Chapter 51

Elroy’s POV

After the monumental fuck up that the morning had been, the last thing I wanted to do was leave Olivia for even a second. I was thinking about her the entire end-of-quarter treasury analysis, and I was all but jogging back to our rooms when I was stopped by fucking Rita.

She smelled drunk, and she acted drunker. Giggling, swaying, putting her arms around my neck and getting way to close, and all the while saying that it was okay for me to “indulge.” As if she was an indulgence, and not just the harlot starlet of the moment.

I was fed up with her, and I was impatient to get back to Olivia, but she was clearly inebriated, and no matter how much I hated her (which was a lot) I couldn’t attack someone who was in no state to defend themselves.

I rejected her—not nicely—and shoved her into the nearest room to sob it out. She was too unsteady to run after me, so I made my quick getaway before I could do something regrettable. Like maul her. That would be bad publicity.

I was finally on my way back to the Ruby Room when I caught a whiff of Olivia’s scent fresh in the air. I was instantly on high alert, because Olivia was supposed to be in bed! I followed her scent into Astor’s hall—which automatically made my bad mood worse, I’d told that bastard to stay away from my Mate.

I heard the two of them talking behind a closed door and yanked the door open, ready to bite Astor’s head off.

Except Olivia was the one leaning into him, letting him grasp her hands as he kneeled in front of her chair. Her face was streaked with tears. She had gone to him for comfort.

“What the fuck,” I growled, hardly recognizing my own voice, “is going on here?”

Olivia straightened and yanked her hands away from Astor’s, trying to save face, but Astor clung on tightly. Like he wanted me to see this, to know he’d gotten my Mate to turn from me.

So I crushed him.

I brought my Alpha aura out more fully than I ever had, imagining it as a heavy pillar of ice crashing down onto Astor’s head, forcing him to the ground before grinding him to dust. My wolf was howling, screaming, pain and betrayal fueling my rage. I wanted to kill him.

And I could, I knew that. As Astor fell onto his hands, then his face, I knew all I had to do was hold him here like this for a few more minutes and his body would give out under the onslaught.

I reveled in the choking sound he made as he scrambled to pull air into his lungs, pressed flat to the floor by my fury, and I would have kept going if Olivia hadn’t gasped herself. My aura was getting out of control—I wasn’t aiming it at her, but the residual was clearly hitting her hard. Instantly, instinctually, I slammed the lid closed on my aura.

I couldn’t hurt my Mate. I couldn’t hurt my child.

I resented her for it. I despised Astor, but I had never trusted him enough for a betrayal from him to cut this deep. It was Olivia’s disregard that made my chest ache, and I couldn’t even have my vengeance.

I strode in, grabbed Olivia by the arm, and hauled her from the room. Her yelp hit me somewhere soft and vulnerable, but I ignored it. Something in me had shattered when I saw her holding Astor’s hands, she could handle a little slightly rough treatment.

(The fear from before hadn’t settled, though, and after her panic attack I was all too aware of how fragile she could be. I was so angry with her, but I couldn’t have tightened my hold enough to bruise if I tried.)

“Elroy, stop—” she said, pulling against me, looking frustrated. Frustrated? She thought she had the right to be frustrated?

I couldn’t take it anymore. The image of his hands on her, the knowledge that he had tried to claim any part of her, it made me physically ill. I needed to remind her who her Mate was.

Head clouded with emotion and instinct, I stopped in my tracks and slammed her against the wall and took back what was mine.

My kiss was anything but tender, my fangs grazing swollen lips, but it was heated and passionate. Olivia gasped and I took the opportunity to plunder her mouth, licking over her palate with intent.

I pressed into her harder, my body begging to be nearer to her even as my mind wanted to push her away. I cursed at myself, but at least she felt the effects of our Bond too, her body sagging into mine whether she wanted it to or not. That, at least, was fiercely vindicating.

"How could you?" I snarled as I pulled back, my mind swimming in a cocktail of confusion, hurt, and fury. "We’re Mates—I thought things were getting better!"

And wasn’t that just the kicker? I really thought we were getting somewhere, becoming closer, turning into partners who could have each other’s backs. I wasn’t stupid enough to confuse it for romance, but fuck, hadn’t we been building trust?

Olivia opened her mouth, but I didn’t want to hear it. I clamped my hand over her mouth, silencing her and making rage bloom across her face. She shook her head furiously, but my hurt and jealousy were a raging inferno, consuming every ounce of reason I had.

“You’re worse than Damian,” I hissed, wanting to hit her somewhere that would hurt her terribly. The hit landed, hurt flickering through her widened eyes. “He might have picked your sister, but at least he wasn’t the father of your child.”

I got a split-second of warning where that hurt morphed into incandescent rage, and then there were teeth digging deep into the meat of my palm. I cursed, yanking my hand out of her grasp and leaving some of my skin behind in the process. Blood flowed down my wrist as I stumbled back.

She’d bit me hard. The damage was extensive, and even with my advanced healing factor I’d be lucky to have use of my hand back by the end of the week.

The rage in my veins was momentarily eclipsed by shock. Olivia’s eyes blazed with a fury I'd never witnessed before.

"Worse than Damian?” she hissed, her voice dripping venom. “You’re the one who’s even worse than your father."

I choked on my retort as her Alpha aura lashed against me, knocking the breath out of my lungs. I’d felt it before, but now being the target of it…It was as if I had been caught in a massive tornado, flung through the abrasive winds and just praying I didn’t slam into any debris.

"He may have trapped Iris in a tower," Olivia continued, her words razor-sharp, "but you've made me your Luna, Elroy. That's a cage I can't escape."

My mouth went dry. Was that what she thought? That I’d made her Luna to—to imprison her?

She was right, though, I realized. My mother could at least try to run; Olivia was bound here by something far greater than simple chains. My heart dropped into my gut like a hard, heavy rock.

I could push harder against her aura. Mine was undoubtably much larger, I could overpower her and force her to listen to me, but I just…couldn’t. I wanted to scream, to retort, to deny, but it was like there was a physical block preventing me from using my aura against her.

I just couldn’t do it.

But she was already turning away, her shoulders set in a rigid line as she strode down the corridor. Panic and hurt clawed at my throat.

"Wait!" I called after her retreating form, still struggling to stand. "Where are you going? We're not finished here!"

She didn't even pause, didn't grant me so much as a backwards glance. The dismissal stoked the embers of my anger anew.

"Olivia! Olivia, come back here!" I roared, struggling to my feet. Her Alpha aura lashed out, invisible but palpable, like cutting winds against my skin. My own power surged in response, pushing back against hers.

This fight wasn't over. It couldn't be over. She couldn't just call me my father and walk away. The accusation burned, a festering wound I couldn't ignore.

As I staggered after her, one thought consumed me: I am not my father. I am not...

By the time I regained my footing, steadying myself against the cold stone wall, Olivia had vanished. The long corridor stretched empty before me, her scent already fading from the air. My chest heaved with ragged breaths as I stared at the space where she'd been, disbelief warring with a growing sense of despair.

"Damn it!" I snarled, slamming my fist against the wall. The pain barely registered through the haze of emotions roiling within me.

I hadn't even been worth a second glance. The realization cut deeper than I cared to admit, even to myself. Olivia, my Luna, my Mate – she'd walked away as if I were nothing more than a stranger.