Olivia“Hmm… I don’t know, Liv. It just doesn’t feel like… me, you know?”Angela stood ahead of me on the fitting room pedestal, turning this way and that in front of the mirror. The beads on her white dress caught the light emanating from the delicate crystal chandelier overhead, and the sound of soft classical music played on the speakers.The whole wedding gown parlor smelled like vanilla and daisies.I took a sip of my complimentary tea as I looked up at her. “It’s a beautiful dress,” I said, “but I think the whole ball gown look isn’t really your style.”Angela nodded matter-of-factly and turned to look at the stylist. “Could I try out some of those mermaid dresses?” she asked. “Something off-the-shoulder, too, I think.”“Of course.” The stylist smiled and walked away to pull out some more options for the blushing bride-to-be. Now that Angela and I were alone, she sighed and hiked up the massive skirt of the ball gown as she stepped down from the pedestal.“This is way more stres
Olivia“I was just seeing myself out.”Dan brushed past me without another word. I watched him go, still blinking incredulously. What was that conversation I had just overheard? And most importantly, was Nathan alright?“Hey, Liv.” Nathan’s voice came from the doorway to his study. I looked up to see him standing there, looking a bit flustered but otherwise okay. A moment later, I heard the front door open and close. Dan was finally gone.“Hey.” I stood and walked over to him. “You alright? That sounded… intense.”Nathan simply shrugged. “Just an impromptu visit, that’s all,” he said. He paused then, patting his belly. “I’m starving. Did I hear you say you brought food home, or…?”“Uh, yeah,” I said, gesturing over to the table. “Help yourself.”With a smile and a grateful kiss on the cheek, Nathan walked over to the dining room table and began unpacking the food. The scent of greasy, delicious and wonderfully-bad-for-you takeout foot filled the room, and I felt my own stomach growl i
OliviaI peered out the window as Nathan and I pulled up to the press event, which was to be held in the council building of Dan’s pack. A low whistle escaped my lips as I peered up at the formidable building.“That’s quite the structure, isn’t it?” I asked quietly.Nathan leaned forward to look through the windshield at the massive building.Its tall spires and stone walls gave the building an almost brutal look, but the narrow stained glass windows added an air of elegance to the place. It was almost hard to believe that this was another council building and not a cathedral.“Yeah,” Nathan said with a chuckle. “Old money, huh?”“You can say that again.” Dan’s pack was one of the wealthiest in the entire region—hence his position as the de facto head of the Alpha association. And the longer I knew him, the more I realized how much he seemed to enjoy flaunting his wealth.But to each their own, I suppose.As Nathan and I climbed out of the car and made our way up the marble steps arm-
Olivia“You and Dan have only been married for four years?”As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I cringed at what I had just said. “I-I’m sorry,” I stammered, sitting up a little straighter. “I didn’t mean—”But Clarissa just chuckled. “No, no, it’s okay,” she said. “I know it’s a bit of a shock, seeing as how we’re both in our middle age. But yes, we’ve only been married for four years. We met eight years ago.”“I see.” I chewed my lip for a moment as I thought back on what Clarissa had said that day when she visited before the Valentine’s Day gala—how she had always wanted a family, but never had one. She hadn’t gone into detail about it.“If you don’t mind me asking,” I said cautiously, leaning forward, “before Dan, were you… were you ever married at all?”For a moment, Clarissa opened her mouth and drew in a deep breath as if to speak. But then she froze, blinking at me for a few long seconds. Her eyes seemed almost to grow dull, or rather glaze over.Then, after a painstak
OliviaNathan and I swayed back and forth on the dance floor with the other couples while soft orchestral music played from the string quartet on the stage. I rested my cheek on Nathan’s shoulder, closing my eyes against the fading sun through the stained glass windows.“You’re the most beautiful one here, you know,” Nathan whispered into my ear. His breath tickled my skin as he spoke, eliciting a giggle from me.“You’ll be eating your words when I’m nine months pregnant and look like I’ve got a small planet inside of me,” I teased.Nathan shook his head and carefully spun me. My hand felt small and delicate in his wide palm, and his warm fingers were soothing in the chill of the large room. “I thought you were even more beautiful, even when you were pregnant with twins,” he said.I almost laughed out loud. I couldn’t believe that only a year prior, I had been giving birth to twins in my bathtub. And now, here I was, happily expecting another on the way.“You know, I’ve been thinking
Olivia“Hey, it’s okay. I’m here.”Nathan fanned at my face with a folded napkin. The cool air was a relief, but for the tenth time already, I offered him a weak smile and shook my head.“I’m fine, really,” I lied. “My legs just got a little weak, that’s all.”And for the tenth time, Nathan narrowed his eyes at me and pursed his lips. “I think we should get you home. You look pale.”Home. I could accept that—anything to get away from this luncheon, away from Dan and his biting words and his digging fingers. But I didn’t feel right leaving Clarissa here with him. Not after the way he had dragged her away suddenly.“Can we at least check on Clarissa?” I whispered. “I’m worried—”“Liv.” Nathan leaned in closer and lowered his voice. His blue-green eyes seemed to flicker beneath the light streaming in through the stained glass windows. “You have to let her go.”I swallowed. I knew he was right, of course; Dan’s warning had been loud and clear. But it didn’t make it hurt any less. Somethin
