OLIVIA'S POVWhile I was sitting in my room, reading the horror novel I had collected from the library, my mind wandered and I couldn't focus on the reading.I remembered the people's murmurs from before and it crossed my mind over and over again which made me unable to focus. I kept rethinking the words I could've said and the perfect badass response I could've come up with but sadly, it was too late for that.I heard a knock on the door which snapped me out of my thoughts. "Come in!" I said after I'd positioned myself properly on the bed.The door opened revealing Vanessa. I immediately let out the breath I was holding and gestured to Vanessa to move closer to me.She was holding a bowl containing strawberries. She smiled at me softly and walked toward my bed."I brought you some strawberries."It looked incredibly fresh and sumptuous. Even though I remembered that I was called a freeloader for simply living in the mansion, I wanted to have a taste of the delicious fruit. It was cal
JULIAN'S POV.I stood at the entrance to my house and sighed. I was tired with everything fiber of my being and all I just wanted was to relax my body and my nerves in readiness for tomorrow's activities. As the Alpha of the Black Shadow pack, I couldn't afford to slack behind my pack members even for a single day.Would I even have the time to slow down a little?Every member of my pack, from the youngest to the oldest, all relied on me and my ability to lead the pack safely and wisely. After all, we were all the forsaken werewolves of another pack that had joined together to become one. The other members had trusted me enough to let me lead them after they had heard about what had happemed between my brother and I.I haven't let them down even oncean and I wasnt about to begin now. No matter how tired and weary I was, I wouod always put the interest of my pack first before I even consider myself. Every decision I made in the past and the ones I wouod be making in the future would be
JULIAN'S POV."Yes." She finally answered me.I bent my lips to her mouth and stole another kiss from her before I let go of her from my hold completely. I stood up from my sitting position and went over to where my drawers were. I sat down on one of the ones in the middle and rested my hands on either of the drawers by the side. By the time I would look back at Olivia, she had one of her fingers on her lips."Did you enjoy the kiss that much?" I asked her.She looked at me with a surprised look and she blushed."Why do you like blushing around me so much? Do I make you uncomfortable?" I asked her.When she blushed again, I nearly cursed out loud."Do I?" I asked with uncertainty this time.When she shook her head on the negative, I relaxed my tense posture. When she looked at me and our eyes locked, she blushed again and she looked down. I shook my head and wondered why she always acted shy around me. Or perhaps she wasn't shy, she was merely afraid of showing her true emotions.This
JULIAN'S POV."Thank you for the ride, Holden. I'll see you both later in the day," I told both my beta and my omega."See you later, Julian," Holden called out before he drove away.I sighed and walked into my mansion. After Holden had beckoned to me yesterday about a matter that urgently needed my attention, I hadn't expected that it would be a matter that would require so much of my time.It turned out that some of the soldiers had spotted another set of Blue Blood werewolves transporting the crates of fruits from the Khoyata tree. They had captured one of them and they had wanted me to be present for his questioning. When I got there, I had met the omega questioning the captured man who had done nothing but kept mute.Holden and I had thought that he wasn't responding to the omega's questioning because she was a woman, coupled with the fact that she wasn't someone who loved threatening and punishing people except when the situation called for it. So, we had asked her to relax and
OLIVIA'S POV.By the time Niamh would transport me around the hall to meet different members of the pack, I was already feeling tired and my head was on fire. At first, I tried to keep track of the names of everyone and the positions they held in the pack, and crucial their positions were but after meeting about twenty people in a roll, I had given up and told myself that I would be learning about them gradually."Olivia, did you know that Finn is Jane's boyfriend?" Niahm asked me in a low gossip voice.I looked at the person called Finn whose secret affair was out in the open and he didn't seem to mind it one single bit."If you weren't my brother's mate, I swear to the moon goddess, I would have murdered you a long time ago." The young man told Niamh.Perhaps, he did mind about it, I thought. When Niamh flicked her two fingers at him and the young man laughed, I knew that he truly didn't mind any of the discussion."Didn't you promise to tell the Alpha only good things about me? Why
OLIVIA'S POVWhen I woke up, I felt giddy from the previous day's celebration. I had been treated better than I could've ever imagined and Julian made sure I was comfortable through it all.Honestly, I did not like that I was introduced to everyone so suddenly but after everything went out smoothly, I had a good night's sleep.I stretched my limbs and didn't feel the need to stay in bed for another hour. One would think if I left my pack, the first thing I would do in my home was sleep but here I was, feeling upbeat and excited.My body was also strong and energetic, if I laid in my bed for more hours. I would only be sleeping away the loads of energy I had.I skidded into the bathroom and started my morning routine. Brush teeth, shower, skincare. My fingers played with the well-tailored dresses in the closet as I decided on what to wear.The green plain dress that was comfy as hell or the peach that looked incredibly light and silky?I slipped into the former and prepared myself. I
