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Post by Decoii on May 5, 2021 21:53:53 GMT -5
(( Ventia my minds inability to be Ivan sometimes pissed me off) The thing about people, that Ivan has known for a very long time, is that they all loved to talk. There was no secret in the world that belonged to only one person. There was no one person carrying a burden that they've decided to carry alone. No burden that was only witnessed by one single person. Someone was bound to know things, someone else always knew. The problem was, finding the right person that knew the right thing. Or discovering what people didn't even know they knew, and building a trail from that. But time had a thing of always hiding things as well, as it should. For Ivan, who had been dead for many years, the journey to find his daughter was not the easiest. He knew the names of some of the players in the game back then, finding most of them dead. The others too stunned at Ivan's return to make the conversation easier. Always swerving off topic, always feeding him false information. For Ivan, the subject was too personal for him to forgive those that misled him, and in return for those hinderances, he came back to take their lives. The code these people lived by with time had also changed. There was less loyalty, less willingness to have a sense of moral. Not that these people had a big sense of that to begin with, the job just tended to take that way from people, but time had changed things for the worst. It was an honest disappointment. One that made Ivan struggle a bit too much for his liking. But then again, people liked talking, and that's how he got most of his leads. By people who ran their mouths a little too much. There was no paper trail when it came to trafficking pack children. Just the obvious notion that the child cost more depending on which pack it was taken from, and the status of their parents. It happened all the time, a way of revenge to those in power, and that's how Ivan started his search for his daughter Elena. Seeing as she had been the only child in New Dawn that was taken, he thought he had a chance but those leads went cold. His mates name should have stood strong even with time, those who had taken Elena still would be known for the act. But when nothing came up, Ivan had to start searching in other places, feeling slightly defeated. But names started popping up a bit too frequently and with some searching, and a lot of luck, Ivan realized that maybe Elena's disappearance had nothing to do with who she was. But who had wanted a child. He almost dismissed the idea at first, but curiosity made him travel almost three thousand miles away from where he was searching. His curiosity led him to a café, where he watched a young girl, with tattoo's of his face, and those brilliant eyes of his daughter. He supposed that it was better than finding her dead, better than knowing she was sold off and killed to a prick that was in need of power, better than knowing she was raped and killed. Ivan knew the person who took her, knew that his daughter had grown in a protected home. Loved. that was the most aggravating part of it all and Ivan had found himself going back to his mate, not knowing what to tell her. not wanting to return empty handed, he studied the documents that Ventia had given him and decided that he was going to bring at least one of their children back, one way or another. So he stalked his other child, studied the flow of people coming in and out of the first floor of the compound that she lived and decided that his best course of action, should probably be a short and cruel one. If the girl didn't listen to her own mother, who she knew, she wouldn't listen to a stranger of a father. So in the middle of the night, he taped half a dozen homemade bombs to the bottom of some cubicles, waited during the day for the male that she was always around to show up, held a gun to his temple, tied his hand behind his back, and sat in the farthest back of the office area near an emergency exit. To say it wasn't his brightest plan was an understatement but Ivan at that point wasn't in the best of moods. He showed off the series of bombs tied to his own body at the male, promising to blow them both up if the male did anything funny. Telling him of all the other bombs and if the man didn't believe him, he was more than willing to pick who died. He had texted his daughter from the guys phone too, asking her to come down, and he was in the middle of explaining his elaborate sceme and how fucked up of a week he had, when he saw her approaching from the main entrance.
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Post by Ventia on May 6, 2021 0:52:29 GMT -5
When Ivy left the New Dawn, her only true home, Ivy left the person she was behind as well. Which was Katie. Ventia Black’s daughter, black hair, blue eyes, only one Roman Numeral tattoo against her left wrist, and so on. She became Ivy. Red hair, green eyes, multiple tattoos covering her skin now making such a small numbers tattoo practically impossible to find. Even her scent had changed, with the help of a Fallen Angel. Ivy had struggled immensely in the beginning, trying to find a foothold in the Deadlands. A sense of belonging. A new home.
The Deadlands had never been a stranger to her but everything was different when Ivy was on her own. But she managed. A few hiccups along the way, one being meeting Voss again after everything he had done to her. Ivy had tried to work something out with him, bringing in her people to his and staying for a few months, genuinely trying. It hadn’t worked out. There was no way that Ivy could accept another Pack as her own, not when her true loyalties lied in New Dawn.
Another hiccup was Jaimie, her adopted son. Although now since his memories were screwed with, Jaimie truly believed that Ivy was his mother, and not Fallyn. Ivy had been leaving a present for her brother, sneaking into New Dawn with ease and was making her way out of the territory when she found a familiar body on the verge of death. Ivy hadn’t known at that time that Fallyn was pregnant, just remembering all her interactions with the sweet packmate. The librarian. Clara, the angel, had sacrificed parts of herself to save Fallyn at Ivy’s begging. They took her in and after a medical, found she was pregnant. The baby was born soon after and suddenly Ivy had a son to worry about. Fallyn lost in a coma. Would later wake up and not even be herself. But that was another story Ivy didn’t want to think about.
Everything changed after Jaimie. Ivy changed. No longer was she the hurt little girl who ran away from her Pack, ashamed of all her sins and the pain she had brought to them. Ivy had to grow up and fast. Becoming a mother did that for her. As much as she wanted to take little Jaimie back into the Keep, Ivy couldn’t. Years had passed already and the damage irreparable. Ivy couldn’t go back to being Katie. As much as she wanted to sometimes.
Ivy had made a name for herself. Jaimie was growing up. She had a group, some called them mercenaries, others heros, others called them murderers. Ivy didn’t care what she was called. As long as the jobs kept coming, bringing food to the table. Keeping a roof over their heads.
It wasn’t long before they began to get too much attention. At that point, Ivy took Jaimie and left. Going to a different location, a smaller compound, and Clara decided to follow. They still kept in touch with the group, still did some big jobs together, but Ivy had branched out. Now that Jaimie was an adult, fully capable of handling himself, Ivy preferred their small home. They still did jobs, the first floor being their office, the second floor held everything they needed, and the third was their home. Bedrooms with bathrooms. The big kitchen. The lazy area, as Ivy liked to call it. Home. As close as she could get to the real thing.
