Chapter 12: Suspicious

Olivia’s POV

​For a second, I forgot how to breathe.

If he realized I was an imposter, I was dead. There would be no trial, no explanations, and no mercy.

My heart pounded as I stared at him. His face gave nothing away. No anger. No confusion. Nothing. Somehow, that made everything worse.

Think, Olivia. I needed another lie. Apparently, lying had become my full-time job since arriving in this pack.

I forced my hands to stop shaking, clenching them tight into fists hidden in the folds of my heavy dress. I had to fix this right now.

I forced myself to stay calm and let out a soft sigh. "Alpha Lucian," I said, trying to keep my voice from trembling. "I am sorry if we disturbed you. My room was a little chilly, and I was asking her where I could find a clean blanket for the night."

"A blanket?" Lucian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yes." I nodded quickly, then immediately realized I was nodding too fast and stopped. "The one in my room isn’t warm enough. I saw her outside, so I came down to ask where I could get another one."

Lucian’s gaze shifted from me to my mother, who was still standing a few feet away, holding her silver tray against her stomach. His jaw tightened. "Is that true?" he asked, casting a suspicious look at Mother.

My breath caught. For a moment, my mother simply looked at me with that same neutral, blank expression, her eyes completely unreadable.

Please. I didn’t even know what I was begging her for anymore. For her to recognize me? To keep pretending? To save me from the lie I had just told?

My mother bowed her head respectfully, her posture perfect for a pack servant. "Yes, Alpha. The Princess asked me where she could get another blanket. I told her she could find one in the laundry room."

I finally released the breath I had been holding. She had lied for me. But why? Was she pretending not to know me so she could protect us both? Or was she really just an innocent maid who looked exactly like my mother, trying to avoid getting into trouble with her terrifying Alpha?

My mind was a complete mess. None of this made sense. I had spent four years crying myself to sleep and praying she was still alive. Now she was standing right in front of me, looking at me like a stranger. Was she acting, or was I losing my mind?

Lucian didn’t look completely convinced, but he gave a small nod and waved a dismissive hand at her. "Leave us," he commanded. "Go back to your duties."

"Yes, Alpha," she murmured softly.

She turned and walked away into the shadows without giving me a single glance.

"Interesting."

Lucian’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. I turned back toward him. He was still standing in the doorway, and I suddenly became very aware that we were alone. Well, almost alone. Two guards stood farther down the courtyard, but something told me they wouldn’t be much help if their Alpha decided I had lied to him.

Lucian stepped toward me. I instinctively stepped backward, and his eyes noticed immediately.

"Why are you backing away?"

"I’m not."

"You are."

"I was just moving."

His jaw tightened. Apparently, that was the wrong answer.

Something changed in his eyes, and every instinct in me screamed to move. But it was too late.

Before I could even take another step back, Lucian closed the remaining distance between us with frightening speed. His hand shot out and closed around my throat, forcing me backward until my spine hit the stone pillar.

I gasped, grabbing his wrist, but his grip was like iron. He wasn’t choking me completely, but the pressure was heavy enough to let me know he could snap my neck in a second if he wanted to.

"I don’t know what game you are playing, Princess," he growled, leaning in so close I could feel the hot air of his breath on my face. His dark green eyes burned into mine with pure fury. "I don’t know what you are hiding, but there is something very wrong about you."

My heart nearly stopped. He suspected. There was a very important difference between knowing and suspecting, but this was still dangerous.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," I squeezed out.

"You’re strange," he said, his eyes searching my face. "You don’t behave the way I expected. Your wolf is silent. My healer seems suspicious of you. My mother looks at you like she’s seen a ghost. My brother looks at you like he knows you. And now I find you outside whispering to my mother’s maid."

Each sentence made my stomach sink further. Wonderful. Apparently, I had collected an entire list of suspicious behavior in less than two days.

Lucian’s fingers tightened slightly. "So I’ll ask you once. What are you hiding?"

"Nothing."

His eyes narrowed. "Wrong answer."

"I said I’m not hiding anything!"

He held me there for a few agonizing seconds, watching me struggle for air, before he suddenly let go.

I stumbled forward, clutching my neck with both hands, coughing and gasping for oxygen. Pain throbbed through my throat where his fingers had gripped me.

A heavy silence settled between us. My instincts as a maid screamed at me to bow my head, apologize, and swallow my pride. That was what I had done my entire life. Servants didn’t fight back. Servants stayed quiet if they wanted to stay alive.

But I wasn’t supposed to be Olivia right now.

I was Princess Annabel of the Blood Moon Pack.

And Princess Annabel would never bow her head to a man who had just put his hand around her throat.

If I kept behaving like a frightened maid, sooner or later Lucian would realize that was exactly what I was.

I swallowed against the pain in my throat, straightened my back, and lifted my chin. My heart was still pounding, but I looked him straight in the eye.

"So," I said, raising my voice. "You are one of those men who lay hands on their wives."

Lucian froze. His brows pulled together as though he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.

"Excuse me?"