Olivia’s POV

“What are you doing now?” Gabriel’s low, husky voice, deep and rough as if he’d just crawled into bed, came through the phone.

I blushed instantly. “Nothing really… just about to go to bed before your call came,” I murmured, my voice soft and warm with sleep.

There was a pause, then I heard him breathe. “I’m in bed too. I have to sleep early—I’ve got a meeting at eight.”

I smiled to myself. “Alright.”

A quiet silence fell between us. Not awkward, but tense in a way that made my heart race. Neither of us spoke for a while; all I could hear was his breathing—deep, slow, steady. It sent a shiver down my spine.

“I wish you were here in my arms right now,” he finally said, his voice gravelly with yearning. “I’d do anything to have you beside me.”

A small shiver ran through me. Gabriel’s words hung heavy in the air between us, raw and stirring something deep in my belly.

“I wish you were right here in my arms… I would do anything to have you here with me,” he repeated, his voice thick with emotion and desire.

My fingers gripped the edge of my sheets.

“What would you do if I was there?” I whispered, breathless even to myself. My heart pounded, my skin tingled with anticipation.

Gabriel groaned softly, the sound rough and hungry. “Don’t tempt me, Olivia…”

I licked my lips, my skin already tingling. “I want to know,” I whispered. “Tell me.”

There was silence, then a sharp inhale from him.

“We’d continue from where I stopped… back in the woods,” he said, his voice rough with hunger. “I still remember how your body felt under mine, how you gasped when I touched you right…” his breath hitched, “…right between your thighs.”

I clenched my legs together, heat flooding through me. My cheeks burned.

“I didn’t want to stop, Olivia,” he continued, his voice dark and sensual. “Do you know how close I was to taking you right there, against that tree?”

A soft sound escaped me—half gasp, half moan.

“I wanted to hear you say my name over and over, feel you shake beneath me as I drove you over the edge. I wanted to mark you… claim you in every possible way.”

My body responded to every word. I arched slightly into the mattress, needing relief from the ache building deep inside me.

“Are you touching yourself?” he asked suddenly, his voice rough with desire.

I swallowed hard. “No… not yet.”

“Do it for me,” he said. “Let me guide you. Let me be the one to make you fall apart… even if it’s through this phone.”

My breath caught at his words. The low, commanding tone sent another shiver through me. Slowly, almost shyly, my hand slipped beneath the sheets, grazing my shorts.

“Are you doing it?” he asked, his voice lower, more strained. I could practically feel the heat radiating through the phone.

“Yes…” I whispered, closing my eyes.

“Good girl,” he murmured, the praise making me ache even more. “Close your eyes. Pretend I’m there… that I’m the one touching you.”

I did exactly that—my lashes fluttering shut, my free hand gripping the sheets as my fingers moved lower. I could still feel his hands from the woods—how he had held me against the tree, his mouth teasing mine until I’d been breathless, desperate.

“I’d start with your neck,” Gabriel continued, his voice a sinful rasp. “Kiss you slowly… then trail my mouth down your collarbone, across your chest. I’d take my time—make you beg for more.”

A soft moan escaped my lips.

He groaned quietly. “That sound… damn, Olivia. You have no idea what you do to me.”

I let my fingers slip lower, guided by the image of him above me—his eyes dark and full of hunger, his body hot and pressed against mine. “Gabriel…”

“Say it again,” he ordered softly.

“Gabriel,” I whispered, more breathless this time. “I need you.”

“I’d have you under me. Flat on your back, legs spread, my mouth everywhere you’re sensitive. I wouldn’t stop until you were soaked and begging for me to take you.” His voice dropped, gravelly and strained with control. “And I’d fucking take you, Olivia. Just like I meant to in the woods.”

I moaned and used my other hand to play with my nipple, a louder moan escaping my lips.

“Good girl,” he rasped. “Do it slow. Let me hear you.”

The way he said it—like a command—made me tremble. I brushed my fingers over my slick heat and gasped, imagining it was him touching me, whispering filth into my ear as his mouth dragged down my neck.

“F*ck, Olivia,” he groaned. “I can hear your breathing. I can hear how close you are.”

“What about you?” I panted. “Are you touching yourself too?”

There was a grunt, then the sound of rustling sheets—flesh on flesh. “Yeah,” he admitted, breathless. “Thinking about how tight you’d feel. How sweet you’d sound when I finally sink into you.”

I moaned softly, hips arching off the bed. “I want you inside me.”

