Chapter 17: Olivia

“Olivia Blackwood. What the hell is this?”

Alpha Rick’s voice is controlled, but there’s underlying anger, anger he has never directed at me. I’ve always done what was right, always followed the rules.

There were no rules to follow at the party.

I replay the video. In it, the wolves gather around, laughing and exhilarated to destroy me. I’m crouched in that corner, small and frail, like I’m the a sheep cornered by wild animals.

My heart aches. This is how all the humans before me were cornered and had their heads chopped off, bodies burnt. Does like meek sheep.

“Olivia. Answer me!” Rick growls, his control slipping.

When I speak, my tongue feels like sandpaper, “Alpha Rick, please calm down, I can explain this.”

“You can explain being at some party you’re not supposed to have gone to? Just look at yourself, Olivia, drunk and passed out in a corner.”

“It wasn’t my fault,” I rasp, clutching my phone tighter. Does he not care what happened to me?

Alpha Rick lets out a frustrated growl. I’m desperate for him to ask me if I’m okay, or show true concern, but when he speaks, his voice is restrained again.

“It wasn’t your fault, Olivia? No, everything is your fault. In the eyes of people in this town you will always be at fault. What about that don’t you understand? Even if you were attacked they will not see it that way. The council hates you. Your classmates clearly hate you as well. Lycroft’s reputation already took a hit for allowing you to study with them, what do you think other prestigious colleges will think when they see this video of you?”

My dorm goes blurry, and I blink back my stinging tears. I’m hoping that other prestigious colleges will see that a crime was committed against me. I’m clearly the victim in this video. But who will ever put someone like Clarissa over someone like me?

“I’m sorry,” I say softly, letting a lone tear fall.

“Sorry will not fix this, child.” He pauses, taking a deep, stressed breath. “If the council finds this out, it will be a strike against you.”

“A-a strike?”

“Marks against your character. If you get three… you fail.”

The world tilts around me. I dizzily flop to my bed, trying and failing to understand what he’s saying.

“No one told me about a strike system,” I breathe.

“Of course not. They do not want you to know so that it will be easier to kill you.” His voice deadpans in my ear, like he’s discussing the weather, not my life.

But I’m on the brink of falling apart. I pant, trying to catch my breath, but all I keep hearing in my head is three strikes.

I try and take a steadying breath, pulling air into my lungs.

Panicking will not solve this for me.

“How did you get that video?” I insist.

“A girl sent it to me. I can’t remember her name. She said she wanted me to see what you were becoming before she reported you to the school.”

I clutch Ryker’s ring, my jaw clenching, “Was her name Clarissa?”

“Yes,” His voice tightens with recognition.

“And if she goes to the council, is that worse for me?”

“It’ll give her the chance to build a stronger case against you, which the council already wants. If she’s convincing enough or if they like her, they could even give you two strikes in one day.”

A chill settles over me. I press my forehead into my free palm and shit my eyes tight, trying not to lose my mind.

“You have two options, Olivia,” Rick says. “You go to the council by yourself, explain what happened, and risk a single strike, talk to Dillon first, he may help. Or, you wait for this Clarissa girl and her friends to go, worsening your chances.”

I think of going back to that office, grovelling in front of cackling Roanna, or evil, old Abel.

“No.”

Rick’s end of the phone goes quiet for a long time, before he reiterates, “No?”

“No. Those are not my two options.”

I can practically see a vein throbbing on his forehead, “Do not be stubborn, Olivia. You’ve never been before. Don’t start now. Now is when you need to be obedient the most.”

I clench the phone so tight it nearly shatters. I’ve never been stubborn because I’ve never had to fight for my life. All I had to do was follow Rick’s rules and everything was fine.

But now I’m fighting, and now I’m feeling other things: attraction, lust, desire.

Hunter, kissing me.

“This wasn’t Hunter’s fault,” I promise, not wanting him in trouble.

Rick sighs, a heavy, soul-crushing sigh, “What were you doing there, Olivia?”

I feel the rustle of my mother’s letter in my pocket, remember the thick, fiery power I felt with Hunter and Talon.

I shake my head, none of it matters now.

“Chasing a fantasy, but not anymore.” No one is going to save me but me. Playtime is over.

All the emotion has seeped out of my voice. “Trust me, Alpha Rick. I’m going to make this right. School hasn’t even begun, but once it does I’ll fix this. Promise.”

Alpha Rick blows out a breath, “Okay, Olivia.”

He cuts the call. Not once asking if I’m safe or well. No real concern.

I shrug off my pain. Concern isn’t going to save me, nor is some letter from my dead mother.

Only I will.

I’m going to graduate. I’m going to get Clarissa to delete those videos. I’m going to distance myself from those Crestridge boys. I will be the first Hybrid.

And I will not die trying.