Chapter 74: The Stalker Returns

Ivy's POV

John Rodney.  

I hadn't seen him in years, but I could never forget that face. The greasy, stringy hair, the hollowed-out cheeks, the nervous twitch of his lips—he was another ghost from my nightmares, standing right in front of me in handcuffs.  

I couldn't breathe.  

The room shrank around me, the past crashing over me like a wave, dragging me back to a time I had fought so hard to forget.  

The café.

The smell of roasted coffee beans and caramelized sugar had once been comforting—a small piece of normalcy I had clung to.

I once loved working at that café, pouring lattes and wiping down counters, believing that with every shift, I was proving something.  

Proving to my father and uncle that adopting me wasn’t a mistake. Proving that I wasn’t just some broken girl, a discarded thing left to rot in the shadows of her past.  

They had given me another chance at life, a home, a family. And I was desperate to show them I deserved it. That I wasn’t useless, like everyone in my old pack had made me believe.

Then John came along.  

At first, he had seemed harmless—a quiet, awkward kid who always sat in the same corner, nursing the same cup of coffee for hours. He would stare at me when he thought I wasn’t looking, his blue eyes following my every move. At first, I thought he had a crush. It was nothing new.  

But then he started waiting outside when my shift ended.  

He offered to walk me home, to carry my bags, to "keep me company" because ‘the streets were dangerous.’  

I told him no.  

He didn't listen.  

I’d see him on my route home, lurking in alleyways, watching from across the street. I ignored it, tried to convince myself he was just lonely, a harmless loser with nothing better to do.  

Until the night he drugged me.  

I had just finished closing the café, the last of the customers gone. The moment I took a sip from the drink he had left for me—one I hadn't asked but felt too awkward to refuse. 

The moment the warm liquid touched my lips, a strange numbness crept in. My vision swam, the world tilting on an unsteady axis. My limbs turned to lead, unresponsive, as if my own body were betraying me.

I barely made it to the back room before collapsing.  

I still remember the feeling of his hands—clammy and desperate—pulling at my clothes, whispering how much he loved me.  

I had fought. Clawed. Bit.  

But my strength had failed me.  

If it weren’t for a customer forgetting his wallet and returning just in time…  

I shook the memory from my head, but the nausea remained.  

I had reported him to my father, and within the hour, the police were at his door. They arrested him, but his father—some low-level politician—got him out. My father hadn’t taken any chances. A few weeks later, when his preparations were complete, we moved, and I never saw John Rodney again.  

Until now.  

"Do you know him?" an officer asked.  

I nodded, instinctively pressing closer to Leo, as if his presence alone could shield me from John Rodney’s gaze.  

“He stalked me in the past,” I managed to say, my voice barely above a whisper.  

John’s smirk sent a chill slicing through me, sharp and merciless.

"So, this is where you've been hiding all this time?" he murmured, his gaze lingering. "I have to admit... you’re even hotter than I remember."

A low growl rumbled from Leo's chest.  

Connor stepped forward, his fists clenched at his sides. “What the hell did this piece of shit just say?”  

The officer cleared his throat. “We caught him lurking near the crime scene. And given his... complicated history with Miss Ivy, what are the odds he sent those men to do his dirty work?”  

John merely shrugged, the cuffs around his wrists doing little to dampen his ease. “Snooping? Hardly.” He smirked, tilting his head just enough to catch my eye. “I was just meeting a guy. Wrong place, wrong time—happens to the best of us.”

For some reason, he seems... different. More confident. Bolder. I remember him as the quiet, awkward kid who never went anywhere without his cap pulled low, as if he was trying to disappear.

“For what?” Connor snapped.  

John grinned, revealing yellowing teeth. “What do you think? Drugs.” He jerked his chin at me. “Not everything is about you, sweetheart.”  

Leo lunged.  

So did Connor.  

They collided into John at the same time, knocking him off his feet. A sickening crunch followed as Leo’s fist connected with his jaw.  

The police shouted, rushing forward, but Leo and Connor were beyond reason.  

They were on him like animals, fists flying. Leo’s eyes were almost pitch black, his wolf clawing at the surface. I could only hope the officers didn’t notice.

Blood sprayed.  

John screamed.  

But his laughter—his twisted, manic laughter—echoed above it all.  

It took four officers to rip them off him.  

Leo’s chest heaved, his lips curled back in a snarl. Connor spat on him, ready to go in for more.  

"Stand down!" an officer barked.  

Leo’s entire body vibrated with fury. His hands were still curled into claws, blood dripping from his knuckles.  

I had never seen him like this before.  

Even Connor, the ever-controlled, ever-collected Alpha, looked ready to rip John apart.  

I stepped between them, my heart hammering. “Enough. Leo, please.”  

Leo’s head snapped toward me, nostrils flaring. “He touched you.” His voice was a growl, raw and unforgiving. “He tried to—”  

I placed my hands on his chest. “I know.”  

It took a moment, but the tension in his shoulders eased slightly. He exhaled through his nose, still vibrating with rage.  

The officer turned to John, who was bleeding and grinning at the same time.  

“What were you doing at the crime scene?”  

John spat out blood, laughing. “I told you. I was just there to meet a guy. We were supposed to trade, but he never showed.”  

Leo and Connor both moved toward him again.  

"Enough!" The officer shoved a hand between them. "We need him alive if we want answers!"  

John snorted, his gaze flicking back to me. “I  may not be the guy you're after, but I do know something.”  

Silence fell.  

Leo stiffened beside me.  

Connor’s jaw ticked. “What do you know?”  

John licked his lips, his grin widening. “I’ll tell you...” He tilted his head, eyes dark with something sick and twisted. “But only on one condition.”  

Leo took a step forward. “You’re in no position to bargain.”  

John chuckled, looking directly at me. “Let me touch you, Ivy. Just once.”  

A deep, inhuman growl rumbled from Leo’s chest. His hands shook with rage.  

I grabbed his wrist before he could attack again.  

John’s grin widened, knowing exactly how far he had pushed them.  

Leo was seconds away from tearing him apart.  

Connor looked no better as I turned to see the officers holding him back.

I had to stop this.

So, I did the one thing no one expected.  

I turned to John, my expression unreadable.  

And I said—  

"Will you tell us if I let you just touch me?" 

The room went still.  

Leo froze.  

Connor whipped toward me, eyes wide with disbelief.  

John, for the first time, looked stunned.  

Then, slowly, his grin returned.  

Leo’s hands tightened into fists so hard his knuckles cracked. “Ivy, what—”  

I squeezed his hand.  

John leaned forward, as far as his restraints would let him, his eyes burning with excitement.  

I met his gaze, and for the first time in my life, I smiled at him.  

But it wasn’t friendly.  

It wasn’t kind.  

It was the smile of a predator.  

“Go ahead,” I whispered. “Try it.”