Fifteen

Livia’s POV

The silence in my was nothing to write home about as I sat on the edge of my bed watching everything in the room.

My fingers were pressed against my lips as the moment I had with Zachary kept replaying like a cursed melody that refused to fade. It keeps coming over and over again.

I could still remember the way his eyes had split for a second with softness and the way his voice trembled when he called my name. My heart betrayed me at that moment with the way it reacted to him.

“Not again,” I whispered to myself, dragging my hands down my face. “Stop thinking about him.”

Perhaps he would finally get tired, he would stop persisting and he would let me breathe.

Bella was pregnant and that alone should have ended everything.

“She’s carrying his child,” I muttered bitterly. “That should be enough for him to leave me alone.”

But Zachary wasn’t the type to walk away, he was the type to chase, to conquer, to claim and I refused to be conquered again. Not anymore.

I had started planning my movements like a criminal avoiding patrol guards.

If I wanted to go to the river, I would ask discreetly if he had patrol that day.

If I wanted to visit the market, I would send someone ahead to check and If there was a pack meeting, I would arrive late or leave early.

But then I remembered something that made my stomach twist.

He had come to meet me, not the other way around.

“He doesn’t need to be around,” I murmured. “He can find me anywhere.”

The thought made my chest tighten.

So I stopped going out.

I isolated myself from the pack, no gatherings, no evening runs, and no shared dinners.

Even the air felt safer when I was alone but was I truly alone? No, because I could feel it, that presence, that weight in the air like eyes crawling over my skin.

One evening, as I stepped out to hang laundry behind the house, the sensation returned, sharp and deliberate.

Someone was watching and I froze immediately I noticed.

“Zachary?” I whispered under my breath, anger mixing with fear and the bushes rustled lightly.

My wolf stirred uneasily. “If you are there, show yourself!” I snapped.

Silence answered me but the feeling didn’t leave.

It followed me inside, It followed me to bed and It followed me into my dreams.

I clenched my jaw. “I will not give you another chance,” I vowed quietly into the darkness. “Not after the humiliation and not after everything.”

The memory burned, his grip and his arrogance.

The way he thought I would fall into his arms simply because other women did and the humiliation of being treated like another conquest.

“No,” I breathed. “Never again.”

The next afternoon, I forced myself to go out.

My daughter needed to be picked up from school, and no fear, no man would make me neglect her.

On my way, I stopped at a small ice cream stand near the school gates.

“Vanilla and strawberry swirl,” I told the vendor, handing over some cash.

“Same as always?” he smiled.

“Yes,” I replied softly and as I turned, my eyes landed on someone familiar, Perry.

He was standing a few steps away, collecting a cup of chocolate ice cream.

For a second, I hesitated, then I walked up quietly and tapped his shoulder.

He turned, slightly startled. “Livia?”

“Hi,” I said, keeping my voice neutral.

His eyes scanned the surroundings quickly and instinctively.

“You shouldn’t linger,” he murmured under his breath.

“I know.” He reached into his pocket quickly and pulled out a small folded paper.

“My number,” he said calmly. “Call me. We shouldn’t talk here.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, slipping it into my bag.

He nodded once. “Be careful.”

Those two words lingered long after he walked away.

After picking up my daughter and settling her at home with her favorite cartoon, I stepped outside and dialed Perry’s number.

He answered on the second ring.

“Are you safe?” he asked immediately.

“Yes,” I replied. “For now.”

There was a pause.

“Tell me what happened,” he said and I did.

I told him about Zachary showing up, about the humiliation, about Bella, about the feeling of being watched and about the way my freedom felt like it was shrinking day by day.

When I finished, the line was silent for a moment.

Then Perry exhaled slowly.

“I hate to break this to you,” he began carefully.

My heart dropped.

“What?” I asked silently.

“When I reviewed the CCTV footage near the market two days ago… I sensed something.”

My grip tightened around the phone. “Sensed what?”

“That someone was watching you.”

My breath hitched.

“Watching me how?” I was surprised.

“Not casually,” he replied. “Deliberately. Focused.”

A cold chill ran down my spine.

“Was it one of Hayden’s men?” I asked immediately, panic rising. 

“Did he send someone? Is this about him?” I asked.

“No,” Perry said firmly. “It wasn’t Hayden.”

“How can you be sure?” I asked, trying to press on.

“I know the kind of men Hayden uses,” Perry replied. “They move differently. They carry themselves with intimidation. This one, this one was calculating and patient.”

“Then who?” I whispered.

There was hesitation on the other end.

“Perry,” I pressed. “Tell me.”

He sighed.

“The only person I can think of… is Bella.”

The name felt like a slap.

“Bella?” I repeated.

“Yes.”

I swallowed hard. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Doesn’t it?” Perry countered gently. “She’s pregnant. She’s insecure, she knows Zachary still looks at you like.”

“Don’t,” I cut him off.

He softened his tone. “Livia, listen to me. A woman who feels threatened will go to lengths you wouldn’t imagine.”

My chest tightened painfully.

“You don’t know Bella like I do,” I said quietly.

“She smiles in your face while sharpening the knife behind her back.”

“Exactly,” Perry replied.

I leaned against the wall, suddenly feeling weak.

“If she’s spying on me…” I whispered, “what does she want?”

“To confirm something,” he answered. “Or to provoke something.”

The implications sank in slowly.

“If she thinks Zachary and I are still involved…” I trailed off.

“She might try to eliminate the threat,” Perry finished.

My pulse pounded loudly in my ears.

“She wouldn’t dare,” I said, but my voice lacked conviction.

“Don’t underestimate desperation,” he warned.

Silence settled between us.

“I just wanted peace,” I whispered. “I have stayed away. I have kept my distance. Why can’t they just let me live?”

“Because you matter,” Perry said quietly.

I closed my eyes.

“That’s the problem.”

After the call ended, I remained outside for a long time.

Pregnant Bella spying on me.

I thought about the lengths she could go.

The manipulation, the lies, and the traps.

If she believed I was a threat to her child’s future… What would she do?

Would she frame me? Would she attack me?

Would she use Zachary against me?

A sudden realization struck me.

What if Zachary wasn’t the one lurking?

What if it was her?

My stomach twisted violently.

“I will not be a pawn,” I whispered fiercely.

I stepped back into the house and locked the door carefully.

Then I went to my daughter’s room and watched her sleep for a moment.

Her tiny chest rising and falling peacefully.

For her, I had to be strong.

For her, I could not crumble.

“I won’t give him a chance,” I murmured to

 myself again. “And I won’t give Bella power over me.”

But deep down, beneath the defiance, fear coiled tightly in my chest because in this pack, secrets were weapons and I had just become the target.