Ivy was there now, waiting for Jaimie to come back from wherever he went off to. She stared at herself in the mirror, at her hair. After meeting Reaver again, her only childhood friend, her first crush, keeping up with the appearance she had so stubbornly insisted on, felt so hard these days. The evidence was all there staring back at Ivy in the mirror. Half her hair was black from the roots and halfway down was all red. It didn’t look bad per say but Ivy could see both of her personas fighting to survive with it. Her eyes? Blue. Some days Ivy put the green contacts on and others like today, she left them untouched on the nightstand. Not wanting such a false image.
Ivy sighed, running her fingers through her long straight locks. It only curled a little bit towards the ends which Ivy wasn’t too happy about. She liked her curls, wanted more, but most of it stayed stubbornly straight. Like her mother’s. She was wearing black leggings and a black crop top with the word ‘Weird’ written on it. Her left arm covered in a sleeve of tattoos, there were more marks and wounds and tattoos over her body but at that moment only the sleeve was visible.
Ivy heard her phone chime and went over to check, smiling when she noticed it was Jaimie. Finally. Telling her he was downstairs and needed some help bringing things up. Groceries, Ivy assumed, hurrying to the door, slipping her feet into the black sandals and making her way down the main staircase. There was a elevator as well but Ivy liked the stairs better. It kept her slightly in shape.
“Jaimie?” Ivy called from the second floor, her voice traveling down into the first. But then she paused, hearing a echo of a different voice. It didn’t startle Ivy, thinking they had a client. So not groceries. Ivy padded down the last few steps, staring at the office before her. It took a minute before Ivy’s eyes landed on Jaimie’s. Wide filled with fear. A emotion Ivy hadn’t seen since he was young.
Ivy turned her stare, her glare at the man holding a gun to her son’s head. His body strapped with...Ivy felt like she couldn’t breathe. She stepped onto the first floor and paused, her hand gripping the stairway.
“What a lovely surprise.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm and she mentally kicked herself for not having a weapon on her. Not that she’d use it, oh Ivy wanted to, but she couldn’t. She had just walked into a trap. A trap that could ruin everything she had spent years on building. The weapon would have still been nice, a comfortable weight but Ivy figured she’d have to do without it.
“You didn’t say we had a visitor, I would have brought a gift of my own.” Ivy clenched her teeth, trying to calm her pacing heart. Her eyes still digging into the strangers. Trying to figure out who he was. Ivy was good with faces, always has been, but for the life of her didn’t know who this man was.
“Looks like you made yourself comfortable, that’s fine. But I’ll tell you this now, pull that trigger and I’ll put you in your grave.” Ivy moved towards them, slowly, until she stopped and pulled a chair out from a desk. Putting it in front of her but not sitting. “But let’s play nice, how can I help you Mr?”
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Post by Decoii on May 9, 2021 13:11:54 GMT -5
Ivan was in the middle of lowering Jamie's head, so the boy could see the blinking block glued to the underside of the closest cubicle. "Look, I had a bad week or two." He explained, eyes sharp around the room despite his relaxed demeanor. Ivan was simply in control, as he always would be when it came to these things. He thought too much ahead, too much into every possibility. In his mind at the time, he needed to show that he wasn't fucking around. Maybe now he was growing a bit nervous at the idea of so many explosive near his daughter, but it was too late to reconsider his course of action.
"You see, one of my daughters was taken as a toddler. I died, I just came back, and found that out. Can you imagine the surprise?" He scoffed, slacking further in his seat. "Her mother lived on with the worry and weight of it all and I gotta tell you, I just expected to come back with a location to a buried body or something akin to that. Instead, she's fine, perfectly fine after all these years. Except, that doesn't make me feel better at all." He sighed, scratched the barrel of the gun against his head when his musing finally gets interrupted from a voice on the steps.
His body stiffened at the sound of the voice.
Finally, he way laying his eyes on his daughter. Seeing past the costume she wore, seeing his little girl. He was honestly openly staring, watching the way she moved, looked at him, and spoke. He hung on to every word she said, how she said it, how she leaned back against the heel of her feet. Ivan snapped out of his stupor minutes after, when he felt Jamie shift besides him. "You remind me too much of your mother." He started a tad breathlessly, "Stubborn, so beautiful, you've definitely grown into a fine women."
He didn't like the way she looked at him, didn't like now that she was standing so damn close to this cubicle. If she did have the stubbornness his mate had, things could go easily south. Ivan was hoping that her care for the boy was enough to get them out of there safety. Her comment about bringing a gift of her own made him grin, she didn't have a weapon. She had so easily given that much up and he thought that once she was safe at home next to her mother, he'd be able to teach her a few things.
He wasn't going to tell her that he was Ivan, her father, of course. Not with the bitterness behind her eyes and definitely not with the cruelty behind his actions. But once they where safe, Ivan was ready to blow this place up so that she could never return here. So she could stay. Out of everything, Ivan felt like Katie hurt her mother the most. Elena didn't disappear on purpose. But Katie did, despite her own mother's protest. It had felt like she didn't care and Ivan could respect that. But the need to bring all his children home was still strong and stubborn in his chest.
He'd have to do damage control later.
He actually laughed now. "You know, as scary as you might want to seem, that was just too fricken cute, wasn't it Jamie?" Ivan asked with a grin, poking his gun at the boy until he had no choice but to agree. "You can try to kill me baby girl. You can try. God, you're so much like your mother it hurts. Speaking of your mother, she requests that you return home and this time around," He shrugged, "It really isn't an option. I'll have someone bring your things."
He dug into his pocket for a moment, pulling out a syringe and tossing it at his daughter. "So go ahead, inject, fall asleep, Jamie will carry you out. Then, he'll inject himself too. I've done my research, don't worry, I do plan on taking the two of you so pretty boy doesn't get lonely." He paused, laughing again at her face. God, he'd missed this face. "We go back home, to your mother and figure out what's next. I may or may not make this place go up in flames- I haven't decided yet. But I'm sure if you cooperate I'll be lenient... I'm a week late after all, the faster we get this done the happier I'll be."
"Questions, concerns, comments... Anybody?"
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Post by Ventia on May 10, 2021 17:36:13 GMT -5
Jaimie glared up at the stranger, wishing he could let his powers loose and take down the threat right in front of him but knowing he couldn’t. The bombs were too unpredictable and Jaimie couldn’t let his home get destroyed. His mother. His wolves. Everything he cared about was up those stairs so Jaimie sucked it up, digging his feet to the ground and glaring at the man who was ruining everything.
