Poison Ivy Ch. 10 Pt. 01

Authors note: Here it is guys, finally! I had to separate the final chapter into two parts, the second part and a teaser for Aella and Trevino's story will follow within a day or two. If you're coming back to this story, just know that I've revised the previous chapters and changed a few things, added a few more. If you're new to the story, the chapters should all be updated. If you see an ETA note at the top of the chapter, it's the revised version.

Thank you all for your patience, feedback, criticisms, advice, encouragement and support. It's all very much appreciated! This is only the second full story I've written, and I'm aware I probably screwed up a few things along the way, but I'm just doing this because I enjoy it and am still kinda blown away that I'm able to share stories that others like to read!

Soundtrack:

Lawless by Colours

Walk on Water by The Compromise

Unheavenly Creatures by Coheed and Cambria

Never Take Me Alive by I Was the Lion

Stay ft. Alice by DCCM, Alice

Danger to Myself by The Unlikely Candidates

Rise by Fame on Fire

.............................................

Cody paced the length of the modest, charming guest bedroom of Fowler's summer cabin, restless and fidgety. Aella looked up from her laptop and frowned. "What's on your mind, Cody?" she asked softly, keeping her voice low so as not to wake Eva in the crib beside her.

"I don't know," Cody replied sharply, shooting her a glare she understood wasn't truly meant for her. "Something's wrong, Aella. Something just feels... off."

Biggest understatement of the year. She didn't bother telling him that things had felt off to her ever since that day seven years ago. The day she'd been betrayed, separated from Cody, and sold to Maverick by her own brother.

Her life had turned into days filled with nothing but misery and pain, fear and torment. She'd never stopped looking for Cody, desperate to get him out from beneath Maverick's thumb, even when searching for him meant receiving punishments designed to break her soul like shattered glass. And shatter she did.

But Maverick had forgotten something important. Something that had, in the end, cost him his life.

Shattered glass is sharp.

Shattered glass can draw blood.

"Can you sit down? You're making me anxious." She'd been attempting, with little success, to focus on the digital package she was getting ready to send to every major news outlet in Lostra. In addition to the video she had shown Ivy and the Alphas the other morning, of Maverick and Hickson discussing plans to kidnap her friend and kill Hunter, she'd included decrypted files filled with undeniable proof of an abundance of corruption.

The package included bank records of secret payments made to top Torrin officials, proof of the collaboration between the two enemy countries to prolong the conflict for personal gain. She'd uncovered sealed records and DNA evidence that proved Trevor Tivan and Vice President Hickson were the same person, and that Tivan had created a new identity after his house was set on fire. Attached to the DNA evidence was the police report that determined the house fire was an act of arson, and that despite the original assumption that all three family members had died, only one body was found. She was sure that would be enough for journalists and reporters to connect the dots, that they would conclude that Hickson had set his house on fire and ran, intending to kill his wife and daughter. There were also dozens of intercepted e-mails that provided details on decommissioned whistleblowers and intelligence officers who had gotten a little too close to the truth, and finally, she'd uncovered a Torrin Factory roster that included the names of some of these whistleblowers.

Aella shivered, suddenly chilled despite the warm afternoon sunlight streaming in through the open windows. Whatever Cody was feeling, she was beginning to feel it too.

Cody shook his head, continuing to stalk back and forth across the length of the room, agitated and restless. "We should have heard something by now. Why haven't they called?"

She blew out a long breath, attempting to rub some of the tension from her aching temples. "I don't know, Cody. But trust me, they're fine."

"How the fuck would you know, Aella?" he spat out, shaking fingers running through the mess of his blonde hair.

She winced at his angry tone. Cody's life, after they'd both been taken by Maverick, had been only marginally better than hers. They'd been inseparable since their reunion last week, so his sudden flash of temper, although understandable, made her chest tighten uncomfortably.

"Because I would feel it if..." She trailed off, biting her lower lip as she furrowed her brow. How could she explain it, when even she didn't quite understand?

