Chapter 73 Summit Day One
Ivy POV
Elena had laid out a simple black dress before I woke up. I stood in front of the mirror. After a while I went downstairs.
Caden was waiting outside. Dark suit. No tie. He looked at me when I came down.
The summit started in forty minutes.The facility sat on three hundred acres of private land with only a way in and out. Under Caden’s ground and terms.
Cars were already in the lot when we arrived. Alphas and their beta stood in groups outside, talking low and watching everything.
I felt the energy before we even stopped. The air right before a storm decides to break. I watched through the window.
Every conversation outside stopped. Heads bowed as Caden got out and waited at the door. I got out and stood beside him.
Every eyes landed on me with quiet judgment. I kept my face blank, looked forward, and walked in. The room was large. A long table, high ceilings with windows looking out over the forest.
Fourteen alphas were already seated and settling into their places. Their betas stood behind them.
I took at the faces from the summit files as I moved through them. Alpha Brennan — Irish territory. Alpha Hargrove — Pacific Northwest. Alpha Chen — Seattle. And at the far end of the table. Voss.
I had mentally built a picture of him. The picture wasn’t wrong. Just incomplete. He was older than I expected. Gray at the temples with an air of authority that doesn’t come naturally.
He looked at me the moment I walked in. I could tell he had been waiting for this exact moment for a long time and knew it had finally arrived. He smiled at me. Small. Cold.
Caden opened the session with two words.
"We begin."
No welcome speech. No acknowledgment of the Alphas and their betas.
The first session stayed procedural. Territory reports from each alpha. Border updates. Pack census numbers. The administrative work of the wolf world laid out in pieces.
I sat at Caden’s right, listened and watched. By the third hour, the procedural reports were done. Caden shifted the room into open discussion. That was when Voss leaned forward.
“Before the open discussion,” he said. “I’d like to note for the record that this summit is being attended by a non-wolf.”
The room went still.
“A human,” Voss said. “Seated with the Alpha King.”
Caden looked at him. He didn’t speak.
“The summit charter is clear,” Voss said. “This table is for pack leaders only.” He paused. “I’d like clarification on the basis for this individual’s presence.”
His argument sounded impossible to challenge at first glance.
“My mate accompanies me,” Caden said. “As is my right under pack law.”
“It applies to wolf mates,” Voss said. “Not humans.”
“Pack law applies to mates,” Caden said. “The word human does not appear in it.”
Voss held his gaze.
“A matter of interpretation,” he said.
“A matter of language,” Caden said. “Which is clear.”
Voss looked at me. Every Alpha and Beta in the room followed. I kept my face steady.
“We’ll move to open discussion,” Caden said.
The open discussion ran for another two hours. Territory disputes. Trade agreements between packs. A rogue situation in the Canadian territories that needed a joint response.
The session ended at six. The summit was to last for three days, in a sealed environment. Accommodation was already assigned within the facility. It was contained on purpose. Just the alphas and their betas.
Dinner was at seven. The formal atmosphere was gone now. People stopped pretending. The careful masks started slipping, and the real conversations finally started coming out.
I sat beside Caden. Alpha Brennan was three seats down. He caught my eye and gave a small nod. Voss sat at the far end of the table from Caden.
He looked easy. Controlled. Like he was showing the room he wasn’t under pressure.
During dessert, Voss looked at me. He held my gaze for a few seconds.Then leaned toward the alpha beside him and said something low. The alpha glanced at me, then looked away.
After dinner, the alphas moved into the reception room. Drinks. Smaller conversations. Lucas was beside me within thirty seconds of us stepping in.
“Voss has spoken to four of his coalition members since dinner ended,” he said quietly.
He looked at me.
“He’s setting something up for tomorrow,” I said.
“Yes,” Lucas said.
“And it’s going to be about me,” I said.
“Yes,” Lucas said.
I looked across the room. Voss was speaking with Alpha Hargrove. Hargrove listened with an expression that shows he was considering an offer but hasn't decided yet.
“I need to talk to Alpha Hargrove tonight,” I said.
Lucas looked at me.
“Before Voss finishes with him,” I said.
“Ivy”
“Not officially,” I said. “Just… talk to him.” I held Lucas’s gaze. “He doesn’t know what to make of me yet. That actually works in our favor.”
Lucas looked at Alpha Hargrove. Then back at me.
“Five minutes,” he said. “I’ll create an opening.”
Lucas was good at this kind of thing. Three minutes later, Alpha Hargrove was standing near the window with a drink in his hand.
I was two feet away, looking out at the forest like I’d been there the whole time and not just arrived.
“It’s a good view,” I said.
He looked at me.
“The forest,” I said. “We don’t get this in New York.”
He was quiet for a moment.
“You’re from New York,” he said.
“NYU,” I said. “Second year psychology.”
He looked at me like he wasn’t sure what to do with that information.
“Psychology,” he said.
“Yes,” I said.
A pause.
“What do you study?” he asked.
“Why people do what they do,” I said. “What drives their decisions. What people are actually afraid of underneath the reasons they give.”
He held his drink and didn’t respond right away.
“It’s useful,” I said. “In rooms like this.”
He looked at me for a long moment. Then something in his face shifted. Not much, but enough.
“I can imagine,” he said quietly.
I stayed with him for a while then went to find Caden at ten. He was standing by the window in our room. He looked at me as soon as I stepped inside.
“Alpha Hargrove,” he said.
“Yes,” I said.
“What did you say to him?” he asked.
“Nothing important,” I said. “Just a friendly talk.”
Caden looked at me.
“He’s not going to stand by Voss tomorrow,” I said.
Caden held my gaze.
“You got that from a five-minute conversation about psychology?” he asked.
“I got that from watching him decide something while we were talking,” I said.
He looked at me for a long moment. Then.
“Get some sleep.”
He crossed the room and stopped in front of me. He looked at me the same way he had in the kitchen two nights ago. Then he kissed me. Brief. Certain. Like a reminder of where we stood.
He stepped back.
“Sleep,” he said.
Tomorrow, Voss would come for me. And I was ready.