Chapter 68 Eight Days to the Summit
Ivy POV
Eight days before the summit, I stopped taking breaks. Lucas didn’t argue with me. He just watched me at breakfast, saw how I was moving, and gave a small nod. It was his way of saying I was okay enough to continue.
We went back to work.
The days started to feel the same. In the mornings, I worked with Lucas on summit prep. We went over names, faces, and pack politics. Who would stand where, why they mattered, what each alpha wanted, and what they were scared of underneath it all.
In the afternoons, it was Caden.
He didn’t teach the way Lucas did. Lucas just gave me facts. Caden stayed with me until I understood what to do with them. It wasn’t just knowing that Alpha Brennan had a border issue with the Scottish pack. It was knowing what that meant when they were both in the same room, with everyone watching every small move.
“When Brennan looks at Voss,” Caden asked one afternoon, “what is he really looking for?”
“Confirmation,” I said. “That choosing Voss was the right decision.”
"And if he doesn't get it?" Caden said.
"He starts looking for an exit," I said.
Caden looked at me.
"Yes," he said.
The compound changed around me slowly.
Nothing obvious. Nothing loud. It just shifted a little at a time. Kip started waiting outside my door every morning.
Elena began leaving tea on my bedside table at night, like it was the most natural thing in the world. The two younger pack members; the ones who had stared at me so openly during the meeting started nodding when I passed them.
Small things. But I felt all of them.
Sera found me on Thursday. I was sitting on the bench at the edge of the clearing, reading. My ribs were still healing. Not fully, but better. She sat down beside me without saying anything.
I closed the book.
"How are you finding it?" she said.
"Oregon?" I said.
"The compound," she said. "The pack."
I thought about it honestly.
"Strange," I said. "But not bad strange."
She nodded.
"It takes time," she said. "To feel like you belong somewhere."
"Does it get easier?" I said.
"Yes," she said. "Once they know you."
"They don't know me yet," I said.
"“No,” she said. “But they’re watching.”
She turned her eyes toward the trees like she could see the whole pack through them.
“This pack has been with Alpha Caden for nine years. They trust him.” She paused for a moment, then added, quieter, “They’re watching to see if he was right about you.”
"And if it is?" I said.
"Then you are welcome in the pack," she said simply. I looked at the trees.
““I’m a wolf,” I said.
She nodded like she already knew.
“What if my wolf changes things?” I asked.
She looked at me, and I didn’t look away.
“When it comes out,” I said, softer now, “what I really am… will that change how they see me?”
Sera didn’t answer right away. She just stayed quiet for a moment.
"Yes," she said.
"Good or bad?" I asked.
She held my gaze steady.
"Depends on the wolf," she said.
Friday morning, Lucas came to my room at seven. He had a folder in his hand. I sat up and immediately felt the pain in my rips. I winced. He noticed but didn't say a word. He sat down by the window instead.
"Remus," he said.
I looked at him.
"We found something," he said.
He opened the folder and spread three pages across my bed. Financial records. Message logs. A timeline of events.
I went through it slowly. My face stayed still, but my thoughts didn’t. Then I looked up at him.
"He's been feeding Voss information," I said.
"Yes," Lucas said.
"How long?" I said.
"Two years," Lucas said. "Maybe longer."
I looked down at the pages again. Two years of work. The Albany search. The Miriam case. Everything tied to summit prep.
And all of it… Remus had been feeding it out.
“Does Caden know?” I asked.
“Not yet,” Lucas said. “I only found it this morning.”
“So you’re telling me first,” I said.
“You were already awake,” he said simply. “He’s in a call with the European council.”
I looked at the sheets.
"This is why Voss knew about Vermont," I said.
"Yes," Lucas said.
"This is why the rogues found us in New York," I said.
"Yes," Lucas said.
I sat with it for a while. Two years of Remus sitting across from Caden. Taking reports. Filing data. Running searches. And quietly sending it all to Voss.
“He trusts him,” I said softly.
“Yes,” Lucas said.
“Nine years,” I said.
“Yes,” Lucas said again.
I looked at Lucas. His face didn’t give much away. Not empty. Just shut down in a careful way. Like he was holding something fragile and knew if he slipped, it would all fall apart.
"“You’ve known him longer than nine years,” I said.
Lucas didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. The silence said enough.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.
He picked up the folder and stood.
“Don’t be,” he said. “Just… be there when he finds out.”
He moved toward the door, then stopped like something pulled him back for a second.
“He’s going to need someone who isn’t a pack member right now,” he said. “Someone who doesn’t look at him and see the Alpha King.”
He left. I stayed sitting on the edge of the bed, the papers still spread out in front of me. Two years. All of it sitting there.
I got dressed and went downstairs. Caden was coming out of his office. He saw me and stopped. His eyes went straight to my face.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Come sit,” I said.
He watched me for a second, then followed me into the kitchen. I made coffee. My hands felt steady even though they weren’t. I set a cup in front of him and sat down across the table. Then I told him.