Chapter 278

Olivia’s POV
“Did you fucking let them touch you?!” he roared again, louder this time… so loud I swore the walls shook with it.
I took a shaky step back, my lips trembling, my eyes wide. This was a different Calvin.
“Calvin, please—”
His fist slammed down on the table with such force, the wood cracked and splintered, a jagged line cutting straight through the center.
A maid screamed from the hallway and ran off.
Calvin’s chest rose and fell like a beast barely holding onto its leash. His eyes weren’t just angry—they were enraged.
“You let them touch you he spat, as if the very thought of it was driving him insane. “After everything they did… after what they made you suffer
“I didn’t plan it,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “It just… happened. I was caught in the moment. My wolf—”
“Don’t,” he snapped, shaking his head violently. “Don’t blame your wolf, Olivia. She’s not stupid. You’re the stupid one.”
My heart sank. “I’m not defending them, Calvin.”
“Could’ve fooled me!” he spat.
He turned away, gripping the edge of the broken table, breathing through gritted teeth like he was trying not to explode again.
Then, without turning to face me, he asked quietly, “Do you love them?”
The question hung in the air like smoke.
I opened my mouth… but no sound came out.
Not because I didn’t know the answer.
But because I did.
And saying it out loud would only anger him more.
So I stood there in silence, trembling.
That was enough for him.
He turned around slowly, his expression unreadable—but his eyes… his eyes were burning with anger.
“You don’t love them,” he said coldly. “You’re clinging to them.”
I shook my head, but he didn’t stop.
“You think you love them because you grew up around them. Because they were kind to you once. Because you were little and stupid and didn’t know what real love was. You’re not in love, Olivia—you’re obsessed.”
“Calvin, stop—”
“No!” he cut me off, stepping closer. “You’re mistaking familiarity for love. You think just because they smiled at you when you were little and held your hand, that means they’re yours forever?”
My frown deepened, but I stayed silent.
“Do you even hear yourself?” he hissed. “You’re making excuses for monsters who broke you. Who discarded you. Who humiliated you. And now you can’t let go—not because of love—but because you don’t know who you are without them!”
My lips parted.
But he wasn’t finished.
“You’re chasing ghosts, Olivia. You’re holding onto the past so tightly, you’re blind to the damage it’s doing. You’re trying to rebuild something that was never whole to begin with!”
That broke me.
“I love them,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “You’re wrong.”
His face twisted. “No. No, you don’t—”
“I do!” I cried. “I wish I didn’t, Calvin. Goddess knows I wish I didn’t. I wish I could wake up one day and feel nothing for them. I wish I could rip them out of my soul and throw them into the sea. But I can’t. I’ve tried. And it doesn’t work. Because the truth is… I love them.”
Calvin stepped back like I’d slapped him. His jaw clenched so tightly I could hear the grind of his teeth.
“They hurt you, Olivia.”
“I know!” I yelled. “I know what they did. I remember every detail. And I still love them. That’s what makes this a curse.”
He turned his back to me, dragging his hands through his hair. “How can you love them when our families have hated each other for decades? We lost a life because of them!”
I swallowed hard.
Here it was.
The part I had tried so hard to avoid.
“I don’t just love them, Calvin I said softly.
He turned around slowly, his brows drawn together in confusion.
I took a shaky breath.
“I’m their mate.”
The silence that followed was the loudest thing I’d ever heard.
Calvin stared at me.
Like he hadn’t heard me.
Or couldn’t believe he had.
What?” he whispered.
I nodded slowly. “The bond… it’s real. I’ve felt it since the day of my welcoming party. They are my second chance mates.”
His mouth opened… but no words came.
And then his face twisted into something between grief and horror.
“Goddess,” he whispered, backing away like I’d just confessed to something unspeakable. “No
“It wasn’t a choice,” I whispered. “You know that, Calvin. The bond chooses. The moon chooses.”
His face paled. He looked like the ground beneath him had disappeared.
“How can this be possible?!” he exploded, his voice trembling with disbelief. “You are related, Olivia! Related!”
His words echoed off the walls, filled with disgust, confusion, and pain.
I flinched, the shame and pain in his voice slicing through me like a knife.
“I know I whispered, my voice trembling. “Goddess, Calvin, I know. I’ve asked myself that same question a hundred times.” ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ
He stared at me like I had a hand in it.
“You think this is normal? You think this makes sense?” he demanded, his hands shaking. “Our families are tied by blood. Hate. Loss. And you’re telling me the Moon Goddess thought this—them—was your fate?”
“I didn’t choose it,” I said, shaking my head, my throat tightening with emotion. “I didn’t ask for this.”
Calvin scoffed bitterly.
Then slowly, his voice hoarse, he asked, So what now?”
I stayed quiet.
He took a step forward, and I saw it—the desperation behind his rage. The helplessness of a brother watching someone he loved walk into what he believed was a fire.
“You’re rejecting them, right?” he asked, his voice tight. “Olivia, tell me you’re going to reject them.”
The moment those words left his mouth, my wolf let out a sharp, furious growl inside me, clawing at my chest like she wanted to tear free.
No.
She was livid.
I shut my eyes, gripping the edge of the table to steady myself. My heart thundered. My head spun.
“I—” I tried.
But the words wouldn’t come.
Because I didn’t know what to say.
Because saying yes would be a lie.
And saying no would break him.
So I did the only thing I could.
I disappeared.