No claiming mark was imprinted onto the pale skin were her neck met her shoulder. No pair-bond thrummed beneath her sternum. Her body, still recovering from Eva's traumatic birth and the massive blood loss she'd sustained in the process, followed immediately by her imprisonment in a Torrin Factory, had not yet been ready to support another cycle of estrous.

So how was it possible, then, that she could feel him? His emotions, his physical condition, his presence, was as much a part of her as the blood flowing through her own veins. It was impossible to escape, this awareness, this connection. She didn't understand it.

Of course, she'd heard of the phenomenon of fated mates. Proof of the existence of such bonds was clearly evident in the relationship between Ivy and Hunter. She knew fated bonds could be powerful, almost mystical. They transcended the strength and abilities of a normal pair-bond.

What she most certainly had never heard of was a pair-bond that began to form before a claiming occurred. Yet, that's exactly what she suspected was happening between her and her dark defender.

She stood up, pulling Eva out of the crib when she began to fuss before sitting back down in one of the two rocking chairs situated side by side in front of the window. "Please just trust me on this one, okay kiddo? They're okay."

"Don't call me that, Aella. I'm not your fucking kiddo anymore," he snapped, finally stopping his pacing in order to snarl down at her.

She flinched. "I know, I'm sorry. You're not a kid, I know that. It just slipped out."

His expression softened, and he crossed the length between them with two long strides and sat in the rocker next to hers. "Sorry," he murmured, gazing down lovingly at the precious bundle she held in her arms. "I just feel so helpless. I should have gone with them, Aella. I could have helped."

"We need help here too, Cody. That's the only reason they didn't take you," she said softly, trying to soothe her little brother. Not so little, now. God, how he'd grown since she'd last seen him. The hint of a muscular frame clung to the remnants of a youthful body, and he'd shot up like a beanstalk. The baby brother who'd only came up to her sternum when she'd left now towered over her by half a foot.

He shrugged, slouching down in the rocker. "How is she?" he asked without looking up. Aella sighed, standing to gently lay Eva in his arms, careful not to wake her. Cody was hopelessly in love with his little niece. Straightening the oversized navy blue t-shirt he had given her before he left with the three other Alphas, she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall, facing Cody.

"It's hard to say. She was predictably furious when she found out Hunter left without her," she chuckled. "She's getting stronger. Dr. Cole thinks she'll be able to take short walks soon. Although it's entirely possible she'll take herself off house arrest as soon as she can stand up without getting dizzy or passing out."

"But..." Cody prompted, sensing there something she was holding back.

She looked down at her interlaced fingers. "But Cole also thinks there might be something wrong with the baby."

They both fell silent, Aella's words spinning through the air like a cyclone. "I'm going to go check on her, and then it's back to work for me." She gave her brother a small smile. "Watch over Eva for a bit?" she asked, noting how his eyes lit up, proud to be trusted with something so precious. He nodded, curling his arms around his sleeping baby niece. Grinning, she walked into the hallway and softly closed the door behind her.

.........................................

Three days.

It had been three fucking days since Hunter had left on some crazy crusade to kill her biological father, leaving her behind. That fucking asshole had left her for three motherfucking days.

That's six visits from Doc Cole. Six IV infusions to replace the nutrients she'd lost during her lovely stay at Hotel de Maverick. Nine HUGE meals brought to her bedside, because obviously, going to the kitchen to eat was out of the question. Nine times Aella had entered her room, frowned at the half-finished plate, and insisted she finish the unreasonably large portions.

Seventy-two hours of shitty sleep interrupted by periods of frustration, terror, and fury, all warped into some debilitating emotion that her stupid hormones amplified. The only thing that kept her from running out to steal a car and track down her asshole of a mate was Cole's insistence that the baby needed a break from everything she'd been put through in her first months of pregnancy. He never said anything outright, but she wasn't clueless. She could read between the lines.

There was something wrong with the tiny human growing inside her belly.

So she ate, and then ate again. She allowed the Doc to do his thing when he came twice a day to check up on her. She stayed in bed, even when she was losing her fucking mind. Because, as much as it broke her heart to imagine the life her daughter would be condemned to as an Omega, the thought of losing her was even worse.

