Chapter 8

Ethan

Last night at the club should have helped distract me.

It didn’t.

No matter how much whiskey I drank, I couldn’t stop thinking about Olivia Carter.

Specifically her eyes.

Those sad green eyes haunted me all night long.

I kept seeing them every time I closed my own.

I tried drowning the thoughts in alcohol.

Didn’t work.

I tried losing myself in some blonde from the club.

That failed too.

The second she kissed me, disgust crawled through me so violently I nearly shoved her away immediately.

Because she wasn’t my mate.

And now that I’d seen my real mate?

Every other woman suddenly felt wrong.

I ended up turning the blonde down completely and checking into a hotel alone for the night.

I couldn’t go back to the estate.

Not while Olivia’s scent still lingered there.

I needed space to think.

Because this situation was a disaster.

The mate bond had already started forming. I’d heard stories from older wolves about how quickly it could happen after first meeting your mate, but I’d never understood it until now.

I’d barely spoken to Olivia.

Yet somehow she was already consuming my thoughts.

I should’ve been happy.

Finding your mate was supposed to be the greatest moment of a wolf’s life.

Instead, all I felt was dread.

Not only would I have to share my mate with my twin…

But my family would never fully accept her.

Olivia was human.

Completely human.

She had no idea what I really was. She knew nothing about werewolves, packs, or alpha bloodlines.

Which begged the question…

Why would the Moon Goddess pair her with us?

I barely slept.

And eventually, avoiding her wouldn’t be possible anymore.

Early the next morning, I finally drove back toward the estate.

As I pulled into the long driveway, Marcus approached to take my car.

Marcus was one of the pack omegas employed around the estate. Humans viewed this place as nothing more than a ridiculously expensive mansion owned by the Hawthornes.

But wolves knew the truth.

This wasn’t just a mansion.

It was the pack house.

Which was exactly why my mother hiring a human nanny made absolutely no sense.

“Welcome back, Alpha Ethan,” Marcus greeted respectfully as I handed him the keys.

“Thanks, Marcus.”

He hesitated briefly.

“Just so you know, the new nanny moved in earlier. I parked her car.”

My chest tightened instantly.

“So she’s officially here,” I muttered.

Marcus nodded.

“She didn’t bring much with her.” His expression shifted thoughtfully. “Feels like there’s a story there.”

There definitely was.

But another problem mattered far more.

“She’s human,” I said quietly.

Marcus lowered his voice immediately.

“That’s what confuses me. Luna Victoria knows why we keep ourselves hidden. Bringing a human into the estate seems risky.”

“I know,” I admitted. “And trust me, I’d like answers too.”

Marcus nodded respectfully before driving my car toward the garage.

I stood there for a moment, mentally preparing myself before walking inside.

The second I stepped through the front doors, Olivia’s scent slammed into me.

Vanilla.

Rain.

Coconut.

Sweet goddess.

It lingered everywhere.

How?

It was like she’d already touched every inch of the estate.

My wolf stirred instantly beneath my skin.

Find her.

Nope.

Absolutely not.

I forced myself toward the staircase instead.

If I locked myself in my room for a few hours, maybe I could regain some control.

But the moment I reached the second floor, I froze.

Lily was crouched behind a giant decorative plant in the hallway.

“Lily?” I asked slowly. “What exactly are you doing behind the tree?”

She gasped dramatically and held a finger to her lips.

“Shhh!” she whispered. “I’m hiding from Liv!”

I blinked.

“Hiding?”

“We’re playing hide-and-seek,” she explained proudly. “It’s my turn to hide.”

Well.

That explained why Olivia’s scent covered the entire house.

“She’s gonna find me any second!” Lily whispered excitedly.

Then I heard it.

“Lily,” Olivia called in a playful sing-song voice somewhere downstairs. “I know you’re up here!”

Lily burst into giggles.

Actual giggles.

I stopped breathing for a second.

I hadn’t heard my sister laugh like that in months.

“Run!” Lily whispered loudly. “She’s coming!”

I glanced down the hallway and noticed Logan’s bedroom door cracked open slightly.

Without thinking, I slipped inside.

Partially because I didn’t want to ruin Lily’s game.

Mostly because I still wasn’t ready to face Olivia.

“Finally decided to come home?” Logan drawled from his bed.

“Apparently I came home to hide-and-seek,” I muttered.

Logan snorted humorlessly.

“Yeah. It’s been torture all morning.”

I leaned against the wall.

“She’s definitely our mate.”

“No shit.”

He scrubbed a hand over his jaw.

“What the hell are we supposed to do? Mom and Dad are never going to accept this.”

I stayed silent because he was right.

“If she belonged to Mason and Ryder maybe they’d tolerate it,” Logan continued darkly. “But you’re the future alpha. I’m the future enforcer. There’s no way they’ll accept a human Luna.”

A headache pounded behind my eyes.

Trust me, I’d already thought about every single complication last night.

“I know,” I admitted quietly. “She’s already stuck in my head.”

I tapped the side of my temple bitterly.

“And I barely even know her.”

Suddenly the bedroom door swung open.

Both Logan and I looked up instantly.

And there she was.

Olivia.

Standing in the doorway.

Those sad green eyes met mine again…

And suddenly breathing became impossible all over again.