Exchanging Vows: The Swapped Wife Is a Top Shaman novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Ivy’s Point of View

I watched my father take a deep breath.

His hands pressed against the table. His muscles tensed. He was going to stand up. Going to walk over there and pour wine like a servant while his brother watched with that smug, satisfied smile.

Forty years of humiliation. Forty years of being treated like dirt beneath his own brother’s feet. And he was about to add one more moment to the pile.

No.

Not today.

Just as he started to rise, I pressed my hand firmly on his shoulder and pushed him back down.

"Ivy, what are you—"

I didn’t answer. I was already on my feet.

The hall fell silent as I stepped away from my seat. Every eye turned to follow me as I walked toward the head of the table. My footsteps echoed against the stone floor. Steady. Unhurried. The sound seemed impossibly loud in the sudden quiet.

I could feel my mother’s panicked gaze on my back. Could sense Finn half-rising from his chair before someone pulled him back down. But I didn’t turn around. Didn’t hesitate.

I had originally planned to use Alpha Alaric’s influence to help my father escape this pack. To arrange for his examination registration through Silvermoon territory. To give him time to prepare. To let him make the decision on his own terms.

But watching Alpha Roland throw that cup, watching him scream at my father like he was less than dirt, I realized something.

There was no time for careful planning. No time for subtle maneuvering. No time for patience.

My father needed to leave this place. Now. Today. Before his brother destroyed what little dignity he had left. Before another forty years passed in misery and servitude.

It was time for me to make the decision for him.

"Ivy!" My father’s voice called out behind me. Worried. Confused. I heard his chair scrape against the floor as he tried to stand.

I glanced back and gave him a small shake of my head. Trust me. Please.

Then I kept walking.

The distance between my seat and the Alpha’s seemed to stretch forever. I passed elder after elder, their wrinkled faces twisted with shock and confusion. I walked by Luna Camilla, whose painted smile had frozen into something ugly. I moved past Bastian, who watched me with narrowed, calculating eyes.

I could feel the weight of everyone’s stares pressing down on me like physical force. Dozens of eyes. Dozens of judgments. The entire pack watching the Beta’s worthless daughter march toward their Alpha like she had any right to be there.

And Seraphina. Her face had gone from smug to confused to angry in the span of seconds. Her perfect composure cracking like thin ice.

Alpha Roland watched me approach, his face still flushed with rage from his outburst. The shattered wine cup lay at his feet, ceramic shards scattered across the floor like broken teeth. Wine pooled between them, dark as old blood.

I stopped before him. Looked at the mess on the ground. Then reached out and picked up the wine jug from the table.

And poured.

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