Her hand absently went to her belly, rubbing small circles on the tiny bump that almost wasn't there. Doc Cole sat at the edge of her bed, connecting her IV to a big bag of fluids and vitamins suspended from a metal hook above her head. Earlier this morning, he'd drawn blood and used a bulky ultrasound machine to check on the baby. He was a pretty cool dude, this Doc. He joked around with her, and he was patient and understanding when she got spooked and lost among the memories of her time in Maverick's asylum. She knew he looked in on Eva and Aella as well, and he was meticulous in the care he provided.

It was a career she would have enjoyed, had she not been an Omega. But she was, so... That was that.

The thought left a sour taste in her mouth, and she cleared her throat.

"What's wrong with her, Cole?" she asked the spectacled, kind-faced Alpha. He glanced up at her before returning his attention to setting up her infusion. "I need to know," she prodded, her voice breaking a little.

Fucking hormones.

He sighed, finally releasing the IV tubing as the infusion began, the steady drip, drip, drip into her vein hopefully being sucked up by what she had decided was essentially a parasite, albeit a very special and adorable one. His big, tanned fingers lifted the glasses to his forehead, and he leveled her with a stern look. "Hunter would --"

"Stop," she snapped, interrupting whatever he was going to say about her Alpha not wanting her to be stressed out and blah blah blah. Not happening. "Hunter left me high and dry to go on some bro-adventure to save the world. Or whatever. I'm here. I'm stuck in bed, obsessing over what could be wrong, and what I did that I maybe shouldn't have done when I didn't know, and I maybe could have fought harder --"

"No, Ivy listen to me," Cole growled, cutting her off. "None of what happened to you is your fault. Nothing you did or didn't do was wrong. Do not take any of the blame away from Maverick. He deserves every bit of it. Every bit. Do you understand me?"

Fuck's sake, what the hell was it with these Alphas and their domineering Alpha voice? Biology. Fucking biology.

"Yes," she relented. He was right, and the logical part of her brain had already known that. Maverick was the dickhead who had shot her mate, kidnapped her, kept her so drugged up she couldn't even stand up straight, sexually assaulted her and nearly raped her before she'd escaped. He was the asshole. But the illogical, emotional side of her brain still had doubts.

"Please just tell me, Cole. Please." She needed to know. It was that simple. She just had to know.

Cole sighed again, searching her face for any signs of second thoughts. There were none.

"She is... very small," he started gently. "Too small for her gestation. She is a little over two weeks behind. Her heart and lungs haven't developed as much as they should have by now. It's very difficult to say what kind of problems she might have after she's born. She may just be a very small baby, or she may have trouble breathing on her own. We just don't know enough yet. For now, there is nothing that would make me think she wouldn't be able to survive outside the womb. But there is a lot that we simply won't know until she's born." He smiled apologetically and began to gather up his things, giving her a silent moment to process what he'd just told her.

She grabbed his hand when he stood up to leave. "Thank you," she said softly, meeting his eyes. "Thank you... For everything."

Cole took his hand out of her grasp to run it through her hair soothingly. "We do our best with what we've been given. You'll be okay, Ivy. I promise."

She sniffled and nodded. "Get some rest," he murmured, before leaving her alone with her thoughts.

As she laid back against the pillows, her hand absently stroking those little circles atop her belly, a familiar resonance reached out to her from the other end of the bond. There were no words this time, although there had been in the past. Tonight, there was only Hunter's comforting presence.

She wanted to snap back at that resonance, wanted Hunter to know how badly he'd fucked up by leaving her there, with no way for her to contact him or find him. But even though she'd been expecting it, hearing Cole confirm that there was something wrong with the baby had shaken her to her core. Right now, she needed the comfort Hunter was silently offering.

Oh, he would still pay dearly for leaving her behind. And if he was even half as aware of her as she was of him, he damn well knew it.

Sighing, she snuggled under the covers, deep within the new and improved fortress of fluff she'd re-created after Hunter had left and she'd thrown a temper tantrum that had ended with a startling amount of pillow guts strewn across the room. She could nearly feel his arms around her, holding her tight against his chest, and his purr followed her into a fitful sleep.

