Chapter 51

Olivia

The warehouse was full of dead bodies and smelled of blood.

It didn’t bother me. She’d gone through all of them and yet something inside me wanted more. It felt like a tap had been opened and shutting it wasn’t an option anymore. My wolf scanned the warehouse earnestly, only stopping when her eyes landed on Penny. Anger ran through her. She growled, then shot forward.

Lucien suddenly appeared in front of her, halting her movements. Growling at him, egging him to move out of the way, my wolf glared at him.

“It’s alright now,” he whispered to her, holding out a hand as he edged nearer to her. When he touched her, running his hands over her fur repeatedly, I felt her calm down, felt the tension leave her. “You did good. It’s all okay.”

We were truly one because for some reason, his voice seemed to soothe us, me and her. I noticed she couldn’t not listen to his words. He was her Alpha, after all. My wolf puffed out a breath, pushing her body closer to his touch like a dog would when it wanted a rub on the stomach.

“Come back to me, Olivia,” he whispered in her ear.

Almost immediately, her big form reduced and then I was left lying on the ground, naked. Lucien quickly put a jacket over me, covering my nakedness. The jacket didn’t smell like him as the scent was unfamiliar. When I lifted my eyes, I saw that the jacket belonged to Xavier. Lucien was topless.

I met his eyes, wondering how desperately he wanted to ask me that question. I had no answer for him so I looked away, but looking away meant meeting Penny’s eyes; once I did, my anger resurfaced.

“What are you, a freak? How did you transform at will?” Her eyes were ice cold, her top lip curled up in a frown.

“I told you I was going to kill you and I meant it.” I started for her and had almost the bitch when Lucien pulled me away.

“Olivia, don’t.” He held me from the back so that my hands were firmly pinned by my sides. “She’s not worth it.”

“Yes, she is,” I retorted, firm in my resolve.

Fuck it, but I was tired of doing the right thing. Who had that ever helped? Why did I have to be good and stay on the right path if it only led to heartbreak and pain? Why did she get to throw caution to the wind and do whatever she wanted and still not get any consequences?

She’d poisoned Lucien’s father, killed the man who had been unfortunate enough to marry her, and had tried to kill both Lucien and me after taking all his properties.

No, it wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t. In the past few days, I’d had my entire childhood snatched away from me by the one person I believed would never hurt me and he was telling me I shouldn’t do anything about it? No. I refused to believe that.

Since Lucien was holding me back, I couldn’t move. That pissed me off even more. Why was he protecting her?

“I thought you wanted her dead?”

“I did. I do,” he said.

“Then why the hell are you restricting me? She killed your father. I’m getting you what you want. What we all want!”

I was unaware at this point that I was yelling and crying until he yelled, “Because we’re not her! We’re better people.”

I stopped struggling in his arms, my chest heaving like I’d just ran a marathon. We were better people. I turned the words over in my head for a good amount of time. All my life, I’d lived in ignorance of who Penny was while believing that she was the mother I’d always wanted.

Now she’d turned out to be the worst thing that ever happened to me. Was i supposed to forget all that because I was a better person? What sense did that make? How did he expect to forget all she’d done?

“Hey, just say the word and I’ll kill her for you. Always happy to help,” Xavier added wryly and I saw he was holding her by the arm as though she would run. Which she probably would.

“Are you asking me to forgive her?” Ignoring his comment, I asked Lucien, turning to face him so I could hold his gaze. I needed to see the look on his face, to watch him tell me that he wanted me to let all that had happened go.

“No.” He shook his head. “I’m asking you to remember who you are. You’re not like her.”

No, I wasn’t. I wouldn’t do to her what she’d done to me. That was the difference between us. I never had to fake any emotions or deceive anyone. It wasn’t who I was.

There and then, I realized he was right.

So what if she had fucked things up. I didn't have to kill her. I just—

“Wait a damn minute,” Xavier suddenly started, his eyes roaming the dim warehouse. “Where the fuck is Mason?”