Chapter 257

Lennox’s POV
It was past 1 a.m. My brothers, Clark, Dustin, three guards, and I were at the cemetery behind the mansion. Everywhere was quiet, and the air felt heavy. The guards had just finished digging up the grave. The white coffin was now out and placed in front of us.
I swallowed hard, my heartbeat thundering in my ears. I gave a slight nod. The guards moved. Slowly, cautiously, they pried open the lid of the coffin. A soft hiss escaped as the seal broke. Then—
“No… fucking way Dustin whispered, stumbling a step back.
We all turned to him sharply. “What? What is it?” Louis asked.
Dustin didn’t respond. He just pointed, wide-eyed, into the coffin. “Come look.”
Confused and growing uneasy, Levi, Louis, and I stepped forward. The guards lifted their flashlights, angling the beams downward. The light hit the inside of the coffin. And everything inside me froze.
“What the—” Levi gasped.
My mouth went dry. My legs went weak.
“Gods I breathed, staring.
The body lying in the coffin was the same. The same dress. The same posture. The same scent. But the head… It wasn’t Olivia’s. It was Rebecca’s. Her severed head had been placed on the body we buried. Her eyes closed. Lifeless.
“What the actual hell is going on?” Louis whispered in disbelief.
“We watched Olivia get buried… we saw her face Clark said, stunned.
“Unless Dustin swallowed. “Unless that was never Olivia.”
Silence hung in the air. Tense. Thick. Terrifying.
Because if the body in the coffin was not Olivia—then where the hell was she? And why was Rebecca’s head there instead? None of it made sense. And that was the scariest part.
I took a good look at the body again, and now, just staring at it, I realized my wolf was silent. He wasn’t mourning like he did.
“This doesn’t make sense… Rebecca was kidnapped, and now her head’s in the grave we buried Olivia in? The same head we thought belonged to Olivia? Even the blonde hair was gone—replaced with dark hair,” Levi said, confused.
With my heart racing, I stared at the body, wondering why Rebecca’s head was here. I knew nobody had opened this grave—it was sealed—so how? I exchanged bewildered glances with my brothers. They looked just as lost as I felt, but one thing was clear: this was not Olivia. But how did Rebecca’s head appear here?
“Go get the seer,” I ordered. Dustin nodded and left.
One last glance at the decaying body, then I turned to the guards. “Take the body back to the mortuary.” With that, I walked away, my brothers at my sides.
Back in our study, I turned to face them. They looked just as dumbfounded and confused as me.
“What does this even mean?” Louis asked quietly.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. But let’s wait for the seer. She has a lot to explain.” I exhaled, my shoulders heavy.
Both my brothers nodded, and we all went silent.
I sat down, my fingers tangled in my hair, the weight of everything crashing down on me. My brothers stayed nearby—Louis pacing around, Levi slumped on the couch with his face in his hands. The room was quiet, but the air was thick with confusion.
My mind kept going back to that coffin. That body. That head. It wasn’t Olivia. I knew it now. Deep down, my soul knew it. My wolf knew it. He hadn’t mourned like he should—hadn’t howled in pain, hadn’t stirred at all. Because it wasn’t her. It never was. But then… Rebecca?
I leaned forward slowly, my heart pounding harder the more I thought about it. If that head belonged to Rebecca—then what about the woman I kissed two nights ago? The one I felt so drawn to? The one who made my heart ache with emotions I didn’t understand? Was that really… Rebecca? Or someone else entirely? My head spun.
Louis finally spoke. “If the body was Rebecca’s… then who the hell was this Rebecca we met?”
Levi stood up, his eyes dark with confusion. “Since the body wasn’t Olivia, then who did it?”
I exhaled shakily, gripping the edge of the table.
“There’s only one person who might know,” I said firmly.
Both my brothers looked at me.
“Damien.”
Levi narrowed his eyes. “You think he’s involved?”
“I’m sure of it,” I said. “Too many things don’t add up. We never heard of Rebecca until he brought her here, claiming she was his wife. Did you notice how unbothered he’s been about her missing?”
Louis nodded slowly. “Yeah… he knows something. Or he’s hiding something.”
I stood from my chair, my jaw clenched.
“We need to watch him. Closely. Every step. Every move. If Olivia is alive—since she was never the one in that grave—then Damien’s the key to finding out where she is.”
My brothers both nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and Dustin stepped in, panting slightly. Behind him was the seer, her head lowered, her eyes not meeting ours. The moment she entered, tension filled the room like smoke.
“We caught her trying to run away,” Dustin said. I narrowed my eyes. Louis folded his arms, his glare sharp. Levi stayed silent, his jaw tight.
I stood up slowly. “You better have something to explain,” I said coldly.
The seer looked up, guilt written all over her face.
“I—I can explain.”
“Explain?” Levi snapped. “You said that body was Olivia’s! You confirmed it yourself. You made us believe she was dead.”
“I know,” she said quickly, trembling. “And I’m sorry. I lied.”
A heavy silence fell. My hands clenched at my sides, my anger rising.
“You what?”
“I lied,” she repeated, her voice breaking. “Please… forgive me. I had no choice. My only son was kidnapped. I was threatened. They told me if I didn’t lie—if I didn’t say the body was Olivia’s—they’d kill him.”
Her knees gave way, and she dropped to the floor.
“I’m begging you… I didn’t want to do it. But I had no other way.”
Louis stared at her in disbelief. “Who did this? Who forced you?”
“I… I don’t know,” she said, tears filling her milky eyes. “They never showed their faces. Only left a note with the threat and instructions. They’ve been watching me ever since.”
Levi cursed under his breath and turned away, running a hand through his hair.
“I can do an incantation,” the seer offered quickly. “A vision spell. It might reveal who was behind it—”
“No,” I cut in. “We don’t trust you anymore.”
She looked up at me, devastated.
“You betrayed us,” Louis added. “You made us bury the wrong person. You made us mourn Olivia.”
“Get out,” I said coldly. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ.net
“But my son—” she pleaded.
“We’ll find a way to help him,” I replied flatly. “But you’re done here.”
Dustin escorted her out, her sobs echoing behind her as the door shut.
For a moment, the room went still. No one spoke. No one moved.
Then I turned slowly toward my brothers. “If the body in that grave was Rebecca I trailed off, the weight of what I was about to say hitting me hard. then who the hell was the Rebecca we met?”
Louis’s eyes widened slightly. Levi looked up, face pale. Silence.
And then—
We all froze as realization dawned. Our eyes locked on each other. The same thought hit us at once. The Rebecca we met… the one we kissed… the one we felt connected to…
She wasn’t Rebecca.
She was Olivia.