Page 16 of Eclipse of the Pack

“You left me.” She grumbled, marching to her mate and nuzzling her way into his chest.

“Well, someone’s grumpy this morning,” Jon chuckled. He wrapped his arms around her waist. His smile slowly dropped as he remembered the gravity if the situation they were in.

“… Hey.” He said after a moment of silence. “We need to talk.”

19

IVY

Ivy narrowed her eyes at Jon, her brow knit in confusion at his sudden shift in tone. Jonathen used one arm to pull her closer. He held her waist in a possessive and protective way. The other arm gestured wildly as he spoke.

“We need a plan. We need to fix this mess – we need a way to-”

“Whoa, whoa. Slow down.” Ivy cut him off mid rant, earning a very confused and exasperated look from her lover. Ivy frowned deeply. “You’re… talking like we could fix this. Fix the world. We can’t, there’s no way.”

Ivy could feel her heart ache at the wave of sadness and anger that washed over his features.

“… You don’t know that.” He said quietly. The determined fire in his eyes still ablaze.

Yes. Shedidknow that. She had known deep down for a long time. she had been fighting all her life to prevent a war, to prevent the powder keg of conflict from exploding, and it still had. The worst case situation had already happened.

“Jonathen, look at me.” She said slowly. She cupped his jaw as she coaxed him to look down at her. His eyes met hers. She took a deep breath.

“If Gideon’s Torch had their way, it would be all shifters against humans. Not just the wolves. It would be ‘us’ vs ‘them’, more than it is now. It would be chaos!”

“But-”

“There are no ‘buts’ Jon! You can’t reason with them. There is no reasoning. If this blows up any more – if this gets any more out of hand? It would destroy everything. All hopes of progress would be gone. There would be no coming back from that. It would be war.”

Ivy felt his grip on her waist tighten to the point it was almost painful. She could sense Jon’s anxiety in the tightness of his grip, the tension in his muscles, the way his fingertips twitched. He was scared. For her. For both of them. For the future. He did not hide it well.

She laid her head on his shoulder, letting her words sink in. The two stood in silence for the span of what felt like a lifetime. Neither of them dared to break the resounding quiet that filled the room.

“… Then… Then what are we supposed to do?”

Jonathen’s voice was just as quiet as before. Frustration laced his low tone. She wanted to reassure him. To say something to lift his spirits. But she didn’t. She couldn’t.

They broke free of one another’s grasp after a long moment of silence. They sat down together, eating the now stale assortment of food to fill the empty pits that had formed in their stomachs. Soon, Ivy sat, tucked in to her mate’s side. Tracing patterns on his back with her fingertips.

Jon had not given up just yet. The fire in his eyes was still burning. He still had the childish, naïve flicker of hope forchange that Ivy herself had in the beginning. Only. Now, she knew better.

The world is cruel. It will always be cruel. Hatred would not simply die if Gideon’s Torch put down their weapons. Existence itself is war, and it will always be a battle. Finally, Ivy spoke again.

She chose next her words carefully, trying to work out the building tension in Jonathen’s shoulders.

“All we can do now is get to Griffen. He’s our best bet… Well. Our only bet now.”

20

JONATHEN

The two stood in silence for a few long minutes. Neither Ivy or Jonathen moved, neither spoke, and neither broke away from one another’s embrace. They just held each other in the still and the quiet, knowing that soon they would have to go and face the world outside once again.

Jon wanted to pull Ivy back to his chest as she finally let go, but he didn’t. Instead the two set about preparing to leave. Ivy did most of the work, as Jon found himself lost in his thoughts. He could not help the nagging feeling that was gnawing at the back of his mind.

He paused for a second longer before he finally spoke, getting her attention.

“Ivy?” Jon asked slowly. Attempting to perfect the question in his head before he said it. “… Why do we have to go to Griffen? Why not the government? – Why not someone else.Anyoneelse-?”

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