- Refusing
Olivia’s POV
Their idea made sense. At least… a little sense. But I wasn’t buying it. Not fully.
“I don’t agree to this.” My arms folded tight across my chest, my voice sharp as a blade. “I already have a plan. I’ll find the vessel, destroy it, and kill Frederick myself. I don’t need a stranger to get involved. A stranger I don’t trust.”
The words spat out of my lips, and I couldn’t even tell if I said them because I didn’t trust her—or because I couldn’t stand the sight of her standing so close to my mates.
Either way, I didn’t care. I wasn’t accepting this idea of theirs.
Louis stepped toward me, his expression calm but his wolf restless inside him. “Olivia, you can’t face Frederick alone. You know that. He’ll tear you apart before you even touch the vessel.”
I scoffed. “Better me than letting her be near you three.” My glare flicked toward the door as if I could see her from there.
“Liv,” Lennox said carefully, his voice deep and pleasing. He moved closer, close enough that I could feel the heat of his presence. “She’s a weapon Frederick doesn’t expect. That makes her valuable.”
My wolf growled inside me, furious at his calm tone. “Valuable?” I snapped. “So am I worthless to you now? You’d rather rely on her than on me?”
Levi stepped in quickly, his voice firm but soothing, the peacemaker as always. “That’s not what we’re saying. You are everything, Olivia. But Frederick… he’s not just another enemy. He’s older, stronger, and darker than anything we’ve fought before. If we ignore Selene’s blood, we’re walking blind into death.”
I clenched my fists, every muscle in my body trembling with anger and hurt. Their logic pressed against me like iron, but my heart screamed louder. I didn’t care if Selene’s blood was poison or power. I didn’t care if she was the “key.” All I saw was another woman in my house, too close to the men who were mine. And gods help me–I wasn’t ready to sit back and watch it happen.
My frown deepened, my voice sharp. “It’s not happening. We don’t need her help. I have a plan, remember? And besides, we can’t trust her. What if she betrays us?”
Louis’s jaw tightened. “She won’t. Selene can’t betray us, Olivia. She’s family. Her bloodline ties her to us just as much as it ties her to the fight against Frederick. She gains nothing by standing against us.”
I scoffed, my wolf snarling inside me. “Family means nothing. You should know that better than anyone. Blood betrays. Blood lies. Don’t stand there and act like it’s a shield.”
Lennox stepped closer, his eyes full of worry. “Olivia, listen to me. You can doubt her all you want, but the fact remains–we can’t do this without her. Selene is the weapon Frederick won’t see coming. She’s the reason we might finally have a chance at ending him.”
I glared at him, my chest heaving. “So you’d rather put your faith in her than in me?”
God, I was drowning in jealousy.
Levi’s voice cut in before Lennox could answer, calm but carrying weight. “This isn’t about choosing her over you, Liv. It’s about using every advantage we have. Selene doesn’t replace you. She strengthens us. With her, and with you, we stand a chance.”
Louis’s eyes locked on mine, his tone final. “She can’t betray us, Olivia. Not with what’s at stake. She knows Frederick as well as anyone, and she wants him dead just as much as we do. That makes her an ally we can’t afford to throw away.”
Their voices suffocated me. My wolf clawed inside me, screaming for me not to yield.
But for the first time, I realized–they weren’t bending. They weren’t going to let go of this plan, no matter how much I fought it.
And that made my blood boil.
The silence between us was suffocating. Their arguments stacked against me, their plan was logical, but all I could feel was the heat of my jealousy burning through my chest.
And before I could stop myself, the words slipped out.
“Why don’t you just say it? You like her.”
The second it left my lips, I wished I could swallow it back down.
The room went still.
Their faces changed–Louis’s jaw tightened, Levi’s eyes widened, and Lennox’s gaze snapped to me like I’d just ripped something vital out of him. The hurt in his eyes sank into me before he even spoke.
“Olivia,” Louis said softly, his voice pained.
I cursed myself immediately, guilt crashing through me. I hadn’t meant to say it, not like that. But the words were out, and I couldn’t take them back.
Lennox’s chest rose and fell heavily, his wolf restless inside him. He stepped closer, his voice low and pained. “So that’s what you think of us?”
I froze.
His eyes burned into mine, full of anger and heartbreak. “You think we’d look at another woman? You think we’d do something with Selene?” His voice cracked, just a little. “Don’t you still get it? We love you. So, so much.”
My throat tightened, my eyes stinging.
He didn’t stop. “What happened with Anita…” He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. “We weren’t in our right minds, Olivia. We were charmed. Twisted. And goodness we hate ourselves for it every single day. But you-” His voice broke, his hand curling into a fist. “You’ll never let it go, will you? You’ll always see us as men who would pick another woman over you.”
My wolf whimpered inside me. Guilt shredded through my chest, leaving me breathless.
I wanted to deny it, to tell him he was wrong, but my silence betrayed me.
Because maybe, deep down, that was the fear I could never shake.
Lennox’s chest rose and fell like he was holding himself back from saying more. He just turned around and faced the window–and that broke me more than his anger.
“I…” My voice faltered. The guilt was sharp, burning, but the fear still clawed inside me. “I don’t want to think that. I don’t. But every time I see her near you—I see another lady near any of you—I feel like I’m back there again. Back when Anita happened. Back when I wasn’t enough to keep you from…” My throat closed. I couldn’t finish.
Louis’s face twisted with hurt. “Olivia, no.” His voice was firm, but it trembled underneath. “Don’t do that to yourself. Don’t do that to us. You are enough. You’ve always been enough. What happened with Anita will never happen again.”
Levi stepped closer, his wolf brushing against mine through the bond, warm, steady, begging me to hear him. “We will never want Selene. We will never want anyone else. We only want you. That’s the truth, Liv. That’s the only truth that matters.”
I swallowed hard, my chest aching. Their words should have soothed me, but the war inside me raged louder. Love and jealousy, trust and fear, clashing until I didn’t know what to believe anymore.
And the worst part? I hated myself for saying it—for doubting them, even for a moment. But the scars Anita left weren’t easy to erase.