Chapter 20: A Shift

Chapter 20: A Shift
Ivy’s POV

There was a pack meeting today and every wolf was meant to be in attendance to discuss pack matters.

The hall was packed. Wall to wall with wolves, faces I’d seen every day, and yet none of them looked familiar anymore. Not with the way their eyes flicked toward me like I was something vile stuck to the bottom of their boots.

I stood at the edge of the gathering, tension coiling in my gut like a storm waiting to break. I didn’t know why Lucien had asked me to attend a meeting filled with the entire pack like this. But I’d learned by now, he never did anything without purpose.

And then he stepped onto the raised platform at the front of the hall

The room fell silent instantly.

Alpha Lucien didn’t need to shout to command a room. His presence alone cut through the air like a blade. And today, that blade felt sharper than ever.

“This gathering,” he began, voice deep and even, “isn’t about status or strength. It’s about something far more dangerous, what happens to a pack when trust begins to rot.”

A few wolves shifted uncomfortably.

“We’ve allowed suspicion, rumor, and cowardice to fester among us. And worse, we’ve allowed it to go unchecked.” His gaze swept the crowd, cool and steady. “That ends now.”

And then.… he did something no one expected.

He turned towards the corner where I stood. Then he held out his hand motioning for me to come

My breath caught. The air in the room changed.

Slowly, hesitantly, I walked toward him. Every step felt like walking through fire, all their stares burning into me like torches.

Lucien didn’t say a word until I was standing beside him.

Then he turned back to the pack and said, “Ivy is not a threat. She is not a traitor. She is under my protection. And any wolf who chooses to challenge that will answer to me.”

There was a heavy silence.

I saw Mira’s jaw clench, her hands curling into fists. Others shared her outrage, though none dared speak it aloud. Not when Lucien’s eyes glinted with that dangerous silver edge.

“Let this be the last time I have to address it,” Lucien added coolly. “Dismissed.”

Just like that, it was over.

The crowd dispersed in a slow, quiet wave, shock and resentment tangled in their expressions.

I didn’t speak as I stepped off the platform. I didn’t thank him. I couldn’t. My throat was tight and my heart was racing and all I could think about was how much more dangerous this had just become.

Because now I wasn’t just the girl they suspected.

I was the girl the Alpha defended.

And that will make me a target.

Later that evening, I waited by the edge of the training field, near the woods where the lanterns didn’t quite reach. The moment Mira appeared, striding away from the main pack house with that smug tilt to her chin, I stepped into her path.

She stopped short, narrowing her eyes.

“You should watch where you walk, Ivy,” she sneered. “Not everyone has the Alpha’s favor to hide behind.”

I took a step closer, feeling that slow, simmering heat rising in my blood. No more shrinking. No more silence.

“I’m not hiding behind anyone,” I said calmly. “But you might want to find someone to hide behind to protect you from me”

Her smile faltered. Just a flicker. Enough for me to keep going.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull off, Mira. I don’t know what secret you’re afraid I’ll find. But I’m not scared of you,” I whispered. “You, on the other hand…. you should be very afraid of me.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but I was already walking away, heart pounding, pulse racing.

I wasn’t bluffing.

I didn’t know what I was becoming.

But I knew one thing for sure....

I wasn’t the girl who ran anymore. The girl who was hunted.

From now on, I am going to be the one doing the hunting
.........

The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of fire and gold when I heard a scream.

It came from the training fields near the lake, where the younger wolves had been allowed some time to relax after drills. I was passing by, towel around my neck, sweat clinging to my skin from my own training session. I wouldn’t have paid much attention, children screaming during play wasn’t unusual, until the panic in the voice struck me like a slap.

“He’s not coming up!” I heard another voice scream

My feet moved before my mind fully registered it it
The air thickened with shouts and the pounding of feet. I raced toward the lake, eyes scanning for what had caused the sudden chaos.

And then I saw him.

A boy, barely ten, thrashing in the deep end of the lake, his arms flailing uselessly before they slipped under the surface.

Time slowed.

The others froze. Some shouted, some just watched. Even the patrol standing nearby hesitated, unsure whether to jump in.

But I didn’t hesitate.

I tossed my towel, kicked off my boots, and dove in.

The cold bit into my skin as I cut through the water. The current was stronger than I expected, dragging me off-course, but I pushed harder, kicking my legs, eyes open under the murky surface. My hands searched through the dark until, there. A flash of movement, a small arm drifting lifelessly.

I grabbed him.

He wasn’t moving.

My lungs screamed, but I didn’t stop. I pulled him to my chest and kicked upward, breaking the surface with a gasp as I heaved his limp body above water.

By the time I reached the shore, two wolves rushed forward to help drag him from my arms.

I dropped beside him, pressing two fingers to his neck. There was a beat, it was faint, but it was there. I didn’t think. I just started compressions, forcing rhythm into his tiny chest.

“One, two, three, breathe,” I murmured, tilting his head back.

Come on. Come on, little wolf.

A cough. Then another. Water burst from his mouth as he rolled to his side, crying and sputtering.

He was alive.

A breath I didn’t know I’d been holding escaped me. Around me, the crowd was silent, staring.

I stood slowly, soaked and shivering, but calm. Steady.

The boy’s mother broke through the crowd, sobbing as she dropped to her knees and pulled him into her arms. “Thank you,” she cried, over and over.

I nodded. “He’ll be okay,” I said quietly

That’s when I felt it.

Dozens of eyes on me, but not like before. No glares. No suspicion.

Confusion.

Respect.

Wonder.

“I didn’t think she’d actually jump,” someone whispered.

“She saved him without a second thought.…”

“But she’s supposed to be dangerous, right?”

“She risked her life. For someone else’s kid.”

I didn’t respond.

I simply picked up my towel, wrung out my soaked shirt, and walked away from the lake like it hadn’t happened.

Because I didn’t need their praise.

I didn’t need their pity.

I just needed peace.
......

Later that evening, as I sat outside the infirmary wrapped in a blanket, sipping warm tea, I heard their voices again. They weren’t hiding this time.

“She’s not what I thought she was.”

“She didn’t even hesitate. Not once.”

And when another wolf passed me by, instead of the usual sneer, he offered a small nod.

A ripple had started

A shift in my favor.