Olivia's POV

I leaned over my desk at Lunera Beauty, meticulously arranging the new ingredients. Each scent was another piece of the puzzle, something I could control.

Unlike… everything else in my life right now. This project – this formula – was my grounding force, something truly my own, and today, I was going to pour everything into it.

The small lab space around me was quiet, yet my mind was anything but. Images from the past week flooded my head: Isabella’s return, her doe-eyed looks at Ethan, and the way he’d tensed at her name.

The thought of her was an itch I couldn’t scratch. With each tool I picked up, the jealousy I’d tried to brush off just simmered, rising like a bruise that just wouldn’t heal.

A gentle knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts. “Liv, everything okay?” Mia asked as she slipped in, her eyes flicking from my scattered notes to my hands gripping a tool with white knuckles. “You seem... tense.”

I gave a tight smile, trying to focus back on the task. “Just… deep in thought.”

“Uh-huh,” Mia said knowingly, settling herself onto a nearby stool. She crossed her arms, studying me with that no-nonsense expression of hers.

“This have anything to do with a certain Alpha?” she asked.

I took a deep breath, then shook my head. But even I knew it wasn’t convincing. “I don’t know, Mia. I thought things were moving forward, and then… Isabella just reappears like the ghost of lovers’ past.”

She nodded, waiting, letting me share in my own time. I could tell she wasn’t going to let it drop.

“It’s just…” I struggled to find the right words. “There’s a history between them, a connection. Fated Mates for fuck’s sake. Seeing them together just ripped open a need I thought was closed, but...”

Mia leaned in, her expression softening. “But what? You think he’s still bonded to her?”

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m just paranoid. But Fated Mate isn’t something you just erase. Losing that can kill a person.”

I cut myself off, not wanting to crack my heart open more by talking about my mother’s condition. Mia frowned, knowing what I wasn’t saying.

“Liv, Ethan’s with you now, regardless of how it happened. He shows it publicly, but if he’s not showing you that same commitment privately, then… maybe you need to talk to him. See what, and who, he actually wants.”

I wanted to trust that what Ethan and I had was growing into something real, but Isabella’s presence loomed large.

“He’s with me because it’s convenient. Because it helps with the Council votes. And that was fine, but I… I want more.” My voice trailed off like speaking it into existence would bring more hurt.

Mia put her hand over mine. “Then he’s a dumbass. This is our Pack’s future, and frankly, his too. We’re two Packs now, but if you two stay together eventually we need to merge. He’d be an idiot not to see that.”

My voice came out on a growl. “The bond isn’t complete, the Council vote is still hanging, and now... Isabella’s back.”

Mia squeezed my hand gently. “Look, I don’t know Ethan like you do, but if he can’t see the strength you bring to his side, then fuck him. You need to go after what’s yours, babes. And if that means calling him out on his wavering, then maybe you should.”

Her words hit something deep within me, the part of me that refused to let anyone diminish my worth.

“I’ve already put myself out there for Ethan, I won’t do it to get rejected again. I… I called Derek and I think if things with Ethan fall apart, we’ll be okay with my… talents.”

Bracing against the nudge of surprise coming from Mia, I glanced at her. Her mouth hung open in shock, but beneath it was a spark of pride.

“Say something, Mia.”

“Holy. Shit. I’m pissed you might put yourself at risk, but you are a fucking genius, Liv!”

My heart filled with love. “Pack comes first. I’m not letting Ethan decide to maybe finish what we started and maybe want me in the end. Pack before pride.”

Mia gave me an encouraging smile. “This is why you’re Luna with or without an Alpha,” she added with a wink. “But maybe still talk to Ethan?”

I laughed softly, despite the knots in my stomach loosening slightly. “Thanks, Mia. Really.”

“Of course.” She smacked a kiss on my cheek before leaving me to my thoughts.

And a growing sense of unease, wondering if I was doing the right thing.

---

The sun had begun to set, casting a warm, amber glow across the grounds as I made my way to Ethan’s Pack House. My mind was racing, replaying Mia’s words over and over. She was right, I needed clarity.

I couldn’t keep twisting myself in knots over what Ethan and I really meant to each other, especially with everything else spiraling out of control.

As I approached Ethan’s office, the muffled sound of voices carried through the door. I paused, recognizing Ethan’s. He was in there with Marlus, and not even the heavy wooden door could block his frustration.

“Isabella just… showing up like this has thrown everything off,” he muttered, his words heavy with exasperation. “It’s not like I asked her to be here. But now, the Pack is talking, and Olivia...”

My heart stilled, and my body followed suit, as though movement would hinder my hearing.

Marlus’s voice was softer, almost reassuring. “Ethan, the Pack sees you with Olivia. They support her as your Luna. Isabella’s return is a calculated move, nothing more. You said you’d handle it... it’s affecting your focus.”

Silence stretched, heavy and taut. I could almost feel Ethan wrestling with something deep, something he couldn’t or wouldn’t say out loud. But I couldn’t untangle it from my own turmoil.

When he finally spoke, his voice was barely more than a murmur. “There’s a part of me that feels... unresolved. I thought I’d closed that chapter, but her being here, it’s like... I don’t know.”

The words hit me like a punch in the gut, and I stepped back, a cold dread settling in my stomach. Unresolved. Did that mean that he still felt connected to her? That I really was a temporary Mate?

I barely heard Marlus’s response, lost in the haze of my own thoughts.

As I stood there, caught between leaving and bursting in to demand answers, I heard Marlus’s final words. “The Alpha Council wants you Mated; they don’t care with who. Don’t string Olivia along if your heart is elsewhere. She deserves more than that, and so do you.”

I couldn’t stand there another second. I turned, slipping away before they’d know I’d overheard, before I heard Ethan’s response.

The conversation clawed at my chest, raw and festering. It was like Isabella’s presence had sucked all the air out of the room, leaving me to suffocate.

By the time I made it back outside, I could hardly think straight. I’d thought coming here would bring answers, or at least give me the courage to face Ethan with my questions.

I wanted him to choose me. But tonight, it seemed like that might be too much to ask.

So, I didn’t bother asking.