Olivia's POV
Under the moonlight, Oliver and I walked slowly back to the room, hand in hand.
"You should get some rest," Oliver murmured, his omega scent wrapping around me like a silken shroud as he walked me to my room. The honey-sweet fragrance that had once seemed so enticing now felt cloying, artificial. "Tomorrow's ceremony requires all your strength."
His fingers brushed my arm in a gesture meant to be comforting, but I had to suppress a shudder. Every touch between us lately felt wrong, like puzzle pieces forced together despite not matching.
"I'm fine," I replied, fighting the urge to step away from his proximity. The mate bond between us hummed weakly, nothing like the passionate connection it was supposed to be. Had it always been this faint, or had I just been too desperate to believe in our "fated" connection to notice?
Oliver's honey-colored eyes studied my face, a flicker of something – concern? calculation? – crossing his delicate features. "You've been so tense lately, love. Let me help you relax."
His omega pheromones intensified, designed to soothe and calm, but they only made my skin crawl. Cora growled low in our shared consciousness, and I felt my wolf's hackles rise.
"Sweet dreams, my Alpha," he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to my cheek that felt like frost against my skin. The gesture, meant to be intimate, left me feeling hollow instead of loved.
I watched him walk away, his graceful movements too practiced, too perfect. Everything about Oliver was like that – carefully crafted to be exactly what an omega should be. How had I never noticed before?
Sleep came in restless waves, my dreams a chaotic mix of warnings and wishes. The mysterious scent of silver fir and cedar haunted me, tangling with memories of Adrian's childhood laughter turned to adult hatred, and Oliver's smiles that never quite reached his eyes.
Then, piercing through the darkness like a blade, pain lanced through my chest – sharp and immediate.
My mate bond.
I bolted upright, hand clutching my heart as the sensation pulsed through me. The pain wasn't overwhelming, more like an insistent tugging, but its meaning was crystal clear – Oliver was experiencing intense emotions, the kind that should only come from being with his true mate.
"He's moving," Cora growled, our enhanced senses picking up the whisper of movement in the hallway. Adrian's footsteps, trying too hard to be silent, echoed against the stone floors. My brother had never mastered the art of true stealth – too impatient, too eager to prove himself.
My body moved on autopilot, years of combat training taking over as I slipped from my bed. The silk nightgown whispered against my skin as I pulled on a dark robe, my bare feet silent on the cool floor. The mate bond pulled stronger with each step, leading me toward the forest like a compass pointing to betrayal.
The moon hung full and accusatory in the sky, bathing everything in harsh silver light that left no room for shadows to hide. Adrian's figure moved through the trees ahead of me, his shoulders tense with purpose. I kept to the darkness, Cora's presence helping me mask our scent as we stalked my own brother.
Then I heard it – soft laughter that cut deeper than any blade. Oliver's voice, but not the careful, measured tones he used with me. This was free, genuine, full of an emotion I'd never heard from him before.
They met in a small clearing where the moonlight pooled like liquid silver. The sight of them together knocked the breath from my lungs, a physical pain that had nothing to do with the mate bond. Adrian gathered Oliver into his arms with practiced ease, their bodies fitting together like they were made for each other. The intimacy of it felt like acid in my veins.
"I've missed you," Oliver breathed, nuzzling into my brother's neck in a gesture so natural it made my stomach heave. His voice held more warmth in those three words than in all the "I love yous" he'd ever said to me. "These past days, pretending..."
"Shh," Adrian stroked his hair with a tenderness I hadn't seen since we were children. "Soon we won't have to pretend anymore."
The mate bond in my chest twisted violently, resonating with Oliver's genuine happiness – pure, unfiltered joy I'd never once felt from him in all our time together. The realization was like swallowing broken glass.
"Show yourself," Cora urged, her anger mixing with mine until it was hard to tell where my rage ended and hers began. "End this farce once and for all."
Leaves crunched beneath my feet as I stepped into the clearing, deliberately loud. "Well, isn't this cozy?"
They sprang apart like guilty teenagers, but the damage was done. The image of their embrace burned into my memory like a brand – my brother and my supposed fated mate, wrapped in an intimacy that made mockery of everything I'd believed in.
"Olivia!" Adrian's face was a study in rapid transitions – shock, guilt, fear, and then, incredibly, anger. The familiar expression of blame settled on his features like a comfortable mask. "What are you doing here? Following me again?"
