Chapter Two
Olivia
Olivia’s phone began to buzz on her dorm’s nightstand first thing in the morning. Half asleep, she swatted at it unsuccessfully, attempting to stop the noise and continue her warm slumber. There was a reason she had picked all afternoon and night classes, morning was not her favorite.
Instead of stopping the incessant noise of the phone, she knocked it on the floor where it began to buzz beneath her. Maybe it would stop on its own, she hoped silently, but to no avail. Once the ringing stopped and the call went to voicemail, it promptly began to ring again.
With a grumble she finally cracked open an eye and ran her hand along the floor to scoop up her phone, knowing that there was only one person in the world that would call her that many times in a row.
“Daddy, hi,” she greeted with a hoarse, sleepy voice.
“Why didn’t you answer? Are you ok?”
Olivia looked at her nightstand and saw the time, surprised even for him at how early it was. Atticus loved to be an early riser, but this seemed strange. Especially since he knew his daughter well enough to know that she was not a morning person.
“I’m fine, I was asleep. Why are you calling so early, is everything ok?”
“Have you been checking in with the news?”
Despite her desire to break away from pack life and hope to live a normal, human life, she had been checking the news updates from their networks while she’d been away at school. At first it had been freeing to avoid it all and live surrounded by people who had no idea that she was the daughter of an Alpha and came from a line of wolf shifters, but once Atticus had started texting her about the other packs who had been harmed, she stopped avoiding it.
It wasn’t as if she went out on the roof of her dorm and announced it to the world, even her suitemate didn’t know the truth about who Olivia really was, but she did start paying attention again. After all, her pack was her family.
“I saw that there was an attack a few weeks ago,” she admitted. Packs had their own way of getting news to each other, private channels and online pages that you’d only find if you knew what you were looking for.
“There’s been another one, just two nights ago,” he told her gravely.
Olivia bit her lip nervously. “Was it bad?” She asked.
Atticus was silent for a moment before he answered her. “Yes, it was very bad. The pack was surprised by the attack, many lives were lost.”
The news made her sick to her stomach. What if that happened to her pack? Not much was known about who was doing this to the wolves, at least, not that she had read.
“I’m sorry, Daddy. Is everything ok there?”
“You’re coming home.” It was a demand, not a question.
“What do you mean ‘I’m coming home’?”
Surely, she couldn’t have heard him correctly, he wasn’t going to pull her from school and make her go back to the pack, was he? She’d only been gone for a few months and while she missed them all, she absolutely wasn’t ready to go home yet.
“This isn’t up for discussion. Until we learn more about what is happening and can stop the attacks, you will be living at home.”
“You can’t be serious! What about school?” she argued, her voice becoming rather whinny, like a child’s.
“I have already sent someone for you. Pack only what you need, he’s coming on foot.”
There was no use arguing with him, Atticus always got what he wanted.
“And which member from the pack did you send?” hoping at least for a pleasant ride back home.
“You haven’t met him yet.”
How would that even be possible? A pack wasn’t just like a club you could join. It was something you were born into, it was an innate demand of your soul rather than a choice. She had grown up with the members of her pack. Her whole life back home in their small town had revolved around Atticus’ position in the pack, so how was it possible there was someone she hadn’t met?
“I’m sure you’ll know it’s him when you see him. I’ll see you when you get here. Be careful,” he instructed. The discussion was over, Olivia knew she never had a chance of changing his mind. Once Atticus decided something, then there is no persuading him. Olivia couldn’t remember a time in recent memory where her dad had changed his mind based off of someone else’s’ argument.
There was only one person in the world who had been able to do that. Her mother. But her mother had been gone for years and Olivia had never seen anyone else ever hold any power over Atticus again.
She sighed, frustrated that she was leaving and even more frustrated that there was nothing she could do about it. Part of the reason she had needed to get away from home was because she was tired of living under someone else’s’ thumb. Ever since her mother’s death, she had spent every moment being watched like a hawk. Space and freedom was something she craved, and it was something she’d never be able to get being so close to her pack’s watchful stares.
“I love you, Daddy.” she told him before she hung up the phone.
The phone clattered back to the floor while she yanked her blankets back over her head, wishing that she could go back in time and not answer the phone at all. Or better yet, that she had turned it off the night before and had not gotten the call at all. Not as if it would have mattered much, Atticus would have sent a pack member to pick her up no matter what. At least this way she had been given a warning.
But instead of falling back to sleep, the rest of the morning was spent tossing and turning in her rickety bed as she tried to understand everything that was going on. The attacks, which Olivia was distinctly aware that she knew hardly anything about, this mystery pack member, and most of all, having to leave school.
Eventually she gave up on sleep and flung the covers off of her, edginess growing inside of her. Grumpy over her situation and being woken up so early, she hastily packed a backpack, throwing in only the essentials. When traveling on the back of a wolf, it was always wise to pack light.
Even for all of her exhaustion at having her life revolve around her pack, she did have to admit there was something so majestic when a man shifted to wolf. They weren’t like rearguard wolves that one would see in the woods, they were more than that. Larger, almost like the size of a bear, with fur that was soft like a favorite warm blanket. The speed of them were almost unbelievable so races between them were always an entertaining event. They really were remarkable animals.
Still pouting, Olivia sent a quick text to her suitemate to let her know there was a family emergency and she’d be out of school for a while, and then scooped up her bag to wait downstairs. She still had some animal like abilities, senses of smell and instinct, though so far she didn’t stand out much.
He was getting close, whoever he was, Olivia could feel him, and opened the door the chilly winter air. Why couldn’t Atticus have been normal and simply sent a car instead of a wolf? The ride back would be cold, no matter how much heat his body gave off.
It was only a matter of moments that she waited outside, her arms wrapped tightly around her body to stave off the shivering, before she saw him.
Instantly their eyes connected and a low hum filled her body. He walked toward her, a swagger in his steps. It was easy to see that he was wolf who was sure of himself, confident, possibly bordering on cocky. His hair, rather shaggy and long for her usual taste, framed his face in a way that made him look like a God as it flowed behind him, brown but with streaks of gold running through it.
“Olivia?” he asked, even though she knew he knew the answer.
All she could do was nod.
“Dominic,” he offered his hand to shake.
She took it and was shocked at the strength of his grip, sure by the look and feel of him that his large frame was built solely from muscle. The hum in her grew stronger.
“We should go, I promised Atticus I’d have you back quickly.”
His voice was low and stern, the command making her instantly angry. There was no way she was going to let anyone else keep her under his thumb. But the middle of the quad was not the place she was going to argue that. She’d wait until they got to the woods to say her peace. He took her bag for her and they walked along in silence, her seething while she could feel the wolf in him wrestling to stay calm.
As angry as she was, she couldn’t help but wonder, what he was going to look like when he shifted. Instinctively she felt she wasn’t going to like this new guy, but there was a feeling inside of her that told her she was going to be impressed by him.