Scandal
11: 11.
Scandal Ivy’s POV
Ryder and I arrive at the reception a bit late so that there is a crowd at the front of the hall.
Ryder gets out of the car and comes around and opens the door for me.
I’m nervous and then immediately angry with myself.
Why should I fear these people?
I am the Princess of Ice Moon.
I was born to lead.
They doubted me.
Now they will see the truth, they will see the real me!
When I step out of the car the people, one-by-one, turn towards me.
I know the effect I’m having and I won’t hide it — I’m loving it!
Silver Claw Pack treated me horribly.
The belittled me and passed awful rumours.
Let them see me tonight!
Ryder takes my arm.
“Let’s go!”
We walk down the red carpet and up the steps to the entrance.
Just as we’re entering Alicia appears.
“Well look at you, Ivy!,” Alicia says.
“Who would have thought you cleaned up so nicely?”
“Move aside,” Ryder says.
“Your boyfriend should watch how he talks to me, Ivy.
I will call security and have him carted off unceremoniously.”
“Alicia, you best chill with your idle threats.
What do you want?” I’m getting very tired of this woman.
She’s the perfect example of how Silver Claw treated me.
When they thought I was their princess they fawned on me.
When they then thought I was a commoner, they treated me like dirt.
I despise her.
Alicia used to tell people she was my best friend.
She never was.
Her love for me was transparent and I knew would blow away in the smallest wind.
“I’m curious what you think you’re doing here, Ivy?” Alicia asks me, her mouth twisted into a sarcastic smile.
“As you can see, I’m here attending the reception.” A small crowd has gathered around us to witness the conversation.
Alicia laughs.
“Obviously you’re still a mental case.
Didn’t they fix you at all at the loony bin?
Your kind can’t come to a reception like this, you must know that.”
“My kind??
Alicia, if anyone here is struggling with their mental clarity, I think it’s you,” I say.
My patience is finishing.
“In case you forgot, you lied about being the heiress to the Beta Family of Silver Claw.
You are nothing now.
That makes me wonder why you think you can come to an exclusive reception such as this.”
“The princess of the Ice Moon Pack will be here, the most powerful wolf pack in the country!
Do you think she wants to meet a commoner like you, Ivy?
Even if you did buy yourself a nice dress and get some fake diamond jewellery, you’re not fit to be seen by such a powerful woman.”
I nearly laugh out loud at her stupidity.
“Who do you think you are?” Ryder spits.
He starts to move toward Alicia and I hold him back.
He looks at me and obeys.
“Alicia, I will ask you one last time to step aside,” I say.
“Who do you think you are ordering around, Ivy? New chapters come out on g.com first.
I’m a member of the entourage for the Luna of Silver Claw.
By the way, the Luna is not you, it hasn’t been for a very long time.”
“The one who shares the bed with the Alpha is Tiffany.
You best learn to accept that and respect that.” Alicia smiles as if she’s gained a point, a jab that will hurt me in some way.
“Believe me, Alicia ,when I say, I am overjoyed that Tiffany is the Luna. She and Theodore are a perfect match. Deceitful, conniving, untrustworthy, hateful, and not worthy of anyone’s respect. Like peas in a pod. I wish them a long life together. They deserve each other,” I say.
Alicia’s eyes show her wolf coming to the surface.
Her anger growing out of control.
I laugh.
Let it come.
She will learn a painful lesson if she tries me.
“Now, move aside. You’re delaying me,” I say.
“You will walk over my dead body if you ever pass this entrance,” Alicia says.
She stands firm in my way.
“That would be my singular pleasure.” I hear Ryder laugh next to me.
“Get out of here, Ivy. This is an invitation only event. And I’m certain no commoner like you has an invitation. Got back to the hole you climbed out of! No one wants you here.”
Ryder pushes our invitation into her face.
“Do you know how to read? Or should I read it for you?” he asks.
I can hear in his voice that he’s seconds from giving her a serious beat down.
We should not fall down to her level.
Alicia takes the invitation and inspects it closely.
