“Who did it?” the healer asked, still examining the wound.
“Olivia,” I said flatly.
The healer glanced up and gave a curt nod of approval. “She saved his life. Good instincts, fast hands. She must’ve known exactly what she was doing!
And for the first time in a long time, I felt something twist in my chest. Shame… and maybe something else. Perhaps pride… as a memory replayed in my head.
It was years ago. Olivia couldn’t have been more than cleven, a scrappy little thing with big curious eyes and wild curls that never seemed to stay tied back. She’d begged to come with me, Levi, and Louis on a short run through the woods. Just a harmless patrol near the stream. Nothing dangerous, or so we thought.
We were halfway back when Louis yelped and fell, clutching his ankle. At first, we thought he just tripped-until I saw the two small puncture wounds swelling with angry redness.
“Shake I said, dropping to my knces. “He’s been bitten.”
Levi panicked for a second, but I didn’t. I didn’t have time to. Instinct kicked in. I tore Louis’s boot off and pressed my mouth to the bite, spitting out the venom before it could spread. Again and again, until the blood ran cleaner. Then I ripped my shirt, tied it tight around his leg, and
SD Save Me threw him on Levi’s back.
Through all of it, Olivia stood frozen… but not with fear. Her eyes were locked on me, unblinking, her small hands clenched by her sides.
When we finally made it back to the pack house, Louis was groaning but stable. Levi was out of breath, and I was spitting to get the taste of blood and venom out of my mouth.
Olivia had followed me to the stream where I was rinsing my hands.
“How did you know what to do?” she asked, staring at me like I was some kind of hero.
I blinked at her. “I just… did. You act fast. You get the venom out, tie it off, keep them still.”
“Will you show me?” she asked. “So I know. Just in case.” crouched down beside her then, dipping my hands into the water again, and said, “Alright, pub. You watch and remember. If someone ever gets bitten, you do exactly this…”
And she did.
She remembered.
That same eleven-year-old girl who watched me save Louis… had done the same for me today. And while Anita stood frozen, Olivia had acted.
A lump formed in my throat as I looked back toward the trees, where she’d vanished from view. She hadn’t changed… just grown stronger. Smarter.
I never imagined if anyone was going to save me, it would be her.
“Lennox, are you okay?” Anita’s irritating voice snapped me out of my thoughts, but I ignored her and looked away.
“You are healed, Alpha. By tomorrow you will be standing on your feet,” the healer said, and I gave her a grateful nod before she bowed and left.
“You should go rest, Levi suggested, and I nodded, standing to my feet.
“Can you walk? Louis, the most worried among the three of us, asked, and I nodded. “I’m fine.”
We walked back to the mansion slowly. My leg throbbed with every step, but the healer had done well-Olivia had done better. Her quick thinking, her steady hands… she saved me. Not Anita. Not Levi. Not Louis.
As we reached the front steps of the pack house, Levi motioned toward the stairs. “You should go rest”
I nodded absently, but of turning toward i the far east wing. Her wing. room, my feet took me down the hall… to
I didn’t even think about it. My body moved on its own, pulled by something deeper than logic or reason. A tether.
My wolf stirred inside me, his voice quieter than usual, but firm.
“She has everything a man needs in a mate, he said. “Strength, Heart. She didn’t freeze. She didn’t cry. She saved us.
Eclenched my jaw. He wasn’t wrong.
“And yet, we wasted years chasing
Anita… blinded, both me, Levi and Louis”
I stopped outside Olivia’s room, my hand hovering near the door. I didn’t know exactly what I was going to say. Thank you didn’t feel like enough.
I knocked.
There was a long pause, then the door creaked open slowly. Olivia stood there, her damp hair falling over her shoulders, her eyes wide with surprise-maybe even a hint of concern. “Lennox?” she asked softly, her voice the same calm, grounded tone it had been in the woods.
I didn’t speak right away.
I just looked at her-really looked at her. The girl who used to trail behind us through the woods had become a woman. A brave, capable, and selfless woman.
And my wolf was right.
She had everything. Everything I never knew I needed… until today.
Lennox’s POV
“Lennox, is there a problem?” Olivia suddenly asked the moment she noticed I had gone silent, just staring at her.
My lips parted, and I forced myself to speak. “Thank you… for what you did back there,” I said, sincerely. I never thought a day would come where I’d feel grateful-truly grateful-to the same woman I once vowed to hate.
Olivia didn’t even flinch at my appreciation. She simply shrugged. “No need to thank me. I would’ve done the same if it were anyone else in your shoes,” she said flatly.
Her words tore my heart more than I expected. I didn’t know what hurt more-her coldness to my gratitude or the cold truth behind what she said..
“Anything else?” she asked, tilting her head slightly as she stared at me.
But I couldn’t say a word. There was this strange feeling of pain… of longing. I missed her…
God, I hated to admit it, but I missed how things used to be when we were still… us. I missed. her ridiculous jokes, the way her laughter lit up a room. Despite everything, I missed her presence.
“Nothing else,” I finally managed to say.
She nodded once. “Good night.”
She didn’t wait for a reply before shutting the door in my face.
I stood there like a fool, not knowing what to do or even how to feel. My wolf whined within me, restless and hurt, but I shut him out and limped back to my room in silence.
Once I reached my bed, I pulled the blanket over myself and lay there, staring up at the ceiling. Olivia’s voice playing on a loop in my head.
“I would’ve done the same if it were anyone else in your shoes?
Why did those words feel like knives in my chest?
Why did I expect her to say something different?
What did I want to hear from her? For her to tell me she saved me because she still cared? Because I’m her mate?
Was I hoping for her to say that I still meant something?
I sighed heavily and shut my eyes.
Four years ago, she shattered me.
I’d sworn I would never forgive her. Never let her back in. Never feel this way again.
But lying there, haunted by the scent of her and the echo of her laughter in my mind, I realized the one truth I’d been avoiding-
I didn’t hate her.
I missed her.
And worse….
I was falling for her again.
“Then don’t fight it… talk to her about it… tell her how she hurt you and…”
“No!” I cut my wolf off. “I’m not doing any such thing, I grunted and closed my eyes tighter, forcing myself to sleep. All this was just fleeting emotions because of her selfless act of saving me. By the time I wake up tomorrow, they will all be gone.
The next morning, sunlight streamed weakly through the curtains, but I felt no warmth from it. A soft knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts, and before I could say anything, the door opened.
Anita walked in with a tray in her hands.
I frowned instantly, not even bothering to hide it.
“Good morning, Lennox,” she said gently, flashing that ridiculous, overly sweet smile. It used to work on me. Now it just irritated me. it baffled me, really, how I ever chased after her.
Maybe it was because she was the perfect pawn to make Olivia jealous.
She was never the kind of woman I truly wanted.
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.