He’d ruined my face. I was hideous.
If I hadn’t deserved Olivia before, there was no way she’d want to be saddled with me now.
Dominik-and Petr?, by extension-had taken away the one thing I had going in my favor. My looks. The outside matched the inside now.
My father would be so smug, if he were still around to see it.
You might look like an angel, but you ruin everything you touch. You’re no angel. You’re a devil in an angel’s disguise.
The remembered jab was the final straw. A bellow of rage tore itself from my throat, leaving it raw, and had Brielle scurrying into the room, the sounds of more feet racing toward us in the hallway not far behind. I wanted to rip the sink out of the wall and smash it against the old, warped mirror. Smash everything. Make everything as broken as I was in the only way I knew how.
Maidens surrounded me and led me like a child back to the exam table, a flurry of conversation and worried glances surrounding me as hands pulled at me from every direction, but I ignored them all.
For the second time in my life, I’d lost everything. The first time, there was nothing I could do. I’d been helpless, a victim of circumstances outside my control.
This time? I was going to personally wipe the Hungarian pack off the face of the earth.
The motherfucker who did this to me was going to pay with his life, no matter the cost.
Olivia
Aknock on my door startled me awake, even though it felt like I’d slept for less than ten minutes.
I jolted upright in a panic, yanked from a dream in which my disappointed father was lecturing me in high school, only for his face to transform into Lucien’s.
How old are you anyway?
“Olivia? All-hands-on-deck pack meeting. Five minutes, Bri’s room. I brought you a coffee when you didn’t show at breakfast.”
“Thanks, Fi! Give me two to brush my teeth and throw on clothes.”
She chuckled on the other side of the door, and I twisted the knob to wave her in as I sped past to clean myself up a little.
“Take your time. I think the males like it when we make them wait. Wolves love a good chase, after all.”
I stalled midbrush, toothbrush foamy in my mouth as I considered her words. Was that true? I’d ask her later when we weren’t running late to a pack meeting.
Despite taking an extra sixty seconds to drag a brush through my tangled hair so I looked halfway presentable, I was dressed and accepting the steaming cup of coffee from Fiona less than five minutes later.
She sighed, checking her phone for the time. “You’re not very good at being late, are you?”
“Lateness wasn’t a trait that was appreciated in my home pack.”
“Yeah? You haven’t told me much about your past. Ever since we met, it’s been all about my weird magic. But I’d love to know more, if you’re willing to share. All the intricacies of pack life are really fascinating, as someone coming in from the outside.”
Her smile was genuine, an open, honest expression that told me she was sincerely interested. She wanted to be my friend, and somehow, that was a knife twist to the gut.
When had I ever had a true friend? My dad was the closest I’d ever had growing up, but now, everything was different.
I blew out a breath, sending the hurtful train of thought with it.
Digging up my painful past wouldn’t help anything. But Fiona was still waiting for an answer, so I shot her a smile I didn’t quite feel, buying myself a moment with a sip of the delicious coffee.
“There’s not much to tell, really. I’m from Arizona, small pack. Things were quiet most of the time.”
I ignored the stab of guilt I felt at her crestfallen expression and quickly changed the subject. “This pack, however, keeps us all busy. Any idea what the meeting is about?”
She snorted. “You’re not wrong. I kind of wish Pack Blackwater was more like…” She gave me an expectant look, and I realized she was waiting for the name of my home pack.
“The Canyon pack.” I was technically still a member of the Canyon pack, but, given my marked palm, well, I doubted I’d be visiting Arizona any time soon.
Not exactly like anyone is missing me.
“The Canyon pack. Excellent.” She squeezed my hand, then pulled me through the open door to Brielle and Kane’s room.
The rest of the pack had already gathered, and I watched an antsy Reed settle the second his gaze fell on Fiona, greeting her with open arms and a grin.
It was nothing more than a sweet moment between mates, and yet somehow, it made me feel lower than the dirt floor.
My mate was never going to look at me that way, like I hung the moon. Like he couldn’t breathe when I wasn’t with him.
But you know what? I had gotten along just fine this far without a mate, and that didn’t have to change. He thought I was too young, then he could be single. I rolled my shoulders back, taking up a place near Fiona where I could lean against the wall.
“Thank you all for coming,” Kane said with a smile. “We’re only waiting on our last four, and then we’ll get started.”
Last four? I did another scan of the room, and all the usual Blackwater suspects were here, except??
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