Chapter 87

Olivia

“Alvin?” I called out, leaning forward to get a better look at the supposed monster in front of me. “Is that you?”

In the quiet stretch between one breath and the next, my world changed. The creature — Alvin, I was sure — froze as though he’d been struck by lightning at the mention of his name.

This was Alvin, my childhood friend. I was sure of it now. In fact, as I looked at him, he suddenly didn’t seem so large and beastly at all anymore. He was just a regular-sized werewolf with a missing paw and a sad look on his face.

“Alvin,” I whispered, reaching out and taking a step forward. “It’s me. Olivia.”

Alvin was frozen to his spot as I approached. I came dangerously close, so close that my outstretched fingers brushed against his wiry gray fur.

But as I made contact with him, he suddenly lurched backward, putting distance between us once more. A growl rumbled in his throat, low and guttural, bristling with something that I didn’t understand.

Suddenly, he turned around and leaped off into the shadows, disappearing into the night.

“Wait, Alvin!” I yelled into the abyss, my voice echoing eerily through the stillness in the air that was left in his wake.

I had to go after him.

I reached down into my soul as I tried to tap into that familiar energy, my power, my wolf. I concentrated hard, trying to call upon it, to transform and follow him. But nothing happened. My wolf was still as dormant as ever, and now amount of wishful thinking was going to change that.

Once again, I was stuck, rooted to my human form. A surge of frustration washed over me. I cursed out loud and abruptly kicked a rock by my feet, watching as it tumbled off into the silent darkness.

“Come back!” I pleaded, but my words fell on deaf ears. The night swallowed up my calls along with the fleeing wolf, leaving me alone in the growing dark.

Overwhelmed, I broke into a run, desperate to put the sight behind me. My breath came out in uneven pants, and the bitter taste of fear and failure lingered on my tongue.

My mind was whirling with a myriad of thoughts and fears as I darted down the street, past the streetlight, and up to the front door of the villa.

When I burst through the door, gasping for breath, I nearly ran into Nathan.

His eyes widened in surprise, the lines on his forehead deepening. “Olivia! What the hell are you doing here? You were supposed to wait for me!”

“I…” I started, still panting from my run, “I saw the monster.”

The color drained from my childhood friend’s face, his eyes widening in alarm. “You what?”

I shrugged off my jacket and threw it haphazardly onto a nearby chair. “I saw the monster, Nathan. It was in the bushes. It was... it was big and… it had glowing eyes.”

Nathan ran his fingers nervously through his hair as he paced in front of me. “I told you, Olivia,” he snarled angrily. “I told you it wasn’t safe. Why can’t you just listen to me? I was supposed to pick you up! What if— What if—”

Suddenly, as though he was acting out of instinct, Nathan grabbed me by both shoulders and spun me around; first in one direction, then the other.

“Nathan, what are you—”

“Shh.” Nathan hushed me as he inspected me. He grabbed my head, tilting it this way and that as he checked my neck, my face, even behind my ears.

Finally, it took all of my force to wrench myself away from him just before he tried to lift up my shirt. Growling at him, I tugged my shirt back down and shot him a dirty glare.

“What the hell, Nathan?”

“I needed to check to make sure you’re not hurt,” he said, his voice laced with fear. “Christ, Olivia. Anything could have happened out there.”

I let out a deep sigh as I thumbed the hem of my shirt. “I’m sorry,” I confessed. “The party was just too much, and they kept asking questions about us. I wanted to go home, but I didn’t want to bother you so soon, and I figured it would be alright—”

“But it wasn’t, clearly,” Nathan interrupted. I looked up at him to see his eyes burning with frustration, but there was something else there, too. I couldn’t quite read what it was, but it seemed tender.

“I know,” I said. “But the monster— Listen, Nathan, you’re not gonna believe this.”

Nathan let out a hiss and fell back down on the chair behind him, as though he was deflated. “What is it?” he asked, his voice low. “What did it look like?”

“I…”

My voice faltered.

I looked away, the truth burning on my tongue.

I wanted to tell him. The realization that the creature might have been Alvin was like a hot iron against my chest. But I bit my tongue as another realization crept over me, something darker, more sinister.

If anyone found out that this so-called ‘monster’ was my childhood friend, Alvin, then what would happen to him? Would Colin or one of the other Alphas capture him and put him through hell? Would they kick him out of the pack?

Hell… Would they torture him?

I couldn’t, wouldn’t, endanger Alvin. Not before I was absolutely sure. He wasn’t hurting anybody, and he wasn’t a rogue. If I could only talk to him, if I could only figure out why he was scaring people, then maybe I could help him.

“Olivia?” Nathan asked, breaking me out of my deep train of thought.

I shook my head, resolving not to tell Nathan the truth just yet.

“Honestly, it was so dark,” I lied, staring down at the floor. “I didn’t really get such a good look.”

For a few moments, Nathan stared at me in disbelief before he finally let out a deep sigh and stood again.

“Olivia, look at me.” Nathan’s voice, usually so even and calm, was now rigid and stern.

I obeyed, turning to look at him. His eyes were hard, disappointment clear in them. “You could’ve been hurt. I can’t always be there to protect you. If you can’t follow simple instructions, then we need to find another solution.”

“I can take care of myself,” I protested, my voice barely a whisper. “This was just a fluke.”

“Flukes get people killed, Olivia.”

The weight of Nathan’s words hung heavily over our heads, threatening to fall and crush us. He was right; but it was different this time. That so-called ‘monster’ was my friend. He wouldn’t hurt anybody.

Nathan’s sigh echoed through the room, heavy with concern. “Clearly you can’t be trusted to take care of yourself, Olivia,” he said, his voice so low it was almost a growl.

“But I can—”

Nathan simply shook his head. “I’m going to hire an escort for you. Someone to keep an eye on you, because you seem to come up with new ways to endanger yourself every single day.”

My eyes widened in shock.

“An escort?” I asked, my voice shaking.