“You’d ride me, wouldn’t you?” he asked, his voice breaking slightly. “Nice and slow. Just like that. F*ck, Olivia… I can’t hold back.”

His voice grew rougher, more desperate. “I’d take you deep. Hard. Over and over until you screamed my name.”

“Gabriel,” I gasped, my release rushing through me like fire.

He groaned loudly. “F*ck—Olivia—” And then I heard him come too, his breathing ragged and unfiltered as he spilled over the edge with me.

Silence followed, but it wasn’t empty. It was warm, buzzing, intimate.

I pressed the phone closer to my ear, my body still trembling.

“I want the real thing next time,” he murmured. “That was intense.”

My lips curled into a lazy smile. “You are good,” I whispered, covering myself in a blanket.

“I’ll do better. And when I get my hands on you again…” he trailed off, his voice dark and promising. “You won’t be able to walk straight the next morning.”

A blush crept up my neck, but I didn’t look away from the ceiling. “I’m counting on it.”

We both laughed, then went quiet, only our breath heard.

Suddenly, Gabriel spoke. “I believe the triplets felt it when we made out. What did they do?” he asked, curious.

I sighed, remembering what happened a few hours ago. “They went unconscious for a while, but when they woke, they did nothing,” I said.

Gabriel was quiet for a moment.

“That must have hurt them,” he finally said, his voice lower, tinged with guilt and worry.

I scoffed lightly, pulling the blanket tighter. “Don’t feel sorry for them. They’ve caused me enough pain to last a lifetime.”

“I don’t,” he replied calmly. “But I still think you deserve the truth about some things. Even if they couldn’t say it themselves.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

There was a pause before Gabriel spoke again, more carefully this time.

“Do you remember, years ago—when the triplets turned eighteen and came to my pack with their father for that summit?”

I nodded, though he couldn’t see me. “I think so. I was thirteen then. They were there for two days.”

That was the longest two days of my life. I literally missed them so much that when they returned I didn’t leave their side for a second.

“Yeah,” Gabriel murmured. “That night after the summit, there was an Alpha-only after-party. The kind with too much alcohol and too many girls trying to score a future Luna title.”

His tone shifted—slightly amused, slightly bitter. “Every girl in the club wanted them. And to be honest, I expected the triplets to go wild. But they didn’t. They didn’t even entertain a single one.”

I blinked. “Seriously?”

“Dead serious,” he said. “I teased Lennox about it later, told him he was crazy for turning down the easiest night of his life. But he just shook his head and said, ‘I don’t know… I think I like someone else.’”

My breath caught in my throat.

“And it wasn’t just Lennox,” Gabriel continued. “Levi and Louis said the same thing, separately. They didn’t know what it was—just that there was this feeling. Like their interest was already hooked on someone they hadn’t even figured out yet.”

I swallowed hard. “You think… it was me?”

Gabriel exhaled slowly, like he’d been waiting for me to say that. “I didn’t get it then. You were a teenager, still growing into yourself. But looking back now? The timing lines up. The way they acted, the weird tension they carried… it all makes sense.”

My heart pounded against my ribcage.

“They didn’t say it was a mate thing,” Gabriel added softly. “They didn’t even talk about bonds or fate. Just this strange pull. A feeling they couldn’t explain. Like they were already waiting for someone without knowing who.”

I closed my eyes. I didn’t know how to take this information, but I wasn’t taking it well. “Good night, Alpha Gabriel, I need to sleep,” I whispered. My mood was suddenly sour.

Gabriel was silent for a moment, then hummed. “Goodnight, Olivia… in the morning.”

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me, and ended the call.

I curled in my bed, Gabriel’s words ringing in my head. I wondered what our life would have been like if those letters hadn’t been sent. Perhaps I could have been living my dream life… my fantasy.

Sighing heavily, I closed my eyes to sleep, but sleep wouldn’t come.

I sighed and took off the blanket. “A walk will help,” my wolf whispered.

Agreeing, I put on a robe and left my room. I had no particular destination—I just walked around the pack house.

I didn’t know where I was going. I just needed to get away, to think. Gabriel’s words were stuck in my head, playing over and over.

Somehow, my feet led me to the garden.

It was peaceful, the night air cool against my skin. But when I stepped into the open space, I stopped suddenly.

There, lying on the grass, was Levi.

He was shirtless, using one arm as a pillow, his eyes closed as if asleep. The moonlight made his skin glow, and for a second, I couldn’t breathe. He looked calm, as if he belonged to the stars. A part of me wanted to leave, but I couldn’t move.

Then his voice broke the silence.

“I know you’re there.”