“So? This means nothing. Of course you’re not the Princess of Ice Moon Pack! How ridiculous! Any body would know that. Why did you even forge this, Ivy? You really are so pathetic.”
Ivy looks across the entrance.
“Guards, please come and remove this trash!” Alicia says referring to me and Ryder.
“Oh Alicia, what a silly stupid woman you are! Remember this night, it will be changing your life. And not for the good.,” I say.
The guards move in to try and grab my arm.
Before they can lay a finger on me, Ryder pushes them both back.
They fly off the edge of the raised entryway.
“Call off your dogs,” Ryder says to Alicia.
“Now!”
Just then, I hear someone call my name and I turn to see who it is.
“Princess Ivy!
I thought it was you!
Is everything alright her?
Is this woman troubling you?”
“Good evening, Walton.
I think we have everything under control, but thank you,” I say.
I smile.
It’s Walton, an exceptional chef who owns many restaurants around the country.
The first two were opened in the North funded by Ice Moon Pack money after I gave him my support.
It was one of our more lucrative investments.
“Good. But let me know if anyone troubles you.” He bows before me and then kisses my hand.
“You look beautiful by the way, Princess Ivy.
I came all the way from my home in the East to attend this reception when I heard it was for you.”
“Thank you for that, Walton.
It’s always comforting to see a friend at these sorts of gatherings.” I look at Alicia who’s busy trying to sort out this new information in her mind.
I look directly at her as I continue.
“These gatherings…
where friends and supporters will be few and far between.”
“Princess Ivy, you can always count on me as your most loyal subject.
Let me know if you require anything this evening.
I’m at your service.
Always.”
He leaves and I look at Alicia and wait.
Ryder snatches the invitation out of Alicia’s hand.
“What’s going on here is you’re getting out of our way! And, if I was you, I’d keep a good distance between yourself and us tonight if you value your life.”
Alicia moves to the side and we walk into the hall.
“That was a bother,” I say.
“Sorry, Ryder, I told you how Silver Claw Pack is.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve dealt with worse than her.”
When we enter the hall the noise suddenly dies down.
People stop sipping their drinks and turn to us.
“They’re looking at us,” I say.
“They’re looking at you,” Ryder says.
I can hear whispers as we pass through the crowd:
“Is that the former Luna?”
“It looks like her but how can it be?”
“Never!
Ivy was a dirty, awful liar, nothing like this beautiful woman.”
“The former Luna went mad and lives in the forest like a wild animal.
It can’t be her.”
“It looks like her though.
If it’s her, the new Luna will spit blood!”
“No!
She’s a commoner now.
She could never look like that!
It’s been five years.”
“She was a cheat and liar!
She could never be here!
Never!”
“But is it her?
It looks like her.”
“Oh my goddess!It’s her!”
“Look!
It is her!”
I ignore all of it.
I walk through the crowd as the Princess of Ice Moon, as the soon-to-be Alpha of Ice Moon.
Let them talk!
They will soon lose their words and shut their mouths.
Then I spot Theodore at the other end of the hall.
He sits at a regal table set on a stage.
He’s older.
I hate to admit but with age he has grown more handsome, not less.
I list the many ways he abused and betrayed me.
I list them in my mind like a mantra to remind myself of the truth because I can feel myself rushing back to how I was, attracted to him.
It cannot be!
I hate him!
I grip Ryder’s arm more tightly to find the support I need.
“You say if we must leave. As soon as you say it, we will be gone,” Ryder says.
“No. I’m fine. Just stay next to me.”
Then Theodore sees me.
He was expecting the princess of Ice Moon, a woman he has never met.
Instead, I walk into his life from the past he had hoped was forgotten.
He stands on the stage and stares at me.
Tiffany is sitting next to him and she’s pulling at his clothes to sit down.
Grace Sterling sits on his other side.
She looks at me, stunned.
Theodore’s face shows something else.
I know that look.
I can feel it in my body it is so strong.
He is mesmerised by his attraction to me.
He pushes Tiffany off of him.
He steps down from the stage.
The crowd parts for him as he walks towards me as if in a trance.
He is caught in something much bigger than himself.
I know then that this will be much more difficult than I had even imagined.