Chapter 50: Do Not Sleep With Lucian

Olivia’s POV

​My hands scrambled for the bedsheet, yanking it up to my chest as I sat upright and wrapped the blanket tightly around myself.

​Lady Rebecca, Lucas and Lucian’s mother, didn’t jump up, shout, or even blink. She sat calmly on the velvet sofa across from my bed, her back straight and her expression completely unreadable. She simply stared at me while my heart threatened to hammer its way out of my ribs. How long had she been sitting there?

​I swallowed hard, forcing my voice to work. "L-Lady Rebecca..."

​"Save your breath, child." She raised one hand, cutting me off before I could even put a sentence together. Her sharp eyes swept around the bedroom before settling back on me. "This entire room reeks of Lucas. His scent is everywhere. I believe if I had arrived just a few hours earlier, I would have found him here."

​My mouth fell open, and my stomach dropped. "I..."

​"Don’t bother lying to me," Lady Rebecca said calmly. "I am his mother. I know my son’s scent better than anyone in this kingdom. Lucas was in this room." Her gaze moved briefly toward my bed. "He was on that bed."

​My fingers tightened around the blanket. There was no point in lying. She already knew Lucas had been here, and judging by the way she was looking at me, she was waiting to see whether I would be foolish enough to deny it.

​Lady Rebecca leaned forward slightly, resting her hands on her lap. "Now tell me, what do you think would have happened if Lucian had come into this room instead of me this morning? What do you think he would have done if he had smelled his brother all over your bed?"

​I didn’t need to imagine it. I had spent half the night thinking about exactly that. What confused me was Lady Rebecca’s reaction. I had expected anger. I had expected her to accuse me of betraying Lucian or demand to know why her other son had been in my bedroom in the middle of the night. Instead, she was calm. Too calm.

​"Ma’am, please, it’s really not what you think," I said quickly. "Alpha Lucas was drugged. He didn’t come here on purpose. He lost control of his magic and teleported into my room by accident. When he became himself again, he apologized and left. Nothing happened, I swear."

​Lady Rebecca stared at me for several seconds before letting out a quiet scoff. I waited for the accusation I was certain would follow, but instead, she said something I never expected.

​"Princess Annabel, I want you to leave this marriage."

​I blinked at her. "What?"

​"I don’t want this marriage for Lucian," she said plainly. "I never did. And I know you don’t want him either. Lucian certainly doesn’t want this marriage. You were brought here because of a treaty. That is all."

​My lips parted, but nothing came out. Of all the things I had expected her to say after discovering Lucas’s scent all over my bedroom, asking me to leave Lucian had never crossed my mind.

​"I am going to help you dissolve this marriage," Lady Rebecca continued, her eyes fixed on mine. "That is, if you truly want to be free. So tell me, Princess Annabel. Do you want out?"

​I froze. The answer should have been easy. Yes. Of course I wanted out. Hadn’t I spent every day since arriving here wishing I could escape this lie? I wasn’t Princess Annabel. I had never wanted to marry Lucian. I had been forced into this marriage because refusing meant being accused of Annabel’s murder, and every day I remained here increased the chance that someone would discover the truth.

​Lady Rebecca was offering me a way out without bloodshed. I could leave before Lucian discovered who I really was. I could search for my mother without constantly worrying about maintaining Annabel’s identity. I could find out who had killed Annabel and why. I could finally stop waking up every morning wondering whether that would be the day everything fell apart. Most importantly, I could stop being Princess Annabel. I could be Olivia again.

​This was what I wanted. So why couldn’t I say yes?

​My chest tightened as Lucian’s face came into my mind before I could stop it. I remembered him pulling me from the flooded pit when I thought I was going to die, returning my mother’s ribbon after the storm, secretly giving me the thirty thousand dollars I needed after refusing me to my face, and sending me herbal medicine because he thought I was in pain. Then I remembered the pool. The way he had looked at me. The way he had kissed me.

​I swallowed and tried to push the memories away. No. That couldn’t be the reason. I didn’t love Lucian. I didn’t even know what I felt for him. Most days, I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to understand him or stay as far away from him as possible. He was cold, suspicious, controlling, and completely impossible to understand. But somewhere along the way, leaving him had stopped feeling as easy as it should have, and that frightened me.

​"Lady Rebecca..." I finally said. "This marriage is part of a peace treaty. If we break it, won’t it cause another war between the packs?"

​"Leave the politics to me," she replied. "I know exactly what needs to be done. I can end this marriage cleanly and peacefully. You can return to your pack and live the life you deserve. Lucian will remain here and continue his. The treaty will hold, and there doesn’t need to be another war."

​I stared at her. "You can really do that?"

​"Yes."

​Then this was good. I had to remember that. Whatever strange feelings I had developed for Lucian didn’t change the truth. I didn’t belong here. He had married a woman who didn’t exist, and every day I stayed only made the lie more dangerous. Leaving was the sensible choice. It was the safe choice.

​I took a deep breath and opened my mouth. "I don’t..."

​"Actually, it isn’t an option, Princess Annabel."

​I stared at her, genuinely wondering whether I had misunderstood. "What?"

​Lady Rebecca stood from the couch and straightened her dress.

​"But you just asked me if I wanted to leave."

​"I wanted to know your answer."

​A strange uneasiness settled in my stomach. "And if my answer is no?"

​Her eyes met mine. "It changes nothing."

​My confusion deepened. A few seconds ago, she had made it sound as though she wanted to help me, as though she was offering me a choice. Now I was beginning to realize she hadn’t come here to ask for my permission. She had already made the decision.

​"I don’t understand."

​"You don’t need to understand yet." She picked up her purse from the couch. "Get yourself ready. I will begin the process with the elders. Once everything is ready and it is time for you to sign, I will let you know."

​"But what about Lucian? Does he know you’re doing this?"

​Something flickered across Lady Rebecca’s face, but it disappeared too quickly for me to understand what it was.

​"I will deal with my son."

​She walked toward the center of the room and stopped a few feet from my bed. Her expression changed then. The calmness remained, but there was something much more serious in her eyes.

​"And one more thing."

​My fingers tightened around the blanket. "What?"

​"Until this marriage is dissolved, make sure Lucian does not sleep with you."

​My eyes widened. "What?"

​"You heard me."

​"Lady Rebecca, Lucian and I haven’t..."

​"Good." Her expression hardened. "Keep it that way. Do not sleep with him, Princess Annabel. Do not allow him to sleep with you under any circumstances."

​Something about the way she said it made the hair on my arms rise. This wasn’t embarrassment, and it wasn’t simply the reaction of a mother who disliked her son’s marriage. She sounded almost afraid of something happening between Lucian and me.

​"Why?" I asked. "Why does it matter if this marriage is going to end anyway?"

​Lady Rebecca didn’t answer. She simply held my gaze as a low crackle of magic suddenly filled the room.

​My eyes widened. "Lady Rebecca, wait."

​A flash of light forced me to shut my eyes. By the time I opened them again, she was gone.

​The room fell completely silent, and I remained sitting in the middle of the bed, clutching the blanket against my chest as I stared at the empty space where my mother-in-law had been standing only seconds ago.

​Her warning kept replaying in my head.

​Do not sleep with Lucian.

​She wanted our marriage dissolved. She was determined to send me back to the Blood Moon Pack whether I agreed or not. And for some reason, until that happened, she desperately wanted to make sure Lucian never slept with me.

​But why?

​For several seconds, I couldn’t even think. Then one question pushed through the confusion.

​Why was Lady Rebecca so desperate to make sure Lucian never slept with me?