The audacity of his accusation made hysteric laughter bubble up in my throat. "Following you?" The sound that escaped me was sharp enough to cut. "My mate bond woke me. Seems my 'fated mate' was feeling particularly... emotional."
I spat the last word like poison, watching Oliver flinch. Good. Let him feel a fraction of the pain twisting in my chest.
Oliver stepped forward, hands raised in that placating way he had, his omega pheromones trying to smooth over the situation. "Olivia, please. This isn't what you think. We were just—"
"Just what?" My Alpha power exploded outward, making them both stagger back. The air crackled with golden energy, my control slipping as years of suspicion and hurt boiled over. "Just embracing in secret? Just meeting in the middle of the night like common thieves?"
"We were planning a surprise for you!" Adrian burst out, the lie so unexpected it actually made my power stutter.
"A... surprise?" The word felt foreign on my tongue, thick with disbelief.
"For the ceremony," Oliver added quickly, his honey-colored eyes wide and earnest in that way that had always made my defenses lower. "We wanted to do something special, to show you how much we both care about you."
Adrian moved toward me, and the expression on his face nearly brought me to my knees. It was my brother – my real brother, the one who used to share his candy and dry my tears. The one I'd lost so many years ago to jealousy and bitterness.
"You're my sister, Olivia." His voice was soft, sincere in a way I hadn't heard since we were children. "Yes, we've had our differences, but tomorrow you become Alpha heir in truth. I wanted... I wanted to make it special."
The warmth in his voice, the love in his eyes – it was everything I'd dreamed of since that day with the golden pendant. Everything I'd lost when my strength became a wall between us.
"They're lying," Cora snarled, her certainty clashing with my desperate want to believe. "You know they're lying. You can smell the deception!"
But the mate bond hummed with Oliver's emotions – anxiety and fear, yes, but also what felt like genuine affection. Adrian's scent had lost its bitter edge, reminding me of warm summer days when we'd been inseparable.
"I know I've been horrible to you," Adrian continued, taking my hands in his. His palms were warm against my cold fingers, familiar and foreign all at once. "I was jealous and stupid. But you're my sister, my twin. Nothing matters more than that."
Tears pricked at my eyes, hot and unwelcome. "Adrian..."
"Let us show you tomorrow," Oliver pleaded, and his voice held a note I'd never heard before – something that sounded almost real. "Let us make it right."
I looked between them – my brother, my supposed mate – and felt the weight of years of loneliness press against my chest until I could barely breathe. How long had I wanted this? Adrian's love, Oliver's genuine affection? The chance to have my family whole again?
"Don't be a fool," Cora warned, but her voice was distant beneath the roar of my own desperate hope. "They're playing you like a fiddle."
"Okay," I whispered, hating the tremor in my voice, hating the way hope bloomed in my chest like a poisonous flower. "Okay."
Adrian's smile was brilliant as he pulled me into a hug. I melted into it despite myself, remembering countless embraces just like this one, before power and position had torn us apart. Oliver's hand found mine, squeezing gently, and for a moment – just a moment – I let myself believe.
"You should get some rest," Adrian said, releasing me. "Big day tomorrow."
I nodded, turning to leave before they could see the conflict in my eyes. Behind me, I heard them whispering – about the surprise, I told myself firmly. Not about betrayal. Not about lies.
The mate bond settled into a content hum as I made my way back to the pack house, but something felt off about even that. Since when had Oliver's emotions ever aligned so perfectly with what I needed to feel?
Then, through my troubled thoughts, the scent that drew me in reappeared. The scent of silver fir and cedar was biting and fresh. My steps stopped when I heard a messenger talking to our night guard.
Dominic Sterling, the heir of King Richard of Alfarcia, has arrived to attend the ceremony tomorrow morning.
My heart stuttered, then began racing. The Silver Moon Pack's heir... here? In my territory?Would that scent be his?
"The son of the man who ordered your mother's death," Cora reminded me, unnecessarily. As if I could forget.
I'd heard rumors about Dominic Sterling – his immense strength, his burning ambition, his father's plans to unite all packs under Silver Moon rule. What I hadn't heard was that he'd be attending my ceremony.
As if tomorrow didn't hold enough potential for disaster.
Once again, I fell into an uneasy sleep in which Adrian's seemingly sincere embrace mingled with Oliver's overly perfect explanations and the icy blue eyes of a stranger, and the last thing I saw before my consciousness blurred was the lingering scent of silver fir and cedar.
"Tomorrow," Cora whispered as sleep finally claimed me. "Tomorrow we'll know the truth."