Talking about his shitty life, saying he died already?, and about his daughters. Jaimie found the man was making no sense, sounding like your average lunatic, until his mother came down and Jaimie saw the look in the man’s gaze. There was something...something just like how Ivy looked at him, at how every parent would look at their child, and suddenly Jaimie started thinking the most craziest things.
Ivy raised a eyebrow at the man’s words, the first thing coming out of his mouth a comment about her mother. About how Ivy looked just like her. Ivy wanted to flinch at those words, the pain and guilt bearing down into her skull and in her heart. But she wouldn’t let this stranger get to her.
She let him talk, every word feeling like a stab, still trying to figure him out, figure out why he looked oddly familiar and yet not at the same time, pushing her senses out and scanning the room, hearing the soft beeping noises that shouldn’t be there, her eyes zeroing in on the vest that was strapped to the man’s chest.
She caught the syringe, glanced at its murky substance, and wanted to crush it in her hand. Instead, Ivy flipped it in her hand and held on to it, still glaring at the man. Letting her eyes drift towards the cubicle she was next to and seeing a little flashing light and soft beeps. Ivy swallowed the lump in her throat and gave the man a weak laugh.
“Well that was a mouthful.” Ivy rolled her eyes and placed her free hand on her hip.
“I don’t know what’s your deal or who you think my mother is, but this?” Ivy pointed to him, wiggled the syringe in her other hand, then pointed to Jaimie and the cubicles, “This isn’t cute. Or funny. Let’s say you’re right, that I do have a mother and said mom wants me home.” Ivy didn’t want to say any names, not wanting to bring any harm to her mother, feeling like this could just be a ruse to figure out if she was Ventia’s Black daughter and be used as a bargaining chip against the Beta of New Dawn. It wouldn’t be the first time after all.
“Who the fuck are you?” Ivy demanded, “A new boyfriend? A lunatic who likes to kidnap guys and girls? Talk about lame and pretty old fashion.” Ivy scoffed at him, running her free hand through her hair and raised a finger.
“Yeah so many concerns and questions, you still haven’t given me a name for one. Two how do I know you’re not full of shit? That my supposed mama wants me home. Matter of fact, who are you looking for?” Ivy glanced around, not seeing anyone else obviously but definitely looking for one.
“Third? Why the fuck am I just gonna listen to what a stranger tells me to do? You see, my mother would practically kill me if I did what you said, so yeah please go take your lies and fuck someone else’s day up? Damn no go? Yeah didn’t think you would.” Ivy knew she was pushing it too much, knew she shouldn’t be edging the man with obvious bombs strapped on him too far. And yet? Ivy couldn’t understand the sudden anger and pain she felt while looking at him.
It was unreasonable and made Ivy want to rebel, want to lash out and fight him. She wanted to throw the stupid syringe and stab him multiple times in the neck until she saw the light go off in his eyes. Of course Ivy couldn’t do that either, couldnt do anything but vent and talk her ass out of her mouth because Jaimie was still in harms way. Next to the suicidal man, which he must very well be since he was strapped to fucking bombs, and since she herself was next to one.
Ivy should have been afraid, glaring at her literal death in the eyes, and yet? She wasn’t. If what the man was saying was true, he wanted her alive. Back home even. He knew what Jaimie meant to her, with his ‘done his research’ comment so if he did anything to Jaimie, all bets of Ivy leaving with him would be off. Of Ivy staying at New Dawn would be off. Maybe she’d be force to stay but at the first possible way out? If something happened to Jaimie? Ivy would be gone. She wouldn’t even stay in this realm anymore. Go so far out that no one would find her. They’ll be no reason for her to stay any longer.
She pressed the needle against her wrist, not pushing down to inject herself but using the sharpness to slash across if she had to. “Listen mister, I don’t like ultimatums and I definitely don’t appreciate what’s mine being threatened. This place? That boy? It’s all mine. I would rather die then let a stranger come in here and put it all to flames as you’re threatening. So here’s how we are going to play it. Any rash moves, any of your pretty little bombs going off, and I’m killing myself. You hurt the boy? I slash my wrists. You blow up my home? I stop my heart. It’s simple. If you’re not full of shit, it sounds like you want me alive. That my mom wants me alive. You don’t play by the rules and no one gets what they want. Unless you have some cool trick of bringing me back to life? Which I highly doubt, once again let’s play nice.”
Ivy sighed, pressing the needle harder against her skin, drawing blood so he’d know she wasn’t fooling around. “Now I hate repeating myself but once again who the fuck are you.”
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Post by Decoii on May 12, 2021 12:37:44 GMT -5
Ivan was staring at his daughter, taking her anger in and just getting a hint of who she was as a person over all. She seemed angry, annoyed, loyal to the boy and he was glad he added Jamie to his plans otherwise he would suspect that things would go downhill pretty badly. Despite everything she was feeding him, he didn't have much to say in response. Knowing he'd only fuck up more with his stubbornness.
Though, he really just wanted to tell her that he was her father. It was the most persistent thought in his mind at the moment. One he had to bite back. Was now really the right time for it? It wasn't, he felt, not with all the bombs. Not with what he was doing by holding someone she loved at gun point.
If Katie knew that Ivan was her father, she wouldn't find the threat to her safety seriously. She wouldn't follow after him.
"Okay, Katie, if you're done with your little temper tantrum why don't we move on?" He asked with a grin, rolling his eyes and standing up, forcing Jamie along with him. He held the gun to the boys head, looking down only to pull out a phone and trigger all the bombs, setting a two minute timer.
"you have two minutes to get into the car and inject yourself. Otherwise I'm blowing this whole place up. Including myself and your dear Jamie. I've been dead already, I can easily come back a second time." He stepped out through the emergency exit, pocketing the trigger and pulling out a set of car keys, unlocking the only car that was nearby.
"Come on darling, I'm a week late and I don't want to delay any further and have to deal with your mothers wrath. Tick tock!" He called out, moving to get Jamie in the car before injecting the boy to put him to sleep. "If you get in and put yourself under within the next minute I'll leave this place standing. Sounds like a deal right?" He asked, holding the door open for his daughter.
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Post by Ventia on May 12, 2021 13:43:34 GMT -5
Ivy did flinch at the sound of her birth name as she had every time Clara would say it. It was like a stab through her heart and the needle darted slightly with that flinch, drawing more blood. That one name told Ivy more than she cared to accept, whoever this man was knew Ivy’s past. Knew exactly who her mother was. Exactly who she was.
