Confession
Calvin stepped back like I’d slapped him. His jaw clenched so tightly I could hear the grind of his teeth.
I shook my head, but he—
“Do you even hear yourself?” he hissed. “You’re making excuses for monsters who—
—broke you. Who humiliated you. And now you can’t let go—not because of love—but because you don’t know who you are without them!”
“I-” I tried.
No. I disappeared. She was livid.
“I didn’t plan it,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “It just… happened. I was caught in the moment. My wolf—”
He turned around slowly, his brows drawn together in confusion.
“I love them,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “You’re wrong.”
“Did you fucking let them touch you?!” he roared again, louder this time… so loud I swore the walls shook with it.
Here it was.
“It wasn’t a choice,” I whispered.
"...know that, Calvin: The bond chooses. The moon chooses.”
“Goddess,” he whispered, backing away like I’d just confessed to something unspeakable. “No…”
That broke me.
Confession
“How can this be possible?!” he exploded, his voice trembling with disbelief. “You are related, Olivia! Related!”
His face paled. He looked like the ground beneath him had disappeared.
His words echoed off the walls, filled with disgust, confusion, and pain.
He turned around slowly, his expression unreadable—but his eyes… his eyes were burning with anger.
But the words wouldn’t come.
“Could’ve fooled me!” he spat.
“…What?” he whispered.
Because I didn’t know what to say.
Olivia’s POV
I flinched, the shame and pain in his voice slicing through me like a knife.
A maid screamed from the hallway and ran off.
His fist slammed down on the table with such force, the wood cracked and splintered, a jagged line cutting straight through the center.
His mouth opened… but no words came.
Wh—
“No!” he cut me off, stepping closer. “You’re mistaking familiarity for love. You think just because they smiled at you when you were little and held your hand, that means they’re yours forever?”
“They hurt you, Olivia.”
I shut my eyes, gripping the edge of the table to steady myself. My heart thundered. My head spun.
“You don’t love them,” he said coldly. “You’re clinging to them.”
I took a shaky step back, my lips trembling, my eyes wide. This was a different Calvin.
I opened my mouth… but no sound came out.
“I don’t just love them, Calvin…” I said softly.
Confession
The part I had tried so hard to avoid.
Because saying yes would be a lie.
He turned his back to me, dragging his hands through his hair. “How can you love them when our families have hated each other for decades? We lost a life because of them!”
And saying no would break him.
Like he hadn’t heard me.
My heart sank. “I’m not defending them, Calvin.”
He took a step forward, and I saw it—the desperation behind his rage. The helplessness of a brother watching someone he loved walk into what he believed was a fire.
“I know!” I yelled. “I know what they did. I remember every detail. And I still love them. That’s what makes this a curse.”
“You’re rejecting them, right?” he asked, his voice tight. “Olivia, tell me you’re going to reject them.”
I took a shaky breath.
“You’re chasing ghosts, Olivia. You’re holding onto the past so tightly, you’re blind to the damage it’s doing. You’re trying to rebuild something that was never whole to begin with!”
And saying it out loud would only anger him more.
“Calvin, please—”
Or couldn’t believe he had.
“You think this is normal? You think this makes sense?” he demanded, his hands shaking. “Our families are tied by blood. Hate. Loss. And you’re telling me the Moon Goddess thought this—them—was your fate?”
The silence that followed was the loudest thing I’d ever heard.
So I stood there in silence, trembling.
Confession
“I do!” I cried. “I wish I didn’t, Calvin. Goddess knows I wish I didn’t. I wish I could wake up one day and feel nothing for them. I wish I could rip them out of my soul and throw them into the sea. But I can’t. I’ve tried. And it doesn’t work. Because the truth is… I love them.”
The moment those words left his mouth, my wolf let out a sharp, furious growl inside me, clawing at my chest like she wanted to tear free.
Calvin scoffed bitterly.
He stared at me like I had a hand in it.
My frown deepened, but I stayed silent.
I swallowed hard.
He turned away, gripping the edge of the broken table, breathing through gritted teeth like he was trying not to explode again.
But he wasn’t finished.
“Don’t,” he snapped, shaking his head violently. “Don’t blame your wolf, Olivia. She’s not stupid. You’re the stupid one.”
Then, without turning to face me, he asked quietly, “Do you love them?”
“I’m their mate.”
I nodded slowly. “The bond… it’s real. I’ve felt it since the day of my welcoming party. They are my second chance mates.”
“Calvin, stop-”
Then slowly, his voice hoarse, he asked, “…So what now?”
But because I did.
Calvin stared at me.
That was enough for him.
“You think you love them because you grew up around them. Because they were kind to you once. Because you were little and stupid and didn’t know what love was. You’re not in love, Olivia–you’re obsessed.”
Confession
His face twisted. “No. No, you don’t-”
“I didn’t choose it,” I said, shaking my head, my throat tightening with emotion. “I didn’t ask for this.”
And then his face twisted into something between grief and horror.
The question hung in the air like smoke.
Calvin’s chest rose and fell like a beast barely holding onto its leash. His eyes weren’t just angry—they were enraged.
“You let them touch you…” he spat, as if the very thought of it was driving him insane. “After everything they did… after what they made you suffer…”
“I know…” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Goddess, Calvin, I know. I’ve asked myself that same question a hundred times.”
So I did the only thing I could.
Not because I didn’t know the answer.