Chapter 261

Olivia

The sound of hurried movement jolted me awake.

My eyes fluttered open, struggling to adjust to the dim light of dawn. Nathan was pacing around the dimly lit room, pulling on his jeans and shirt with an urgency that immediately unsettled me.

“What’s going on?” I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Why are you up so early?”

He paused, pulling his boots on with swift tugs. “There was an incident at the Council building last night,” he said. “Don’t worry about it. Just go back to sleep and get some rest.”

I furrowed my brow, confused. “An incident?” I asked. “Nathan, is everything alright?”

Nathan sighed. “The guards somehow let someone slip past them. It looks like it’s someone from Ryan’s pack. They destroyed the place, sprayed graffiti everywhere, smashed windows, and even ruined important documents.”

My heart raced at his words, and I bolted upright. “Are you serious?” I asked. “What are you going to do?”

With a shrug, Nathan grabbed his flannel off of the back of the armchair and turned to face me. His face looked drawn and weary. “Clean it up, I guess,” he said. “Then get to the bottom of this.”

I nodded, standing. “I’ll come with you. Just give me five minutes to get dressed—”

Nathan hesitated, looking torn. “Olivia, I… can’t let you come. You need to stay here, out of sight. And besides, someone needs to be here for the twins.”

I blinked in disbelief. Nathan was right about the twins, but it was unlike him to keep me away when he likely needed all of the help he could get. “Why?” I asked quietly, feeling somewhat defeated. “You don’t want my help?”

His face tensed with an emotion I couldn’t quite place. “It’s not that. It’s just… You know how the Elders are. They’ll find a way to blame you, and then it’ll be the kids they target. This is bad, Liv. Really bad.”

For a moment, I just stared at him, confused and hurt. This was the sort of crisis we had always faced together, side by side. Why was he pulling away now?

“Nathan, I thought we were in this together. We’ve always had each other’s backs,” I protested, feeling a twinge of desperation creeping into my voice.

His eyes met mine, filled with a complex mix of fear and resolve. “We are, and we do. But I need you to trust me on this one. It’s not safe for you to come.”

I felt frozen, but nodded. “Alright. I’ll stay home.”

Nathan let out a small sigh of relief, then closed the distance between us. I felt the ice in my heart melt a bit as he pressed a soft, warm kiss to my forehead, but I still felt utterly useless—and like a burden.

“Stay safe,” I said, forcing a weak smile. “If anything happens, promise you’ll come home.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” he replied gently. “Just clean-up duty mostly, and dealing with the pissed-off Elders.”

“What about Ryan?” I asked. “What if his men come back?”

In response, Nathan shook his head. “He’s in the intimidation phase right now, and probably won’t attack until he has the artifacts; you just focus on the twins, yourself, and those artifacts. That’s the most you can do, Liv.”

With another kiss, I watched as he reached for his jacket and headed for the door, his every step echoing the growing chasm between us.

I felt helpless as I watched him stride out, the front door shutting with a resounding thud that felt like a punctuation mark on everything left unsaid. With a sigh, I sank down onto the bed, a tangle of confusion and worry knotting itself around my heart, left to ponder what could possibly go wrong next.

And that was the root of it all, wasn’t it? I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for some new crisis to erupt and throw our lives into chaos once more. I’d spent so much time bracing for impact that I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to simply live.

I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling suddenly cold despite the thick blankets piled around me. I thought about going to check on the twins, just to reassure myself that they were okay, but then I hesitated. For all I knew, the Elders would send someone to watch the house, to monitor my every move now that Nathan had so conspicuously left without me.

The very idea filled me with a sense of injustice, fanning the embers of my growing resentment.

Why should I be the one to stay behind, to keep the home fires burning, while Nathan faced the danger alone? Hadn’t I proven myself capable, time and time again? I had fought alongside him, had been through battles and struggles that would’ve broken lesser souls, so why sideline me now?

But as much as I yearned to rail against the unfairness of it all, a quieter voice within me whispered the hard truth: Nathan was right.

The Elders, with their endless politicking and their ancient grudges, would relish the opportunity to paint me as the villain in this latest drama. My presence at the Council building would give them the excuse they needed to bring me down, to tear apart my family in the name of some twisted sense of justice.

And so I stayed home that morning, pacing the floors of our home like a caged animal, each ticking second stretching out into an eternity of what-ifs and worst-case scenarios. My mind raced through all the possibilities, sketching out a thousand different outcomes, each one darker than the last.

Just then, the sound of soft coos coming from the nursery caught my attention.

You’re still a mother, Olivia, I reminded myself as I got up and wrapped my robe around myself. Act like one.

The soft glow from the nursery light provided just enough illumination for me to peek in. The twins lay there, their little chests rising and falling in rhythmic sleep. The sight of them, so peaceful and innocent, was like a balm to my fraying nerves.

I approached the crib, my fingers trailing along the soft sheets, and a tiny smile bloomed on my face as Aurora wriggled, her little face scrunched up. Within moments, her brother too showed signs of waking. Their delicate coos reached out to me, pulling me into their world of innocence and wonder.

Lifting them gently, I cradled them close to my chest. Their soft breaths and warmth against me was a stark contrast to the cold reality outside the room.

As I fed and changed them, their tiny fingers wrapped around mine, grounding me in the moment. Every little giggle and gurgle they made was a reminder of what I was fighting for. In their innocent eyes, there were no Council politics, no threats, just pure, unwavering love.

They were my anchor, reminding me that even in the darkest times, there was light, love, and hope.

But through it all, one question loomed above all others, a dark cloud on the horizon of my thoughts:

If someone from Ryan’s pack could breach the Council building, what else were they capable of? And what did that mean for us, for our pack, for our family?