Chapter 31: The Guard Who Knew Me

Olivia’s POV

​It had been two days since I last saw Lucian.

​According to Gloria, Alpha Lucian had traveled out of the pack on some important business. What a devoted husband, leaving for a trip without even bothering to tell his new wife he was leaving. Then again, considering the last thing he had said to me was "stay as far away from me as best as you can," perhaps traveling was simply his very dramatic way of making sure that happened.

​Not that I was complaining.

​After what happened between us that night, a little distance from Alpha Lucian was exactly what I needed.

​As for my life during those two days, describing it as chaotic would be an understatement, and calling it peaceful was definitely not a word I would use. I was currently working as an assistant to Dr. Vance, the head healer at the pack clinic, and calling it work was honestly being generous. It had been pure torture.

​First of all, Dr. Vance was still extremely suspicious of me. He clearly did not fully believe I was Princess Annabel. I could see the dark suspicion in his eyes every time he looked at me, like he was waiting for me to make one tiny mistake that would prove whatever theory was forming inside his head. But just like everyone else in this pack, he had zero proof to back up his doubts.

​The other clinic workers and patients were an entirely different problem. They completely despised me. Nobody needed to say it out loud; their faces did enough talking. If glare-induced death were a real thing, I would have been buried six feet under before lunchtime on my first day.

​Whenever Dr. Vance asked me to clean a patient’s wound before he applied his healing magic, the patients flatly refused.

​"No."

​"I don’t want her touching me."

​"Someone else can do it."

​One man had actually pulled his injured arm against his chest when I approached him, staring at me as though I was carrying a knife instead of a bowl of clean water. So, for the past forty-eight hours, my glorious, highly important princess duties had been reduced to following Dr. Vance around like a glorified shadow, holding his medical kit and carrying his tray of tools.

​I was standing beside his desk when he finally looked up from the medical papers in front of him.

​"You can close for the day, Annabel," Dr. Vance said, barely meeting my eyes.

​I blinked. "Already?"

​His brows rose slightly. "Do you want to stay?"

​"No."

​The answer came out so quickly that his eyebrows climbed even higher.

​I cleared my throat, straightening my shoulders to keep up appearances. "I mean, thank you, Doctor. I’ll leave now."

​I walked out of his office, feeling his cold, suspicious gaze burning into my back the entire time, but I kept my posture straight and my face completely unbothered. I could feel his eyes following me until the door clicked shut.

​The moment I was outside, I released the heavy breath I had been holding. One day. Just one day without somebody studying me like I was a puzzle. Was that really too much to ask?

​Apparently, yes.

​Making my way downstairs, two nurses standing near the reception desk stopped talking the moment they saw me. One of them openly glared at me. I ignored her, pushing open the heavy glass doors to step out of the clinic building. I was slowly becoming very good at ignoring people.

​The main mansion was only a short, five-minute walk from the clinic. After spending the entire day surrounded by people who looked like they wanted me dead, I was looking forward to getting back to my room.

​I had only taken a few steps along the paved path, lost in my own thoughts, when a hand suddenly darted out from the shadows and grabbed my arm.

​Before I could react, I was yanked sharply around the side of the building and pulled into a narrow, dark alleyway between two brick walls.

​My heart leaped into my throat. I opened my mouth to scream, fully convinced that one of the hostile pack members had finally decided glaring wasn’t enough to teach the hated princess a lesson.

​A hand quickly clamped over my mouth. "Quiet."

​My entire body went completely stiff. I knew that voice.

​The man slowly removed his hand, and my eyes widened in pure shock as I focused on the face in front of me.

​"Owen?"

​A sickening sneer spread across his face. He was wearing plain clothes instead of his usual guard uniform, but there was no mistaking him. Owen. One of the guards from the Blood Moon Pack.

​"What are you doing here?" I whispered, my heart racing.

​Instead of answering, Owen leaned back against the brick wall, looking me up and down with that familiar, disgustingly arrogant look. "So," he said, his smile widening, "how is life treating you, Princess Annabel? Or should I say... maid?"

​"Or should I say... Olivia?" my mind echoed, my stomach twisting into a hard knot as I glared at him. "Keep your voice down."

​Owen chuckled softly. Of course he knew I wasn’t the real princess. He had been a guard at the Blood Moon Pack for years. Back home, he was just one of the many guards who had spent far too much time trying to force himself on me, dragging me into dark corners and offering propositions I had rejected every single time. And judging by the smug look on his face, he clearly hadn’t forgotten the rejections.

​But how on earth did he know about the swap?

​As far as I knew, only Alpha Kenneth, his Beta, two senior guards inside the room that morning, and the two maids who had dressed me up for the journey knew about the exchange. Owen was nothing more than a common gate guard. So how the hell did he find out?

​"What are you doing here?" I demanded again, keeping my voice low. "And how do you even know about this? How does a common gate guard know?"

​He smirked, clearly enjoying the absolute power he thought he held over me. "You people really thought you could fool everyone? Alpha Kenneth isn’t as discreet as he thinks he is." He paused, glancing over his shoulder to check if anyone was watching the alley before turning his dark eyes back to me. "Look, I’m not here for plenty of talk, Olivia. I’m here because I need something from you. I need money."