Ivy glared at him, her mind racing, trying to figure what the stranger deal was. She couldn’t deny the possibility that this was some ploy to get at New Dawn, that this man was just one of their very many enemies and he was getting the golden ticket that could hurt the only woman keeping the pack together. Her mother.
Ivy gritted her teeth, watching as Jaimie struggled against the man slightly, seeing the fear once again in his eyes. She wondered briefly where the hell was Clara, where was her damn fallen angel when Ivy needed her. Gone that was it. And Ivy’s need to depend on anyone only pissed her off more. She stared at her wrist, at Jaimie and the stranger escaping out the back, the two minutes ticking on by with Ivy still standing right next to one of the cubicles with a bomb.
Ivy wondered if she should just stay here, the death would be quick right? Was she that afraid of seeing her mother again? Ivy swallowed the lump in her throat, knowing the answer to the question. Her eyes darting to Jaimie, seeing his eyes one last time before it rolled back, passing out from the drug. She glared openly at the man, feeling her body shaking with rage and desperation. What would happen to Jaimie if Ivy didn’t go with him?
Even if this was some trap, some evil plot to get back at New Dawn, Ivy couldn’t let Jaimie go at it alone. She heard a whine coming from behind her and Ivy whipped her head back, seeing the Pack of wolves watching her from the stairs. Dammit, Ivy chewed on her bottom lip, staring into their wolffish eyes and blowing out a breath. She whistled for them and jogged out towards the back, the wolves fast approaching her heels.
Breathlessly Ivy came up to the man. “You can’t blow it up!” She said desperately, “I have things-pictures-there’s too much I can’t get back. I’ll do it god dammit. I’ll inject myself.” Ivy stared into his eyes, knowing she was too close to a madman and feeling the wolves rubbing against her legs.
“Get in.” She told the wolves, pushing them with her legs to get into the back with Jaimie and once the five of them were pile up all over the backseat and floor, Ivy shut the door. Staring back at the house with wide eyes, feeling her heartbeat thundering against her chest.
“Stop it already gosh.” Ivy hated going along with this strangers plan and shoved past him, getting into the passenger seat and sitting her ass down. Ivy felt like she was dooming herself to their death but what choice did she have? At least she had Jaimie and her wolves safe behind her. For now.
Ivy stared at the dashboard, at the clock, and knew her two minutes were almost up. “I’m injecting myself.” She hissed, sticking the needle into her arm now and knowing her eyes were dilating back and forth with her anger. Ivy pushed down on the syringe, ignoring the soft growls of her wolves, and hushing them.
“Don’t destroy my home...” Ivy said softly, feeling the tears building in her eyes but not falling, instead she was falling, falling down into a dark deep hole and then Ivy was gone. The syringe slipping out of her hand and down to the floor of the car, in her sleep Ivy could hear the sounds of a explosion and felt her heart breaking, wishing everything was all just a bad dream.
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Post by Decoii on May 12, 2021 15:42:34 GMT -5
"Then get in the car?" he shot back when she asked her not to blow the place up. Somehow, he had a feeling that she was stalling. It was an annoying tidbit but what was more annoying was the horde of dogs that she cramped into the van. "I don't remember extending the invitation to a bunch of mutts."
Sighing, he waited for her to inject herself, suddenly feeling bad. Not liking the pain behind her voice that she worked -and failed- at masking. With a grunt, he stared at her sleep, face softening now that he was just sitting next to her. Next to his daughter. He leaned towards her, hand rubbing her cheek and moving to fix her so she was laying back more comfortably.
"Growl at me again and I'll eat all of you for dinner." He shot back at the wolves, frowning at them. Sure, he could put them under too, but he wouldn't have enough to keep Katie under until they got back to the New Dawn. He'd have to put up with them, much to his dislike. "welp, here's to a happy safe trip." He added sarcastically, unstrapping the bombs from his chest.
the building never blew up.
despite the fact that the timer easily hit zero seconds right before Katie knocked herself out. The bombs? fake. Convincingly fake. He'd paid a pretty penny for them too but this was his daughter. He wouldn't dare actually messing with something so unpredictable and risk hurting her. The gun also only had blank shots and with a sigh, he realized that he had much to teach the sleeping beauty next to him.
"Baby, here we come." He muttered under his breath, pulling away from the compound and in the direction of the pack lands. He didn't stop much, just to fuel up and to inject them more so they'd stay asleep. He had no idea what he would say or do for damage control. Ivan just knew he'd take them back home and was hoping that Ventia would have a better plan up her sleeves.
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Post by Ventia on May 12, 2021 19:52:00 GMT -5
Ivy dreamt of her old life, way back to when she was still a toddler, while she slept in a room filled with three cribs. There was a noise, the sound of wood creaking, and a toy being stepped on, waking the young girl. Katie blinked up at the little wolves that circled the top of her crib, reaching out for one and hitting it, watching it dance above her and smiling, imagining it running all around her. But then she wondered what had woken her?
Katie pushed herself up, wobbly because she was the runt of the liter, the weakest out of the three, and stared around the room, seeing her brother fast asleep and her sister’s bed empty. Again. Katie frowned and struggled with the crib, taking longer to climb over and slide down. She didn’t leave the room just ran towards the window, throwing back the white curtains and pressing her nose into the cold glass.
She could see a man walking away and watched as he disappeared into the lines of trees. Katie was about to look away when she saw her sister sneaking after him, her little form moving faster than Katie ever could. Katie hit the window with her palm, calling out for her sister, and feeling a wave of tears coming over her.
Even as a toddler, Katie hated to cry, and sobbed to herself silently, still watching the empty front yard and feeling a urgency inside of her. A sadness. But not knowing why. She hit the damn thing again and felt sleepy from her tears, looking back towards her crib, her safe place, at the wolves still dancing in the air, sobbing Katie made her way back, tripping over a toy and catching herself before falling on her face. She made it to her bed just seconds before the door opened once more. Katie shut her eyes, hoping her mother couldn’t see her tears, but Mom didn’t stay long, the sound of her sister’s name leaving her mother’s lips franticly and her footsteps going farther and farther away.
Katie kept crying, digging her hands into her eyes, until suddenly her brother was there, holding her and telling her it would be okay even though he was crying too.
Ivy hissed as she woke up, the dream-or memory she should say-still clear in her mind, her cheeks wet with tears, to which Ivy brought a hand to her face and touched it. Staring back at her fingers and then glancing around. Freezing at the familiarity-of her old room.
