ALEXANDER
Something was amiss.
He couldnât put his finger on it, he had no explanation for it.
It was a feeling screaming at him, like his instincts were rattling inside his chest.
âWhatâs going on?â
Alex turned his gaze towards Jason, who was seated opposite him. âNothing.â
âYou have that look.â
âWhat look?â
âThe one where youâre brooding. Youâre overthinking.â
âIâm okay.â
âStill fretting over Olivia?â
~Obviously~. Was that even a question?
âI thought it was her heat? Maya ate the same food and sheâs okay.â
Could be. Logically.
He wasnât sure if his sense of unease was due to his protective instincts or his paranoia. So much had transpired, and they were still in the dark about a lot of things. They didnât even know why she was experiencing her heat so frequently.
Who could say if her heats were the reason for her illness? It was also possible that he was projecting his fears onto the situation. Sheâd been okay for the past day and a half. There was no cause for alarm.
Despite her protests, he made sure she rested, hydrated, and ate. She needed to take it easy for more than a day, but he was surprised heâd managed to keep her resting for that long.
She loved to keep him on his toes. It made caring for her challenging, but it also made it interesting.
âWhat food did they have? Where did it come from?â
He probably sounded paranoid, but he found it hard to ignore his instincts, and they were screaming at him.
Jason massaged his forehead with his hand, leaning back in his chair.
âI think Maya mentioned they had some meat, maybe some vegetables from the garden?â
âWho tends the gardens?â
âA bunch of people. Alice, Mia, Charles, Lina, and Henry.â
Maybe he ~was~ overreacting.
Where was he going with this? Did he suspect someone from his pack would harm her? Impossible. They wouldnât. They were loyal to him and by extension, to his mate.
No one would tamper with her food or try to make her ill.
âYou donât thinkââ
But Alex didnât let him finish. He shook his head, cutting him off.
He didnât want anyone to feel scrutinized or doubted. That was not the environment he wanted for his pack. Perhaps there was another reason his instincts were on high alert.
Something else he was overlooking.
âIâm just worried, thatâs all.â
âI understand.â
If he was worried, he could be distracted. He was already stretched thin, he didnât need to exacerbate the situation.
âHas she been okay since?â
He nodded. âSo far, so good.â
She had promised to rest, and she had practically shooed him out of the room, insisting he had more important things to do than fuss over her. As if he ever could.
As if anything could ever take precedence over her. She was right that he needed to attend to pack matters, but still. He ensured someone would check on her a couple of times a day.
At this point, that was all he could do.
On the bright side, she now had a phone and had texted him a few times. Mostly to remind him that he better be keeping tabs on her. At least she was in high spirits and joking around.
âBut?â Jason asked, breaking his train of thought.
âIt could be a heat...but I didnât sense it.â
Perhaps it was because her body didnât handle it well. Maybe her body had ~attempted~ to go into heat but failed.
Maybe that was why he hadnât felt the urge, the pull to be with her physically. There were so many plausible explanations. He could just choose one. Maybe ~he~ was worn out. Heâd been juggling two roles for weeks now.
Balancing his duties with the pack, ensuring their safety and security, caring for her, mating with her...
Maybe he needed a break too.
But he couldnât afford one.
âWe could take a blood sample. We still have the contact in the lab.â
He hadnât considered that. Mostly because he hadnât thought that anything wrong with her could be detected. But Jason had a point.
It wouldnât hurt to explore all possibilities. Maybe it would help him relax.
âYeah, can you call her?â
âOn it.â
âThanks.â
He was okay.
He was fine.
She was fine.
Everything would be ~fine~.
***
OLIVIA
~Damn it~.
Batteryâs dead.
Olivia found herself pondering when she last had a moment of solitude, a moment to just be. When was the last time she had stayed in her pajamas, lounged in bed all day?
She was doing nothing, and it felt strange. She had tried to assure Alex that she was okay, but now she was beginning to question herself. Maybe she needed this downtime.
Sure, there wasnât much to do, but for once, that was okay.
She had spent her time exploring her new phone, downloading apps, organizing her contacts, and pestering Maya and Alex. But she had overlooked the dwindling battery life and the warnings.
