Chapter 76

Nathan

That morning, I untangled myself from Olivia’s sleeping body and slipped out of the room before she was even awake.

When she woke up, she would likely never know that I had unwittingly curled myself around her, basking in her comfort as we slept.

I could never tell her. Our relationship was already hanging in such a delicate balance that one gust of wind was sure to send it teetering too far in one direction or another.

But I could, however, stop the onslaught of attacks that were being made against her name. And I was determined to do just that.

My knuckles rapped against the hefty door of the Council room with a sense of urgency. The tension in my veins was surging like a fiery river, fueled by a burning injustice that I couldn't ignore.

Upon entering, I was met with the gloating grins of my fellow Alphas, their eyes flicking over me with amusement.

“Ford,” Mike, the one who'd sparked this whole wildfire, smirked. “How’s the love nest?”

My fingers clenched into fists at my side. “Enough,” I snapped, locking my gaze with his. “These accusations about me and Olivia, they need to stop.”

His smirk only grew wider. “If you’re not guilty, Ford, why not just take a paternity test?” he suggested, leaning back in his chair.

His audacity made my blood boil. I glanced over at my father, seeking an ally in this fight. He was not normally very fair, but I still had hope that he would find it somewhere in his heart to stand up for his son.

“Don’t you agree that this is ridiculous?” I asked my father, gesturing my hand toward Mike. “Surely you’d side with me—”

Before I could finish, Mike suddenly stood. He pushed his chair back so abruptly that the legs scraped loudly against the wooden floor, echoing through the Council room.

“Don’t run to your father for help, boy!” he boomed, pounding his meaty fist on the table. “Act like a man!”

I only glared at Mike for a moment, then looked back at my father. However, when I met his gaze, he just shrugged. “I’d like to see a paternity test, too,” he confessed, his tone low and even and just as accusatory as Mike’s.

“Really, dad?” I asked, feeling myself wince inwardly at this apparent lack of allies in the matter. “You, too?”

My father said nothing out loud, but his voice echoed clearly in my mind as he used our Mindlink.

“She’s a traitor, Nathan,” he said, his steely eyes fixed on me. “If you get this over with now, then maybe you won’t be seen as a traitor, too.”

I felt a lump rise in my throat at my father’s words.

Olivia wasn’t a traitor; I wanted to make him understand that so badly. But it seemed as though that was never even a possibility.

Suddenly, one of the Elders spoke up.

“If you two are telling the truth, then I see no reason to be worried, son,” the voice said. I followed the direction of the voice; it was Mingan, the oldest of the Elders. She rarely spoke, but when she did, her soft voice was enough on its own to command any room.

“E-Elder Mingan—” I stammered, bowing my head.

“Elder Mingan is right,” Mike interjected as he sat back down at his seat. “Just get the paternity test, Ford. You’ve been so insistent that none of this is a lie; produce the results, and if you can prove that this daughter of a traitor truly is carrying your child, then perhaps some of the attacks will cease.”

The room was thick with silence as I processed the blow.

Not just Mike, but my father, and even the Elders seemed to echo the sentiment. The request for a paternity test wasn't just a ridiculous demand anymore; it was a real, pressing issue.

Stunned and deflated, I walked out of the Council room without a word, the sneers and chuckles echoing in my ears. I felt betrayed by my fellow Alphas, the Elders, everyone.

…

Back home, my mind was a whirlpool of thoughts. How could I fake a paternity test? It seemed an impossible task, one that could risk everything if I got caught.

“Nathan?” Olivia's voice broke my troubled reverie. She descended the stairs, her footsteps soft and light.

I looked up from where I sat at the dining room table and felt myself soften as I looked at her. She was dressed warmly in a brightly-colored sweater that brought out the beautiful hazel hue of her eyes, and her hair was draped over her shoulder in a thick braid.

A piece of me wanted to leap up and take her in my arms, kiss her all over and make her mine for real, but I knew that I couldn’t.

“Everything alright?” she asked as she approached.

I sighed, rubbing my temples. “The Alphas… they want a paternity test,” I confessed, watching as her eyes widened. “Even the Elders agree. We have to do something before this only gets worse.”

“Oh,” she breathed out, sinking down onto the chair beside me. After a long silence, she looked up at me, determination gleaming in her eyes.

“Angela,” she said. “She’s got a crush on you, and she works at the clinic. Maybe she could help us?”

I blinked at her, taken aback. It was a bold plan, risky and morally gray, but also potentially effective. Yet, something didn't sit right with me.

“I can’t do that to Angela, Olivia. It’s not right.”

Olivia seemed surprised but didn’t argue. She understood my discomfort.

“We need to do something, though,” I added, standing and pacing restlessly around the room. “Maybe... we need to take things further. Prove to them that we're in this for real.”

“But how?” she asked. “We already live together. We’ve attended not only public events, but we’ve also been seen in public together. And… We kissed at the hunt.”

At the mention of our first kiss, her cheeks flushed red. Mine flushed red, too, not over the first fake kiss, but the real one that we shared in the kitchen just two days ago.

“We need more,” I replied, sighing heavily. Suddenly, I had an idea. “What about a... a fake wedding?”

The words hung in the air, heavy and overwhelming. Olivia stared at me, her eyes widening until they were the size of two hazel-colored saucers. For a moment, she was silent.

And then, without a word, she stood. She stood there for a moment, her eyes flashing with hurt and surprise as her fists clenched into tight balls at her sides.

“Olivia?” I murmured.

No response. She brushed past me and ran up the stairs, leaving nothing behind except for the gust of wind that was created by her urgency.

Confusion rippled through me as I stood there alone in the dining room. Had I suggested something too outrageous? Was it too much? All I knew was that our situation was desperate, and desperate times called for desperate measures.

As the silence of the house pressed in around me, I was left alone with my thoughts, wondering how we would navigate this unexpected twist in our intricate dance of lies.