Chapter 85

Olivia

Once I stepped inside Angela’s house, it was like I’d walked into a whole different world.

The air buzzed with chatter, whispers, and laughter as the women of our small town mingled and gossiped about everything under the sun.

I found it overwhelming, but at the same time, oddly exciting.

“Liv!” Angel’s voice called out. I glanced around, then smiled gently as I saw her squeezing her way through the throng toward me. She scurried up to me and hugged me tightly, then kissed me on both cheeks. “I’m so glad you came.”

“I couldn’t miss it,” I said, managing a stiff smile as I looked around at the sea of faces, many of whom were staring at me.

Angela, noticing my apprehension, put her arm around me. “Come on,” she said, squeezing me gently as she began to guide me away from the door. “Let’s get you some punch. I promise you’ll have a lot of fun.”

A few minutes later, I found myself settling onto the couch as I clutched my glass of punch and listened to the swirling gossip around me.

I heard whispers of supposed affairs, failed relationships, secret children, all the juicy secrets of our town's inhabitants spilled in the sacred circle of women.

“Did you hear that Alpha Mike…” one lady whispered to her group of friends, their cheeks red from wine, “...was seen over at Ms. Sullivan’s house last week?”

The other girls’ eyes widened. “Really?” one exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Mhm.” The first lady nodded and took a big swig of her wine, swirling it around in her glass. “Yep. Lucia said that Anna said that she saw them kissing right on the lips.”

A gasp resounded around them. I had to stifle a chuckle, as I imagined the big, burly Alpha — a self-proclaimed ‘family man’, and the very same Alpha who so stalwartly questioned my ‘relationship’ with Nathan — cheating on his wife of twenty years with the local librarian.

“Well, that’s nothing,” another girl interjected, her cheeks tinged pink and her eyes sparkling with vigor. “I heard that Mr. and Mrs. Harrison are swingers.”

“Swingers, as in…”

“Yes! They like to hook up with other couples and have big orgies!”

Another gasp echoed through the room.

“How do you know this, Carrie?” a voice called out, to which Carrie’s cheeks tinged an even deeper shade of pink.

I watched as she nervously stammered out an excuse, then finished the last of her wine in one big gulp and scurried out of the room for a refill, clearly guilty of partaking in these swinger orgies.

I sat there for a while longer, just listening to the gossip. It was nice to be surrounded by people, and the more I listened, the more I learned about my town. I had no interest in partaking in the gossip, though, not that I had much to contribute.

However, the tide changed when curious eyes fell on me. There was a sudden hush in the room as someone asked, “So, Olivia, how did you and Nathan fall in love again?”

It felt like the air was sucked out of the room. I blinked at the woman who’d asked the question, taken aback. Nathan and I weren't in love. We had a mutual understanding, a shared bond over our past, but love? That was far from our reality.

Caught off guard, I started to stammer.

“O-Oh, it’s nothing really special,” I said, my cheeks turning a deeper shade of red than Carrie’s when she all but outed herself for joining in on the orgies.

“Aw, come on, Olivia,” one woman, whose name was Emily, said. “You two are fated mates, right? It has to be a fairy tale love story?”

I cleared my throat as my mind scrambled to come up with a lie. What came out, however, wasn’t entirely a lie after all.

“Well, we've known each other since we were toddlers,” I said, smiling wistfully. “We grew up together, and were best friends.”

The ladies swooned and sighed, their eyes sparkling with delight. I continued, egged on by their dreamy gazes.

“When my dad and I had to leave, I missed him so much… Honestly, all I thought about was him. We never told each other how we felt, and you see, we didn’t know that we were mates at the time since I left before my wolf emerged.”

“How did you eventually find out?” one woman asked.

“Um…” I cleared my throat, taking a sip of my punch, then felt my eyes light up as I came up with the perfect story.

“Well, I was working in a restaurant a few towns over. We hadn’t seen each other in a decade. I was waiting on another customer when I suddenly heard the little bell on the door ring, and I smelled this wonderful scent that made me drop my notebook. I looked up, and there he was.”

Once again, the ladies all swooned. “It’s so dreamy!” one woman said, fanning herself with her hand. “It really is like a fairy tale.”

Now that I had finished my lie, I suddenly felt my cheeks flush an even deeper shade of red.

It seemed that they were more than content with the romantic tale I had woven, but it left me feeling a tad awkward.

The lie had slipped so easily off my tongue, and that made me uncomfortable. I had come here to make friends, not to weave a web of deception. The fact alone that the lie came out so easily, so naturally, almost made me sickened by myself.

I couldn’t stay any longer. I stood up, interrupting a conversation about someone's new hairstyle, and announced, “I think I’m going to head out. It's been a long day, and I’m really tired. It was nice meeting you all.”

Angela, ever the gracious host, followed me to the door, her expression soft.

“I’m sorry, Olivia,” she murmured once we were out of earshot of the others. “I didn’t mean for you to feel uncomfortable. I know it’s all a bit too much.”

I shrugged, forcing a smile. “It's okay, Angela. I just need some rest. And thank you for inviting me. It was… interesting.”

She seemed a bit relieved, and said nothing about my elaborate lie.

“Will Nathan pick you up?” she asked, glancing around as if expecting him to appear out of thin air.

The thought of Nathan rushing over not long after I got here just to pick me up felt like too much to ask. I shook my head.

“No, it's okay. I’ll walk. It’s just a few blocks.”

“But the monster…” Angela’s voice trailed off, her eyes filled with worry.

I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. “I’ll be fine, Angela. Don't worry.”

Angela frowned, looking worried, but nodded. “Alright,” she said, squeezing me with another hug that left me having to catch my breath when she pulled away. “Text me when you get home so I know you’re safe.”

“I will.”

With a smile, I stepped out into the cool night, a small sense of relief washing over me as the door closed behind me.

The air was crisp and cool, a refreshing change from the stuffy atmosphere of the party. I started the short journey back home, each step echoing loudly in the still night.

The further I got from Angela's house, the quieter it became.

My mind began to wander, the fear of the ‘monster’ clawing its way back into my thoughts. Despite the reassurances I had given Angela, I couldn't shake off the nervous feeling.

“Stop being so paranoid, Olivia,” I whispered to myself, drawing my jacket more closely around me as I folded my arms across my chest. “There’s nothing out there.”

The wind picked up a bit, causing the leaves and the blossoms on the trees to bristle in the chilly night air. I froze for a second, fear gripping me, before I got ahold of myself again and continued to walk.

As I walked, I started whistling a soft tune to myself to ease my nerves. It was a sweet tune that rang out through the night, and the longer I went, the more confident I felt.

The wind picked up a little more, causing the trees to sway and rub up against each other. Their rough bark created a horrible groaning sound in the air, but I ignored it as best I could and whistled a little bit louder, picking up my pace as I went.

But then I heard it.

My entire body froze; this was no mere wind, no trees rustling together. This was something alive, something warm and alert.

There was a rustling in the bushes, followed by a low, throaty growl that made my skin crawl.