Luna Olivia
Today was such a hard day for the whole family. Raven has been put through too much in her short life and I was amazed at her strength. Amanda and I had talked about some of the things that Stella had told us. This child had been given the barest of essentials. I know that her sister has been given everything that she ever wanted. I know exactly what has happened to her, even if she gave us the Cliff notes version of it. I know how badly she had suffered throughout her life. I still remember when my true mate had done the same to me. That kind of pain stays with you, you remember it when people you love and trust betray you in the worst way. I know sooner or later I will have to tell Raven my own story. The boys don't even know all of it, as I know that they will be angry and want to go punish him for what he did, but the Goddess already did. I think Raven is putting too much blame on herself thinking that she is not worthy, but in reality, he was not worthy of her. The right man will know her worth when he finds her.
FLASHBACK
I smiled up at Chad as he wrapped his arms around me. I was visiting his pack for the week, meeting his ranked wolves. I sighed in contentment, he really made me feel safe. We were not fully intimate yet, just hugging and kissing right now, and that was enough for me. I told him I wanted to wait for our mating ceremony, and he was good with that. I knew he was being nice to me because of the mate bond, as he had slept with a few people already before he met me. We had found each other 3 weeks ago, and I was completely in love with him. He had blonde hair and the bluest eyes that I have ever seen. He was 25 and was the Alpha of the Stalking Wolves pack, also in Minnesota. His pack was just a few hours away from my father's pack
Someone knocked at his office door, and when he told them to come in I see one of his female warriors at the door. She gave me one of her regular nasty looks and then smiled nicely at Chad. I was not a fan of Avery Samuels, but she hadn’t done anything to warrant me mentioning it to Chad yet. Just glares and snide comments, but I was pretty tough as I was an Alpha’s daughter. She was clearly just jealous that her Alpha was my mate, but she will calm down soon enough. I will be her Luna soon, and she would have to give me the respect that I deserved after my ceremony. The plans were all complete, and my dress was hanging in my room. We were just 2 days away from the ceremony and my parents, and brother would be arriving here tonight. To say I was excited, would be an understatement.
They spoke through mindlink for a minute, so I figured it was a pack problem, and I just waited for her to leave. “Olivia, would you mind giving us a little time? Something has come up that we need to discuss” Chad asked me. I shivered in excitement as he said my name, just the sound of it coming from his lips gave me tingles.
“Let me know when you want to go to dinner,” I told him and nodded to Avery as I exited his office. I went up a level to my room and decided to put on some makeup and do my hair into something besides my ponytail. I wanted him to be proud presenting me to his pack tonight as his Luna. I had just got done applying my makeup when I started to get an odd feeling in my chest. I felt my mouth start to tingle, and I looked at myself in the mirror. This had gone on for several minutes and I was starting to sweat. I started to get severe pain in my lower abdomen. It can’t be, he wouldn’t, he wouldn't disrespect me like that, right? My ceremony was about to happen. He has waited for me the three weeks since we found each other, he wouldn’t dare do this to me? I got up and stumbled to the door, leaving it open as I went down the stairs. I got to his office door, and I could hear them inside. I don’t have to have sex to know that is exactly what they were doing in there, and I cannot face this. I need to leave, I won’t stay here. I refuse to be treated like this. I mindlinked my mom and she said that they were five minutes away. Thank the Goddess for that. I will not stay here, I refuse to be the Luna here. I cracked open the door and saw her on his lap. She was naked and from the expression on his face, he was enjoying every second of their time together as she rode him. I left the door slightly open and walked away. I can't take the chance on it making noise and alerting them that I had seen them together. I have to be able to get the hell out of here. Thankfully halfway down the staircase, an Omega saw that I was struggling, and helped me get down to the first floor.
His Beta, Gregory, came up to me with an easy smile and said, “I hear your parents just arrived. I bet you are excited for them to be here.”
“You have no idea how much, actually. Thank you, Gregory, I was just going out to greet them. I will see you in the dining hall in just a little bit” I told him and smiled back at him. There was no reason to get him alerted to a problem. I can't have him stop me from leaving this pack, and I WILL be leaving this pack. I made it down the steps and was standing there trying to hold it together when they pulled up.
“Do not turn the car off. I need to leave here now” I told them, and I have never been a hysterical girl, so they knew it was serious. My parents had me later in life and listened to me when I spoke. I just needed to leave here, now, I can't put my family in danger. I don't know what Chad is capable of now. I left all my clothes behind, I still had some stuff at home, but I wanted nothing to remind me of this place. I told them what had happened as my dad drove us to the gate.
“Didn’t you just get here?” the guard questioned my dad.