But where was Jaimie?
That urgency filled Ivy again and Ivy jumped from the bed, smelling the food from downstairs and throwing open her door. The scent of her mother strong in the household and Ivy started going through the rooms, trying to find her son. But he wasn’t upstairs so Ivy raced down the stairs, feeling dread and excitement all at once.
She was home. Her real home. Ivy spotted Jaimie who was sitting wearily on a armchair and raced to him, not seeing the pair in the kitchen just yet.
“Are you hurt?” Ivy’s voice was panicky and she ran her hands all over him, trying to find any wounds.
“I’m not Mom.” Jaimie said softly, smiling up to reassure her even as Ventia spoke.
“He’s fine. Aren’t you going to say hello?” Ventia was leaning against the kitchen counter, Ivan by her side and cooking some bacon, and staring hard at the girl who had just ran downstairs. Her heart thumping happily against her chest. But worried all the while.
Ivy swallowed hard, still giving Ventia her back, her body shaking at the sound of her mother’s voice so close. She cupped Jaimie’s cheek one last time before turning, her eyes down low but then Ivy forced them up. And found it hard to breathe at the sight of her mother.
She looked older and tired than Ivy ever remembered her and that guilt just deepened inside of her. Ivy chose to glare at the man cooking next to her but froze as well. His back profile more familiar to Ivy than his front. How many times had she caught sight of that back leaving the house?
“What’s going on here?” Ivy felt like she was about to hyperventilate.
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Post by Decoii on May 14, 2021 18:24:52 GMT -5
Ivan had been happy to make it home, mutts and children in tow. He moved Katie to her old room, reassured Ventia, and brought Jamie to sleep out the rest of his drug induced snooze on the living room couch. He explained to Ventia why he was late but still choose to snuggle and kiss her worries away, not bringing up the topic of Elena even though his discovery wasn't a bad one. He just wanted to focus on Katie now.
He chuckled when she ran downstairs, paying attention to Ventia's interaction with his daughter. He had yet to tell her about the bombs, having preferred to keep her in a smiling and teary-eyed state. "He's perfectly fine." Ivan muttered loud enough to be able to be heard in the Livingroom. "You act as if I'm barbaric enough to hurt such a cute boy, sheesh." He was teasing, though he was sure his humor would be taken wrong.
With a sigh, he stopped stirring the pot of sauce and turned back towards his family, clearing his throat at the sight. It felt tense, he wasn't going to lie to himself and think he felt welcomed and he didn't blame Katie or Jamie for their confusion. Moving towards Ventia, he placed a small kiss on her shoulder before leaning against the counter next to her.
"I may have forgotten to share some very important details with Katie when I was bringing her in." He said, scratching his head with a sigh. "She's not very forgiving, Ve. She's very much like you."
He gave Katie a smile and turned his head so he could look at Jamie. "What's going on here is that you should listen to your mother and say hello." He paused and smirked. "Also I don't know if you guys are alfredo or spaghetti liking people so I'm making both."
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Post by Ventia on May 14, 2021 20:02:44 GMT -5
Oh yes, at the sight of her daughter Ventia couldn’t stop the new wave of tears that came over her. She followed Ivan into her house, up the stairs, and watched with watery eyes as he laid his daughter back on the bed. Ventia had stayed with Katie for a good minute, stroking back her hair from her face and staring at all the new little details her daughter had added to herself. Touching the ends of the bright red hair with a shake of her head, stroking the new set of tattoos on her left arm, imprinting them to memory in case Ventia would need them to help find Katie again.
Even though Ventia wouldn’t let her daughter slip from her fingers a second time. She was so grateful, and after spending a good twenty minutes upstairs with a still sleeping Katie, Ventia made her way downstairs, saw the passed out redhead she knew to be Jaimie, the wolves crowding her front yard, and reached for Ivan. Kissing him. Crying. Thanking him over and over again, hugging him because she had missed him so much in the last week, wanting to ask about Elena but holding back because Ventia knew he would tell her once he was ready.
Ventia eventually had to stop, hearing the telltale sounds of the boy waking up and wiping away at her cheeks, tucking her hair behind her ears and remaking introductions with Jaimie. They already met once and he recognized her, Ventia told him that they were safe and that she was Katie’s mother, finding out that Katie went by Ivy these days and that he was her son. She had to roll her eyes at that too.
Now looking at Katie, Ventia wouldn’t call her by her other name, despite understanding her need for a new one, because Katie would always be Katie to Ventia. But looking at her now...Ventia couldn’t help the burning in her eyes again. But unlike the rest of the times, Ventia could tell that these were happy tears. She tried to keep her eyes clear however so Ventia could stare at her loving daughter who was looking at the pair of them with very wide eyes.
Ventia found herself laughing at Ivan’s words, staring past Katie to stare at Jaimie. “He is a cutie isn’t he? I’ll accept him as my grandson.” Even though Ventia couldn’t smell her blood running through his veins, wondering what kind of story was behind this one. She’d find out, eventually. For now, content with just having Katie home. She would have to call Jareth later.
“You were never good with the details love.” Ventia patted Ivan’s arm, smiling at his kiss even more and leaning against him, the feel of his body next to hers giving Ventia the strength she needed to keep standing. Feeling her pride growing at his comment despite her still thinking that Katie took more of Ivan and herself. She still couldn’t believe Ivan had really brought her baby home.
“Love? So what he’s really your boyfriend? What happened to Lue? You’ve never gotten another boyfriend after...” But Ivy couldn’t stay his name, couldn’t even say the word Dad. She felt Jaimie touching her hand and glanced down at him, feeling his concern for her.
“Boyfriend?” Ventia chuckled, eyes darting to Ivan’s for a second, smiling at such a silly term. But liking the way it warmed her belly all the same.
Ivy’s eyes dragged back to her, at that chuckle, seeing the way her mother looked at the stranger. Wondering how he could talk about spaghetti after blowing up her home.
Ivy felt the hurt burst inside of her and she laid her accusing eyes on the man, pointing at him too for good measure. “He threatened me with bombs! Bombs Mom. Bombs! You didn’t blow it up, did you? I begged you not to, I left so much behind-“
“Bombs?” Ventia widened her eyes at Ivan, glancing back to Katie at the glorious sound of her name being called out, smiling at her lovely daughter. Even though her heart ached because Katie had left her behind and didn’t seem to mind that.
