Chapter 27

Twenty-Seven

OLIVIA

" W hy are you setting up your tent so far away?" Lacy asked, following me.

"I don't want to hear any knottings going on," I said, and she blushed furiously.

"God, you don't have to be so gross," she said. "I'll come back when you're less grouchy."

Manny and Adam, whom I considered brothers to me, had also arrived on the trip. We had all grown up together as children, and our mothers were very close, so we were comfortable with each other.

"It's so amazing you're here again," said Manny, helping me with my tent while Adam worked on his tent to share with Manny. "I tried my best with the Royal Pack and all, but they wouldn't pay attention to a sigma like me."

"Wait, are you sure you're a sigma?" I asked.

I was happy for him but also apprehensive since sigmas weren't accepted well into the Howl's Edge community yet. I took a good look at him. Considering his wide shoulders and big-boned structure, I could see that he was a sigma. There weren't many of these types of werewolves on the island, and were shunned in the past as outcasts. They didn't like to be ordered about by authority, which is why his sigma fathers never lived in the city and would rather live on the outskirts of the island.

"Yes," he said, smiling. "Just like my dads, Kodan and Seth. Even though Luke is an alpha, he treats me the same."

"Of course he would," I said, hugging him. "He's your dad too."

But Manny's face suddenly fell, "my beta girlfriend doesn't think it's cool that I'm a sigma, and I could tell she's disgusted by me."

"Aw, Manny, I'm sorry," I said, tucking my hair behind my ear. It was a little windy today despite the sun. "You'll find someone who'll appreciate you. Or maybe she'll come around."

"Highly doubt that," he said. "What's up with you and Lacy? Your tent is so far from hers."

"Nothing," I said. "I just want to be nearer to the trees."

After we finished setting up our tents, we all decided to go on a hike before lunch. I tried to enjoy myself talking to everyone, but I kept to myself. The hurt still settled within me that everyone just forgot about me despite what I'd gone through.

They didn't give a fuck if I died or not.

"You seem quiet today," said Adam when we took a break from walking, and we all sat around on the boulders.

"From what she'd gone through, I don't blame her," said Lacy, speaking for me. I gritted my teeth, sitting there as they talked. But then Lacy addressed me. "Aren't you glad you came on this trip with me? Your mom thought it would be a good idea for me to take you out of the house."

"My mom?" I asked, taken aback. Annoyance swirled through me that she'd been talking to my mom behind my back.

"Yeah, she called me and said it would be a good idea for us to do something," said Lacy.

"So you did all this for me?"

"Well…yeah, but I also wanted to have fun," she said, smiling and not at all aware that I was fuming by now.

"So whatever my mom says, you'll just do it? Without talking to me first?"

"Well, I know what you've been through," she said sheepishly.

At that, I shot up from my seat, breathing rapidly. "You don't have a clue what happened to me. None of you have a fucking clue what I went through! Why don't you all stop pretending to be my friends and go back to your fucking lives?"

"Whoa, whoa," said Adam, getting up and touching my arm, but I shook him off, backing away. Lacy sat there silently with a shocked look on her face, her eyes wide and filled with tears.

"I didn't mean for…" she started to say, but I cut her off while Adam and Manny watched us.

"I need to be alone," I snapped, walking off into the trees away from all of them. Then I turned back, "Don't wait for me! Go home if you want. I'll get home on my own."

"Olivia," said Lacy, trying to come after me, but I held up a hand.

"Just don't," I said. "How could you have a whole wedding without me there? You didn't give two fucks if I was left at the camp, did you?"

"I tried," she said. "I promise you I did. I told myself you would be fine until help arrived."

"No, I wasn't fine," I retorted. "I was raped. Not once or twice but multiple times and with multiple alphas. How about you do me a favor and leave?"

"Oh my god, I'm so fucking sorry," she said, tears in her eyes now. "Olivia, please."

"I'm serious," I said, turning my gaze to trees before me. "I can't talk to you. I can't even look at you right now. Maybe one day I'll get over it, but today's not the day."

"I'm so sorry," she said, openly sobbing. "I knew this would happen. I begged my alphas, but no one would go back or even let me."

I didn't give a fuck right now. As I stalked off, my pulse thundered in my head, and my heart was pounding hard. I couldn't think straight right now. I couldn't think at all as I walked farther and farther away from the camp.

Sergio

I parked at Olivia's house just like I did every evening. I would watch her through her bedroom window just to make sure she was okay every night.

Ian and Evan had no idea of my extracurricular activity, which was watching her at night.