OLIVIA'S POVAfter making Bacon and eggs, Helen was impressed. The maids tasted from it and they were wowed.Helen had no choice but to approve me to cook with her.Simultaneously, Helen and I went to work, chopping the ingredients we needed to make the duck meat to our taste.She worked her magic and a section of the maids cheered her on. The other section of maids cheered me on mostly because they were used to Helen's meal and wanted to taste something different.By the time Helen and I were done making our meals, the pack members were in the huge dining room anticipating breakfast.Even Julian was seated at the table, and so were his omega and beta. Many familiar faces were seated and it made me feel a certain way."I heard you were competing with the head chef," Niamh cleared her throat, "So. I decided to come and take a look at it and have a taste too.""Well... I was joking around, I didn't expect everyone to gather here because of that.""You must be kidding!" Holden's eyes wid
OLIVIA'S POV"Luna, you're back." Vanessa grinned as I arrived on the first floor.It was around evening and I didn't expect her to be around. She was holding a tray containing a bunch of blueberries."How long did you wait here?" I asked, in surprise."W-well... Since you left."That was not impressive."Whenever I'm not around, you don't have to serve me. It was just an excuse to stop those girls from bullying you. You should also do what you like to do the most instead of waiting."I walked toward her and sighed. There were beads of sweat on her forehead and that gave me the information I needed. She had stood there for a very long time.I opened the door to my room and ushered her in. I patted a spot next to me on the bed and she sat down and looked at me curiously.I didn't know why but I felt like Vanessa was trustworthy and I blurted everything to her without thinking.VANESSA'S POVShe appeared at the top of the stairs with a graceful look. Immediately she saw me, a spread aga
*Olivia's POV*I sobbed over his still body, feeling a part of me dying. He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't. I wrapped my arms around him, praying to anyone who cared to listen."Please don't take him away from me. I just got him back. I wouldn't let you take him away from me." I buried my nose in his chest, breathing in his scent.I felt something brush my cheek and I lifted my head. A faerie was smiling at me, his eyes friendly. "You must be the mate." I curled my body over Julian's protectively, narrowing my eyes at the intruder.The faerie smiled, shaking his head. His hair fluttered out like water behind him. "I am here to help you, Luna. I saw everything that happened. It went surprisingly well."I stared at him, pulling Julian closer to my chest. "What are you saying?" "I saw everything that could have happened. The different possibilities. This path was surprisingly fortunate."He looked at me and the look on his eyes made me shiver. "Do you wish to know what could have hap
OLIVIA'S POVMy legs moved faster than I thought was possible as I headed to the packhouse, my legs were already sore from the running but this was Julian we were talking about, I couldn't let him get himself killed. He shouldn't have come here in the first place. He had no idea that Leo was an insane person.I forced my worn-out legs to keep moving no matter the pain that shot up through my legs.I breathed in and paused for a moment to catch my breath. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead and I wiped them with my sleeve.Moon goddess, please...My feet brushed through the corpses in front of the packhouse.My heart tightened and I look over at their faces, "No, not Julian."The corpses lifeless faces reminded me of the people who I had killed in rage.Memories of how I killed my brother, Gillian also filled my head.I had ripped out his heart with no remorse despite his words.I always blamed him for treating me unkindly, yet I killed him. Wasn't I worse than him?Was this why the m
OLIVIA'S POV."There's one more thing, my lady." The leader said in a serious tone.I lifted my eyes and stared at him in wonder about what else he could want from me."What would that be?" I asked him when he didn't say anything for almost a minute after he had spoken.He got up, came to my side and he began to pace around me. All through his scrutiny, I was very nervous but I tried my best to keep my anxiety down since I didn't want to display fear in the den of the wolves. At last, he stood in front of me and stared directly into my eyes."I can still smell your fear, my lady. Have you forgotten that I am an Alpha wolf? My sense of smell is a lot heightened than that of ordinary werewolves." He told me.When I looked at him in shock, he flashed his teeth before me. I wanted to vobblered him but I held on to my restraint. Gone were the days of mindless killings."You feel like killing me, don't you?" He asked me again with a naughty smile. He didn't wait for my response or my anger