“I personally want spaghetti. Also Katie, you really shouldn’t be screaming at your father. He was just trying to bring you home.” Ventia held a breath, eyes darting between her daughter and Ivan, wanting to see both their reactions, wondering if she should have said it like that, but after Ivan’s little comment about not filling her in, well Ventia just couldn’t hold it back anymore. Ivan was Katie’s father and after fifteen long years, it was time for Katie to know it.
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Post by Decoii on May 16, 2021 22:15:13 GMT -5
Ivan stared at Ventia when she finally admitted it out loud. He wasn't going to pop out of nowhere and just confess to being Katie's father. Not after never being there. Not after dying on everyone years ago. Ivan had just shown up once again, invading Ventia's life and expecting her to scoot everyone else aside and give him space. He wasn't even content with just any amount of space either. He knew where he wanted to be and there wasn't any room for him otherwise.
In a way, the same went for his children as well.
He had been too stubborn to be there when he was alive and well, simply because of nonsense. Her role in the pack, her refusal to leave, et cetera. To be honest, she hadn't been doing anything wrong. Ventia had deserved more of his support than what she got. But he was so set in his ways he saw her need for family and territory as a flaw. But those needs ran deep in any wolf and he'd been too stubborn to realize it was more than needing to have a place to protect her.
Ventia was the Beta. As little as that meant nowadays considering all the childish packs that formed faster than one can blink their eyes; with no real power, no regard for actual territory, no understanding of the hierarchy ... In all honesty, packs have turned more into a cult culture. Whoever spat the prettiest words became Alpha, with no real strength to protect their own...
Ventia was a Beta to the New Dawn a pack he'd believed to be no different than the others. But slowly, Ivan had realized he'd been wrong. New Dawn was one of the few true packs left in this world and his Baby was a Beta. It was honestly something to be proud of, something worth supporting her for. Too bad Ivan had realized that during his time as a spirit. When he had lost all the chances he was given to protect her and his family.
It didn't help that he just came back and once again demanded she gave him room in her life, regardless of who had previously occupied the position. Or whoever the hell Lue was. He had allowed himself to lose so much he couldn't even come to terms with the word 'father'. He'd just gotten their mother knocked up and dipped. The term was unworthy of him and in a way that's why he hadn't come out and said it himself.
The room was quiet and Ivan turned to pull the breadsticks from the oven once the alarm broke that silence. By the time he was finished, everyone was still too busy gawking at someone else in the room and so Ivan sighed, leaned against the counter and decided to break the silence. "First of all, Katie, I said that I'd have someone pick up your stuff, did I not? That implies there being stuff left to pick up. Which in turn implies that I never was going to actually detonate the bombs to begin with my dear."
Ivan paused, glancing at Ventia before continuing. "They're fakes, by the way, the bombs are. I picked them up in a toy store or well, a store that sells convincing looking fake things. but Katie, everything in life boils down to the details and people out in those lands are sucker for fancy words and tend to babble too much and expose their Achilles' heel far before their plans are actually in motion."
With a sigh, Ivan glanced at Jamie before rolling his eyes towards Ventia. "He's a cute one, sure, but it get's annoying choking on water every time you try taking a drink simply because someone else is in a bad mood, right boy?" He didn't know what the kid was, but he had a hunch that his inability to swallow earlier during his trip had something to do with him.
Finally, Ivan smiled and turned back to Katie. "I am your father and we can use that term however the hell you want but for now the food is ready so we should eat."
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Post by Ventia on May 28, 2021 19:22:40 GMT -5
Ivy was too stunned to say a word after her mother’s words. She was staring at the man-at her supposed father, with wide blue eyes that were dilating back and forth, swallowing the blue and leaving only black or the other way around with the blue swallowing the black, leaving only wild blue eyes staring at the pair.
Jaimie was stunned too, this was what he had guessed, so he shouldn’t have been so but hearing the truth out loud was so much more than him just thinking of it. Now that he did know, it was all to easy for Jaimie to see the telltale signs of Ivy-or Katie as they were calling his Mom which wasn’t too much of a surprised either because Jaimie had heard Clara calling his mother the same thing once or twice-the same facial features that she got from her two parents. It was all there for Jaimie to see now and even at that comment her dad said about his liquid manipulation didn’t surprise Jaimie much, matter of fact, he couldn’t help the prideful smile that crossed his face. Turning to look back at Ivy who still had that unreadable but stunned face.
Ventia nodded at Ivan’s words, feeling like he was masking his true emotions from her but couldn’t really blame him for it with the situation that was on their hands. She felt better knowing the bombs were fake, though she never doubted Ivan for a moment. The man would never do anything to hurt his children, train them yes but actually put them in harms way, Ventia couldn’t see that. She smiled at her mate, taking the seat closest to her and sitting down, motioning for the two to join them. Her eyes still watching Katie carefully.
Jaimie swallowed the hard lump stuck in his throat, not knowing whether he should speak or not since Ivy hadn’t, and got up slowly. Touching his mother’s hand again and feeling her jolt and look at him. “I am kinda hungry?” Jaimie finally said a bit shyly, keeping his gaze lowered even though he towered over most in the room.
Ivy clenched her teeth, staring up into Jaimie’s violet eyes, letting his voice calm her down, calm down the explosion of emotions thoughts and childish fantasies that had come crashing down at the news. She swallowed down any words that wanted to be screamed out, and tugged Jaimie closer to the table. Each step felt too heavy and the dread in her deepened, she urged Jaimie into the seat next to the man and took the one next to her mother. Choosing the lesser of pains and staring at the full table of food. Her mouth both watering and leaving a bitter taste in.
Next thing she knew, and her mother’s hand tentatively touched Ivy’s knee. She stared at the pale fingers, at the warmth seeping through her skin, and then brought her eyes up to those grey ones.
“Is this really true?” Ivy barely whispered but Ventia nodded, hearing her just fine. Ivy drew her eyes towards the man, towards her father, and stared hard at his face, that old part of her that craved for this moment, that craved for her father, was already imprinting his face to memory, even if Ivy was still finding it hard to believe.
“Wait...” Ivy said suddenly, remembering his earlier words back at her home, “You died? Have you been dead all this time? How are you even back?” But Ivy shook her head, she knew it was possible, hell she raised Fallyn from practical death and had a fallen angel in her midst, had a succubus as a Aunt-point was Ivy knew death wasn’t necessarily the end. He must have been one hell-no he was one hell of a man to come back...Ivy reached for the glass of water and swallowed the water greedily, needing something stronger and glancing over her mom’s shoulder to where she usually stashed her liquors.
