Chapter 0004

Olivia's POV

“Yeah, that’s me and Ethan.” I admitted to Mia. “Believe it or not, with everything going on with Aiden and the money mess it hasn’t exactly been important.” I felt the need to explain so she wouldn’t think I was hiding things from her.

“I was hurt and messed up after the wedding, and the room I ended up in was his, not mine. I didn’t plan it, Mia, honestly, and I didn’t know it was him. I thought it was room service and well… I needed a little service.”

Mia’s face was frozen with a stunned expression, but at that she let out a bark of laughter. “Yeah, I bet. Holy shit, Liv. Tell me everything.”

My face flushed glancing back at the images on Mia’s phone remembering – hazily – that part of the night.

“Well, there’s no doubt he’s an Alpha. He was great… really fucking great, Mia. The things that man can do with his tongue should be illegal. It was what I needed, but I told him it won’t happen again. It shouldn’t have happened at all.”

It wouldn’t happen again based on Ethan’s reputation alone. It was common knowledge that Ethan hadn’t taken any woman into his bed more than once. He didn’t do relationships, even the physical kind.

Mia’s confident smirk told me she disagreed. “Trust me, he’ll want to do it again. He’s never been with a Luna before, he’s never been with you.”

Ethan’s cold, distant demeanor when we parted flashed in my mind, just confirming his reputation. “He tried to pay me off with cash to keep the whole thing quiet. There’s no way he’ll help me now.”

“That just proves he has the financial means to help,” Mia snorted. “We should encourage this rumor.”

“There’s no need to respond to the rumors. They’ll blow over soon enough.” I hoped.

***

Ethan's POV

Marlus laughed and tossed the newspaper on my desk. “Well, it seems this woman is different. You didn’t throw her out, and you let the paparazzi publish these photos.”

My Beta could get away with teasing me to a point, but I wasn’t in the mood.

“Cut the shit, Marlus. I have bigger problems,” I snapped at him.

I shifted my glare from the compromising photos on page 18, to the latest letter from Kelvin Highmoor. Yeah, I had bigger problems, like another warning from the Alpha Council that my bid for one of the ten leadership seats was going to be rejected.

“They’re still going on about that?” huffed Marlus. He shared my frustration.

Packs needed balance to strengthen and grow long term, and Kelvin was doing me a favor by giving me an informal warning. My Pack – Storm Haven – was young, but we were strong. I was strong.

I was also unmated.

I couldn’t mate again.

“Dear Alpha Blackford,” I read aloud from the letter, “As you are aware, stability among the Packs is of utmost importance. Approval into the Alpha Council, and its subsequent leadership, requires the Pack to have both an Alpha and a Luna in active standing.”

They thought my lack of a Luna was a sign of instability in my Pack.

But they didn’t know my wolf refused to acknowledge any potential Mate bond. We were both wounded at my first Mate’s rejection, but he refused to go through that pain again.

I couldn’t argue with him either; I was in no rush to repeat the experience, even hypothetically.

Only Marlus knew what I went through. What I still went through with my wolf.

“There are only ten permanent seats and that empty one should be mine. I’m the strongest candidate by far. This Luna bullshit is the only reason Aiden was even being considered, since he was about to be Mated.”

I took a calming breath before I clawed my desk in half and settled for tearing the newspaper instead.

“This must be Chloe’s doing. Tipping off the paparazzi to catch me in a scandal with Aiden’s ex, it gives them more reason to deny my application. And to favor Aiden.” The bitterness I felt leaked into my words.

Marlus growled at the mention of my stepmother. Her betrayal was the reason I’d been kicked out of my birth Pack and rejected by my Mate. In one night, I went from future Alpha of the Jasper Pack to lone wolf.

Except Marlus left Jasper Pack with me. He was loyal and that’s why I made him my Beta when I started my own Pack.

“I wouldn’t put it past that bitch, Ethan. After accusing you of poisoning her with Wolfsbane and turning the Pack against you over a lie, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s trying to sabotage your chance on the Alpha Council in favor of her son.”

It made sense. Chloe hated me because I was my mother’s son; she’d jumped at the chance to become Luna when she died. Back then I was set to become Alpha, and she needed me out of the way.

And now I was set to become an Alpha Council Leader, and she needed me out of the way again.

I had problems, indeed.

“Marlus!” Grace’s voice stormed into the room before she did, carrying the same newspaper edition I’d just torn up. “Who is this woman?! She dared break into Ethan’s room, this is unacceptable.”

My Beta sighed and stepped between his sister and me to intercept her whirlwind of fury. Grace had joined me shortly after Marlus had. “Chill, Gracie. What are you talking about?”

She was talking about Olivia, but my mind had already started fitting pieces together. And I didn’t like what I was thinking.

Chloe wouldn’t put her son in harm’s way, and this scandal with me and Olivia would inevitably put Aiden into the public’s gossiping eye. Was it possible that Chloe wasn’t behind this?

My hand absentmindedly dipped into my pocket to fiddle with the diamond ring I’d been keeping there. The one Olivia had ‘paid’ me with and for some reason I had kept.

Gods, but she was beautiful. I wanted to taste her again, but there was no way I’d entertain that thought. I wasn’t open to another rejection.

Besides, Olivia had been with my stepbrother Aiden for the last year and was making him her Alpha. I didn’t want to get involved with whatever Aiden had no matter how beautiful she was. That was just asking for more trouble.

“She must have deliberately bumped into me to steal my keycard! – Well, Ethan’s keycard, I was bringing it back!” Grace shouted.

That snapped my head up and had my attention. I never did get the second keycard to my room. And I remember Olivia was confused and flustered that morning.

I thought she was just playing when she didn’t know who I was, but maybe that was true. Clearly Grace didn’t know who Olivia was now.

Had Olivia wandered into my room by honest mistake? My hand curled around the engagement ring as my mind raced with possibilities. This mix-up might be exactly what I need.

“Marlus,” I interrupted, “Where is that woman now?”