Stepping in, my stomach dropped, and I could only stare, unable to believe what I was seeing.
There was a beat of silence before I stepped back slightly. “I have to leave.”
Louis leaned closer to the phone. “We’re calling off the war,” he said flatly. “But don’t think this is over, Gabriel. You’ll hear from us soon.”
I gave a faint smile and shook my head. “I have to leave.”
Before I could even ask, her phone rang again.
Gabriel answered almost immediately, his voice tense. “Hello?”
When he broke away, his hand stayed on the back of my neck, holding me in place. “Stay a little longer,” he murmured, his voice low and rough.
The three brothers exchanged tense glances before returning their gazes to me. Levi was the first to get up as he approached me. “We are sorry, Olivia. We didn’t want you to get worried.”
He groaned under his breath but didn’t argue.
This time, I didn’t teleport. I walked to Calvin’s room.
I narrowed my eyes. “Lennox. Levi. Louis. It’s either you three call Gabriel right now… or I will never talk to any of you again.”
Finally, I moved to Lennox. The moment our lips met, his kiss was different-deep, claiming, filled with the kind of possession that made my knees threaten to give out. He groaned against my lips and pulled me closer until I could feel his heartbeat pounding in sync with mine.
I didn’t look their way. Yes, I was angry they kept things away from me, but that wasn’t my only concern. I was worried about the silly vow our great-grandmother made and how the triplets would react to it.
I let out a bitter scoff. “Sorry? I trusted you, Gabriel. I thought you were my knight in shining armor. I thought you were different.”
“Yes,” I said firmly. “I need her now.”
I forced a small smile that didn’t quite reach my eyes. “It’s nothing… I just… I’ll be trying to heal my mother tonight.”
“You got lucky,” Lennox said darkly, his tone dripping with rage. “I wanted to paint the ground with your blood.”
“Yes,” she confirmed,
“Lennox!” I snapped sharply. “Watch your tongue,”
My frown deepened, and my glare fixed on the three of them. “Why did you have to keep this away from me? I thought we said no secrets among us.”
Levi ended the call, then smiled at me. “All for you, Princess,” he teased.
They hesitated.
A small, grateful smile spread across my lips. “Thank you,” I repeated softly before teleporting away.
Lennox finally broke the silence. “Olivia… there’s no need to get scared. We’ve handled worse. You know we can win this.”
My frown deepened instantly. The triplets… going to war? And they didn’t tell me?
That got them.
Gabriel exhaled audibly, clearly relieved, but smart enough not to say anything stupid. God, I wished I could. But I had too much on my plate.
Still… the casual way she said it, like I meant nothing… that hurt more than I expected.
She was everything I had ever wanted in a woman-beautiful, innocent, a pure heart that radiated warmth. But I knew better. Those things… they never stayed the same. They would change. People always changed. 2
Yes… I had told her I didn’t want a mate. And it was true-I don’t believe in the mate bond. She was my second chance mate, but I’d already convinced myself that mates only brought weakness, distraction, and pain.
She was mine.
Her expression softened with something close to pity, but she said nothing. She let me talk.
“Olivia… you are-” she couldn’t complete her words.
I inhaled deeply, fighting the urge to let my instincts win. “Thanks,” I muttered, my tone polite. My voice came out rough, like gravel, betraying the strain I was under. “So… is that why you don’t want Nora? Because of what your first mate did to you?”
Olivia studied me for a moment longer, then with a faint, troubled sigh, she nodded and quietly walked out.
The thought of her with another man lit a fire in my chest so fierce I could barely think. My wolf snarled violently in my head, demanding I put her in her place.
I looked away, my jaw tightening.
“What is going on, brother?” she asked, folding her arms, her tone demanding answers. Nora stepped in quietly, balancing a tray of juice I had requested earlier. Her eyes flicked to mine for the briefest second, and my wolf practically roared again, demanding I claim her.
My frown deepened.
