26

Chapter 26

Hayden’s POV

Something had been wrong with Livia, and I noticed it the way an Alpha notices a shift in the wind before a storm.

These past few days, she smiled when she had to, nodded when spoken to, and slept beside me, but she wasn’t there, not really, especially after that event.

I stood behind the dark oak desk in my study, staring at patrol reports, but the ink blurred together: territory disputes, border movements, and trade routes.

At the moment, none of it mattered, and all I could see was her flinching. “She jumped when a servant dropped a tray,” I muttered under my breath. “That wasn’t normal.”

A knock came at the door as I turned towards it. “Enter,” I said.

One of my guards stepped in, bowing slightly. “Alpha.”

“Speak,” I commanded.

“The patrol near the southern ridge reports movement from Zach’s territory, scouts watching,” the guard reported.

My jaw tightened. “He never moves without a reason,” I said as I heard the name of Zachary.

“That is what concerns us, Alpha,” the guard said.

It concerned me more, I said within myself.

I dismissed the guard with a flick of my fingers and remained still long after he left.

Zach, arrogant, calculated, and charming in a way that made weak wolves mistake manipulation for magnetism.

I had seen the way he looked at Livia that night, not like a stranger but like a man recognizing something he lost, and I didn’t like it.

Before I met Livia, she had already been pregnant, and that fact had never left me.

I remembered the first night I found her. She was broken, bleeding, terrified, and her body had been covered in deep claw marks. 

Bruises that should have healed faster on a wolf like her, but they hadn’t.

She had looked up at me like I was either salvation or another monster.

“Please,” she had whispered that night. “Don’t send me back.” she pleaded.

“Back where?” I had asked that night.

She never said anything again, even now, faint scars sometimes reappeared when she shifted. The old trauma surfacing through flesh and fur.

“Who hurt you?” I once asked her while she trembled in her sleep, and she froze instantly.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she whispered and that was that.

Some nights she woke up screaming.

“No… no, please… don’t…”

And I would hold her tightly.

“You’ll be safe,” I will murmur into her hair. 

“You are mine now; no one touches you.”

She clung to me like I was her last anchor.

That was the night I made a decision.

I saved her, and she belonged with me. Anyone who thought they could approach my wife would die and I mean it.

I left the study and headed to our chambers. The hallway felt too quiet when I opened the door. I found her standing by the window.

Moonlight poured over her pale skin.

“Livia,” I called.

She stiffened before turning.

“Oh… Hayden,” she said calmly.

That pause, that hesitation means something.

I walked toward her slowly. “Why do you sound surprised to see me in my own room?” I asked calmly.

“I’m not,” she said quickly. “I was just thinking.”

“About?” I asked.

“Nothing important,” she replied.

I stopped in front of her. “Look at me.” I said, my voice low.

She did, her eyes were beautiful but distant.

“Since that event,” I said quietly, “you have been somewhere else.”

“I haven’t,” she denied.

“You flinch in the shadows. You don’t sleep, and you barely eat.”

“I’m fine.” she replied.

I lifted my hand and gripped her chin gently but firmly.

“Don’t lie to me,” I said as her breathing quickened.

“I said I’m fine, Hayden,” she replied.

“Is it him?” I asked with a stern face, and as her eyes flickered, there it was.

“Zach,” I said, voice dropping dangerously. “Is he the reason?”

“No!” she answered too fast immediately.

I narrowed my eyes. “You reacted when he stood near you.”

“He didn’t touch me,” she said.

“He didn’t have to.” I replied.

She swallowed. “You are imagining things.”

I released her abruptly.

“Do you think I don’t notice when another male looks at what’s mine?” I asked, trying to keep my cool.

Her brows furrowed. “I’m not an object,” she said; the words were soft, but they struck.

“You are my Luna,” I said slowly. “My wife.”

“That doesn’t mean you own me.” she said.

Silence thickened the air immediately, and my wolf stirred.

“I pulled you out of hell,” I said, voice lowering.

“I gave you protection, a name, and a pack.”

“And I’m grateful!” she snapped suddenly, surprising us both. “But gratitude isn’t ownership, Hayden!”

The room went still immediately after her statement and her chest rose rapidly.

I stepped closer, dangerously calm. “Careful,” I warned, my expression changing.

She blinked, realizing her tone. “I didn’t mean…”

“You think I don’t see the way he watches you?” I continued. “You think I don’t know his reputation?” I asked, raising my voice.

“I don’t care about his reputation!” she snapped.

“Men like him don’t stop until they get what they want,” I replied.

“And what exactly do you think he wants?” she asked quietly, and I stared at her.

“You,” I replied.

She shook her head. “You are being paranoid.”

“Am I?” I asked.

I leaned in, our foreheads almost touching.

“If he ever tries to take you from me, I will tear his throat out,” I said angrily, her breath hitched.

“And if I speak to him?” she whispered as my eyes darkened.

“Then he dies,” I said angrily.

She stared at me like she didn’t recognize me.

“Hayden…”

“If you choose to entertain him,” I said coldly, “you die with him,” I warned without thinking twice.

Her face paled. “You can’t mean that,” she said, surprised at my statement.

“I mean every word,” I said coldly.

For a moment, something fragile shifted in her eyes. It was not fear, not guilt, but disappointment.

“You don’t trust me,” she said quietly.

“I trust what’s mine,” I replied carelessly.

“That’s not the same thing,” she said.

“I don't want to see you close to him anymore,” I said firmly.

I immediately took my leave as I headed out.

I drove to one of the restaurants in town just to cool my head.

As I was inside the restaurant, I decided to think about the discussion

 I just had a conversation with Livia. The way she reacted and the threat I had issued to her.

Even as I was on my own, I decided to look around, and that was when I noticed a lady staring at me.