But she wasn't here today, and I was starting to get worried.

She wasn't laying in her bed all day, in her pajamas, and she wasn't pacing around anxiously, biting her nails with a pen in hand. Where could she have gone? I knew she wasn't in the state of mind to go anywhere, and it was already the end of the day.

Getting out of my car, I walked towards the house.

I took in a deep breath before knocking on the front door. I had to think of something quick to say.

But the door opened, and her mother stood there with a happy smile on her face. I knew it was her mother because of the same oval-shaped eye structure that Liv had and her dark hair.

"Hello, how can I help you?" she asked.

"I know we haven't met yet," I said, sticking out my hand. "But I was one of the alphas who helped rescue your daughter from the OBC."

She shook my hand.

"That horrible place," she sighed. "Thank you for saving my daughter. You must be Sergio, that Ian was telling me about."

"You have a good memory," I said, smiling.

"Come inside, please," she said, and I followed her into her home. Two of her alphas were sitting on the couch, conversing, and one in the kitchen. They stopped talking upon seeing me.

"Who's this?" asked one of them gruffly, standing in front of his omega. "Jade, you can't just let anyone in."

"It's okay, Caleb," she said hastily. "This is Sergio."

"Hello, Sergio," said Caleb, immediately shaking my hand with an iron grip, and upon releasing my hand, my fingers nearly fell off. "It's nice to meet you, Sergio. What can we do for you?"

"I wanted to check on Olivia," I said, getting straight to the point. I was worried about her.

"She's off on a hiking trip with her friends," said her mother, and I raised my eyebrows perplexed. What would she be doing out camping right now?

"I'm glad she's out enjoying herself," I said. It was better than her laying in bed all day like she usually did, and it hurt me to see her that way.

"We're hoping it'll help her," she said.

"Are you mated to an omega yet?" Caleb asked me, business-like. "I run a dating agency."

"No, I'm not mated," I said. "And not interested."

"But interested in my daughter? Hopefully, the baby isn't yours then," he said.

"What baby?" I asked in alarm, sitting up straighter on the couch. "Is she pregnant?"

"We think she is, but she refuses to take a pregnancy test," her mom sighed, and she looked annoyed at her husband. "Caleb, you don't have to tell the whole world about it."

"Just checking to see if he's the father," he growled, watching me closely.

"Listen, I have no idea about this," I said, my heart pounding faster. She could be pregnant with my baby. "Where exactly did she go? I need to find her."

"Howl's Mount Park," said Caleb, and Jade glared at him.

"Why are you telling him everything?"

"He's our daughter's mate," said Caleb with a smirk, leaning back on the couch. "I can tell he cares deeply for her, and he'll do anything for her. Isn't that right, Sergio?"

"I don't know about us being mates," I said, breathing hard at the thought of Olivia being my omega. He was a matchmaker and could probably sense it. But I wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. "But I do care for her, and I want to make sure she's safe."

"It was your scent outside our home ever since she got back, isn't that right?"

Fuck . He knew I was the creeper alpha. No wonder he freaked out on his wife for bringing me into their home.

"Yes…it was."

I stood up from the couch, not sure if he was going to punch me or straight up kick me out of the house. I deserved it for breaking up with their daughter. Had Liv told them anything about us?

"Go after her son. You have my blessings," said Caleb, winking at me.

"Caleb, what are you doing?" said Jade indignantly. "You can't do this to our daughter. She has a say, too."

"I'm not going to do anything to her," I reassured her, heading to the door. "I just want to check on her."

"Please keep my daughter safe," said Jade, following me to the door. Then, in a quieter voice. "Do you think it could be your baby?"

"I don't know," I said, sweat running down my back.

"What? Were you part of the group who hurt her?" she asked, eyes flashing.

"No," I said vehemently. "She went into heat after we saved her life. Did she tell you that?"

"She didn't," she said, shaking her head. "Sorry for thinking you'd hurt her. Have a good night."

"It's okay," I said. "You didn't know the whole story."

With that, I headed out the door, perplexed by Liv's parents. No wonder she stayed in her room all day depressed. I was going to find her and make sure she was okay. And she could be carrying my child in her belly right now.

Hopping into my car, I went in the general direction of the park that Caleb had mentioned and thought about Liv as I drove.

I thought about her cherry lips and scent. Her curly black hair fanning out under my chin when she rested her head on my chest. I missed everything about her, and I couldn't wait to talk to her.

I needed her to know how I truly felt and how I would never let her go ever again.