She had assumed she would fall asleep before the battery hit zero, but she was wrong. Alex had given her the phone, but she hadnât thought to ask for the charger. Now she felt foolish.
Olivia craned her neck, scanning for a charger on the nightstand, but found none. Then she remembered her old phoneâs charger. It was probably the same type.
She threw off the blankets and placed her feet on the chilly floor. They had stashed it in a drawer, she was sure of it.
She rummaged through the drawer, pushing aside clothes and papers, until she found it at the bottom, switched off. She hadnât given her old phone a second thought. Why would she?
It was a reminder of a life she could no longer have, filled with painful memories. Photos and moments built on lies and hatred.
She didnât want to revisit those memories. She didnât want to see them. It would only bring back the pain.
Still, she pressed the power button. Just for a few seconds. If it turned on, it turned on.
She wasnât sure if the battery was dead, or if it had been switched off. Maybe it wouldnât power on.
But it did. The surprise nearly made her drop the phone.
Olivia watched as the logo appeared, the bright white light almost blinding her. Then the screen came to life, and her heart clenched. Donât look.
Then the notifications filled the screen, obscuring the background.
~Voice mail (13)~
Missed calls (112)
Text messages (145)
Shit.
She clicked on the text messages first, her heart pounding in her ears.
As the messages loaded, she saw names she expected, like her coworkers, but there was one she dreaded. Jess. And there she was, at the top of the list, in bold. ~Jess (135). Oh God.~
She didnât want to know, she didnât want to read them, but now that she saw them, she couldnât ignore them. Her thumb trembled as she tried to steady it enough to click on Jessâs name.
And she did.
Jess
Liv?? Where are you???
Jess
What happened??
Jess
Are you guys hurt??? I canât get a hold of Will.
Jess
Liv, Will never came home.
The messages were all similar.
She knew she should stop reading, she knew she should turn off the phone. Nothing good could come from this. Her heart was pounding, her stomach twisting.
But despite her better judgment, she kept scrolling. The messages blurred together until they stopped.
Jess
What the fuck Liv? Your mirror was broken. WTF happened?
Jess
DID YOU HURT HIM? WHAT DID YOU DO LIV?
Alex had said losing a mate was painful. Was Jess feeling that pain? Did she know Will was gone? Or was she just angry and worried?
Jess
LIV WHAT THE FUCK? WTF. WTF. Will wouldnât leave me like this.
Jess
THEY SAID YOU QUIT WORK OLIVIA. SO WTF. FUCKING ANSWER ME.
Had she called work? Had Alex called? The events surrounding her fight with Will were a blur.
She remembered fragments, the worst parts. The mere thought of it made her feel sick. She didnât want to think about it.
Jess
I HOPE YOUâRE FUCKING DEAD. IF YOUâRE ALIVE IM GONNA KILL YOU MYSELF.
Jess
WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO WILL OLIVIA????????
Each heartbeat felt like a punch to her chest.
Her hands were clammy, slick with sweat, and as she gasped for breath, the phone slipped from her grasp, hitting the floor. She shouldnât have looked. She shouldnât have fucking looked.
She knew Jess was probably panicking, missing Will, oblivious to his lies and betrayal.
Jess deserved better.
Imagining it was one thing.
Seeing it was another.
Had Jess done something reckless, something dangerous?
Had she taken her own life?
The last messages were from a while ago. What if she had hurt herself? What if she was in trouble?
The guilt she felt was a direct consequence of Willâs deceit, she was aware of that. But that understanding did little to alleviate the remorse that was burrowing into her heart, making it difficult to breathe.
No matter how much blame lay with Willâ¦
She couldnât shake the feeling that sheâd let Jess down.
Jess was left to grapple with this alone, in the dark. She was isolated, heartbroken, and scared. And she blamed Olivia for it.
Because she had suspected that Olivia was still alive. But Will wasnât. He was gone. She had lost her partner. Alex hadnât been in her life as long as Will and Jess had been a couple, but the mere thought of losing him? It was enough to stop her heart.
The thought of losing him? She couldnât bear to consider it.
Tears streamed down her face, her throat tightening. She had to escape. Immediately.
