Chapter 7 Olivia
SEVEN
Olivia
Tears streamed down my face as I ran, not even caring where I ended up, so long as it was alone, far from the pitying eyes of the pack.
I eventually ran out of steam at the very back of the gardens, a quiet, seldom-tended corner by the looks of things. There were chips in the stone wall, and overgrown bushes that looked a little too wild to be domestic.
It was dark and gloomy where I settled beneath a giant tree, but I didn’t mind. I wanted to hide and lick my wounds in private. So, I sat at the base of the tree, pulling my knees into my chest so I could bury my face against them. How had everything gone so wrong, so quickly?
Wishing for a mate and being lonely sucked, yes. But it was nothing compared to the rejection that lay over me like a smothering blanket now.
He’d looked right into my eyes, and where there should have been love, joy, and excitement, there was only regret and rejection. And fury, I couldn’t forget that.
I was hollow inside, that chain saw of his very effective on my emotions, carving them right out alongside my heart. How long I stayed under the tree, crying out what was left of my feelings, I had no idea. Dusk fell, and once or twice I heard someone calling my name, but I didn’t answer.
When I left the garden, I had to face the truth. Do hard things. Like pack my stuff, tell my new friends goodbye, and fly to Alaska for wolves I’d never met before to babysit me.
Live among complete strangers, again. Be unwanted—an imposition—again.
If I had any emotional energy left, the thought would have pissed me off. I was a talented healer and herbalist; there were plenty of packs out there that would be thrilled to have me. Just not the one I left, and not Pack Blackwater with a one-of-a-kind omega healer.
I stared down at my stupid, glowing palm with unfettered disgust. If it weren’t for that mark, I could go to any of those other packs, where I could be useful, wanted.
But no. Not an option if I didn’t want to get brutally raped.
Slamming my palm on the ground, I resisted the urge to scream my frustrations at the sky.
It wouldn’t help, and the second I did, I would have company.
I wasn’t ready to talk to anyone, so I remained silent, fingers clawed into the dirt as I wasted the day away alone and drawing paltry comfort from the lush gardens around me.
But eventually, as the darkness began to thicken, the cold crept in with it. I considered shifting, because fur was a lot warmer than human skin. But also, all I’d done was delay the inevitable. If I wanted any chance of being on a plane tomorrow, I had to head back now and tell Kane my decision.
Or Brielle. Sure, maybe it was cowardly, but telling the high freaking alpha of the wolf world that you were so inferior your own fated mate didn’t want you?
It wasn’t high on my bucket list. Negative five million on the list, actually, after unmedicated toenail plucking and licking a dumpster with a family of raccoons living in it.
Putting it off, though, wasn’t mature. And no matter how much it sucked, the beauty of taking charge was that at least I could prove him a little bit wrong. I was a mature, capable woman who could handle her own business.
With that thought front and center, I shoved myself off the now-cold ground, brushing off my pants as I picked through the overgrowth back to the manicured garden path.
I didn’t make it.
A single, sharp horn blast filled the air, and I froze.
Was that an alarm? In all the weeks we’d been here, I hadn’t heard it, even when Brielle’s powers were chipping away at the wards.
So, if they were sounding an alarm now, that had to mean…
I didn’t know. Did they think I was missing? Were we under attack?
Shit!
I raced toward the path, swearing under my breath as branches and thorns pulled at my hair and clothes, little rivulets of blood trailing down my face and arms by the time the paver stones came into view.
Before I made it halfway out of the garden, a sword-wielding blonde maiden ran into my path.
On second look, it was Dakota from the front gate.
“Fuck! There you are. Didn’t you hear us shouting for you earlier?”
“I’m sorry, I—”
“Shut up. There’s no time to talk now. We’ve got to get you out of here.”
“What?”
“Just keep up!” she yelled over her shoulder, not bothering to sheathe her sword as she ran through the twisting paths at top speed. If anyone else was coming the other way, she could impale them, but that didn’t seem to concern her.
My mind raced as fast as my feet, but she was scanning our surroundings as she ran, holding the big-ass butterfly sword all the maidens toted around like pets with a white-knuckled grip.
She didn’t slow as we left the gardens, running toward the back gate, where Brielle’s curse-removal spell had been done.
But a minute later, I saw my pack mates crowded at the back gate, several of them shouting and gesturing angrily.
Lucien was with them—looking too pale to be on his feet, but out of the wheelchair nonetheless.
What the hell is going on?