OliviaI woke up in the morning to the feeling of the warm sun streaming in through the curtains and a cold spot in the bed where Nathan would normally be.Yawning, I rolled over and sat up. The sound of the shower turning off in our shared bathroom caught my attention, and I rubbed my eyes as Nathan emerged along with a plume of hot steam a few moments later.“You’re up early.” I glanced over at the clock, which read 6:05 in the morning. That was nearly half an hour before Nathan usually got up to head to work for the day.“Yeah.” Nathan crossed the room, still wrapped from the hips down in his towel, and planted a warm, damp kiss on my forehead. “I’m heading out early today.”I raised an eyebrow in surprise. “How come? I thought today was supposed to be a short day.”“It was.” He sighed and dried his hair in the vanity mirror. The water on his back glistened in the morning light, highlighting his taut muscles.Despite the cold winter outside, Nathan never seemed to get soft and slee
OliviaThe bright fluorescent lights overhead as the nurses wheeled me into the emergency room was all I could see. Their bright glare practically blinded me, but I felt so far away that it didn’t even matter anymore.“Acute pain… Bleeding… Nausea…”“How many months…?”“Bad sign…”Their words seemed to fade in and out, along with the looks on their faces as they leaned over me. All the while, Angela was the one constant: her hand wrapped tightly around mine, the tears in her eyes, the feeling of her fingers brushing my sweat-caked hair out of my face.“I’m here, Liv,” she said gently, never once leaving my side the entire time. “I’m here.”I was able to manage a weak smile in her direction, but something dear to me was missing amongst all of the pain and the chaos.My husband.He still hadn’t answered my calls or any of the messages I had sent him. Or at least, he hadn’t the last time I had checked. At some point during the frantic car ride to the emergency room, the phone had slipped
OliviaI gripped the edges of the podium, my knuckles whitening from the strain as I stared out over the sea of faces. All eyes were trained squarely on me, awaiting my words. But I was frozen.A tremor of nausea wormed its way up my throat as I stared out at them. What was I thinking—how could I have ever agreed to this? Speaking to crowds had never been my forte; that was Nathan’s arena, not mine. I was just the woman behind the scenes, the young mom who had never gone to college, the one who had been handed her job by her husband…Suddenly, a flicker of motion off to the side caught my eye—Nathan, standing just at the edge of the stage with his arms folded across his chest. Even from this distance, I could feel the weight of his steady gaze, that piercing Alpha stare that always seemed to see straight into the depths of my soul.He must have sensed my faltering because, slowly, deliberately, he offered me the faintest of smiles and a single, reassuring nod.And just like that, the
Olivia I looped my arm through Nathan’s as we stepped down from the podium, the applause from the crowd and the flashing of cameras having finally subsided after what felt like an eternity. “It’s over,” Nathan beamed, giving my arm a squeeze. “That wasn’t so bad.” I couldn’t help but grin back at him. “No, it wasn’t. You were great up there.” And he really had been great; the press conference had been an overwhelming success—any lingering doubts or trepidation we had harbored before had been utterly blown away by the sheer force of the crowd’s enthusiastic response. For so long, it had felt like we were fighting this battle alone, like the victims who had suffered under Dan’s horrific operation were little more than nameless, faceless casualties. But today, we had finally given them a voice. Their stories had reached the masses, had resonated and struck a chord with everyone who watched. Nathan had handled all of the questions that were thrown his way with poise and ease
OliviaI rapped my knuckles lightly on the door to Nathan’s office. A moment later, his voice called out, “Come in.”Stepping into the room, I placed my hands on my hips upon seeing the scene in front of me: Nathan was standing in front of the mirror, his shirt still untucked and his tie loosened. His desk was a mess of papers and folders, and it was clear that he had been checking over his notes last-minute before the press conference.
OliviaI wiped a bead of sweat from my brow, slowly turning to survey the progress that had been made in the park. The banners we had hung were a bold purple color, signifying our support of the women who had been affected by the trafficking ring.I couldn’t help but smile a bit as I looked at our progress. With the press conference today, followed by a festival to help raise funds for the shelter we were building, the park was bustling with activity as our pack members worked hard
NathanI leaned back in my chair with a weary sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose in a futile attempt to stave off the encroaching headache. Spread out on my desk was an array of file folders, legal pads scrawled with notes, and printed transcripts—a minefield of information that would need to be carefully navigated on the day of the upcoming press conference.It had been two weeks since Dan and Montgomery’s bodies were found in the confinement pit, and it had been a dizzyin
OliviaMy hands shook uncontrollably as I stepped up to the edge of the pit, clutching the metal grating until my knuckles turned white. A thick, cloying stench wafted up from the darkness below—the unmistakable reek of death and decay.Despite the waves of nausea already roiling in my gut, I leaned forward for a closer look.
OliviaThe air coming through the open windows smelled like the fresh sea breeze as we made our way from room to room, touring every nook and cranny of the newly completed cottage. It was perfect—cozy and quaint, while still boasting all the modern amenities one could want. But more than that, it was a sanctuary, a haven.A fresh start.
OliviaThe sound of power tools outside streamed in through the window while I folded the laundry, a distant backdrop to my swirling thoughts. I had grown used to the sound, and actually kind of enjoyed it. It was a reminder that life went on, that our family was growing.It had been a couple of weeks since I had made the decision to take a temporary leave from work in order to really focus on my family—on rebuilding that long-severed bond with my mother—and I was glad I did.
NathanI couldn’t stop the rage from simmering just beneath the surface as I made my way through the darkened forest toward the confinement pit. No one knew I was here—I was coming under the cover of night, my hair and face concealed by a hood.But I had to come. I couldn’t stop thinking about Dan and Montgomery, and I needed to see them.