Chapter 3

Olivia's POV

I don't know how long I was out.

The door burst open.

It jolted me awake. My eyes were still blurry—I couldn't even make out who it was before a hand clamped down on my arm and yanked me straight off the bed.

The room spun. I stumbled forward and crashed into a broad, cold chest.

Luke.

I looked up. His brow was furrowed, his face tight with displeasure.

"Olivia." His voice came low, barely restrained. "Where's the herbal tonic I told you to bring?"

My head was still swimming. I opened my mouth, but my throat was too dry to speak.

He didn't wait for an answer. His frown deepened. "Olivia. When are you going to act like a real Luna? I really want you to be the one running this pack with me."

"I..." My mind finally started coming back. My voice came out raw. "Just let me rest a minute..."

"Rest a minute?" Luke scoffed and shoved me back onto the bed. "You know how badly Sonya's hurt? She took those wounds protecting this pack. And you can't even deliver a bowl of herbal tonic?"

"You think that makes you fit to be Luna?"

"I didn't refuse—" I mumbled back, barely conscious.

"Then what were you doing?" His voice shot up. "Olivia, I've put up with you being weak. With you being useless in a fight. With you not handling border defense. But—"

"I asked you to do one simple thing. Take care of a pack member. Bring some herbs. And you still couldn't manage it?"

His eyes were full of disappointment.

Then he let out a long sigh, like he was the one who'd been wronged.

"Can you just stop with the games already? I told you—there's nothing between us. Why do you have to be jealous like this? Pull these petty stunts?"

When those words left his mouth, my head started ringing. Like I'd been struck by lightning.

Games?

He thought this was me playing games?

He thought I was deliberately holding back medicine from a badly wounded Sonya—out of jealousy?

I looked down at myself. My belly was slightly swollen.

"You're always like this," Luke kept going. "Always playing the victim, like you're gravely injured."

"Why can't you be more like Sonya? She's ten times more hurt than you, but she's always tough. Always strong."

"Olivia, you're my Luna. You should be like her. Is that really so hard? Why can't you do it?"

My eyes burned. Tears spilled over without permission.

He saw me crying. He paused. Then his brow tightened even more.

He thought I was playing weak. Playing pitiful.

Luke looked at my tears. No comfort came.

"More tears." His voice was weighted with exhaustion. "Every time I try to talk to you, this is all you do. Olivia. When are you going to start handling problems like a real Luna?"

My chest ached—a deep, crushing pain. Worse than when that rogue's claws tore through my belly.

"Luke, do you even know—" I gripped the corner of the blanket, my voice barely a whisper. I tried to explain.

But he cut me off, irritated.

"Enough. I don't want to hear your excuses."

"Olivia, think about it. Really think. Are you even qualified to be Luna?"

Then he turned and walked away. Didn't look back.

I sat there, staring at his retreating figure, crying without a sound.

When I cried myself out, I passed out again.

In the middle of the night, the pain hit. Clawing. Tearing.

I curled into a ball on the bed, cold sweat soaking through my clothes.

The other side of the bed was empty—Luke was definitely still at the healer's cabin with Sonya.

I gritted my teeth and tried to get up, but my body wouldn't move.

I knew why.

The healer had warned me—take the medicine on time, or the blood clot in my womb would cause an infection.

Tonight, I didn't take it.

If this kept up, I could die.

My fingers went white as I gripped the blanket and reached out through the mind-link with everything I had.

"Luke..." My voice was hollow. "I..."

I barely got the words out before a short sigh came through on his end.

His voice was thick with exhaustion:

"Olivia, Sonya's wound is getting worse. I'm with her right now. Can you just... not do this now? Handle it yourself, okay?"

And then he cut the link.

I lay there, eyes open, staring at the ceiling. Tears sliding down my face.

Olivia. Enough. Stop hoping.

I said it to myself.

There was no time for grief. I braced my arms against the bed with the last strength I had and started dragging myself forward, inch by inch.

Dark blood leaked from between my legs, trailing behind me on the floor.

It took me a full hour to crawl to the door.

Luckily, a pack member happened to pass by. They saw me and immediately called for help, carrying me to the healer's cabin.

As they lifted me onto the stretcher, I could still see Luke hovering over Sonya.

He was the strongest Alpha in the pack. He had the sharpest senses. But he never caught my scent.

When I realized that, I couldn't even cry anymore. Something inside me finally died.

The next day, as soon as I could move, I walked out of Silvermoon Pack.

Just like yesterday, he was too busy with Sonya to notice I was gone.

The moment I crossed the border, I downed the potion I'd gotten from the witch—the one that could sever a mate bond.

From now on, he wouldn't be able to feel where I was. He would never see me again.