Chapter 37: More Important
Louis' POV
Anita stormed in angrily, her gaze flicking between my brothers and me before landing on Olivia, who still looked unconscious.
“So, because of this bitch, you refuse to come see me?” she spat in anger, and my frown deepened.
“Anita, you should be in bed resting,” Levi said.
Anita scoffed bitterly, her glare shifting to him. “And you three should be by my side, not by hers. I’m the one who just had a miscarriage. I lost your babies because of her, and instead of staying with me, you’re here with her?” Her voice cracked with anger.
My wolf growled angrily inside me. “Can’t you see Olivia almost lost her life—”
“Is her life more important than the ones I just lost?” Anita said disrespectfully, and my frown deepened.
Lennox, who had been silent since she walked in, moved closer to her. His jaw clenched as he stared down at Anita, his arms still folded across his chest. His voice was low and calm, but there was a dangerous edge to it.
“Why did you allow yourself to get pregnant in the first place?” he asked, his tone cold but filled with anger.
Anita’s eyes widened, and she looked at him as if he had just slapped her. “W–What?”
“You lied to us, Anita,” Lennox continued, his gaze hardening. “You knew we always wanted to use protection, but you insisted it was your safe period. You deliberately deceived us just so you could get pregnant.”
Anita’s face flushed with a mix of anger and shame, and she scoffed, turning away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play dumb,” Levi snapped, his eyes narrowing. “We trusted you. You wanted to trap us, didn’t you? Did you ask us if we were ready to have kids?”
Anita glared at Levi, her lips trembling. “I just wanted to give you something – someone – to bind us together.”
I couldn’t help the growl that rumbled from my chest. “So, you thought manipulating us into fatherhood was the way to do it?” I snarled, taking a step closer. “You didn’t care about our choice or what we wanted – you just wanted to secure your place in our lives.”
Anita’s face fell with guilt. “You all act like I’m some villain! I just wanted to be important to you three!”
“You wanted to force us into fatherhood,” Lennox cut in harshly. “And you thought using pregnancy as leverage would work. But you lied and betrayed us, Anita. You put your selfish desires above everything else.”
Her shoulders trembled, and for a moment, I thought she might break down. Instead, she sneered at Olivia, who was still lying weakly on the bed, her eyes barely open.
“I still lost my babies because of her,” Anita hissed. “And I’ll never forgive her for that.”
Levi stepped forward, his tone deadly calm. “We are not sure about that yet.”
Anita’s mouth opened and closed as if searching for a comeback, but she had none. With one last hateful glare at Olivia, she spun on her heel and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
Silence settled over us, and I let out a slow, frustrated breath. Lennox rubbed his temples, looking just as drained as I felt. Levi approached Olivia and stood close to her, his eyes softening.
For several minutes, we didn’t say a word; we just kept staring at her, each of us lost in our own thoughts.
Levi reached out and brushed Olivia’s hair away from her face, his touch surprisingly gentle despite how much I thought he hated her.
I sighed, running a hand through my hair as a memory resurfaced – one I hadn’t thought about in years.
“Do you guys remember that day Olivia’s dad came to the pack house for training, and she wasn’t with him?” I asked, breaking the silence.
Lennox looked at me, his brows furrowing. “Yeah… wasn’t that when she got sick?”
I nodded, a small smile tugging at my lips despite the heaviness in the air. “Yeah. She was about ten at the time, and we were fifteen. We were so used to seeing her tag along with him everywhere, always hanging around and getting into trouble. When he showed up alone, it just didn’t feel right.”
Levi’s eyes softened as he glanced down at Olivia. “I remember that. We asked him where she was, and he just sighed and said she was too sick to come. I swear, the three of us didn’t waste a second – we bolted out of the pack house and raced down to their house.”
A smirk formed on Lennox’s lips as he folded his arms, clearly remembering. “You mean I raced down to the house while you two tried to catch up,” he corrected with a hint of pride.
I snorted. “Keep dreaming, Lennox. I was the first one to get there. You tripped over a tree root halfway, and Levi stopped to make sure you didn’t break your leg.”
Levi let out a low chuckle. “Yeah, and by the time we made it to the house, you were already banging on the door like a maniac, yelling her name.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the memory. “Her mom opened the door and looked like she’d seen a stampede. She was like, ‘Calm down, boys, she’s just got the flu!’”
Lennox smiled faintly, his eyes still on Olivia. “We didn’t calm down, though. We pushed past her and ran straight to Olivia’s room. She was lying on the bed, looking pale as hell but still managed to give us that tiny smile like she wasn’t dying.”
Levi nodded, his expression softening even more. “She tried to sit up just because we were there, even though she could barely keep her eyes open. I remember I sat on the bed and held her hand, and she just smiled at me like I was some kind of hero.”
I grinned, nudging Levi with my elbow. “You wish. She smiled at me first. I even brought her that stupid stuffed wolf she liked – what was it called again?”
“Milo,” Lennox answered without missing a beat. “You gave it to her after she started crying because she thought it ran away. You kept that secret for years, you know – how you accidentally tossed it onto the roof!”
Levi chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah, because Louis here tried to prove he could throw it higher than I could. Ended up getting stuck.”
I rolled my eyes, ignoring their teasing. “She was so happy when I handed it back to her. She kept hugging it like it was some kind of treasure.”
Lennox snorted. “That’s because she thought you saved it, not knowing you were the one who got it stuck in the first place.”
A warmth spread through my chest as I glanced back at Olivia, her breathing even and soft. “We argued the whole time about who was her favorite,” I said quietly. “Back then, I was so sure it was me. She always used to pull on my arm and ask me to teach her to fight. But then I’d catch her giving you two those wide eyes like you hung the moon, and I’d get pissed off all over again.”
Levi smiled faintly, brushing his thumb gently over Olivia’s knuckles. “She never picked, did she? Just kept giggling and making fun of us for being so competitive.”
Lennox hummed, his voice almost wistful. “That’s Olivia for you. Always making us feel like idiots without even trying.”
A comfortable silence fell over us as we remained by her side, each of us lost in the memory. It was strange how something so simple from the past could feel like an anchor now, reminding us just how much she meant to us back then.
Back then, we cherished her.
But now?
She broke me.
I don’t know what she did to my brothers, but she shattered my heart into pieces.