Then the thoughts came flooding back. As she stared at her father. At the man she had conjured up in her daydreams when she was still a little girl and had stopped doing such things because all it gave her was pain. Ivy started to tell herself then that she didn’t need a father. Didn’t want one either. The man had never came for her. Never came for her mother. Didn’t even think they were worthy of such a thing. No. He had abandoned them. All of them.
Ivy froze, her earlier dream of her childhood coming to full focus once again. Seeing her sister escaping from the crib, waking Ivy up. Then looking out the window, seeing that man’s back profile and then her sister following closely behind. Never to be seen again.
“It’s your fault...” Ivy found the words escaping her lips before she could hold them back. Felt that familiar prickle of tears she had whenever she thought of her lost sister.
“Katie.” Ventia warned but caressed her daughter’s knee again, trying to smooth her.
“No. What am I doing?” Ivy laughed at herself, staring around at the table with wide eyes. “Acting like everything is normal, sitting down to eat like nothing is amiss when everything is fucked up. You’re my father? Bullshit you’re not. I don’t have a fucking father. I don’t have a fucking sister. I don’t even have my brother or my mother anymore, I am not Katie anymore, I am Ivy. This isn’t my life. What? You’re gonna stick around now? For how long? Until you leave in the middle of the night never to be seen again? This is stupid, what-I...” Ivy shook her head, pushing away from the table, standing up but not moving.
Ivy was shaking, shaking! She stared around the table, at Jaimie’s wide eyes, at her mother’s dark sorrow filled ones, at the man’s blue black unreadable gaze. “I shouldn’t even be back here...what I did, all those I’ve hurt, that Voss hurt-“ Ivy shook her head, it was pounding now, years of memories, especially the last few days filled with her guilt of letting that man run rampage through her Pack, was catching up to her once again now that she was back here.
Ivy clenched her fists together, digging her nails into her palms, “Am I supposed to just forget all that? Forget you abandoning us? Leaving us? Forget what I’ve done? Why did you bring me back here? I can’t rejoin this Pack, I can’t rejoin this family, I just can’t.”
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Post by Decoii on May 30, 2021 12:14:39 GMT -5
"Magic." Ivan said, automatically replying to his daughter the moment she actually addressed him again, now that she knew he was her father. "I died ten years ago. The night after I snuck into your room and I came back almost three weeks ago." He gave a shrug, helping Jamie reach for the plates in the center of the table. "Long story short- I'm too handsome to rot down there and after annoying the right people and saying the right things I was spit back out."
There was more to the story, obviously. But Ivan Trevor had a vague feeling that it was something he wasn't supposed to talk about and being with his family was something he wasn't supposed to do. He was losing brownie points faster than he could even blink. Hell, despite all it's demonology, was a place of give and take. It was an honest place, one that Ivan thrived in because he understood what stood at the core of everyone there. It was simple. Greed, lust, power. But now he was back and he was taking more than he was returning. The tone in his voice indicated that he wouldn't share anything else on that subject.
Once he finished helping Jamie, Ivan filled his own plate. He had helped the kid simply as a peace offering. Ivan had almost crashed the car three times on the way back to Ventia. Once when he choked on a burger and twice on liquids. By the second time, he suspected that something had been wrong and the only variable was Jamie because Ivan didn't eat like a pig.
Ivan would be pissed if the kid tried to do something funny now and didn't let him eat. Still, he had a grin on his face as he busied himself. This was the first time he had one of his children over for dinner. It had taken him many years to realize what he had wanted and now, he was living out one of his fantasies. Hell changed him. It gave him a clearer view of what he wanted and what he wanted was a family. His kids. His mate. the whole thing even if it was only for one night.
but then Katie talked and he slowly looked over at his daughter. No longer grinning, no longer dismissive. His gaze had hardened, jaw tightened, and back straightened. "I was hoping we could deal with this after dinner." He mumbled out but the words got lost behind Ventia's warning.
He'd be lying if his mood didn't sour quickly, even as he continued to eat while Katie had her temper tantrum. The words she said definitely stung him and it was the first time anyone really held Ivan accountable for what had happened in the past. His eyes burned as he took a bite from his breadstick then a couple of gulps of water to swallow the food down. He shook his head and let out a strangled laugh while standing up from his stop at the table. "That's it then?" He asked sharply, moving over to his daughter. "You couldn't live with what happened to you in the past so you cooked up yourself another identity to start fresh? Oldest trick in the book, Katie, and the most childish of them all."
He had a feeling that Ventia had told Katie all the sweet words she could find. All the 'it's okay' and 'I'll always be there' there could be and none of it worked on Katie. He couldn't be that person because he wasn't that person. He was angry and hurt at what she had told him and so he held on to whatever he could to let it out. Which so happened to be Katie's sob story and self-pity. "That's it then?" He repeated. "You couldn't handle your mistakes so you decided to dye your hair and color your skin and leave your mother behind -completely alone?"
He let out a laugh and rolled his shoulder. "You act as if you're grown and independent and everything you do is to erase who you are and for what? Because you hurt people? Because you've killed people? Katie that's the part of our nature that we cannot control. It doesn't matter if you did something you don't like and you killed people because at the end of the day- those lives are worth shit. In all honesty, your life is worthless. Mines, Jamie's, your mother. We're all worth shit and we don't matter. What matters is how we feel and how we decide to spend our time and even in the end that shit doesn't matter either.
"If you feel that bad about killing a couple of people than maybe, just maybe, you could learn something from it and grow as a person. Make their deaths count for something Katie and don't just make an attempt to cover your eyes and your ears and 'la la la' it all away while playing Ivy. If you cared so damn much you should take something from their deaths and give it meaning- even if it's selfish. but playing Ivy? That's pure childish stupidity. Ivy is going to make a mistake and then what? You'll abandon Jamie the way you abandoned your mother and start new? Shave your head off this time because you've gone through every box dye in the convenience store? Fucking give me a break- give yourself a fucking break."
Ivan huffed and backed up, having not noticed that he was towering over his daughter. His anger shimmered down with the blink of an eye. "I don't care if you say I'm not your father because I helped your mother make you and that's all the facts that I need to sleep peacefully at night. But don't you ever -don't you fucking ever- say you don't have a sister or a mother or a brother ever again, Katie. As long as their all alive regardless of what stupid ass fantasy you want to live in never disregard their existence like that."
