Louis POV

We were all having lunch—my brothers and I, Anita, and Olivia. My eyes drifted to Anita, who was calmly eating her meal. This morning, she seemed so quiet, unlike her usual self who talks so much.

Ignoring her, I moved my eyes to Lennox, who seemed too busy eating his meal. He looked like he was trying to hurry and leave the table. My eyes then settled on Levi, and I noticed something. He wasn’t eating—in fact, he was playing with his food, and his eyes were on Olivia, who wasn’t paying attention to him as she ate calmly.

I looked in Olivia’s direction and couldn’t help but stare at her. Now I know why Levi couldn’t take his eyes off her. There was something different about her, and it’s not just the new blonde color of her hair. It was something entirely different about her appearance.

“Mine,” my wolf purred in delight while I continued staring at her, unable to take my eyes off her. She must have noticed me staring because she lifted her gaze and looked my way, our gazes meeting. I didn’t look away—rather, I continued staring at her. Olivia frowned before looking away.

“Louis, are you attending Alpha Thor’s birthday party? I can come with you,” Anita said softly, drawing my attention back to her.

Today was Alpha Thor’s birthday, and he had invited us, but all three of us couldn’t leave the pack, so I volunteered to attend, even though I didn’t feel like it.

“Come on, let me accompany you,” Anita pressed on.

I frowned, going back to my meal. “No, Anita, I would like to go on my own,” I said. Going with Anita would be a disaster. She was a ‘notice me’ kind of lady, and she brags too much. I don’t need such company.

“Louis, what changed? You used to love me attending occasions with you.”

I wasn’t in the mood for much talk, so I ignored her and continued eating, but just then, Olivia pushed back her chair, stood up, and walked away.

Levi’s eyes trailed after her too, his jaw tightening slightly. There it was again—that tension I’d noticed between them. Did something happen between those two? Or was it all in Levi’s head?

“Seriously, Louis, are you just going to ignore me now?” Anita’s voice cut through the silence like a blade.

I sighed, dropping my fork. “Anita, not now,” I said firmly, my tone making it clear I wasn’t up for any of her drama.

“But I—”

“I said not now.” I looked at her, and for once, she shut up, probably because of the look in my eyes.

The silence returned. Lennox pushed his chair back and mumbled something about training, practically bolting out of the room. Levi stood too, but he didn’t say a word. He just walked out, probably going after Olivia.

A low growl rumbled in my chest at the thought.

Why was he suddenly after Olivia? What had changed? Did something happen between them? A strange feeling of jealousy bubbled inside of me. We were supposed to be on the journey of hating her. Why was Levi suddenly having a change of heart? I thought he said she hurt him? Although I don’t know what she did to him because he has refused to say it, but I think it wasn’t as painful as what she did to me. Olivia practically killed me—not with a knife, not with stones, not with action, but by her words. She killed me with her words.

I rose from the table, my appetite long gone.

Without another word to Anita, who was still sulking in her seat, I walked out of the dining hall. My boots echoed through the marble corridor as I made my way to the garage. The guards on duty straightened up immediately when they saw me approaching.

“Prepare the car,” I ordered curtly.

One of them opened the black SUV while the other two motioned to the warriors to ready the vans. Two fully loaded vans rolled into position behind my car, each one filled with pack warriors. They were to accompany me to the Trumiant Pack.

As I slid into the back seat, the door shut behind me with a dull thud. The engine roared to life. I rested my elbow on the window frame, eyes fixed on the fading image of the pack house in the rearview mirror.

But my mind wasn’t on Alpha Thor or his birthday.

It was on Olivia.

Her face haunted me—the calm way she eats, the way she ignored me like I didn’t exist. That used to be my power. I was the one who used to look at her like she didn’t matter, like she was invisible. Now the tables had turned.

“Mine,” my wolf whispered again, more urgently this time, like he was getting impatient with me. I ran a hand through my hair, frustration building.

What was wrong with Levi? He hated her. We both did. That had been our shared bond—the betrayal, the pain, the anger. We never talked about the details of what she did to us, but we didn’t need to. We understood each other’s silence.

So why was he looking at her like she was the moon in his night sky?

I clenched my jaw. No. She’s not his. She can’t be. If Levi had truly forgiven her, then he was a fool. And if he hadn’t, then what the hell was he doing watching her like that?

As we exited the territory gate and the forest opened up into the broader roads leading toward Trumiant Pack, I leaned forward.

“Be alert,” I said to the driver.

He nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”

I didn’t say anything else. I leaned back into my seat, closing my eyes briefly as the hum of the engine soothed the storm in my chest, but even then… I saw her face.

Her blonde hair. The quiet, unreadable expression. And that damn ache in my chest that refused to go away.

Olivia, what did you do to me?