As soon as Julian left the house and Olivia saw his car leave her driveway, she rose, going into action.
“Contact my office immediately,” Olivia repeated, mocking Julian’s concern. “Right. Like I need an Alpha to protect me.”
Olivia was very familiar with Alphas, along with what she perceived as their hubris. After all, she was the daughter of Obsidian Pack’s own Alpha.
She tried not to think about that too much. Her father’s incompetence was the reason she was here, merging the two packs herself. Nothing would get done if she didn’t take the reins.
Olivia shirked off her frilly house robe, gliding confidently down the stairs to her study. She sat behind the magnificently carved desk, flicking on the lamp and opening her little black book.
Now, who would be best to recruit to her scheme? She had no draught of criminals or bad boys to recruit to her cause. After all, seducing men to her side was one of Olivia’s more practiced skills.
But who could she trust to do what she needed? Who would be most suited to murdering Amber without turning Olivia into Julian? Who would be unconditionally loyal, choosing Olivia over the temptations of reward money and heroic fame?
Olivia flipped through the pages of her book. She had sections divided by occupation, every name labelled by what the man could do for her. She stopped at the page labelled “Thorn Pack Airport.”
Finding the number she wanted, Olivia dialed her phone. After a quick conversation, her suspicions were confirmed. Amber Wood had booked a flight out of Thorn Pack for that afternoon.
Olivia needed to work fast.
She skimmed the rest of the page. Her next call would require some more skill to convince.
“Olivia?” She could hear the loud sounds of plane engines and mechanics in the background of the call. Perfect. He was at work.
“Hello, darling,” she purred. “I have a favor to ask of you.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Yes?”
“I need you to sabotage the engines for a flight after the pilots do their safety checks.” Olivia waited to see what her contact would respond.
“Olivia, that’s pretty serious,” the man said. “What do I get if I do it?”
“Well, dear,” Olivia said. “Anything your heart desires, I can make come true.”
“Anything?” The man was softening to her pleas, just as Olivia had anticipated.
“Anything,” she said.
“Alright. Consider it done.”
Olivia sat back in her chair after hanging up the phone, satisfied with her plan. Everything was in place.
Soon, Amber would be dead.
Amber’s POV
I stopped at the security booth at the entrance to the office parking lot on my way to the airport. The guard bristled at the sight of me, but I held up the manilla envelope in my hand.
Eventually, he accepted that I wasn’t trying to break back onto the premises and cause another scene. He agreed that the package would make its way to Julian, although he explained to me that they would have to check the package first and make sure I hadn’t snuck in anthrax or a bomb.
So someone would see the divorce papers, then, along with the diamond necklace I would never be able to afford myself.
Someone would know that I’d been telling the truth. That I really had been Julian’s legal wife, not just some crazy human woman who hadn’t known her place.
The necklace was once my prized possession. Julian had given it to me on our wedding day.
I still remembered the feeling of his fingers on my neck as he’d brushed my hair to the side, careful not to disturb the hair-do I’d intricately pinned myself. Because it was a secret wedding, I didn’t get the traditional white gown, or the beauty team to dote over me. This gift, though, had made the day feel real, legitimate even without the traditional to-do.
I’d cherished the necklace, almost never taking it off. I carried it as proof that Julian had feelings for me, no matter how much he insisted our marriage was only born out of convenience.
Now, the thought of keeping it felt like a bitter reminder of how much I’d sacrificed for a man who never cared about me.
I left, heading toward the airport. About fifteen minutes later, Julian called me.
“What do you mean by this, Amber?” he asked. I could sense panic hovering underneath his stoic tone.
“I’m done, Julian. You have Olivia now. Just let me leave.”
“This means you get half of my assets, right?” Julian replied, his voice hoarse. “That’s why you want the divorce.”
Rage boiled inside me. Ever since we’d met, Julian assumed I’d attached myself to him for the money. Of course, at the beginning the funds had been a nice bonus, but they’d never been my motivation for being with him.
Then the pain washed in. I’d known Julian so well, down to the way he took his tea. Meanwhile, he’d never bother to learn anything about me or my heart.
I hung up the phone.
I decided that my new life began now. I reached into my back-pack, which contained my carry-on items for the flight. All of my most cherished possessions were stashed inside it.
I pulled out a photo of Grandma, raising it to my lips and kissing it. Silently, I asked her to bless this new chapter of my life.
Grandma had been my only family in the world. I’d grown up an orphan, and Grandma had found me on the doorstep of Thorn Pack’s orphanage one cold winter. She’d advocated for me, and Julian’s parents, the former Alpha and Luna, took me under their wings, allowing me to survive and attend school. Although they were rich, they were charitable, and though I’d heard of their son, I’d never met him, as he was always away at private school or some other important pack function.
However, when I was a teenager, Grandma fell ill. She motivated my choice to attend Wolf University as a medical student, hopeful that I’d be able to find a cure for her illness. Unfortunately, medical school is the most expensive kind, and even the scholarship I’d been granted by the Alpha and Luna wasn’t enough to cover tuition and survive at the same time.
When Julian and I had met, and he’d handed me that credit card, I had no choice but to take it. It was the only way to help my grandmother, and though I knew Julian thought I was a whore, I had to ask for more.
That didn’t mean Julian’s assumptions about me didn’t hurt. That didn’t mean I wasn’t humiliated to trade sex for money.
To combat the humiliation, I would offer to pay Julian back for the money he lended me. However, everytime I offered, he would sneer at me.
“All you have to do is spread your pretty legs,” he would growl, and shame would spread through me even as heat grew in my groin.
Grandma was long gone now, and Julian had proven our marriage to be a lost cause. There was nothing at all left for me in Thorn Pack.
I boarded the plane, trying to settle into my window seat. I was grateful that I’d been able to snag it.
A couple of hours into the flight, the plane began to shake, tossing our bodies around carelessly in our seats.
Put on your mask first, I remembered the flight attendant instructing us at the beginning of the flight.
This was real. I might die.
I pulled the oxygen mask onto my face as the plane began to rattle even more violently.
I saw nothing but shades of blue. Baby blue sky. Vast, navy sea.
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