“We are not staying here like sitting ducks while Petró and his ODL sycophants pick us off. No. We have to leave,” Gael shouted.
Oh, shit. Varga was here with the ODL? Terror zapped through me as if I’d been electrified. I was marked. While I wasn’t omega, if they knew enough to search the enclave, they probably knew about the omega seal too.
Kane was stoically defiant, a wolfish glow to his eyes that was vaguely threatening his second-in-command. “The second we step foot outside the walls, they’ll be able to sense Brielle.”
“If they’re here, they already know about Brielle, or at least know it’s one of our females here under the maidens’ protection. We’re all in danger here,” Gael said with a snarl.
Kane wasn’t having it. “They suspect. They don’t know anything.”
Galyna inserted herself into the conversation with a bravery I admired.
“I’m afraid my brother is right, High Alpha.
” Kane’s head whipped toward her, upper lip lifting with a growl.
She raised both hands in a peacekeeping gesture, but spoke quickly.
“The barriers are only effective when the person you don’t want sensing you is outside them.
If they step foot through the front gate, they’ll immediately sense her too.
But the difference is, they’ll know for a fact she’s inside the enclave. ”
Oh, Goddess. This was really, really bad. “So what can we do? Is there anywhere else we can go that’s safe?” I blurted the question, and Fiona looked over, relieved to see me. She offered me a hand, and I stepped to her side, opposite Reed.
It was a small comfort, but the touch grounded me in a way I desperately needed at the moment.
“You’ve got to get outside the walls before they get inside. We can stall them at the gates, and thanks to Fiona’s vision, we’ve got a little bit of a lead on them, but not much.”
Kane looked down at Brielle with sorrow etched into his features. “Or, we can make a stand. Right here.”
She shook her head, glancing regretfully at all of us gathered around. “No way. We’re not sacrificing our pack for our safety. This has to end, but not like this. We need to run. We’ve got a head start, and we’re going to use it.”
“If we start running, we’re not going to be able to stop,” Leigh said gravely.
“Your powers are way stronger now, and they’ll be able to detect you.
And soon, Poppy too.” Her voice broke on a sob, and Gael pulled her into his chest, closing his eyes as if her words were a dagger, twisting in his guts.
This was it. Our time was up. And if the pack fell, we all fell. Nowhere would be safe for me, with Brielle and Kane gone.
“Not Poppy” Fiona mumbled at my side. I glanced at her in confusion, but her eyes had turned amber, blue flaring out, tingeing the skin around them.
“A rose in bloom, in the midst of a dry, cracked desert. She will live. She’s…
shielded, somehow.” Fiona rocked back, sagging into Reed’s strong arms as the vision left her, the blue fading away and her mismatched eyes returning to normal.
I was close enough to tell her hands were shaking, and I scooped one of them up in my own, returning the comfort she’d just offered me.
“Thank you,” Leigh said, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stared at Fiona as if she’d just thrown her a lifeline. “Thank you.”
Fiona nodded, hands shaking as she tucked a blonde lock behind one ear.
Samuel spoke up. “We don’t have time for this. We’ve got to move, and move now.”
Elodie nodded grimly, the usually jovial female’s expression as grim as the rest. “There’s a back road that we can take.
It’s rougher than the main driveway, but moving toward the ODL would be a mistake.
If they think you’re nearby, they’ll have brought someone with omega-detection capabilities. Most likely a fae or warlock.”
“I can’t ask you to sacrifice yourselves for me,” Brielle started, taking Galyna and Elodie by the hands. “You’re family, but you’re not pack. You should stay here with the maidens, where you’re safe.”
Galyna snatched her hand away, affronted by the suggestion, but Elodie was the one who answered. “Our swords and wolves are with you. Where you go, we go.”
Brielle nodded, expression starting to crumble under the weight of it all. I don’t know what came over me, but I stepped forward on autopilot, grabbing her hand. She gave me a watery smile as I squeezed it.
“It’s going to work out,” I whispered, believing it, even though all signs pointed to chaos and destruction.
“It’s time to roll. The SUVs are here,” Galyna announced, pointing toward a small back gate.
“Alpha! We need to split up. Shay and I need Lisanne to show us how to get to the fae gate,” Dirge said, hesitating as the rest of us moved toward the rear gates.
Kane turned, clasping Dirge’s hand, something unspoken passing between them as Brielle hugged Shay as if it would be the last time.
I climbed into the back of a black SUV, praying to the Goddess that it wasn’t.