Chapter Twelve
Olivia
From underneath the side window of her father’s cabin, Olivia was able to stay bent low and listen to every word that her father had told the pack. Chills went through her body when she listened to just how serious everything was. Up until then, she’d heard of the attacks but didn’t really believe they were as serious as her father was making them seem. He tended to worry too much, especially when it came to his only daughter. But after what she’d heard him tell the men of the pack, the situation was serious.
What would Olivia do if there was an attack? Being unable to shift and fight made her more or less a sitting duck for those poachers and as her father had said, they were dying to get the pack Alpha’s and their families. That meant her. And just like her mother, she’d have no chance at a fight.
When she heard the shifting around of the pack inside, she knew they’d be leaving the cabin and didn’t want to be caught eavesdropping. Quietly she crept away from the window and quickened her pace to get back to Dominic’s cabin before he saw that she’d ever left.
Back inside she found herself chewing the nail of her thumb and pacing her small living room of his cabin. She found herself nervous at what may happen and that was not a feeling that Olivia was used to. In fact, she was always calm and collected, braver than most, which she knew she got from her father. But being unable to defend herself from such extreme and disgusting attacks had her shaken up. So much so that when the front door opened, she jumped at the sound.
Dominic stood in the doorway way and arched a brow.
“You ok?” His voice came out low and strong and for a fleeting moment she wanted to run into his arms. Suddenly the mere presence of him gave her some bit of comfort.
“Yea, I just…”
“Were you listening outside of your father’s house?” he asked.
She felt her cheeks flame in embarrassment that he had read her so easily.
“Well, I certainly didn’t figure that you would tell me the truth so I thought I should find out for myself.”
A small flicker of a smile curled at his lips. “Are you always this much of a pain?” he asked her.
“Who says I’m a pain?” she fired back.
He chuckled a little. “No one would have to say anything. It’s pretty obvious that you’re a stubborn pain in the butt. How Atticus has kept you safe all these years is beyond me.”
His words struck a nerve that she was sure he hadn’t realized he’d hit. But there was no way she was going to let him see that part of her. She’d been vulnerable enough the night before and look where that had gotten her. Shut downed and left just as fast as she’d gotten him. There was no way she could leave herself open to that type of feeling again.
Instead she squared her shoulders and kept her resolve.
“I have kept myself safe just fine.”
“If you can keep yourself safe then why is it that your heart is racing? Nervous?”
She paused and looked at him curiously. “How did you know that?”
Dominic’s eyes shifted and he suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I just…know…I can smell it or something.”
“You can smell my heart racing? That doesn’t even make sense!” she fought back.
He growled and she could tell she was making him angry but why shouldn’t she push his buttons a little? He had obviously not cared enough about her the morning after they had their tryst so why did she matter now?
“It’s just an instinctual thing,” he told her. “A shifter thing.”
It was Olivia’s turn to smirk. Was it possible that she meant more than he was letting on?
“That’s not a shifter trait,” she told him smugly. “Having a strong instinct about someone is a different trait.”
She had always known of fated mates; her parents had been fated mates. She didn’t have many memories of her mom but the ones she had her father was always close by in the snapshot of her memories. And they were always smiling. Even from a young age Olivia knew how in love they were, how perfect they were together.
After she was killed, he would talk about her often. He would tell Olivia that she had practically hung the stars and moon and he would talk about that feeling of being fated to her. How he could feel her feelings, how his wolf went wild inside of him for her. Is that what had happened with Dominic? Is that how he knew? Is that why that night had been so passionate?
“How would you know?” he spat out. “You’re not a shifter.”
The words hit her like a punch to the stomach. She didn’t need any more reminders that she wasn’t a shifter, she was reminded of that fact every single day. She didn’t need to think about the fact that if Atticus wasn’t her father, she would be a complete throw-away member of the pack, no one would even care about her. But his words, intended to come out cruel and hurtful, did exactly that.
“Every time I think there may be something more to you, you do nothing but let me down.”
Her words came out choked, even to her own ears, and she hated to give him any satisfaction at her tears.
“What is it you want from me?” he asked her.
“I want…I want you to act as if what happened last night mattered! I want to know that I’m not the only one who feels like there’s something more between us! I want to know that I’m not nothing to you!”
Her breath was coming out fast and she couldn’t believe she was throwing her heart on the line. What was coming over her? She barely knew him yet he frustrated her in a way like no other—she wanted him in a way she’d wanted no other. It was visceral and she had no hope in fighting it.
“What makes you think I feel the same way about you?” Dominic shouted back. “You were right this morning, I’m a ‘love them and leave them’ guy and that’s all last night was. I’m sorry your feelings got hurt but that’s the way I am.”
Olivia heard the words but she didn’t believe them. They were hollow to her and there was no part of her that believed he was telling the truth.
“You’re lying,” she told him flatly.
He shrugged and acted indifferent. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
Her gaze narrowed at him, angrier at the fact that he wouldn’t admit he wanted her like she wanted him by the minute.
“You should be sorry, but not because you think you’re hurting me. You should be sorry because when you come looking for a second chance with me, you’re not going to find it. I’m not going to waste my time on someone who doesn’t even have the guts to admit he wants to be with me. You want to pretend that I mean nothing? That’s fine. But just like you can feel my heart racing and feel my nerves, I can feel you’re lying through your teeth.”
They stared at each other a moment longer and Olivia hoped with everything that he was going to say something. That he was going to stop her from walking away from him, but as the seconds passed and he didn’t say anything, she felt the tears spring to her eyes. He may be breaking her heart but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing it.
She turned to leave before he finally spoke up again, just a whisper behind her back.
“You don’t know what could happen. You don’t know what I’d be giving up,” he told her. It was a confession, a hope that she could understand, but it wasn’t enough.
Olivia just shook her head in disappointment.
“I guess you don’t see what you’re giving up now either.”
With her back turned to him she gave him that last chance to say something to her but this time there were no words. All hope left her heart and she suddenly couldn’t stand to be in the same room as him. She walked back to his bedroom and shut the door, content to spend the rest of the night nursing her broken heart alone.