319 What Happened
But I didn’t speak fast enough.
Her voice trembled now, not with anger but with pain.
Her eyes glistened now, her fists trembling at her sides.
I didn’t know what she saw, what she felt. But I knew one thing: it wasn’t real.
Her gaze snapped back to me. “When I mind-linked you, I felt your pulse… your breath… and the presence of a woman so close to you,” she spat.
Her breath hitched.
When the voice on the other end picked up, I hit the loudspeaker.
My frown deepened. I hadn’t touched anyone. Not last night. Not ever since I claimed her.
Still… she believed it. Every word of it. And that alone shattered something inside me. But before she could say more, I pulled my phone from my pocket, scrolled, and hit call.
I stepped closer, lowering my voice.
Her lips parted like she wanted to respond, but no words came—rather, more tears just spilled.
Without another glance, I turned and walked out, leaving her standing in the middle of the room with Levi and Louis watching her in tense, worried silence.
“In that Alpha meeting last night, we were attacked. Not by some petty rogues—powerful ones. Ones we’ve been tracking for weeks.”
Levi moved first, stepping around Olivia to stand beside me. Louis followed, his expression tight with worry.
Silence swallowed the room.
“It’s actually sad,” I continued, my chest heavy, “that after everything, you still don’t know how much I love you.”
Her eyes widened instantly. Her breath hitched.
I took a step closer, my heart clenching.
“I know you were with a woman last night, Lennox,” she spat, her voice shaking. “I felt it.”
I inhaled deeply, and I didn’t explain with words–because clearly, right now, she wouldn’t believe them.
“Do you think I’m a fool?” she asked, her voice rising. “You think I wouldn’t know? You think I wouldn’t feel it?”
Louis stepped closer too, rubbing a hand over his face like he was trying to figure out what the hell was happening.
“Are you okay?” Levi asked, scanning the marks on my chest and back.
Instead, I stepped forward, tugging my shirt over my head in one swift motion.
My breath caught.
“What you felt through the mind link–my pulse, my breath, the… presence you thought was a woman–” I shook my head. “That was me fighting. Fighting to stay alive.”
The room was so quiet, I could hear Louis and Levi breathing behind her.
I felt like the ground shifted under me.
“I have to get treatment,” I said, breaking the silence. “Their claws were poisoned.”
“The ‘woman’ you sensed?” I continued. “That was one of the rogues. A female. Fast and vicious. She had me pinned for a moment, and I had to throw her off.” My tone hardened. “Not everything close to me is someone in my bed, Olivia.”
“No, let me talk,” she said, her voice sharp. “Don’t protect him.”
“Please,” I interrupted, raising a hand to stop her. “I don’t want it.”
Her eyes were locked on mine now, and I could see the cracks forming in her anger.
“He’s resting. The healer patched him up. You need to rest too, Lennox–you took just as bad a beating.”
“What are you talking about?” I narrowed my eyes, trying to understand where this was coming from.
“I believe you dreamt it. What you saw… was your imagination twisting what you felt. And for the record-” I tilted my head, my eyes hard on hers. “I would rather cut off my manhood than fuck another woman.”
“Olivia, don’t-” Levi started gently.
The sting of her slap was nothing compared to the anger blazing in her eyes.
“Thanks,” I said, and ended the call without another word.
Her voice cracked.
“And the fact that you’d rather believe I’d cheat on you than think I’d be fighting for my life…” I let the words hang in the air, my chest rising and falling with the weight of it.
“I was,” I said flatly, my gaze locked on Olivia’s glassy eyes. “But not anymore.”
I just stared at her with nothing but pain… it was heartbreaking that up until now she didn’t trust me.
“I need time alone,” I said, my tone leaving no room for argument.
“Don’t,” she snapped, stepping back like my presence disgusted her. “Don’t lie to me.”
She blinked rapidly, her fury faltering as her gaze traced the deep slashes across my chest. Her lips parted, but no sound came. The flush in her cheeks drained to pale, and her shoulders sank a fraction, as if the weight of her own words suddenly hit her. “Lennox…” Her voice was softer now, unsteady.
She let out a short, bitter laugh. “You really think I’m that stupid?”
But she raised a hand, silencing him without even looking.
I turned slightly, and her hand flew to her mouth. My back was worse–long, jagged gashes slicing from my shoulder down to my spine, raw and swollen.
There was a pause before his tired voice came through.
Her face fell.
“The reason I ended the mind link… was because I didn’t want you to know I was in danger. I didn’t even tell my brothers… and the second reason was because I was being distracted by your words, and at that moment I needed concentration to stay alive.”
I glanced at Olivia. Her face had gone pale.
Her throat bobbed as a single tear slipped down her cheek.
“What the hell was that for?” I asked, my voice low but firm. “Because I stayed out?”
Her brows pinched instantly, and she stepped forward, her voice softer now. “Let me heal you-”
“I saw him,” she said. “In the dream. With her. Touching her. Kissing her like I didn’t exist.”
Louis and Levi stiffened behind her. I could feel Levi already stepping forward, like he wanted to step in.
Her lips parted, but no sound came.
She stood there, chest heaving, eyes glossy with unshed tears and fury.
Lennox’s POV
“Beta Carson,” I said flatly, “how’s your Alpha doing?”
I finally looked at her, my voice steady but heavy.
There, across my chest and down my ribs, were deep, angry red claw marks. Fresh. Some still scabbing over, others barely closed.
“Olivia,” I said, finally managing to speak, stepping toward her. “That wasn’t real. I wasn’t with anyone—”
Levi tried again. “Olivia, maybe you had a nightmare. You were sweating, thrashing a little-”
I stayed still, trying to control my breath, my heart pounding louder than I expected. Slowly, I turned my face back to her, her palm print still burning on my cheek.