They Called Me a Homewrecker——Then Three Wolves Refused to Let Me Go

POV: Ace

Forget last night.

I made it back to the ballroom before the words stopped burning.

Ivy had looked me in the face and called the first night I had spent with her a mistake.

She had no idea I had been waiting five years for the chance to hear her say my name.

That was the problem.

She didn't remember me.

Five years earlier, at Moon Camp, I was eighteen and sick of being watched like the future Alpha every second of the day. I had slipped away from the bonfire and taken the boundary trail alone.

Halfway to the river, I heard someone scream.

By the time I reached the bank, a girl was already in the water.

Sixteen, maybe. Small. Dark hair plastered across her face as the current rolled her under.

I didn't think.

I jumped.

The river was snowmelt cold and strong enough to drag both of us downstream. I caught the back of her jacket on the second try and fought toward the bank. A submerged branch tore my wrist open when I shoved her ahead of me.

I barely felt it.

She was coughing by the time I pulled her onto the mud.

Alive.

That was all that mattered.

Then her scent reached me.

Faint under river water and fear.

Vanilla. Wildflowers. Something that made my wolf slam against my ribs so hard I nearly shifted on top of her.

Mate.

The word landed with the certainty of instinct.

She was sixteen.

Terrified.

Half-conscious.

So I did the only decent thing I could do.

I wrapped her in my coat, carried her to the medics, and kept my mouth shut.

By morning, her family had taken her home.

I went to Marcus before breakfast.

"Who was the girl from the river?"

He told me her name.

Ivy.

A week later, I left for Alpha training in the Northern Pack.

I told myself distance would help.

It didn't.

Chloe made it worse without knowing.

She mentioned Ivy in calls home. Ivy hated statistics. Ivy had made the dean's list. Ivy had broken her wrist sophomore year. Ivy was applying for a competitive seminar. Tiny facts that should have meant nothing became markers I stored away.

I never contacted her.

She was building a life. I wasn't going to walk into it waving fate like a legal document.

Then Chloe mentioned Dean.

I hated him before I met him.

When I walked into the campus cafe and saw him letting a room full of people call Ivy a homewrecker to protect himself, I came close to losing control.

Claiming she was my girlfriend had been strategy.

It had also been the easiest lie I had ever told.

Then came the nightclub.

She had shoved fifty dollars against my chest, looked at me with tequila-bright eyes, and called me a gigolo.

I should have been offended.

I almost laughed.

I kept her at that booth until she was sober enough to know exactly what she was doing. I gave her every chance to walk away.

She chose me anyway.

That was what had wrecked me.

Not the sex.

The choice.

For a few hours, I let myself believe her wolf had finally caught up with mine.

Then I woke to an empty bed.

And tonight she had told me to erase it.

I picked up a bourbon from a passing tray and forced my shoulders to loosen.

Cornering her would only make her run harder.

I knew enough about frightened wolves to understand that.

Across the ballroom, Chloe stood with her mother and two elders. Dean hovered several yards away looking like a man waiting for permission to approach his own execution.

The engagement wasn't settled.

Sarah had taken off the ring, but her family and Dean's had already begun using words like misunderstanding, repair, obligation, alliance.

Politics could resurrect relationships that should have stayed dead.

I walked over to Chloe.

"You surviving?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Ask me after Mom finishes explaining why public cheating is apparently less embarrassing than a canceled wedding."

"Sarah can still say no."

"I know. I wish she'd believe that."

She sounded tired enough to mean it.

I wanted to ask where Ivy had gone.

I didn't.

Instead, I said, "You're still going on the family Moon trip next week?"

"Apparently canceling would signal instability to the elders." Chloe made air quotes. "God forbid anyone think our family has feelings."

Normally, I avoided those trips on principle.

This year, I changed my mind.

"I'll go."

Chloe stared at me. "You told Marcus you'd rather chew glass."

"People evolve."

"You don't."

I ignored that.

"Bring Ivy."

Her suspicion sharpened for half a second.

"Why?"

I kept my face neutral.

"Because she's dealing with the same mess you are. She shouldn't spend four days alone while half the university tears her apart online."

Chloe's expression softened.

Good.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea."

"I have those occasionally."

"Rarely enough that I should document this one."

She walked away to find Ivy.

I took my bourbon out to the balcony.

Cold air hit my face.

I called Ryder.

He answered on the third ring. Pool balls cracked together in the background.

"Tell me you're calling because you finally escaped the engagement-party funeral."

"Clear next week."

"No."

"Moon Camp."

"Absolutely not."

"Bring Elias."

Ryder went quiet.

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"That answer worked better before you left for five years and came back thinking you're charming."

I looked through the glass doors.

Ivy had returned to the ballroom.

She stood beside Chloe with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"There's someone I want you to meet," I said.

Ryder made a sound of interest.

"A woman?"

"Don't make me regret calling."

"Too late. Elias is here. You're on speaker."

A calmer voice joined the line.

"If this is about Moon Camp, no."

"Both of you are coming."

Ryder laughed. "Now I definitely want to know who she is."

I hung up.

At the time, inviting my two closest friends seemed smart. Ryder could occupy the security teams. Elias could keep the elders from trying to turn every meal into a political meeting. Their presence would make the trip feel casual.

Most importantly, Ivy would have fewer reasons to suspect I had agreed to attend because of her.

I looked through the doors again.

She glanced up.

Our eyes met across the ballroom.

Her expression tightened before she looked away.

Four days in the mountains wouldn't fix five years of distance.

But it would give me time.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket.

What I didn't know was that I had just invited the only two men in the pack capable of becoming a real problem for me.