OLIVIA’S POV
The lights twinkled like captured stars hanging from the trees, gently swaying in the evening breeze. For a man who used to scoff at sentimentality, Dominic had managed to pull off something… surprisingly thoughtful.
Noah and Aria were a blur of motion—laughing, running, giggling as they jumped from one game station to the next. Ring toss, balloon darts, a face-painting booth that had Aria grinning like a glittery unicorn… he hadn’t missed a thing.
And the best part? Not a single enforcer or pack member in sight.
It was peaceful. It was… safe.
Even I had to admit—he’d gone above and beyond.
I kept my distance, leaning against a nearby tree as the kids ran around, their joy untainted by the tangled web of emotions running rampant through my chest. I didn’t want to be touched by this gesture. I didn’t want to be impressed. But I was.
The moment they finished the
EVELYN’S POVI left the Luna’s quarters with my pride in shambles and my heart laced with venom. No one would fight for me. No one would see what I had endured. All because of Olivia. Because of a girl with no mark and no power, who’d just walked back in like she owned the world.It was so easy to fool everyone before, but why isn’t it working anymore? Where am I going wrong? Could it be because Dominic knows something about me?No, this isn’t possible! I have covered every track of mine, I have erased all the evidences carefully. I will check everything again, but I am damn sure that no one can reach the evidence.But Olivia, I am sure she knows something.But I wasn’t done fighting.When I reached out to my only helping source that night, I didn’t expect him to answer. I certainly didn’t expect him to advise me. But he did. His voice was smooth and logical, like oil on water.“You want his loyalty? Take away his control. You said he won’t touch you? Then make it so he doesn’t have a
EVELYN’S POVTears burned hot against my cheeks as I paced the Luna’s quarters, the sting of Olivia’s slap still echoing across my skin like a fresh bruise. My hands trembled, not from pain—but from rage. Humiliation. The whispers, the looks of pity. No one had cared when I was struck. No one had come to my defense. Not even Dominic.On top of that, he did something he had never done before. He left me on the side of the road!I had spent years grooming myself to be perfect—poised, regal, Luna-worthy. I endured his distance, his silence, his endless devotion to a ghost. And now that ghost was back, reclaiming what I had worked so hard to steal. I have intentionally hurt myself, I murdered people, framed them and now all of them are discarding me as if I am nothing.I stormed into Luna Grace’s sitting room without knocking. She looked up from her tea, startled but quickly schooled her expression into something more polite.The doors to Luna Grace’s sitting room flew open before I could
DOMINIC’S POVI stormed out of the boutique, my jaw tight, hands fisting at my sides. The door shut behind me with a sharp thud that echoed louder than I expected. Evelyn’s heels clacked against the pavement as she rushed after me, her breath coming fast, uneven.“Dominic—Dominic, wait!”I didn’t stop. I didn’t want to stop. But I heard the way her voice quivered—not with pain, but with indignation. She wasn’t upset because she’d been slapped. She was upset because no one had come to her defense. Because for once, she wasn’t the center of attention.She was losing, and she hated it more than anything.I reached the car and yanked the door open, slipping into the driver’s seat. I was halfway through starting the engine when the passenger door opened and Evelyn climbed in beside me.“You just stood there,” she spat, slamming the door shut. “You didn’t even try to defend me!”I said nothing, staring straight ahead as the engine purred beneath my hands. My knuckles were white on the steer
OLIVIA’S POVThe sound of the slap still echoed in the boutique like a thunderclap, startling the few customers and attendants nearby into stunned silence. Evelyn's head had snapped to the side, her perfectly contoured cheek now stained with the vivid outline of my hand.I didn’t regret it. Not even for a second.She slowly turned back to face me, eyes wide in disbelief, lips parted as if still trying to process what had just happened. But before she could hiss out whatever venomous comeback she had brewing, a voice cut through the silence like a blade.Evelyn stood there, cradling her cheek, a perfect picture of victimhood in a designer coat and smudged mascara."Did you all see that?!" she cried, voice rising theatrically as she turned to the few customers frozen nearby. "She hit me! Just attacked me out of nowhere!"She stumbled a step backward, deliberately into the center of the boutique floor, drawing as much attention as she could. “This is abuse! You’re all witnesses!”A middl
OLIVIA’S POV“I just find it pathetic. You lost your title, your mate, and now you’re playing dress-up with Derek like a desperate little girl.”“Desperate?” I echoed, keeping my voice low and dangerous. “You really want to talk about desperation, Evelyn? Because from where I stand, the only one clawing for attention is the woman who keeps dragging my name into every conversation she walks into.”Her eyes narrowed. “Watch yourself.”“No,” I said, stepping even closer, my heels echoing against the tiled floor. “You watch yourself.”Evelyn blinked, momentarily surprised by the sharpness in my voice. Good.“You’ve manipulated, lied, and charmed your way into a position that was never yours to claim,” I continued, my tone calm, deadly. “You think that by lingering at Dominic’s side, smirking your way through council meetings, and poisoning people’s opinions of me behind closed doors, you’ve somehow earned something?”I tilted my head, letting the silence stretch between us before driving
OLIVIA’S POVMy phone buzzed just as I was finishing up organizing the last of the old letters I found in my mother’s drawer. The faint smell of parchment and lavender still lingered, tugging memories from places I wasn’t ready to visit yet. I wiped my hands on my jeans and glanced at the screen.Derek.A small smile tugged at my lips before I even answered.“Olivia,” his voice greeted me, smooth and lazy, like he’d been waiting for me to pick up just to make my name sound important.“Yes, Derek?”There was a pause. Then, a breath.“I have a very serious situation,” he said solemnly. “Life and death, almost.”I sat down on the edge of the bed, already half-laughing. “Let me guess. You ran out of hair gel?”He gasped. “You wound me, woman. But no. Worse.”“Oh no,” I teased. “Did your fangirl club finally find out you actually read poetry in your free time?”He chuckled lowly. “You joke, but I do. And it is sexy.”“You’re stalling.”“I’m building suspense.”I rolled my eyes but couldn’t