Not this phone, not the new one. Nothing.
The atmosphere in the room was stifling.
She was hit with waves of sickness; she craved fresh air. Ignoring the weakness in her legs and the burning in her lungs, she bolted from the room. The door remained ajar behind her as she descended the stairs two at a time.
She could still hear Willâs poisonous words in her mind; she could still see Jessâ sorrowful expression.
She knew this wasnât her fault.
But it still hurt.
It was painful to witness the suffering, the isolation...
Once she was outside, she kept moving until she could feel the grass under her bare feet. Her thin T-shirt and boxers offered little protection against the chilly wind, but she didnât care.
She doubled over, taking shallow, quick breaths, filling her lungs with the crisp, cold air. ~Inhale. Exhale. He was dead. Gone.~ He couldnât harm her anymore. That was over.
He couldnât reach her.
Never again could he lie to her, hurt her. Never again could he manipulate her, destroy her life.
She was wiser now. She wouldnât fall for the lies, for the false narrative. She knew better. She had learned.
Olivia clutched her bare thighs, her fingers digging into the skin and turning it pale. ~It was okay. She was safe.~
âOlivia?â
The gentle voice startled Olivia, causing her body to freeze instantly.
She jerked her head up and found herself looking at a pair of legs. She lifted her gaze until her eyes met... ~Lina~. There was a look of concern on her face as she tried to make eye contact.
âAre you okay?â
Right. A girl running out of the house half-dressed? It was bound to raise some questions. She was surprised no one had chased after her. Olivia straightened up, giving Lina a shaky smile.
What was she supposed to say? That she saw some texts and it sent her spiraling? That for a moment, she felt like she was back in that room with Will. His words. His actions.
The look in his eyes when he had decided her life was worthless...
âYeahâI-I think I just needed some fresh air. Iâm feeling a bit off.â
Lina crouched down, moving some plants, bushes, and leaves aside, searching through them until she found what she was looking for. Once she had it, she stood back up and handed Olivia a few green leaves.
Olivia looked at them, then back at Lina. She raised an eyebrow, unsure of what to do next.
âPeppermint leaves. You can chew them, it might help.â
âOh.â She wouldnât have recognized them.
But then again, the scent should have given it away. There was another smell thoughâshe couldnât quite place it. Something salty... âThank you,â she said, taking them from her hand.
She had had peppermint tea before, but she had never chewed the leaves directly. Then again, it wasnât surprising that they did things a bit differently here.
She held them in her hand, not yet ready to chew them.
It wasnât so much that her stomach was upsetâit was, but that wasnât why she had run out here. Plus, she didnât trust the lingering nausea, and she wasnât in the mood to vomit outside for everyone to see.
She was sure she had caused enough of a spectacle when she had fainted during lunch.
âYou know, if you want to talk about it, Iâm here to listen.â
She didnât know how much Alex had shared with the others.
She hadnât asked, and she hadnât told him he couldnât talk about it. Everyone seemed to know that something had happened.
Since that day, everything had spiraled into chaos. Sometimes, it felt like it had been years, but it hadn't been that long.
It hadn't been that long since she had pleaded with Alex to come rescue her.
It hadn't been that long since she had experienced her world crumbling around her. Lina was a neutral party in all of this. Someone who didn't know her past or present. Someone unbiased to whom she could unload her absurd thoughts.
But how would Lina perceive her if she confessed what she had done? It was self-defense, she had no other option but⦠Linaâs human perspective might interpret it differently.
âOlivia?â
Mayaâs voice sliced through her thoughts, compelling her to turn back towards the house. âHey.â
âYou okay?â
She nodded. âSorry, just needed some fresh air. I was feeling a bit claustrophobic.â
âYouâre going to give Mister Big Shot a heart attack,â Maya joked.
~Figures~. She swiveled back to face Lina, giving her a small, timid smile. âMaybe some other time.â
There was a brief pause before Lina responded.
But then, Lina smiled back at her. âYeah, some other time.â Lina gave her a small wave, and Olivia reciprocated.
This was goodâthis was progress. She was ready to open up, to discuss itâ¦
It was time she became more transparent with the pack.
~Next time~.