OLIVIA
~Oh, let him be too swamped to be angry. Please, please, please.~
Olivia stood frozen, her hand suspended in mid-air, trying to muster the courage to knock on the wooden door.
Sure, she might have given Will the cold shoulder.
And yes, she might have switched off her phone to avoid two people now. After the silent car ride home with Alexander, she hadnât been ready to face him. Sheâd broken down.
In his arms, no less.
No.
Alexander, she could dodge.
Will? Normally, yes. On a full moon night? No.
The only time sheâd been alone during a full moon, sheâd nearly harmed someone.
Even though she was walking into a storm, it was worth it. This was about safeguarding innocent lives.
It also made her yearn to relocateâsomewhere with a basement where she could handle this alone.
But that wasnât happening anytime soon soâ¦
~Knock. Knock.~
This was a game of control; he knew she was there. He must have caught her scent when she turned the corner. Yet, he waited.
The sound of his footsteps grew louder as he approached, and she held her breath, her chest swelling. He opened the door so slowly that a loud creak echoed in the silent night.
He was prolonging itâdeliberately. He was ~furious~. She tried to smile, but she could feel her lips quivering.
Will didnât fully open the door.
It was just ajar enough to reveal his face, but it hid most of his body. âSo, you forget how to answer a phone, but you remember the way to my house?â
She had that coming.
In retrospect, texting him while she was with Alexander might not have been the wisest decision.
She had acted on a whim. If she could undo it, she would, but she couldnât.
She needed a solutionâanything to get her out of this predicament without confessing the truth.
Because she couldnât tell him she willingly went with an alpha. Will would be hurt. He would feel betrayed.
That hadnât been her plan, butâ¦
Also, it didnât help that his version of events and what she witnessed didnât align.
Sadly, she wasnât about to discuss that with him, especially not when he looked ready to tear her apart.
âWillââ
âYou didnât intend to drive me fucking mad? I went to your apartment five times that day. You werenât there. Then I kept getting your voicemailâI thoughtâ¦â
He took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring. âI thought you were fucking dead, Liv.â
âI knowâIâm sorry.â ~Think, think! Anything!~
âTheyââ Come on. Youâre a smart girl. Lying to your best friend should be easy, right? Wrong.
There it was. The pang of guilt. She was the worst. âIt was a j-joke. They asked me to work overtimeâ¦I joked it was gonna kill meâthenâthen my phone diedâ¦and I didnât have a charger.â
âYou texted that if I didnât hear from you, I should use your damn phone GPS to find you.â
He wasnât buying it.
âI was gonna text moreâand hmm, there was an emergency, I forgot, and then my phone died. I meantâI was gonna pass out in one of the stockrooms and you better not let me decompose in there.â
Lies, lies, and more lies.
She could feel the words scorching her throat. She couldnât even hear what she was saying.
The pounding of her own heart in her chest was loud enough to make her deaf.
âI worked like eighteen hours, so I ended up passing out and then you were so mad. I didnât know how to make it right.â The last part was true.
âIâm sorry, Will.â That part too.
She held her breath as he scrutinized her, his gaze sweeping over her from head to toe. His stare was stern, his eyes narrowed as he studied her. Then she felt his anger snap.
He leaned in, pressing his forehead against hers as a long, drawn-out sigh shook his body. âYouâre gonna be the death of me, Liv.â
Will brought his hands up to her face, cradling her cheeks.
Their noses brushed, lips nearing but never more than hovering. Olivia was accustomed to his closeness, but tonight? It felt ~wrong~.
She gave a firm shake of her head. She wasnât going to let her mind wander there.
Instead, she decided to concentrate on the fact that he had chosen to forgive her. He trusted her. ~Fantastic~. That only made her feel more guilty.
A moment of silence hung between them before he withdrew from her, his hands dropping to his sides.
âGet inside before I reconsider.â
She didnât need to be told twice.
âThe basementâs all set.â
âIs Jess around?â
He shook his head. âSheâs at work. But donât worry, Iâll make sure youâre secured before I am.â
Jess would sometimes assist them.
This ensured that they were both safely restrained, preventing any mishaps. Will had always insisted that being restrained was the safest option. She now wondered if this was a lesson he had learned from pack life.
Was this a common practice?
She hadnât seen enough of the house to know if there was a basement or a specific room where they were all kept. There were so many of them. Could they all be restrained?
And what about the children? What happened to them? It didnât make sense. They surely wouldnât let the children run wildâ¦
~Buzzzz.~
The vibration from her back pocket startled her, causing her hand to instinctively clutch her chest.
What on earth⦠As she followed Will, her fingers found the source of the vibration, quietly pulling it out.
His name was clearly displayed on the screen. ~Alexander~. She should just put it back in her pocket.
She was about toâhonestlyâbut then she swiped the notification, opening it.
Alexander
Are you safe?
Was she safe? What did that even mean? No. She wasnât going to respond.
But then her phone buzzed again.
~Buzz~.
She let out a sigh as she looked down at it.
Alexander
Full moon
Ah. ~That~. Why was he concerned?
He already had enough to deal with.
Olivia
I can put my own shackles. I donât need help.
There. Was that clear enough?
âWho are you texting?â
Will asked as he turned on the basement light.
âHmm.â ~Great~. More lies. ~Again~. She was starting a cycle she wouldnât be able to stop. âCassie. They scheduled me for tonight and sheâsâweâre swapping shifts.â
He raised an eyebrow, his mouth twisting slightly. âDonât you always take the night of the full moon off?â
âYeah, but weâre understaffed. So, they put me on the schedule anyway.â
âThank God for Cassie, right?â
She pressed her lips together, grinding them as she managed a weak nod. He didnât believe her. She recognized that tone. He wasnât convinced.
But he wasnât calling her out on it. Why?
~Buzzzz~.
Alexander
Shackles?
Really. He had experienced more full moons than she had. He knew the routine.
Olivia
Sorry we donât all have super strength ropeâ¦or cages.
His response was immediate.
Alexander
Weâre not animals, Livy. We can be free.
~Free~?
Alexander
And no, we donât hurt anyone.
Her lips parted, her heart rate quickened as she ran her dry tongue over her parched lips. Free? No. If they were free, they would be uncontrollable.
They would harm someone.
She knew this. She had seen it firsthand. No. She didnât believe it. The number one rule was restraints. Wolves were monsters and monsters couldnât control themselves.
âReady?â Will asked, holding up the shackles.
The sound of them clinking together snapped her out of her thoughts.
âYeah.â She tossed her phone onto the nearby chair where her clothes were soon to be. She reached for the hem of her T-shirt and nodded. âIâm ready.â
There was no such thing as freedom for people like them.
Never.