I tore my lips from hers and looked up sharply, my chest rising and falling with uneven breaths. My eyes locked with the wide, shocked gaze of my sister standing frozen in the doorway.
Her lips parted in shock. “What? How?”
And in that moment, I didn’t care what I’d said before.
I had to grip the armrest of my chair to stop myself from reaching out.
I cleared my throat, forcing my voice to stay even. “You can leave now,” I said, not trusting myself to look at her for too long.
My voice darkened. “What I didn’t know… was that she was sleeping with my best friend the whole time. I never even touched her, Olivia. Not once.”
“Shit!” Nora gasped and jumped out of my lap.
I clenched my jaw and forced myself to keep my composure, ignoring the rush of heat in my chest. I wasn’t about to let my emotions take over.
She folded her arms tighter, meeting my gaze without flinching. “So I can explore other men,” she replied flatly.
“Then one day,” I continued, my voice almost a growl, “she came to me, asking me to forgive her. She wanted us to reject each other quietly because she was pregnant with his child. So I did it. I rejected her… and she left without looking back.”
She gave me a polite smile, setting the tray down on the table beside me. But every movement she made-every shift of her body-only drove my wolf wilder.
Olivia narrowed her eyes at Nora, then she stared back at me with a raised brow.
Still… in that moment, I couldn’t stop myself. My lips moved over hers like I was trying to memorize the taste, my fingers gripping her waist tightly as if she might disappear if 1 let go.
She stepped a little closer. “Nora is not like that, Calvin. She’s nothing like your first mate”
“Mate!” he growled in my head-loud and possessive-pacing like a caged beast ready to pounce. His voice vibrated through me, tasting her scent like it was the finest thing in existence,
A sharp, ugly pang of jealousy shot through me. Other men?
She struggled against me at first, her hands pressing lightly against my chest as if to push me away. But the more I kissed her, the more that resistance began to melt.
I clenched the armrests, fighting the burn in my chest.
The door burst open.
“Mine.” His voice was raw, insistent. “Touch her. Take her.”
In a flash, my hand shot out and I pulled her onto my lap, my grip firm around her waist. She gasped softly, glaring at me as if daring me to let go.
I leaned back in my chair, my gaze going cold as I thought back. “She’d been in love with my best friend for years. I didn’t know. When she turned eighteen, we found out we were mates. But she never let me mark her-always saying she wanted the mate mark on our wedding night. I said fine, let’s marry. She refused, saying she was too young. She wanted to wait until she was twenty.”
I didn’t answer right away. My gaze dropped to the floor. “I’m… scared, Olivia. I don’t believe in the mate bond anymore. Not after that. I’ve seen what it can turn into. How it can destroy you.” 1
Her lips curved in the faintest smirk. “That’s none of your business, Alpha Calvin. You made it clear you don’t want me. So I can fuck anyone I want to.”
I deepened the kiss, pouring into it everything I shouldn’t be feeling. Pain. Longing. Desire I’d been denying since the moment I saw her.
I exhaled slowly, running a hand over my face. There was no point in lying. “Nora… is my mate.”
I sighed and sat upright. “Nora… please excuse us.”
A bitter laugh escaped me. “Probably with my best friend right now… maybe even having their second child together.”
Her brows shot up even higher. “You have? Where is she now?”
But she didn’t move. Instead, she crossed her arms, her chin tilting slightly as she studied me. “Since you don’t want me as your mate,” she said calmly, “why don’t we just reject each other quietly? No one has to know.”
“Why are you so desperate for it?” I asked, my voice low.
Without another word, I crashed my lips against hers in a hard, possessive kiss. There was nothing gentle about it-I claimed her mouth like I owned it, like I had every right to.
“Why?” she pressed. “Is it because of her status? Calvin, you know Nora is a nice lady. You shouldn’t care about status when it comes to mates.”
Then-
I shook my head firmly. “It’s never been about her status, Olivia. The truth is… Nora is my second chance mate. I’ve had a mate before.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.