me, clinging to the last thing I thought before I blacked out. But even as I fought against the weight pressing me down, that scent wrapped around me like a tether, keeping me from sinking completely.  

A deep voice rumbled in my ear, but I couldn’t make out the words.  

Was it him?

Or was I already too far gone in the Keeper’s twisted game?

****

Connor’s POV

“Move,” I growled, shoving past Lila the moment I stepped out of the car. She barely kept up as she led me toward a crumbling warehouse, its rusted walls groaning against the wind. The air was thick with the stench of damp wood, oil, and something far worse—something that made Zik, my wolf, snarl inside me.  

Ivy.

Her scent slammed into me, sharp and unmistakable. But beneath the familiar notes of her, there was something else.  

Fear.  

Pure, suffocating terror.  

A feral growl ripped from my throat as I bolted forward, shoving open the door so hard it nearly snapped off its hinges. The moment I stepped inside, my eyes searched frantically before they locked onto her form.  

A single scream escaped my lips as I ran to her, yelling her name in fear.

She lay crumpled on the filthy floor, her small frame trembling. And beside her—  

A man.  

Half-naked. Lifeless.  

The sight made my stomach lurch. A cold dread gripped me, twisting my insides.  

Did he—?

I couldn’t finish the thought. I didn’t want to.  

Zik howled inside me, demanding I rip him apart, but the bastard was already gone. His glassy eyes stared at nothing, blood pooling beneath his slackened body. 

But that didn’t stop Zik from lunging forward, taking control for a split second and twisting the corpse’s body. He then threw him against the wall, as if killing him a second time would erase what he had done.  

I dropped to my knees beside Ivy, my fingers shaking as I untied the ropes binding her wrists and ankles. The angry red welts they left behind made my vision blur with fury, and her bloodied hands only intensified the fury. 

My hands brushed over her arms, desperate to gather her up, to fix whatever the hell had happened to her.  

Her skin was ice-cold. She flinched at my touch.  

That small reaction gutted me.  

Ivy stirred, her lashes fluttering weakly. When her gaze found mine, something deep inside me shattered.  

“It’s okay, Ivy,” I whispered, voice rough with emotion. “I’m here now. You’re safe.”  

A single tear slipped from the corner of her eye before she sank back into unconsciousness.  

I pulled her against my chest, lifting her effortlessly. She barely weighed anything in my arms, her body limp as a ragdoll. My heart twisted at the sight of her so fragile—so broken—and a familiar wave of guilt crashed over me.  

I had seen her like this before.  

Back then, I had let her break.  

Not this time.  

The second I stepped outside, my men were waiting. Their expressions ranged from shock to barely contained rage. Lila stood off to the side, her arms crossed, her face unreadable.  

“Get the door,” I snarled, stepping past them and heading straight for the car.  

My beta, Ethan, reached out, as if to take Ivy from me, but I bared my teeth in warning. He flinched back immediately. No one was touching her. Not now. Not ever.  

The drive back was pure torture. Ivy’s body trembled against mine, her breath coming in shallow gasps. She murmured something incoherent, her forehead pressing into the crook of my neck.  

My grip tightened.  

I should have gotten to her sooner.  

I will find whoever did this.  

And when I do—  

A growl rumbled in my chest at the thought. I already had a suspect—the scrawny bastard who thought he could teach her a lesson. If he ignored my warning… I would make sure he never ignored anything again.  

Permanently.  

Zik growled in agreement, but his possessiveness took a different turn when Ivy shifted against me, pressing even closer. The sensation sent heat lancing through me, and I cursed under my breath.  

‘Get it together.’

Zik purred. The bastard actually purred.  

I clenched my jaw. I needed to focus.  

Then, the thought struck me.  

Should I inform Leo Ashton?

Zik’s immediate response was a deafening snarl.  

‘No! She’s ours. Don’t let him have her!’  

Mr Ashton’s threats echoed through my mind, but I never agreed to handing her over. Did I?

I wasn’t losing her again. Even if it cost me everything.  

—  

By the time we reached the pack house, I was already barking orders.  

“Get the pack doctor, now!”  

Ethan sprinted off. I carried Ivy straight to my private quarters, laying her gently on my bed. She whimpered softly in her sleep, her fingers twitching. I brushed a stray strand of hair from her face, my chest tightening.  

“She needs to be cleaned up,” a maid said hesitantly, standing by the door. “Alpha… you’ll have to step out.”  

I turned sharply, glaring at her. “No.”  

She flinched but held her ground. “Alpha, I need to remove her clothes. All of them.”  

I coughed, suddenly choking on air. 

“Oh.”  

A beat of silence.  

“I’ll be right outside,” I muttered awkwardly before stepping out.  

The wait felt like hours. When the door finally creaked open, the pack doctor and I entered without a word and went straight to Ivy’s side.  

“What’s wrong? Is she okay? Why isn’t she awake yet?” I demanded, barely containing my panic.  

The doctor remained silent as he examined her, his brow furrowed in deep concentration.  

“Alpha,” he finally said, meeting my gaze. “She’s physically fine. Minor bruises, exhaustion. But there’s nothing serious.”  

“That’s it?” I snapped. “She doesn’t need medicine? Treatment? Anything?”  

“She just needs rest,” he reassured me. “She’ll wake up soon.”  

That wasn’t good enough.  

I needed her to wake up now. I need to know that she’s fine.

I sat beside her, gripping her hand as the pack doctor and the maid gathered their things and left hurriedly. 

She looked so peaceful—too peaceful. 

But every so often, her brows would knit together, and a faint shiver would run through her. I squeezed her hand gently, hoping she could feel me, that she knew she wasn’t alone anymore.  

At some point, exhaustion caught up with me. I must have drifted off because the next thing I knew, a knock at the door jolted me awake.  

I growled in irritation.  

The knock came again, sharper this time.  

I swung the door open, already pissed. “I gave an order—”  

Ethan stood there, looking uneasy. “I’m sorry, Alpha, but this is urgent.”  

I narrowed my eyes. “What is it?”  

“There’s someone here to see you.”  

That got my attention.  

A cold dread settled in my gut. Leo Ashton?

Has he already found out that I have Ivy?  

I turned to the guards. “No one enters this room.”  

My beta led me outside. My muscles tensed, my mind already preparing for a fight. If Leo thought he could take her from me, he had another thing coming.  

But the second I stepped into the courtyard—  

I froze.  

My blood turned to ice.  

Standing there, waiting for me, was someone I never expected to see. How did she find me? 

I clenched my jaw, barely restraining the growl rising in my throat.  

“It’s you,” I snarled.