OLIVIA'S POV.The Emerett's people moved out of the cage and I followed them at a safe distance, making sure that none of them spotted me. Ever since Emerett had taken me into his care and he and his people had done nothing but take care of me. Emerett made sure I never packed for a thing even once and his men treated me with respect. Even the books that Emerett never joked about, he had allowed me to borrow them times without numbers.There was however one thing I had noticed about the group led by Emerett ever since I had arrived at the cave. Even though the men were very good werewolves who knew how to hunt for good meat, they always came back with little.Although Emerett had given me a head up about how the other party called White Ice had always stolen the prey his men hunted for and even when I had monitored them and saw how they acted for myself, it had been a little bit hard for me to come up with the perfect plan for Emerett's men to accept me. But now I have the perfect pla
*Julian's POV*I tried not to let my emotions show on my face as I stormed past the gate. Two of the guardsmen were sleeping, immediately getting up when I passed.I was too tired not to stop and scold them. Everytime I closed my eyes or stopped to breathe for even a second, I saw Olivia's face. I kept hearing her voice. She had chosen Vanessa over me. A few werewold kids were playing in the park, some of them stopping bouncing the ball to wave at me. I waved back, faking a wide smile.One of them pointed at their heart, calling out. "Where's Luna?" I bit my lip, shaking my head as I walked away. I knew my people would ask about Olivia, since they were aware I had left to get her back. I sighed, rubbing my forehead. This was going to be a problem. My wolf snorted, rolling his eyes. I ignored him, changing my direction to walk towards my cabin. Hopefully, no one would be there.I swung the door open, trying to ignore the little presence and scent of Olivia that lingered inside. I cu
*Olivia's POV*I stood there waiting for about a minute before Ron came back and the first thing he said when he saw me was. "The dress fits you better. Maria would be thrilled."I assumed Maria was his mate and I nodded at him, lifting the gown so it wouldn't sweep against the floor. I walked behind him, pondering on how exactly to project myself so the clan liked me.I needed their approval to stay here. Ron led me down another staircase and I lifted my eyes to see a spread of them. The pit was dug out like a concert arena. The uplifted part was decorated like a throne and I saw Emerett sitting on the chair. He had his head in his hands, and he only looked up when the whispers started. His eyes widened and he moved to his feet. Ron nodded at me, going to stand in the crowd. I could feel all their eyes on me as I made my way to the stage and I tried to tune out my ears so I wouldn't hear what they were saying.My wolf was more curious and she won this battle."Oh my goodness. She i
*Olivia's POV*Emerett decided to take me around the cave after the mini breakfast in his room. The cave was bigger than I expected, with curtains and mud walls sectioning it into smaller parts.There were a few wolves outside the curtain rooms, watching me with suspicious eyes. I could feel their eyes bore holes into me with every step I took."They are watching me." "They have never seen a wolf like you before. Fear not. They would attack you as long as you stand by me." I looked one in the eye as we passed by her grinding something that looked pink. The coldness in her eyes made me shiver and rub my forearms."They don't take a liking to new people?" Emerett glanced at the woman over his shoulder. "That's just how Edith behaves. She lost her husband to an intruder so she is really suspicious of every new person we bring. She will eventually warm up to you."I sincerely doubted that, but I kept my mouth closed. The cave was huge and it seemed the tour would never end. I took note of
*Olivia's POV*I kept running, feeling the wind rushing in my ears. My wolf was tense, making me run faster than normal. I heard a growl behind me and I made the mistake of looking back. I stumbled over a tree trunk and fell to the floor. "Get her." I heard a voice hiss and I immediately scrambled to my feet. I took on a fighting stance, glaring at them. The one in the middle was staring at me with wide eyes. His eyes were dark, like the night sky when the moon was nowhere to be found. Behind him were at least three more wolves, all wearing the same band around their wrists. I felt a shiver crawl up my spine when I realized what they were. My wolf said it for me, her voice sounding like a growl. "Rouges."The night sky eyed wolf smiled, standing straighter. "You are smart. But I would beg to differ since you are here. What are you doing around our parts?" I kept my eye on him, watching him move around me. "I don't want any trouble."One of the rogues laughed, rolling his eyes. "T
OLIVIA'S POV.I dragged Vanessa's body out of the cabin into the woods, grunting all the way. The tears wouldn't stop flowing from my eyes either at the loss of the woman who had been nothing but a friend and a protector to me. When I finally managed to drag her to the backyard, in the deep of the woods, I was already panting for breath and wishing that some sort of help would arrive for me.When I looked at Vanessa's dead body which was beginning to smell a little, the tears fell even more. They ran down my cheeks in streaks like they were racing for the finishing line that would signify their survival. Perhaps, I should be honest withh myself at the junction where I was now.Vanessa's death had a huge toll on me than I was letting on. It affected me deeper in my spirit than I care to admit to anyone. I have myself a cynical cruel short laughter. Who was I kidding? There was no one to let out my emotions or what I was going through. It was just me, the dead body, the trees, the anima