Never A Mother-in-Law

“I know you have no reason to abduct Olivia’s parents, but I get this feeling you know something about it.”

Olivia’s POV

Tears slowly filled my eyes, and I didn’t try to stop them. I let them fall silently, each one carrying a piece of the pain I had been holding in.

“Olivia’s parents have been kidnapped,” Louis announced.

Lennox didn’t answer immediately. He just kept staring at me, his expression unreadable.

I shot Alpha Damien a cold glare from the corner of my eye.

For a moment, neither of us spoke. The silence stretched between us, heavy with things neither of us could say.

What if somehow… he saw Olivia beneath this new face?

“Say what you want to say to her,” I added, my voice barely audible. “I’m here. Just pretend… pretend she’s still in front of you.”

How would you feel if a funeral service was being held in your name–while you sat there, alive, forced to watch it all?

The air in the room grew thick. Damien tried again, this time firmer. “Enough. Calm down.”

His voice was raw. Honest.

I swallowed hard, my voice coming out sharper than I intended. “How can you be this calm?”

But then Lennox walked in.

Damien shifted beside me, clearing his throat. “That’s enough-”

“But I failed. I hurt her. We all did.”

“Even if you never saw her as your daughter-in-law–she was a member of this pack.

Luna. How can you think of pampering yourself the day after burying her?”

My shoulders shook as I quietly cried.

Then slowly, he walked closer.

Her smile faded, but I wasn’t done.

Why did it feel like I was always alone… always hurting?

I quickly turned, wiping my face roughly.

Why was my life like this?

I looked away, trying to compose myself, but my voice still came out small and broken.

“No, it’s not,” I cut in sharply, my eyes still on Lady Fiona. “You should be grieving. You should be heartbroken, or at least pretending to be. But you’re not. You’re talking about spas and facials.”

“Thank you,” he murmured, his voice low. “Thank you for speaking up for Olivia… even though you never met her. No one ever did that. Not once. And wherever she is… I know she’d be happy.”

It was Lennox.

I looked up at him with a broken heart… had he really accepted that I was dead? Louis looked at me this time for more than a second before looking back at Damien.

His eyes glistened with unshed tears, and for a moment, he didn’t move.

He stood a few feet away, his hands tucked into his pockets, his eyes fixed on me. The silence between us stretched again, his pain settling heavy in the air.

I wasn’t supposed to be watching people mourn me–or pretend to. I wasn’t supposed to be hiding behind another face while they bury someone who wasn’t me.

“I would do anything–anything–just to see her one more time. To tell her it meant everything to me. That I was wrong. That I was stupid. That I let pride and anger destroy the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“She was kind,” he continued. “Too kind. She forgave too quickly, trusted too easily. She smiled even when she was in pain… and no matter how bad we treated her, she never stopped loving us.”

“I don’t think Olivia ever had a mother-in-law in you. Not one that truly cared. Maybe you smiled in her face, but I doubt you ever saw her as part of this family.”

Louis frowned. “We don’t know yet… but an eyewitness said they were taken by men in a black van,” he said through gritted teeth.

A spa?

I didn’t feel like eating, yet I found myself at the dining table having breakfast. None of the triplets were there–it was just me, Alpha Damien, and Lady Fiona. My eyes stayed fixed on her, and by the way she calmly ate, I knew she wasn’t mourning me. Not that I really expected her to.

But Louis didn’t back down. “For your own good, I hope you are telling the truth,” he said before storming away.

I stayed quiet, listening, my heart tearing slowly with every word.

What if he recognized me?

She blinked, clearly surprised. “What do you mean?”

I wiped my cheek quickly, but more tears came.

My chest tightened at his words. I wanted to just excuse myself and walk away, instead, I said, “Was she really that special?”

“Here,” he said softly. “You’re crying.”

His voice cracked. “I never told her enough. I never said it the way she needed to hear it. And now… it’s too late.”

The pack house was in full swing, every staff member busy preparing for my funeral. I'm not dead. Banners with my pictures were everywhere–literally everywhere. The preparations were so elaborate that, for a moment, I wanted to scream and tell them I wasn't, that I was alive but trapped in a different face, that I was right here among them all. But I couldn’t. Not when Alpha Damien had threatened me.

Then I stood up, pushed my chair back, and quietly excused myself from the room. Her lips tightened, but I didn’t stop.

Alpha Damien leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. “Feelings?” he said with a dry chuckle. “You’re letting emotions cloud your judgment, Louis. I have no reason to abduct them… they have their own enemies.”

Suddenly, Alpha Louis walked in. Our eyes locked, but he quickly looked away and turned to Alpha Damien.

My heart skipped when Lennox stepped closer.

I hesitated.

He froze at the doorway, looking between us. Even his presence didn’t stop me. I looked straight at Lady Fiona one last time and said, “You failed her. And I hope someday that haunts you.”

I reached the center of the garden and folded my arms tightly over myself. The wind brushed against my skin, soft and cool, but it didn’t ease the ache inside me.

“She was the purest person I ever met.”

Damien shrugged. “Well, I have no hand in it… Why should I kidnap them?” he said, as if he already knew Louis was about to accuse him.

His head snapped toward me, surprised.

Instead of going back to the quietness of my room, I walked out to the garden. I needed air. Maybe the morning breeze would help calm my anger… or at least stop the heaviness in my chest.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to keep eating.

“Today is Olivia’s funeral,” I said, trying to keep my voice as low as I could, but it wasn’t working. “Your daughter-in-law. And you’re planning to go to the spa tomorrow like it’s just any other day?”

I didn’t know why I said it. Maybe because I needed to hear it too. Maybe because I wanted to feel something–anything–of the love he once had for me.

I stared at Lady Fiona like I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard.

“The first time I saw her, she was just seven. She was crying because a bird fell from a tree and broke its wing. I remember thinking… I have to protect her. I have to keep this world from breaking someone like her.”

Louis growled and ran a hand through his hair. “Today is her funeral… her parents were supposed to be here to pay their last respects,” Louis spat.

He paused and clenched his hands together.

And then I heard footsteps.

The dining room fell into a tense silence until Lady Fiona turned to me, smiled faintly, and spoke. “Anita and I are going to the spa tomorrow… would you like to join us?”

I quickly wiped my eyes again, looking away in panic, but then he did something unexpected. He reached into his pocket and quietly pulled out a handkerchief, holding it out to me.

He looked up at the sky for a moment, then back down.

Lennox let out a shaky breath and slowly sat on the edge of the low stone bench beside the roses. He looked down at his hands for a long time before answering.

I slowly took it from him, our fingers brushing for the briefest moment. I swallowed the lump in my throat, afraid to speak. But he did.

I wasn’t supposed to be dead.

And then, before I could stop myself, I whispered, “You can imagine she’s me… and say it now.”

“What do you want?” I asked, not harsh–just tired.

Damien raised his brows, acting surprised. “By who?”