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Post by Ventia on Jun 6, 2021 2:00:07 GMT -5
She was clenching her teeth, glaring at the almost stranger in front of her, still sitting across the table carrying on his merry way, holding on to a few scattered and short memories of her childhood that just barely made her recognize the man and maybe just maybe accept the slight possibility-and this was only if her mother hadn’t lost her mind in the few years Ivy was gone-of this stranger being her father. Her body vibrated, despite her attempt of keeping it unnoticeable, low hums rippled across her body, her eyes unable to let go of the man in front of her.
Now that Ivy finally forced herself to look at the man, she couldn’t stop. She shouldn’t have, for looking closely at him only made those low hums shake a little harder. If Ivy had one flaw, it was with certain men, the dangerous ones, the one that sent warning signs dancing in her head, the ones that reminded her on a instinctual level that Ivy wasn’t a predator, that she was only a prey pretending to be something bigger than she really was. Oh she tried to be more, to get over it, but every now and then, there was that someone that made it all too clear how weak Ivy was, and how quick her life could be snatched out of existence.
It had happened with Voss, the very first man she happened to run in to, at a gas station, in the middle of nowhere, looking like the most dangerous person Ivy-no Katie-had met, and then well things just got all kinds of fucked after that, but Ivy had thought after him, and all the ones in the Deadlands, after all of those, that she would stop balking at a dangerous man. Surely one that was her supposed father. And yet? Ivy swallowed hard, keeping the glare on her face, her hands coming to fists at her sides, as she watched as the man’s movements, both carefully and controlled and also almost carelessly, serving and eating, and worst of all, talking.
The minute he stood up, Ivy drew her shoulders in and honed on him even more if that was possible. She kept her body loose and relax, even as he rounded the table and Ivy’s every instinctual reaction told her to run, she didn’t and narrowed her eyes up at him. She wouldn’t be afraid of him, and even if she was, she wouldn’t allow that to stop herself. It never did all the other times. And yet? Out of maybe pure stupid childish hope or belief or whatever, Ivy didnt believe he’d ever hurt her. Even if she did have to fact check if her home in the dead lands was still standing.
Even as his words sank into her, hitting each and every little personal scar she had emotionally, making her want to both cry and scream at the same time, and hit something, at the back of her head, Ivy wondered just how different her life would have been if this man, who and she would never admit, was sprouting facts, if her father had been in her life since the beginning. How many hardships she would have avoided if this strong Alpha man had been her father. She found herself chuckling under her breath, knowing there would have been no Voss or any other dangerous man ruining her life, if he had just been there.
“That’s it then?” She used his words, since he liked saying it so much, and tried to ignore the bitter scent of her nearly to tears or how her voice slightly trembled with emotion. She guessed it was more or less how she figured she’d talk to her dad the first time. Blame him for everything and be on the verge of tears and all that. Either that or completely ignoring his existence. But who was she kidding? Ivy was hurt. She had always wanted a dad. Dads were supposed to be protector in the family. She knew of other Pack families and found herself envying all the children who had their dads. They were never mean about it, trying to be sensitive over the fact that they raised by a single mother. Everyone knew the Beta’s situation. But still, it stung. The only one who really understood was Reaver, also being raised by his single mother, it was why she had stuck to him like glue but she managed to fuck that up as well.
“You’re here not even-a day? And you think you can start giving me lectures? Start acting like a Dad?” Ivy scoffed, hiding the shame she felt at his last words. Unable to hide the slight admiration of those words as well, coming from a man who had been dead, who managed to come back, who said life was meaningless, and yet scolded her about talking about her family lives. She wouldn’t admit it, not even to herself, that maybe just maybe, she really wanted this man to be her Dad. To stay around.
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes and plopped back down in her chair, glancing down at her spaghetti filled plate that her mother must have done, and at the breadsticks laying on top of it.
“You’re right, we should save it for after food. It’ll be a waste if it went cold.” Ivy reached for the water and swallowed down her temper, she was still so emotional especially after his words, from being inside this damn house, next to her mother, with Jaimie looking bewildered and tensed, and yet so in place with the surrounding of her home, the familiar shapes and smells, the outside territory of New Dawn peeking and winking at her from the windows, the wolves silhouettes making themselves familiar with their new territory, everything.
“Does my supposed father have a name? I never got a name. I’m not going to be calling you a dad related name anytime soon.”
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Post by Decoii on Aug 22, 2021 12:37:31 GMT -5
Ivan was taken a back by his daughters submission. It wasn't much, but it was more than he was expecting. Maybe she was matured, in a way he couldn't understand, but she held her rage in check when he'd been ready for a fight. He didn't know anything about her, not what was important. All he knew was facts and details written on paper. She was a stranger to him as much as he was a stranger to her and when she submitted and sat down, Ivan was left itching for more. for screams, for blows, for Jaimie to take his breath away again with whatever power the kid held inside of his body.
But he was given none of that and was left, unfortunately, staring at the frame of the nearby window while willing his body to not grab the nearest thing and lash out. He hadn't grown much in the underworld, he realized. He was still impulsive and he was still resentful and still so angry. All of this was mirrored in the face of his daughter and he wasn't sure if he was chuckling because he felt like he was going to lose his mind or chuckling at the irony of it all.
Clearing his throat, he made it back to his seat even though he was no longer tempted to eat.
What was Ivan even thinking?
He fucked up his family as much as his own family had fucked him up. He'd done nothing but abandon them in his death and even when he was around, he'd done nothing but hurt Ventia. The one person that was supposed to be his equal. The one person who gave him too much. Then here he was, fucking her raw in a desperate attempt to get her pregnant and start anew but that too would fail. He took his seat with that heavy realization in the back of his mind. Ivan hadn't changed one bit. He was still impatient and he was still lashing out on everything- just in a new way. He didn't belong here.
His head cocked back up to glance at Ventia, surprise in his eyes when Katie confessed that she didn't even know his name. There was an initial wave of anger in the way he looked at his mate. Then hurt as he rolled his eyes and looked down at a breadstick. He was too prideful to share that sinking feeling of defeat, even with her. So he busied himself by tearing the bread apart without taking a bite. "I don't deserve to be treated like a father." He grunted, finally looking back up with his usual grin. "I just want to do the impossible and bring this family together again. Maybe share one meal -all of us- with your mother is more than enough for me. She deserves better than the hand she has been given and I don't care if I kick the bucket again after that."
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