Chapter 45 – Memories (Ivy’s POV)

Chapter 45 – Memories (Ivy’s POV)
I found Elias in the mansion’s study that morning, hunched over a ledger at his mahogany desk. He glanced up as I slipped in, a small knowing smile on his lined face.

“Well, good morning, Isabella,” he greeted warmly. “Sleep well?”

Heat crept up my neck. Did everyone in this house know my business? I mustered a polite smile. “Well enough, thank you.”

Elias’s dark eyes gleamed with mischief. “I bet you did. Young love can be exhausting, hm?”

I stiffened. “Don’t get the wrong idea,” I muttered. “It’s not... love.”

He chuckled and raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, no teasing. Come, sit. You look like you have something on your mind.”

Elias waited patiently as I sank into a leather armchair opposite his desk. After a long moment of silence, he prompted gently, “How are you holding up, my girl? You’ve been through a lot in a short time.”

I swallowed. That was an understatement. “I’m... alright,” I replied carefully. “Physically, anyway. The bruises are mostly gone.”

“And otherwise?” Elias pressed softly.

I glanced down at my hands twisting together in my lap. How to even answer? My entire life had been upended. I’d killed two men with my bare hands. I was entangled with the enemy in ways I never expected – and maybe even feeling things I absolutely shouldn’t. And I’d discovered secrets about my family that cracked the foundation of everything I thought I knew about myself.

Instead of trying to articulate all that, I latched onto one thread that had been tugging at me relentlessly since yesterday. “Elias... can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” He leaned back, folding his weathered hands over his middle.

“It’s about my family. My past.”

His bushy brows knitted slightly, but he nodded for me to continue.

I wet my lips. “Yesterday, when those men attacked me... something happened. I still don’t understand how I... how I did what I did.” I forced myself to meet his gaze. “I killed two of them. With nothing but my hands and...”

The memory sent a shudder through me. I quickly pressed on. “Afterward, when I finally had time to think... I started wondering about where that strength came from. About who I really am. And I realized I know almost nothing about my own origins.”

Elias’s lined face softened. Somehow, since I had supposedly given into Damian, everyone in the mansion seemed much more comfortable with me – including Elias. He inclined his head slowly. “Your father never spoke of it, did he?”

My throat constricted. “Antonio Romano wasn’t exactly an open book,” I said bitterly. “He raised me and my brother on his own, but he told us almost nothing about his past. Certainly nothing about... this.” I gestured vaguely, meaning the whole supernatural nightmare I’d stumbled into.

Elias stayed quiet, letting me unspool the years of questions knotted inside me.

“We moved around a lot when I was little,” I began haltingly. “Never staying in one town more than a year or two. I used to think my dad was just restless, or maybe hiding from some trouble. In hindsight, I guess he was hiding – just not in any way I imagined then.” I swallowed. “By the time I was ten, we’d settled in one place and I hoped we’d finally have a normal life. Then one evening Luca – my brother – went for a walk in the woods... and he never came back.”

Elias drew a slow breath. He’d likely heard some version of this story already from others, but not from my lips.

“They said an animal killed him,” I continued, voice tight. “A ‘forest beast.’” I practically spat the words. “He was fifteen. I was eleven.”

Elias’s eyes closed briefly. “I’m so sorry, Ivy.”

I managed a stiff nod, throat burning. “After that, my father changed. He was distraught, of course – but it was more than grief. He was suddenly terrified. Within a week of the funeral, we fled.”

“Just like that?” Elias murmured.

“Just like that. No warning. One night he tossed our essentials in a truck and we left Oregon. In hindsight, I realize he was running from something, constantly on edge.”

I paused, nails digging into my palms. Piece by piece, I was fitting the puzzle together out loud. “Then, only a few months later, my father left me. He abandoned me with a family friend in California where I grew up with their daughter – Bianca – and disappeared. I was just twelve.” My voice wavered despite myself. “I never saw him again.”

“Ivy...” Elias’s voice held deep compassion.

I sucked in a breath, blinking back the sting in my eyes. “He left me, and I never knew why,” I said, quiet and hard. “I spent years searching for him in vain. Eventually I thought maybe he was dead. Or simply didn’t want to be found.”

A tear slipped down my cheek. I brushed it away angrily. “Then yesterday happened. I did things I can’t explain – things no human should do. And I started thinking about Luca’s death, and my father’s panic, and all the unanswered questions I’ve carried for so long.”

I looked Elias square in the face, my heart thudding. “My father was one of you, wasn’t he? A werewolf. And he never told me.”

Elias exhaled slowly, guilt flickering in his eyes. He didn’t answer immediately, which was answer enough.

My laugh came out hollow. “He was running from his past all those years. Running from this.” I gestured around at the opulent study, the whole hidden world it represented. “Luca’s death... that wasn’t just some random animal attack, was it? It was connected to your world.”

Elias’s silence was telling.

“That’s why we were always moving,” I whispered. “Why he abandoned me. He thought it was the only way to keep me safe.”

“Ivy—” Elias began, regret etched on his face.

I shot to my feet, suddenly unable to sit still. “All these years, I hated him for leaving,” I said, pacing a tight line on the Persian rug. “I thought he was a coward or a criminal or just didn’t love me. And the whole time, he was a damned werewolf who got in too deep and put a target on our backs!”

My voice cracked. I pressed my fist to my mouth, trying to stifle a sob of frustration. “He lied to me my entire life. He left me utterly alone to deal with... with this mess he made.” Tears blurred my vision but I blinked them back fiercely.

Elias rounded the desk swiftly and laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. I stiffened, but didn’t shake him off. I was too raw to accept comfort, but a part of me appreciated the silent solidarity.

“You’ve carried these questions a long time,” Elias said softly. “I’m so sorry, Ivy. Your father—”

“Had his reasons, I know,” I interrupted bitterly. I let out a long, trembling breath. “He thought leaving was the only way to protect me. Maybe it was.” My shoulders sagged. “But it doesn’t hurt any less.”

The thing was… there was more to find out.