Of course, Olivera knew there was only so measurable time she could keep up her hatred for Raul. As a matter of fact, she didn’t think that she hated him. She just hated what he had done, how easily he had dispelled their love as if it had been nothing, as if it had not existed. However, she knew that she could not escape the mate bond forever; only could stall the inevitable. And if she was going to be honest, her wolf had made sense when she had said that Jeremy’s disrespecting Raul, in front of his subordinates, was way out of charts. She could do that because she had been the one personally wronged, but Jeremy… ‘Good girl.’ Olivera scoffed. Verity was just too dramatic. Vee had halted and was looking at her again. “Go on, what did Jeremy say?” Her mind, whilst thinking of Jeremy's disrespect, had also been running across possible words which would have come out from Jeremy’s mouth at Raul’s question. “He said that he didn’t really care for that, that he will take you for hi
“I didn’t tell you to come in, Olivera…” Those were the first words Olivera heard when she stepped into the room, and saw Vee standing a few feet away from the witch that had completely disorganized the room that belonged to Raul’s mother. This must have been why she had stopped knocking. Olivera thought, stepping around the littered books and bottles on the floor, ignoring Vee and his question. The witch was still searching for whatever scrolls she had talked about before disappearing on her last two weeks. The scroll.That had been one of the first things she had searched for intently the past two weeks, and she had found it. However, it was something that she couldn’t understand, and the only thing that Vee had said when she had mentally asked him, was that they needed the other part of the scroll for it to be useful. It was then that she had known that the scroll which looked like a map was incomplete. “Is that how he talks to you? How can you allow it?” Olivera ignored the q
“You have a wolf too?” Olivera reverted from her conversation with her wolf, and centered her attention on Miriam again. The latter was looking at her with eyes that had become widened with surprise, and a little other emotion akin with awe. “Wow, that’s purely interesting, and puts a new twist to things. I like it though.” Miriam smiled, and Olivera didn’t know which one disorganized her, Miriam’s words, or the smile and connotation of the words the latter had just spoken. “Explain that statement.” She stated rather, not finding it necessary to tell the lady that her smile was very beautiful, and then familiar too. The disorganization had come from the fact that there was now a seventy percent probability that Miriam was Raul’s sister. No longer thirty percent. No, not with that smile. She wanted to ask Miriam to confirm her suspicions but she had a nagging feeling that the latter would deny it. So, she chose to talk about the unsettling statement, that even though it was said w
“Since when have you been listening?” Olivera asked Raul after they had exited the secret room. Right now, they were in the confines of her own room. Raul was sitting on the bed, and his eyes were running tro and fro the room as if he hadn’t seen the beautification before. But then, this was his first time, or rather one of the rare times, the once in a blue moon times that he stepped into the room of his mother that he hated. “A while.” He answered, letting his eyes finally settle on Olivera who took residence on the dressing chair, with Vee right beside her. Vee was another feature that Raul had a time keeping his eyes away from. Mostly because he was already considering the threat Vee might pose should the guard indicate an interest in Olivera. He had thought Jeremy handsome enough for a man that might tempt Olivera, but seeing Vee, the obsession had shifted from Jeremy to Vee. This could be his competition. He heard Vee chuckle, saw the guard wink at him, and balked. Vee coul
To talk about his sister? Raul wasn’t sure that he could do that. Miriam was a dead topic as his mother has been. As a matter of fact, his family was a dead topic. But at least talking about his father wouldn’t make him cringe in irritation and distaste. However, Olivera was the one asking, and how could he deny her that? Yet, he would have to make a deal with her on this. “If I tell you about Miriam, you tell me about him…” He pointed at Vee whose only reaction was a smug smile. Raul disliked it. The guard was acting like he knew all things. Well, Vee knew more than he did of his mate… “And you tell me all that had transpired in the room, and all the happenings that you haven’t told me of. I will tell you about Miriam…” There was a pause which caused Olivera to pique an eyebrow. What was making a ruthless alpha to hesitate? Over the past weeks, the only person apart from Jeremy and Nick, and sometimes Roland who she had spoken to had been Amah, the servant girl. They both had
Olivera started answering Raul’s question, without making the deal, surprising Raul who had thought that she might bicker and try to slither away from the deal. But what he didn’t know was that Olivera had already proposed in her heart to let him know everything that was going on, just as Vee and Verity had advised so that she wouldn’t be fighting this war alone. And so she told him of the first time she had found the secret room, and what she had found there-the pictures of her and her brother, whom everyone believes is dead, but whom she had a feeling might be alive. She told him of the hefty books that she had no understanding of, and how she had run out of the room because Vee had tipped her that Jeremy had been about to be executed. Olivera didn’t pause there, even when Raul rubbed his face, partly ashamed of his actions. She told him of the form Vee had taken, and how she hadn’t known what it was until she had found Nick close to him, until she had found out that the Nick she
“So, I’m done. It's time to fulfill your part of the bargain.” Olivera said, crossing her legs, ignoring the flash of panic that fleeted past Raul's face just for a bare second at her statement. She knew that this topic scared him to talk about, made him seem like a fearful small boy, but she wasn’t going to patronize or fawn over him with pity. She knew that he wouldn’t like that. She knew that he would close up faster than he would open up. There were beats of silence, where Raul stared at the wall without speaking, and Olivera contemplated asking the question again. But she finally chose to be quiet till he was ready to talk. She could wait. They had enough time. But she wouldn’t let him leave her room until he had spoken all that she wanted to hear, even if it included threatening him with her life. Talking about this might help him heal. She watched painfully as he opened his mouth, and then shut it, pain and sorrow filling up his eyes. She had never seen him like this. With
Raul sat alone in his office, the room dimly lit by a single flickering candle. The weight of Olivera's words pressed heavily on his mind. She had told him something that seemed impossible, something that threatened to shatter his entire understanding of his past. According to his mate, his father had lied to him. But how could that be? His father had always been a beacon of honesty and integrity, a guiding force in his life. The idea that he had been deceiving Raul all along felt like a betrayal too deep to comprehend.He leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair as he replayed the conversation with Olivera in his mind. Her eyes had been filled with sincerity, her voice steady and unwavering. She was his mate, the one person he was supposed to trust implicitly. The bond they shared was unbreakable, rooted in truth and loyalty. How could she lie to him? The very thought seemed absurd. And yet, the doubt lingered.Raul's mind raced with conflicting emotions. On one han