“Yes, we just wanted one last night out with our daughter, a nice dinner. Do you have any recommendations for a restaurant?” my dad told them. My dad could talk his way out of almost anything, he didn’t lie. We would be getting dinner. Either on our way back home or at home, but we would be getting dinner. The guard had plenty of suggestions and waved at us as we left. When we got to the border I got out and said, “I, Olivia Faith Turner, reject Alpha Chad Daniel Anderson, of the Stalking Wolves pack. I renounce my position as your Luna. I will not allow you to betray our bond with other she-wolves.” I could hear a howl in the distance, and I quickly got back in the vehicle and left with my family. I know it was Chad, and I didn't want to lose the headstart that we had on him
There was total silence in the vehicle as we headed back to the Storm Shadow pack. Chad had started blowing up my phone from the moment I re-entered the car. I wasn’t going to wait around for him to argue with me about it. We were done, I knew she seemed too familiar with him, but he said that she was just a touchy and super friendly type of person when I said mentioned my suspicions. I had a gut feeling, I wanted so badly to believe him. I had never felt like this before, I loved him from the moment we met, and I naively thought that was going to be enough. Thank the Goddess I didn’t sleep with that cheater. I knew who and what she was, I had already been told. Several of the Omegas in the pack advised me that I needed to be careful, as Avery had a special place in Chad’s heart. But she had a guy that she was living with too, so I didn’t realize how close could they had been. My wolf, Topaz, was mad enough that she wanted to kill them both, but she was worried about my weakened state after I found them together. I don’t know why I punished myself by opening that door and seeing them together, but I felt I needed to. Topaz also told me that we needed to see what they were doing, so we wouldn’t believe his lies if he denied it. She was right, he would absolutely deny it, he was not a good man. It broke my heart, but I was determined in letting him go. He was not worthy of me, I would not be accepting him.
He came for me, we actually didn’t stop other than to use the restroom really quickly, as they had just driven the three-hour trip and needed to go about an hour after we got on the road leaving the Stalking Wolf pack. Dad was making good time and when he got close to the pack he linked the Beta and advised him to not let Chad or anyone with him on our land. Dad also had some warriors come out and follow us back in just in case they caught up to us before we hit the pack lands. I would have been good with never seeing him again, but he did originally care for me, we were true mates, and he wanted the strength that I was going to provide him after we were mated. Plus he would become allies with my dad's pack, and dad was going to help him build up his pack to help him get more land. I was glad dad, and my brother Paul, were taking care of it for me. I felt completely depleted and upset. I felt like my strength had been zapped away from this, and I had a terrible headache. That may have been from him attempting to try to link me so many times. Since I was not a member of his pack, and I hadn’t allowed him to mark me yet, I could still block him from trying to link me. Our both being Alpha wolves, he could use the mate link to try to speak to me, as we had such a strong bond.
I knew he would come after me, and I truly wished it was because he loved me so much, and couldn’t live without me, but I knew better in my heart. It was because of my strength as an Alpha female, it was going to make him a lot stronger. He took my heart and crushed it in his hand. What he did showed me what he actually thought of me, and our bond. I hope he catches something serious from her, and they both die a terrible death. I smiled as I thought about praying to the Goddess to ask for that very thing to happen.
“We are almost there Olivia. Check your phone, he is blowing it up, and I would like to know how close he is to us, so we can prepare for his arrival” my dad said, and then I feel incredibly guilty. I did not want us to lose anyone over this. He just needed to pull up, accept my rejection, and get the hell out of here.
I checked my phone with 18 missed calls and over 40 messages. He started off nice, in the messages, but got mean quickly. He is furious that I would dare to leave him. Even madder that I would even think of rejecting him, and I could not care less. He was coming to our pack and from the sound of it, was just a few minutes behind us. I advised dad, and when we arrived at the gates, there were fifty warriors standing there, waiting on us. The gate guards saw us coming and we sailed through, with the warriors that came out to meet us right behind us. The gate guards didn't waste time securing the gate back again. I didn’t get time to get nervous as I saw them coming at a quick rate up the paved road, just two minutes behind us. The truck had barely stopped when he and his Beta exited the SUV. I could see her in the back seat, but she didn’t get out.
“Olivia, stop this nonsense and come back with us right now. Everything has already been prepared, and I have spent thousands on your Luna ceremony. The invitations have all been sent, and they will all be here on Saturday to see you become my Luna. It would be an embarrassment for us to not be married, just stop your pity party, and come back with me. You have misunderstood my relationship with Avery” Chad said with confidence in each of his words. He was acting like I was paranoid and delusional, but I know what I saw. I refuse to live a life where he is OK with hurting me. This was only the beginning, the part that is supposed to be the most beautiful, and the happiest for us. If he was willing to do this to me, now. I can imagine what my life would be like later. No, he is trying to gaslight me, and I wasn’t going to accept it. If I went back, according to the anger I see in his eyes, I would be hurt, and I will never be able to get away safely again. I refuse to sign up for that. I didn’t make a mistake, he did.
“Chad, I will not be going back. You can throw away all my things, I won’t need them anymore. I want no reminders of the time I met my fated mate, and he betrayed me. I know what you were doing, you forget that when you cheat, your mate knows. I FELT it, that is why I came looking for you. How stupid can you be to have forgotten that? I am so thankful that you let me know before we were bound together exactly what kind of a man you are. I refuse to be connected to you, or your pack. The money that my dad was going to give you to help your pack, it's gone too. You made your decision, you chose Avery. So get Avery’s dad to help you out, we are done now. I am just thankful I didn’t sleep with you. Avery gets around, and I would have hated to follow her into your bed. It disgusts me to even think about it, my stomach is turning now. Please, just accept my rejection, and let me go, Chad. There is nothing to discuss. I saw her riding you like she would be getting paid for it” I told him. I wanted his Beta, who was a good man, to know who he was working for. I bet the whole 3-hour trip here, Chad had done nothing but complain about me. I see Gregory's head snap over to look at him, and then Avery, and I see when he realizes that they had been together. He can smell it on both of them.
