Chapter 13: Pushed

Olivia’s POV

​"You heard me," I snapped, stepping closer to him even though every muscle in my body told me to run. "You’re a wife beater. An abusive husband."

​His face went dark, the veins on his neck bulging as his temper flared. "Shut up," he warned.

​"No."

​Something flashed in his eyes. Pure, obvious danger. Still, my mouth continued working before my brain could save me.

​"Was that how your parents were?" I pushed, unable to stop the sharp words spilling out of my mouth. "Did your father beat your mother? Did he wrap his hands around her neck too? Is that where you learned to treat women?"

​That was the limit.

​Lucian snapped. A harsh growl ripped from his chest as he closed the distance and grabbed me by both upper arms, his grip so tight it felt like my bones would crush.

​"You know nothing about me," he snarled. "And you know nothing about my parents. Mention them again, Princess, and I swear you’ll regret it."

​"I am your wife, Alpha Lucian!" I yelled back, staring him down without flinching, even as tears of anger pricked my eyes. "Whether you like it or not, you signed those papers. You have to accept that!"

​Something changed in his face, going completely cold. "Don’t call yourself my wife."

​"But I am."

​"No. You’re a whore your father offered for peace."

​The words hurt more than I wanted them to, but I forced myself not to show it. "Those papers say otherwise."

​Lucian’s jaw clenched. Without warning, he shoved me away.

​I wasn’t prepared for it. My foot caught against the edge of the stone path, and I lost my balance entirely. I flew backward and crashed hard onto the rough stone ground.

​"Ah!"

​A sharp, stinging pain shot up my left arm. I gasped, clutching my arm as blood slowly appeared along the deep scratch on my forearm.

​I winced in pain, biting my lower lip tightly to stop myself from crying out. Slowly, I pushed myself onto one hand and looked up at Lucian.

​He was standing exactly where he had pushed me, but the moment his eyes dropped to the blood running down my arm, something in his expression changed.

​For one brief second, he looked almost... regretful.

​Regret? No. I had to be imagining things. This was Alpha Lucian. The man had practically strangled me less than a minute ago.

​For a few seconds, neither of us moved. I stayed on the ground, staring up at him, while he stared back at me. A stupid part of me waited for him to say something. An apology, maybe. Or at least an acknowledgment that he had gone too far.

​Nothing came.

​Of course it didn’t.

​Why was I even expecting an apology from a man who had made it clear from the moment I arrived that he hated me?

​I looked away, swallowing the lump in my throat. I was angry at him, but I was also angry at myself. I had let my temper take over and pushed him exactly where I shouldn’t have. Mentioning his parents had clearly touched something deep, and if I kept letting my emotions control my mouth, sooner or later I was going to say something that exposed who I really was.

​I had done enough damage for one night. More than enough. If I stayed another minute, my mouth would probably find a new way to get me killed.

​Without saying a word, I pushed myself off the dirty ground. I kept my chin held high, ignoring the burning pain in my arm and the blood staining my dress. Lucian’s gaze followed me, but he said nothing, and neither did I.

​I turned my back on him and walked away, taking slow, shaky steps back toward the house.

​When I finally made it back to my bedroom, the anger that had kept me upright began to fade. I stepped inside, locked the door behind me, and rested my back against it. For a moment, I simply stood there, staring at nothing. My arm burned, my throat still hurt where Lucian had grabbed me, and suddenly, I didn’t feel like Princess Annabel anymore. I was just Olivia again, and Olivia was tired.

​My eyes filled with tears. I quickly wiped them away, but more came. I had refused to cry in front of Lucian. I wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. But now that I was alone, I didn’t have to keep pretending I was strong.

​I hurried into the bathroom and leaned over the sink. My hands trembled slightly as I turned on the water and carefully began washing the dirt and blood from my arm. The moment the cold water touched the open scrape, I hissed at the sharp sting.

​"Wonderful," I hissed through my teeth.

​I dried my arm with a clean towel, wrapping a small piece of cloth around it before walking back into the bedroom and collapsing onto the large, empty bed.

​What a night. My mother was alive but claimed she didn’t know me. Lucian was becoming suspicious. Tomorrow, I was expected to play a violin I didn’t know how to play. And I had just accused the most feared Alpha in the kingdom of being a wife beater.

​I fell backward onto the mattress and covered my face with my hands, closing my eyes as I tried to force everything out of my head. My mother. Lucian. The violin. The lies. All of it could wait until morning.

​I just needed to sleep.

​Then I heard it.

​Hissss.

​My eyes flew open.

​For a second, I didn’t move.

​No.

​Please tell me I had imagined that.

​Hissss.

​My entire body went stiff.

​I slowly turned my head toward the edge of the bed, and every drop of blood in my body seemed to freeze.

​A snake.

​A long, black snake was crawling across the floor toward my bed, its body twisting slowly over the carpet. Its tongue flicked out as it raised its head.

​I hated snakes.

​No. Hate wasn’t even the right word.

​I was absolutely terrified of them.

​"Ah!"

​I shot off the bed so quickly that I nearly tripped over my own feet. The snake hissed again and continued moving toward me.

​"Oh, gods. No. No, no, no!"

​Apparently, surviving Alpha Lucian wasn’t enough for one night. Now the universe had sent a snake to finish the job.

​I didn’t care about being Princess Annabel anymore. I didn’t care about walking properly or keeping my head high. I grabbed the door handle, threw the door open, and rushed into the hallway.

​I almost crashed straight into someone.

​Lucian?

​He stood directly outside my room.

​I didn’t stop to wonder why he was there.

​I didn’t stop to remember that less than an hour ago, this man had wrapped his hand around my neck and thrown me to the ground.

​The snake hissed from somewhere behind me.

​That was enough.

​I screamed and jumped straight at Lucian.

​His eyes widened as his arms automatically caught me. I wrapped both arms tightly around his neck and locked my legs around his waist, burying my face against his shoulder.

​For several seconds, neither of us said a word.

​Then I slowly realized what I had just done.

​I was wrapped around Alpha Lucian.

​And he was holding me.

​Oh, shit.