Chapter 510

Olivia

“Hello?”

I picked up the phone, wondering if it was another collect call from the prison—yet another call on the landline phone, a rare occurrence. But this time, the voice that echoed through the other end somehow made even more color drain from my face than it had with Jenifer.

“Olivia.” Nathan’s voice crackled through the phone, tired and haggard.

“What the fuck do you want?” I hissed, already poised to hang up.

“Olivia,” he pleaded frantically, as though sensing that the call was about to end, “please, let’s just talk—”

“No.” I swallowed hard and grit my teeth against the wave of anger that was threatening to take over me. “I don’t want to talk to a cheater,” I finally managed, my voice coming out stronger than I really felt.

Nathan drew in a sharp breath. “If you’d just listen, I can explain—”

“There’s nothing to explain.”

Before Nathan could say anything else, I quickly hung up the phone. It was only then, as I slammed the phone back on the receiver, that I saw the way my hands were shaking.

This was what had become of me: the man whose voice once made my heart flutter now just made me tremble like a bomb about to explode.

…

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the doors open to the Council building. I was dressed in my crisp work outfit; a pair of tailored trousers and a button-down shirt. With my hair pulled back into a neat bun and my tote bag, containing my notebooks and laptop, slung over my shoulder, I was ready to get back to work after over a month of being away.

Even though the idea of running into Nathan after what he had done to me felt like the end of the world, I was looking forward to returning to work. Besides, I needed to make more of my own money now; if we were going to get divorced soon, I couldn’t rely on Nathan anymore.

Not just financially, either—but physically, too. It had been a few days since I had found that book on the Ancient Wolf, and I was no closer to figuring out how to begin harnessing my powers.

And considering the fact that we had been through so much already before, I couldn’t lie around anymore, waiting for my Prince Charming to protect me if things went south.

No, I wanted to protect myself and my children if I needed to.

My wolf kept accusing me of trying to distract myself, though; and maybe I was. But anything was better than sitting in my house, wallowing over being cheated on.

Right?

“Luna!” the secretary exclaimed with surprise as I entered. “It’s so nice to see you. It’s been a while.”

I paused for a moment, parting my lips to tell her that I was no longer the Luna of this pack, but then stopped myself. Not today. Not until it was official.

Not until the divorce was finalized.

Deciding to keep the truth private for now, I simply offered the secretary a terse smile as I passed. “Good morning,” I said. “It’s nice to see you too.”

The secretary grinned. “If you’re looking for Alpha Nathan, he is in his—”

“I’m not here to see Nathan,” I said, maybe a bit more quickly than I intended. I winced a bit at my curt tone, and tried to soften myself a bit. “I’m headed to work today.”

The secretary blinked at me, clearly a bit taken aback by my words, but said nothing and let me continue into the building. I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding as I passed by her desk. First hurdle accomplished. Now just to get past Nathan’s office without running into him…

I was hardly halfway down the hall toward the PR office, however, when I felt my stomach drop and I stopped in my tracks.

Up ahead, I saw him. Nathan. He was approaching me, looking handsome as always in a well-fitting dark blue suit. The way the jacket hugged his narrow waist and broad shoulders really showed off his muscles…

No. I couldn’t let his looks or my own loneliness get to me.

Steeling myself, I pulled my shoulders back and continued walking, determined not to show that I was on edge. But when he stopped in front of me, blocking my way, there was no denying the way that my face began to heat up beneath his blue-green gaze.

“Olivia.”

“Nathan.”

I refused to look him in the eyes. No, if I looked him in the eyes, he would surely get to me. I was certain that if I looked into those beautiful depths, I would cave to whatever it was he had to say.

“Can we please talk in my office?” he asked.

I uncomfortably shifted my bag on my shoulder. “I don’t want to be late to work,” I said. “What do you need to talk about?”

Nathan scoffed and lowered his voice slightly. “What do you mean, ‘what do I want to talk about’?” he hissed. “Olivia, I want to talk about us. I want to explain myself.”

“There’s nothing to explain,” I said, still not meeting his gaze. “I thought I made that clear when you called me at the crack of dawn the other day.”

Nathan stared at me for a moment. Even though I was looking past him rather than at him, I could feel his gaze on me. Even just the heat of his eyes on my face made my heart pound.

“Olivia, come on,” he said. “If we could just talk about this like adults, I could explain everything and make you see that—”

“That what?” I snarled, finally meeting his gaze, only to realize for the first time that there were tears in my own eyes. “I saw the pictures, and they were clear as day.”

Nathan stood there, blinking incredulously at me for a few moments, before he spoke. “Liv, I love you.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked, my voice trembling. “Did you still love me when you were fucking a prostitute?”

There was a long, tense silence—a standoff of our wills as we stared at each other. Suddenly, Nathan reached for my arm, his words coming out as a frantic whisper.

“Olivia,” he said, his fingers grazing my arm, “I never slept with her. There’s so much more to this than you—”

“Don’t touch me.” The sensation of his fingers on my arm felt as if I had been burned. I yanked myself away before he could get a good grip on me, and our shoulders slammed against one another as I stormed past him.

“Liv—”

I whirled around one last time, walking backwards as I hissed at him. “Don’t call me that anymore,” I growled, adjusting my bag on my shoulder. “And you left some things at the villa. Come and pick them up before I throw them in the fireplace.”

Before Nathan could reply, I turned back around and stormed off. I didn’t bother to look back and see his expression, or even to see if he was still there.

But even though I didn’t turn, I could still feel his eyes on me as I stormed away and wiped the tears from my cheeks.