Chapter 58

Elroy’s POV

This mask was strangely heavy, and a little hot. Sweat was gathering under the scent blocking patches Sam found for me, and I could only hope the cheap one-wash hair coloring wasn’t running down the back of my neck with the moisture. The shoulder pads felt awkward, and I was still getting used to walking in these slightly platformed shoes.

It was a damn good disguise, though, if even my Mate couldn’t recognize me. Though maybe it had been so long since she’d looked at me she’d just forgotten what I looked like regardless.

It’s your own fault, my wolf huffed at me. I didn’t fight him on it.

I’d interrogated Astor once Olivia stomped off, demanding to know why he’d try to take my Mate from me, and something about the way he’d screamed in response made me believe him. I couldn’t, was what he said. I tried, and I couldn’t!

He could be lying, but the pain on his face was too real. He looked like a man who’d just been dumped mid-proposal.

And that meant I’d lashed out over my own misconception, used exactly the words I knew would hurt her the worst, and she had shut down to me completely. She clearly couldn’t forgive me, and the truth was, I wasn’t entirely sure if I could forgive her for what she’d said to me either.

Turning into my father was my greatest fear. I’d had nightmares every night since she’d said that.

But that wasn’t her fault, and I knew it. Just like I knew I couldn't stop her from throwing herself into danger, but I'd be damned if I let her face it alone. I was still her Mate, and I had vows to follow through on.

It still stung that she couldn’t recognize me, though. She was disguised too, and I’d known it was her instantly.

None of that mattered just then, though, and as we waited for our turn at Texas Hold ‘Em, I decided to try to ask her the questions she’d never answer if she knew I was me.

I allowed my gaze to linger on the elegant curve of her neck where her Mate Mark peeked out from beneath her short wig, somehow pleased that she wasn’t hiding it. "Your Mate must not be the socializing type if they let such a vision as yourself come unescorted," I said casually.

Olivia momentarily stiffened, but covered it with a quick, musical laugh that drew me in. "Oh, he's no fun at parties. Probably holed up in his study with a dusty tome," she waved me off.

My wolf bristled at her casual dismissal, even though I knew she wasn’t really talking about me. Probably. "To each their own,” I said. “What’s it like? Being Mated, I mean."

Olivia's smile turned a little sharp. "That's quite a personal question from a stranger, isn't it?"

I shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant and offering a little vulnerability. "Just curiosity. I might be getting Mated soon, myself, and I figure a stranger will give me a more honest answer than a friend.”

She studied me for a long moment, her fingers toying with the stem of her champagne flute. (I knew it was full of ginger ale, but I wasn’t going to say anything if she didn’t.) "I'm probably not the right person to ask about the joys of Mating,” she ended up saying.

My heart clenched at her words, but I forced myself to maintain my composure. “No?” I asked. “Do you regret it, then?”

That was a dangerous question, and one that I desperately needed the answer to. It had been plaguing me, both awake and asleep, and I just…had to know.

Olivia took a moment to really think about it, and the whole time my heart was pounding out of my chest. What if she said yes? What if she hated me completely, wished she’d never met me, regretted tying herself to me—

“I don’t know,” she finally said, cutting off my downward spiral. She was looking off at something I couldn’t see, lost in thought. “It would be a lot more straightforward if I could just chalk it up as a mistake, but…”

My heartrate kicked up a little. “So it’s not all bad?” I wanted to hear her say that it wasn’t, that I’d done at least some things right, that there was some sort of fondness still in her for me, but I was terrified she wouldn’t have that to give me.

“…It’s complicated,” she answered.

"Complicated, huh?" I mused, more to myself than to her. "I suppose that's true of most relationships. How has it been different from what you expected?"

She gave a little, humorless laugh. “Well, I’d expected to marry my Fated Mate, but that didn’t happen,” she said. My breath caught in my throat.

"You have a Fated Mate?"

“Not anymore,” Olivia said, mouth twisting. I noticed she left that statement reasonably vague, probably expecting me to assume her Fated Mate had died. Still, there was something haunted in her eyes, and I realized just how deeply the situation really cut her.

“We had plans,” she sighed, taking a sip of her drink. “I had plans. I knew where my life was, where I wanted it to go, and how I was going to get there.”

I held my breath, not sure if I wanted to hear the plans she’d made with another man, but I didn’t interrupt her.

“Obviously those plans fell apart in an instant. I lost the life I’d been working towards, the one I thought I was destined for, and now I’m Mated out of convenience. It’s a pretty jarring change.”

My heart ached for her, for the pain I could see etched in the lines of her face. I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms, to comfort her, but I knew I couldn't. Not like this.

"I'm sorry," I murmured. "That must have been difficult."

Olivia shrugged, a brittle smile on her lips. "It was what it was. And honestly, things were going well for a while, with my arranged Mate. We were... getting along."

"But?" I prompted, my stomach churning.

I’d expected her eyes to flash with anger, but somehow the tired look on her face hurt even more. "He assumed something horrible about me recently. I admit I snapped back at him just as hard, but the second those words came out of his mouth it was like…like all of the trust we were building just withered and died.”

I felt my heart plummet, horrified by the way she described it. I’d thought she was holding out because of anger, but this was so, so much worse. "Do you think... do you think he could ever earn it back?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

My pulse galloped as Olivia opened her mouth to respond, but before she could utter a word, her attention snapped to something behind me. In an instant, her demeanor changed. The vulnerability vanished, replaced by a cool, calculated mask.

"Excuse me," she said, her voice suddenly made of sharp flint. "I see an opportunity I can't miss."

My blood ran cold, but Olivia was already swiftly making her way through the crowd without another glance in my direction. I was instantly bombarded with anxious thoughts—what had she been about to say? Was there a way for me to salvage all of this, prove myself to her?

And also, why the fuck was she walking away from me in the middle of a damn mission?!

I whirled around to find her, my instincts screaming at me to keep her close. I understood that she didn’t know who I was, but that didn’t mean I could just leave her alone out here when we were surrounded by vipers. Horrifyingly, she was heading straight for the casino owner.

My wolf howled in protest as Olivia slid into the seat across from her, body language smooth and inviting. The woman—a redheaded Beta—gave her a cunning, foxlike grin. Instantly I was pushing my way through the crowd, my wolf clawing at my insides and howling to protect our Mate.

Stay calm, I told him silently, even as I rushed over. Olivia is strong and smart, if we go barging in we’ll just ruin her plan.

Still, my heart was in my throat, seeing her there next to a threat like that, like she was offering herself up to be eaten. I quickly stepped behind her, trying my best to play casual.

“Room for one more?" I asked, plastering on a lazy smile.

Time to play ball.