.................................................

"Motherfucking son of a BITCH!"

"Hey man, can we please leave the mothers out of it?"

"Why, does yo momma need a good time? Cuz I can show her a good -- OW! FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK, FOWLER?" Pyle massaged his deltoid where Fowler had punched him. "That's my favorite arm, you prickly asshole!"

"Will the both of you please, please, just shut the fuck up?" Hunter growled, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration as Pyle and Fowler continued to bicker in the back seat of the blue sedan like adolescent siblings. The four Alphas had been in this car for way too long. Like fucking sardines in a can. He glanced up to the rearview mirror and caught Pyle slapping the back of Fowler's arm in retaliation and sighed. He turned to Trevino, who was brooding silently in the passenger seat, as always. Trevino spared him a disparaging glance that very clearly said, No, I will not switch seats, and no, I will not break this shitshow up. He gripped the steering wheel and clenched his jaw until his knuckles turned white and his teeth threatened to crack.

Yeah, they'd definitely been in this fucking car for entirely too long. He felt like a parent trying to handle two unruly kids during a road trip. Was this what he and Ivy had to look forward to? She most certainly would be having more than one of his children, and as soon as possible. There was a certain warm, thrilling feeling that had taken root deep within his chest the moment he'd found out Ivy was pregnant. He wouldn't have thought it was possible to love someone he hadn't even met so fucking much, but there it was. His daughter. He took a deep, calming breath in. Everything he was doing right now was for Ivy and his daughter. God, he loved the fuck out of the sound of that.

It had butchered him to leave Ivy behind when she was in such a vulnerable state, even more so when Cole had hinted at a possible complication. He knew Ivy would worry and fret about it, wondering what kind of life she would be subjecting her daughter to if she had some disability, in addition to being Omega. He had no such qualms or doubts. He would move mountains to make sure his baby was happy and healthy every moment of her life, and there was nothing more to it. Nothing on this earth would hold her back from being whatever she wanted to be.

Still, he knew this pregnancy would be hard on Ivy, both physically and mentally, and it was fucking slaying him to be separated from her. None of them had realized that she'd been in such bad shape after her ordeal with that evil fuck, Maverick. He wished the prick was still alive, just so he could kill him all over again. She'd been severely dehydrated and malnourished, and he hadn't known just how sick she was until she'd collapsed after her most recent escape attempt.

Speaking of. He was seriously going to have to find a way to lock that shit down. They were going to have quite the conversation after all of this was over. Putting herself at risk had already been unacceptable. Now that she was pregnant? He'd chain her to the fucking bed and put steel bars on the windows, if he had to. She'd hate him, but she would get over it. He'd much rather have a pissed off pregnant Ivy than no Ivy at all.

He shook off his sullen thoughts. Cole had promised to check in on her twice a day, and Trevino had a few contacts watching the safehouse while they were gone. None of them would be safe until Hickson was six feet under. This had to be done.

He was just starting to block out the bickering, overgrown children in the backseat when the cell in the center console beeped twice. Trevino grabbed it and opened the text messages. One was a photo taken from their contact's phone of Hickson leaving his obnoxious, five-million-dollar, modernized mansion. Ivy had been in that mansion once, when Maverick had dragged her there to reunite with her birth father as a publicity stunt in front of a room full of cameras.

The second text was a string of numbers and letters that the skilled sniper immediately began to decode, grabbing a pencil and small pad of lined paper from the glove compartment. They'd burn it as soon as he'd obtained the information detailed in the message.

The armored SUV they were currently tailing, similar to the one they'd traded in for this piece of shit sedan, carried Parsons, Hickson's spineless assistant. It was rare that the jellyfish wasn't plastered to his boss' side, one hand always poised above the tablet he used to track Hickson's comings and goings, appointments, speeches, social events, fundraisers, etcetera. Then there were the more unsavory obligations; correspondence to and from no fewer than four criminal syndicates, contacts he used to blackmail, coerce, and bribe his way into financially beneficial political deals, to name some of the least incriminating details.