Chapter 24: His Gift

Olivia’s POV

​It had been almost four hours since what happened between Alpha Lucian and me, and I still couldn’t get myself together.

​Four hours.

​Four whole hours, and somehow I could still hear his voice echoing in my head.

​I want you.

​Then, even worse:

​This never happened, Annabel.

​I groaned and buried my face in my hands.

​Moon Goddess, why couldn’t I just forget it?

​Every time I closed my eyes, I felt his hands on my skin, his fingers inside me, and the crushing sting of his rejection. I felt so humiliated, so angry with myself for losing control. How could I let my body react like that to a man who despised me?

​I had taken another bath. I had changed the sheets. I had walked around the room until my legs hurt. I had even tried convincing myself that none of it mattered.

​Nothing worked.

​Every time I closed my eyes, I remembered him lying above me. I remembered the way he had looked at me. I remembered how completely stupid I had become in his arms.

​But the worst part wasn’t what Lucian had done.

​It was what I had done.

​I had asked him to kiss me.

​Me.

​Olivia.

​I had actually looked Alpha Lucian in the eyes and asked that arrogant bastard to kiss me like a desperate whore.

​And he had rejected me.

​Wonderful. Absolutely brilliant.

​If there was a hole somewhere in this mansion large enough to swallow me whole, I would happily climb inside and live there for the rest of my life.

​A soft knock suddenly came at the door, pulling me out of my spiraling thoughts.

​I straightened immediately. "Come in."

​Before I could even speak further, the door pushed open. It was the young maid I had seen several times since arriving, one of the few people in this mansion who hadn’t looked at me as though she wanted me dead. She stepped into the room, closing the door quietly behind her. In her arms, she carried a large black garment bag resting on a hanger.

​"Princess," she greeted politely.

​My eyes went straight to the bag. "What is that?"

​"Alpha Lucian asked me to bring this to you," she said, offering a warm, respectful smile as she walked toward the bed. "He requested that you wear it to the festival tonight."

​I blinked, staring at the covered bag in complete disbelief.

​Lucian bought me a dress?

​After what happened earlier? That was the absolute last thing I expected from a man who had walked out on me hours ago after calling our touch a mistake.

​For half a second, something stupid fluttered inside my chest.

​Then I immediately killed it.

​No. Absolutely not.

​I was not going to stand here getting excited because Alpha Lucian had sent me a dress. The man had walked out of my bedroom four hours ago after telling me what happened between us never happened. A dress did not suddenly make him Prince Charming.

​The maid placed the garment bag carefully on the bed and turned to me. "Would you like me to help you get ready, Princess?"

​My first instinct was to say no.

​I had been dressing myself since I was old enough to remember. I wasn’t a delicate princess. I didn’t need three maids standing around me just to put my arms through sleeves, and I was used to taking care of myself.

​But Princess Annabel did.

​And apparently, keeping myself alive meant remembering ridiculous little details like that. Rejecting help would look suspicious, because a real princess like Annabel would never dress herself for a major pack event.

​Besides, I was feeling so sick, lonely, and overwhelmed that I desperately needed someone to talk to. I didn’t exactly want to be alone right now. Maybe having someone else in the room would stop me from thinking about Lucian every five seconds.

​Probably not. But a woman could hope, and this girl seemed genuinely kind.

​I looked at her properly, keeping my tone gentle. "What is your name?"

​She seemed surprised by the question. "Gloria, Princess."

​"Gloria," I repeated with a small smile. "That’s a nice name."

​Her face softened. "Thank you."

​I pointed toward the garment bag. "All right, Gloria. Let’s see what my wonderful husband wants me to wear. Go ahead and bring the dress out of the cover."

​She smiled slightly before reaching for the zipper.

​The moment she unzipped the bag, I saw red, and my interest immediately spiked. Red had always been one of my favorite colors. Maybe Lucian had actually chosen something beautiful.

​Gloria reached inside and carefully pulled the gown completely out of the bag.

​My smile wiped clean off my face. I stared. Then I stared some more.

​What the hell was that?

​Gloria slowly held the dress up in front of herself, swallowing awkwardly as her eyes darted from the dress to me. Even she looked deeply uncomfortable.

​Calling it a dress was a generous compliment. It looked more like something made for a stripper than a pack Alpha’s wife. The back was completely open, dropping almost to the waist, leaving almost nothing to the imagination. The front was cut dangerously low, the material was thin and clinging, and it looked as though it had been designed by someone who had run out of fabric halfway through making it.

​And the length?

​I stared at the bottom of the dress. That thing was going to stop high on my thighs.

​He wants me to put this on? At a festival. In front of pack leaders, elders, warriors, and probably half the damn kingdom.

​For several seconds, I couldn’t speak. Then everything became painfully clear.

​I had actually been stupid enough to think Lucian had bought me a dress because he was being nice.

​Nice. Alpha Lucian. I almost laughed at myself.

​This wasn’t a thoughtful gift. This was a calculated attempt to humiliate me in front of his entire pack. He couldn’t force me to play the violin anymore because of my injured arm, so apparently, he had found another way to punish me. He wanted to parade me around looking cheap and desperate, proving to everyone that I was nothing more than the whore he claimed I was.

​Gloria cleared her throat awkwardly, looking deeply uncomfortable. "Princess... you don’t have to wear it. There are other dresses in your wardrobe. I can tell him there was a problem with the delivery, or I can help you choose something else."

​I looked back at the red dress as a slow, cold anger began building inside me.

​Lucian wanted me to walk into his festival dressed like this. He wanted people staring. He wanted to humiliate me in front of his entire pack.

​Well, he had made one small mistake.

​I wasn’t Princess Annabel.

​Annabel would have cried. She would have begged him to let her wear something else.

​But me?

​I had spent most of my life being ordered around by people who thought being a maid meant I didn’t have a backbone. If Lucian thought a tiny red dress was going to break me, he had seriously underestimated me.

​Gloria was still watching me nervously. "Princess, should I put it away?"

​I looked up at Gloria and slowly smiled, a cold look settling over my face. "No."

​Her eyebrows lifted. "I’ll wear it."

​Her eyes widened in shock. "You will? But..."

​"Nah. I’ll put it on," I said, standing up to take the dress from her hands.

​The material slipped between my fingers as I looked at it again. Tiny. Revealing. Completely inappropriate.

​"He wants me to wear this?" I asked to be certain.

​Gloria swallowed. "Those were Alpha Lucian’s instructions."

​I looked down at the dress one more time before smiling.

​"Then help me get ready."

​"Are you sure?"

​"Absolutely."

​I handed the dress back to her and turned toward the mirror.

​Lucian wanted a show?

​Fine.

​I would give my dear husband one he would never forget.

​If my dear husband thought I was going to walk into that festival with my head down, ashamed of the dress he had chosen for me, then he was about to learn something very important.

​He might have married Princess Annabel.

​But unfortunately for him, he was dealing with Olivia.