Chapter 18: A Bounty

Chapter 18: A Bounty
Ivy's POV

Everyone thought I was a spy now.
Their hatred for me was evident in the way wolves stopped talking when I entered a room, in the way eyes followed me like I was something foul dragging rot behind me. They didn’t say it outright, not all of them, but they didn’t need to.

That I had intercepted and stolen a letter Lucien wanted to send to his beta, a letter containing vital pack information.

That I had slithered into the safety of this pack with lies on my tongue and betrayal in my bones.

Even during training now, partners hesitated to spar with me. Or worse, they didn’t hesitate at all and used it as an excuse to go for blood. I had to grit my teeth through every session, match their aggression, not let it show how much it wore me down. I couldn’t afford to show weakness, not now.

Lucien hadn’t said anything more since the last time we spoke, but he hadn’t turned his back on me either. And that silence, it said more than words ever could.

I wasn’t sure if I could trust him fully, but his quiet support was all I had.

And I needed more

I needed truth.

Because I was tired of playing defense.

My one lead? It was Mira.

If she wasn’t the root of it all, then she was damn close to it. The lies, the new rumors about me slipping away at night to meet with “outsiders”, I knew where they came from. Mira had whispered poison into the ears of the wrong wolves, and now it was eating through everything like wildfire.

So I followed her.

Again.

Only this time I was smarter about it. I waited until after the evening meal, after the pack had mostly scattered to their corners, some to train, some to gossip, some to bed.

She left the dining hall with that tight-lipped smirk she always wore, like she knew a secret no one else did. I kept my pace steady, steps soft, ears sharp

She didn’t head for the main house or the warrior’s lodge.

She took the back path, the one that curved toward the outer fence line.

There’s nothing out there but storage buildings and the old stables we barely used anymore.

Which made it perfect for secrecy

I stayed close, ducking behind a low stone wall just as she stopped near the fence. My breath hitched when I saw the silhouette of a lady behind the old stable

"You failed Mira, I gave you a very simple task to frame Ivy into a spy and get her thrown out of this pack but you failed woefully" The hidden lady uttered in a low pitched tone.

"I did exactly as you asked me to, I got one of the confidential letters and hid it in her back just like you asked, I don't know why the Alpha is still yet to throw her out up till now" Mira complained

Me, they were trying to get Lucien to throw me out of the pack..... But why?

"We must find another way Mira, we must throw that wench from Blackwood pack out of our pack. The Blackwood Alpha, Alpha Kael, he's looking for her, there's even a bounty on her head, we must get her out of our pack, away from Alpha Lucien before she corrupts his mind with her schemimg ways" The lady stated, her tone laced with bitterness

I froze.

Kael.

It felt like my lungs had caved in.

Kael was looking for me. A bounty has been placed on my head.

My blood turned cold.

I need to resolve this issue fast and earn my place here.
If Kael is already looking for me then that means, it won't be long now before he figures my location, and I need to have this pack on my side before that happens.

I need to find out who that lady talking to Mira is.

I tried to move closer, but the loose gravel beneath me betrayed me with a faint crunch.

Mira’s head snapped around. “Who’s there?”

The lady's silhouette immediately disappeared

I dropped low behind the wall, my heart racing.

Then I heard her footsteps rushing off in the opposite direction.

I stayed hidden a moment longer, adrenaline searing through my limbs.

When I finally stood, she was gone. But I had enough.

Enough to know what was coming for me. Enough to know this went deeper than just pack rumors.

But I needed proof. More than whispers and assumptions. 

Proof that Mira was trying to frame me

And I needed allies, because if more people found out that a bounty has been placed on my head, then....

I touched my stomach gently through my coat.

No one was taking my child from me.

Not Kael. Not Mira. Not anyone.

I returned back to my room and laid on my bed, my mind consumed with thoughts.
......

The next day, Dorian found me just after training, just as my arms ached and my palms were burning raw from gripping the training blades too tight. I’d gone harder today. I had to. The stares were heavier. The whispers more venomous. And there was a bounty on my head

“The Alpha wants to see you in his office.”

Just that. No emotion. No hint of why.

Still, my stomach twisted.

By the time I was walking into Lucien’s office, my heart was beating out a war drum in my ears. I kept my spine straight, my expression neutral, calm, but not submissive.

Lucien sat behind his desk, a stack of papers before him, untouched. His gaze lifted slowly, settling on me with that unreadable intensity of his.

“Ivy.”

I nodded once. “Alpha.”

He gestured to the seat across from him. “Sit.”

I obeyed, careful not to fidget.

He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. “How long were you planning to let me find out from others that there’s a bounty on your head?”

The words hit like a slap, but I didn’t flinch.

He continued, voice steady. “Ten thousand silver for your capture, alive. Circulating through rogue networks, bounty circles, and even a few small packs. Quiet, but serious.”

I sucked in a breath. “I didn’t know.”

“Didn’t you?”

I met his eyes. “If I did, I wouldn’t be staying in one place long enough to be found.”

There was a beat of silence between us, thick with things unsaid.

“And this connection to the Blackwood Pack?” he said, almost casually, but I heard the steel beneath it

My stomach twisted again, this time harder.

I forced a blank expression. “I don’t have any connection to Blackwood.”

A lie. A clean, desperate lie.

Because I didn’t know if I could trust him, not entirely. Not yet. Lucien was powerful, calculating, and kind in the way fire was kind when it warmed you before it burned.

His jaw ticked. “Odd. Because the Alpha Kael seemed to be very interested in you, he placed the bounty on your head.”

I shook my head. “I left my old pack because I wasn’t safe there. But I’m not a spy, Alpha Lucien. I’ve never betrayed this pack. I’ve never fed anyone information. I don’t sneak away at night. I train, I eat, I stay in my room. That’s it.”

His eyes stayed on me for a long time. Reading me. Peeling me open without laying a finger on me.

My fingers dug into the edge of the seat.

“I know I’m not wanted here,” I continued, voice quieter. “I know what they say. That I’m some kind of spy. A threat. I didn’t come here to hurt anyone. I just wanted a chance to—”

“To survive?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

Lucien leaned forward slightly. His gaze didn’t soften, but there was something else there now. A flicker. A shift.

“Not all wolves bite the hand that saved them, I hope you are such a wolf, and you wouldn't bite the pack that took you in when you were lost” he said quietly.

I stared at him and nodded.

He didn’t believe the rumors. Not fully. Maybe not at all. But he couldn’t afford to say it out loud. Not yet. Not with the pack still sharpening their claws.

So he gave me the next best thing, subtle, rare support. A space to breathe.

And maybe.… a reason to keep fighting.

“Is there anything else I should know, Ivy?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No, Alpha.”

Another lie.

But I’d carry it a little longer.

For my baby.

For myself.