Anita was kneeling on the stone floor, her wrists bound, her face streaked with tears. She was naked and tied to the wooden pillar while a guard with a whip stood beside her.
My breath hitched, my wolf stirred uneasily, but I forced myself to remain still. My fingers curled into fists at my sides as I tried to harden my heart.
“Enough!” I screamed, my wolf’s power crackling through me, making the very walls tremble. All three of them froze, finally looking at me.
Louis, who had been quiet too long, finally slammed his palm against the desk, the sound echoing through the room. “Both of you, shut the hell up!” His eyes blazed as he glared between his brothers. “Do you even hear yourselves? You’re ripping her apart in the middle of your damn pride war.”
My head snapped toward the window, my brows furrowed. “What was that?” I demanded curiously.
My heart sank at his words, but before I could speak, Lennox interrupted.
The moment she saw me, her smile faded. She dropped what she was holding and rushed toward me.
Levi’s jaw clenched, his stare hard. “Then why does it always feel like he gets more?” he shot back, his voice rough with pain.
Levi’s frown deepened, and then, for the first time since I appeared, he looked me straight in the eyes. “You are the cause of this, Olivia… if only you loved the three of us equally, none of this would be happening!” he murmured.
His words hit me straight in the heart. My chest tightened, my breath shaky.
The last thing I saw were their faces–wide with shock, pale with regret.
“You should ask Levi… I believe he has a lot to say,” he groaned.
Their faces shifted to shock, guilt, anger–but none of it mattered. The fire inside me was too strong to be stopped now.
Their wolves stirred, uneasy, but I didn’t give them a chance to speak. My voice lowered, cold and authoritative.
“Levi…” I whispered, my voice trembling though I fought to steady it. “You think I don’t love you? You think I haven’t tried to give each of you a part of me? Do you have any idea how heavy it feels–being pulled in three directions, knowing no matter what I do, someone will feel left behind?”
Her gaze locked on mine again, desperate and pleading. “Please…” she whispered through sobs.
“You think I don’t love you?” My eyes burned as I swept my gaze over them. “I’ve given everything I have, every piece of myself, trying to make you feel seen, trying to make you feel loved. And still, it’s not enough! You’re so damn busy competing with each other, so busy counting who has what, that you don’t see me breaking right in front of you.”
Levi scoffed bitterly. “Once again you prove my assumption right… you are acting like her knight in shining armor,” he spat.
Levi let out a bitter laugh. “And look at you again… jumping to shield her, like the rest of us don’t exist. Like you’re the only one with the right to protect her.”
“Enough!” Lennox barked, stepping forward, his anger radiating. “Don’t twist this into her fault. She’s not the one measuring and keeping scores–you are, Levi!”
I turned to Levi, my chest tightening when he still refused to look at me. “Levi…” I called softly, as gently as I could. “What is going on?”
The whip landed on her bare back, and Anita yelled out in great pain. She turned her tear-soaked gaze toward me, her eyes wide with desperation.
My stomach dropped. I didn’t wait another second. My feet moved on their own, carrying me swiftly out of the room, down the long staircase, and toward the sound of her cries. I pushed open the heavy doors and stepped into the courtyard.
Olivia’s POV
I pressed a hand to my chest, the ache there almost unbearable. Their voices, their anger–it all swirled around me, loud, sharp, suffocating. My wolf whimpered inside, torn between them, torn by them.
But my heart didn’t listen. It twisted painfully, every scream of hers digging deeper, pulling at the walls I thought I had sealed.
Another strike. The whip kissed her skin with a savage crack, tearing a sob from her throat. My wolf whimpered inside me, torn between rage and pity.
Remember, I told myself, this is the same Anita who betrayed you. The same Anita who smiled to your face while stabbing you behind your back. The same one who made you cry, who made you feel small, who tried to ruin you.
“Whip.”
Damn her cries. Damn my heart for still hearing them.
Lolita’s eyes darted nervously to the door before meeting mine. “It’s Anita,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “She’s being punished… by your brother.”
I swallowed hard, my throat dry, torn between mercy… or the betrayal that still burned, and the compassion I couldn’t quite kill.
“For this, your punishment is simple–you won’t see me for the rest of the week. Not one of you.” I clenched my fists, my emotions sparking in the air around me. “Maybe then you’ll learn how to share me.”
Silence… suffocating silence hung in the air as neither of them responded. I darted my eyes between the three of them, and none of them looked me in the face, but Lennox finally broke the quiet, though his eyes stayed fixed anywhere but on me.
“Don’t you dare put this on her, Levi. If you’ve got a problem, take it up with me, not her,” he snapped.
I clenched my jaw, forcing my eyes to stay on her. Don’t feel sorry. Don’t you dare feel sorry, Olivia. She deserves this… she deserves it.
Before they could move, before they could beg or argue, I let my wolf’s magic surge through me. My body glowed faintly, and in the next heartbeat–I vanished.
“You want to fight? Tear each other apart like rabid dogs?” My voice shook with rage, but I didn’t stop. “Then do it without me! Because I will not stand here and be the rope you pull from both sides until I break.”
“Please, Olivia… make it stop.”
Silence fell again, thick and heavy, but this time it was different. My eyes stung with unshed tears as I looked at all three of them, anger and pain radiating inside me.
I arrived in my room and met Lolita arranging my things.
“Olivia-” she began, but before she could say more, a loud, piercing scream of pain tore through the air. It came from outside.
And yet… as her tortured voice echoed in my ears, as I watched the guards draw the whip back again–I felt terrible.