Chapter 26

Nathan

“Olivia!” I called after her as I watched her storm off in her muddied and torn white dress. “Come on!”

Of course, Olivia didn’t stop or answer. She just kept going until she was out of sight, leaving me there to deal with the consequences of her temper.

She did look beautiful in her dress. I couldn’t deny that. When I first saw her in it, I felt attracted to her curves and her sexy body even though the dress was a little small.

It wasn’t entirely her fault that it ripped. I did try to be understanding, because it was a little too small on her and it was a delicate dress. But then for her to go on and not pay attention to where she was going, only to ruin it even more?

She was always a tomboy. I guessed that I just wished she could show some class as the “Luna,” whether it was a fake relationship or not. I was, after all, doing this to get on the Alpha Council. Having a mate who was seen as low class or sloppy wouldn’t help my chances any.

As I stood there not knowing whether I should go after her or stay put and finish the picnic, I heard footsteps approaching. I turned around and felt a lump rise in my throat as my dad stormed up to me.

“What was that about?” he snarled, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of view of the others. “You’re embarrassing yourself, and by extension you’re embarrassing me.”

I felt a little sick. “I’m sorry, dad,” I said as I pulled my arm out of his grip. “It was an accident. She got embarrassed about the dress.”

My dad frowned and folded his arms across his chest as his eyes bored a hole into my skull.

“That’s no excuse,” he said. “A true Luna wouldn’t be making so many mistakes like that. And even in the event of a mistake, she wouldn’t be storming off like a child. Have you ever seen your mother act so childish?”

I shook my head and stared unblinkingly down at the ground. “No, sir.”

My dad huffed. “You know, son, you do still have time to reject her as your mate. You don’t need to go through with this, and maybe Layla will forgive you if you beg for it.”

“What?” I growled. “I can’t… I can’t just leave my mate like that! We’re fated mates! Besides, what about our baby? I don’t want to be irresponsible.”

My voice nearly faltered, though, because it wasn’t true.

“Ha!” my dad scoffed. “Your baby, huh? Are you sure it even belongs to you?”

My eyes widened. “What are you saying, dad?”

He just shrugged, causing his wide shoulders to nearly crush his ears. His eyes were narrowed and dark, and his brows were knit together with anger.

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Nathan,” he whispered. “Her father is a traitor. What makes you think that she would be truthful about where that little bastard in her belly came from, hm?”

Now, my eyes widened so much that I thought they would burst. “You have to be joking. Why would you say that?”

But once again, I knew that I was lying. Truthfully, it wasn’t my baby. But I couldn’t say that to my father, although now I couldn’t help but wonder if he knew anyway.

“I’m just saying,” he said with another shrug, his arms still folded across his chest, “get a paternity test. She’s trash, and you know it. Her whole family is trash.”

I had had enough. All I could do was shake my head and take a few staggering steps backwards.

“She’s not trash,” I said. “You’re wrong about her. I’m going home.”

“Nathan—”

Before my dad could say anything else, I turned on my heel and walked away.

As I walked back to the edge of the woods, my hands stayed curled up into fists so tightly that my fingers were sore by the time I reached my car. I climbed in, cursing under my breath as I turned the key in the ignition.

I couldn’t tell who I was more mad at during that moment as I put the car in drive: Olivia for being careless, or my father for saying such horrible things.

But the difference between Olivia and my father was that my father wasn’t completely wrong. Olivia wasn’t trash in my eyes, not in the slightest; but that wasn’t my baby, and our relationship was completely fake.

“I just need to get through this until I can get on the council,” I said out loud to myself as I headed down the road. “Then it’ll be all over.”

Was that really true, though? Would this all end once I got on the council, or would I always have to hold up this facade to receive respect from my dad and the elders?

Surely I couldn’t go on forever pretending that Olivia was my fated mate.

I took the long way home after spending an hour just driving around on back roads to clear my head. By the time I walked in the door, the sun was setting and the house was dark.

“Olivia?” I called out.

There was no answer. I quietly walked up the steps, then opened my mouth to call out her name again. I quickly shut it when I heard muffled sobs coming from her room.

“Shit,” I whispered under my breath. I didn’t mean to make her cry… I just wanted her to understand that she needed to pay more attention to her surroundings and play the part of the Luna a little bit better.

After hearing my dad’s harsh words, I couldn’t help but wonder now if I was too cruel to Olivia. Maybe she didn’t deserve that. I was the only person who could be on her side, and I treated her badly and made her cry.

Even though we weren’t truly fated mates — and I had no way of knowing anyway since her wolf was dormant — we were still childhood best friends. It had been a decade since we last saw each other, but that love for each other as friends was still there.

Maybe I should have stuck by her side after all.

I gently knocked on her bedroom door, only to be met with her angry voice.

“Go away, Nathan!” she yelled, her voice sounding hoarse and tired. “I just wanna be left alone!”

I heard a sniffle. Part of me wanted to just walk away and give her some space, but somehow I knew that she didn’t really want space. Finally, I let my hand fall back to my side and slowly pushed the door open.

She was laying on the bed with her face buried in her pillow.

I instantly felt myself soften. “Olivia,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

I felt myself soften even more when she sat up and looked at me with her red eyes.

For some reason, I wanted to hug her so badly. If I didn’t have to play the part of a tough Alpha, then I would have held her. But I couldn’t… Especially not when there was no feasible way for us to be together, and it would only confuse us even more.

“What do you want?” she mumbled, glaring up at me with tears in her eyes.