“We are done when I say that we are. I cannot help what happened, between me and Avery. She is pregnant with my child, and I couldn’t resist being with her again. I am sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I had been dating her for over a year when I found you. The bond was strong and pulled me in, I couldn’t say no to you being my mate. I wanted you, you are beautiful, and will bear me strong pups too. I tried to stay away from her, but I care about her too. When she told me about being pregnant, I was only going to kiss her, but it ended up going too far. I am still willing to let you be my Luna though, I want you to come back to my pack, Olivia. You were created to be my Luna” He tells me, and I almost collapsed at the news that she is pregnant with his pup.
I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “No, Chad. I refuse. I rejected you, now please accept it. Accept it before you leave, and go back to your pack. You already have a pup coming, and they should be your heir. Clearly, you cared for her at one point. She is your Luna now, I refuse to enter your land again. Just leave me in peace, Chad” I told him. I am sick over the fact that he got her pregnant before he met me. He is 25, and I had just turned 21, I thought I had been given a gift, I just didn’t know it was one that I would be happy to return.
“Did you not hear that I was going to let you be my Luna? Stop being petty and come out here to me right now. You are ruining my reputation in front of all these people. I will not allow it, Olivia. You will come back with me and go through with the Luna ceremony. I will force you if I need to” Chad told me, and my father and brother both growled at him. I guess he didn’t see them, but he can hang it up. We are completely done here.
“Chad, I will give you 48 hours to accept Olivia’s rejection. If you fail to reject her, or if you sleep with that woman again in that time frame, I won’t hesitate to decimate your pack. I have already reported this to the council. I am sure that they will see my side of it” my father told him as he walked forward to block me from Chad’s view. I can see Chad swallow in his nervousness. Chad’s pack was small, about 330 people. He would not stand a chance against us. If we attacked him, he would lose, badly, and he knew it. A door popped open on the SUV and Avery walked up to Chad giving me a smirk.
“He wanted me so I guess I win. I will be the next Luna” Avery told me, still smiling at me.
“I am sorry, are you deaf, did you not hear the whole speech he gave? He still wanted me to come back and be his Luna. I won’t be doing it though. You can try to wear my dress, I left everything behind, but it won’t fit you the same way as it would me. I feel even worse for that poor pack now, you will destroy it” I told her and smiled, she was tall and thin, with almost no curves on her. She was mad at what I said, and I was hurt that he chose to sleep with her. She was not as attractive as I was, and the bond should have pushed him to me. But I refuse to acknowledge that she had beaten me. I was going to willingly give him up. I don’t want him anymore.
“Chad, she will not return. Let’s just go back home. Accept her rejection” Avery told him.
I could tell that he didn’t want to, but with pressure from the mother of his pup, and my dad letting him know that he would be glad to level his pack, he did it. His acceptance of my rejection hurt me less than when I found them together. I was glad to be free.
“Don’t contact me again Chad, we are through from this day forward” I told him as his Beta, and Avery helped him back to the SUV. I was just glad that the Goddess allowed me to stand tall as they left. It hurt, but not as bad as I thought it was going to.
“That was a gift from the Goddess, for what your mate did Olivia” Topaz told me in our link. I knew that she was right and that the Goddess would bless us in the future.
FLASHBACK ENDS
Sure enough, Topaz was right, I met Cole at the winter ball two weeks later, and he was, and still is, the perfect mate. I remember getting a call from Chad 4 months later. I didn’t look at my phone before I answered, or I wouldn’t have answered it. He was giving me a pity party about Avery lying to him. She had just given birth, but the baby didn't look like either of them. Turned out she was pregnant, but it wasn’t his baby, what a big surprise. He had her stripped of her title and banished from the pack along with the father of her pup, and their baby. He wanted me back. I could barely stop myself from laughing out loud at the request. He is crazy, why would I ever give him a second chance? He was not a good mate and probably would never know how to be one.
I was 3 months pregnant with Carter at the time, and Cole had just taken the phone away from me. He had heard everything that Chad had said, and he straightened Chad out quickly. Just hearing who I was mated to now made sure that I never received another call from Chad again. I know that the Goddess would not be granting him another true mate, because of what he did to me. If there was anyone, besides Cole, who understood almost exactly what Raven was going through, it would be me. I was so thankful for the fact that Carter was spared from his mate's actions. That she had tricked that poor Justin into marking her against his will made me just sick for him, but he had agreed to the deal originally. He will just have to live with it now. I am praying that both of our children can meet their second-chance mates now that they are free from their true mates. They didn’t deserve to be with people like that, they both dodged a bullet, and I am glad that the Goddess took care of them both.
A fight to Remember