Back at the Hawthrone Pack house, the atmosphere was
charged with a different kind of chaos.
Bob Hawthrone, Ethan’s father and the true backbone of the
family, had returned from an urgent business trip overseas
after getting wind of the scandal. The moment he stepped into
the drawing room, his face was like thunder.
“This is what you’ve done with my name?” he growled, eyes
zing at Ethan. “You disgrace your Luna in public, humiliate
your pack, and now I return to find your mistress sshed all
over the inte like a failed soap opera?”
Ethan didn’t speak.
“I trusted you to lead with strength and intelligence, and
instead, you’ve let your emotions and bedroom y destroy
everything.”
Amelia, sitting on the edge of the leather sofa, spoke up quietly.
“Bob, don’t be so hard on him. He just—”
“Don’t.” Bob cut her off. “Don’t defend this circus. Olivia stood by
us through every winter, every harvest, every negotiation.
She’s ten times the Chole Windsor could ever be.”
Amelia’s lips lightened.
“She’s cold” she said. ‘Olivia has always been… distant. Maybe
it’s not all Ethan’s fault”
Bob gave her a sharp nce. “I’m telling you–if we still want to
keep what we’ve built, Ethan needs to fix this. End things with
Chole. Go make peace with Olivia.”
Amelia was about to argue further when her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She stepped away to take it.
“Hello?”
There was silence for a second. Then a voice–low, hoarse, and
disturbingly calm.
“Auntie Amelia,” Chole whispered on the other end.
Amelia froze.
“Chole…? Are you–how are you even-”
“I’m alive. Isn’t that wonderful?”
“Why are you calling me?” Amelia’s voice dropped to a hush, as
if someone might overhear.
Chole let out a softugh. It sounded hollow. “I know what you
Chapter <b>57 </b>
did… at Eden Manor”
Amelia’s heart skipped a beat.
“I knoweverything.”
A cold sweat broke out on her back.
“Chole, listen. You’re not well. This isn’t the time-”
“I just wanted to thank you,” Chole interrupted, her voice
syrupy sweet. “Because now, I’m going to marry your son. We’ll
be one big, happy family.”
There was a pause.
“And you know what happens when a family keeps secrets,
right? They rot from the inside.”
The line disconnected.
Amelia stood frozen. The phone still pressed to her ear, and her
breath stuck in her throat. The everposed Luna of the
Hawthrone Pack felt the creeping chill of fear spread down her
spine.
Olivia’s POV
The past five days had been oddly peaceful.
My leg was healing fast–thanks to werewolf genes, painkillers,
and Mike’s miraculous chicken soup–and the swelling had gone
down so much I could almost walk without crutches. Not that
Mike let me. Every time I tried, he’d wave a spat at me like I
was breaking sacredws.
“You sit,” he’d say, dragging over the wheelchair. “Even queens
get carried when injured.”
Honestly, I didn’t argue. His food was too good to risk being
exiled from his kitchen.
Ava called in the morning. “Liv, Ethan’s in shambles. Everyone’s
dragging him on the inte for turning a blind eye while his
mistress got pped. He can’t even show his face in public
without being called a spineless golden retriever!”
I nearly choked on my tea.
“You okay?” Ava asked.
“Yeah, I coughed. “Just–‘golden retriever‘?”
“Well, the loyal kind. Except he didn’t end up being loyal, so…
mutt, maybe?”
“Let’s go with that.”
Apparently, Ethan had been too busy doing damage control
after the Chole incident to bother me again. Rose had confirmed
that he hadn’t shown up at my ce since that night. Good. The
less drama, the better.
“I also told Dad to take Mom abroad for a while,” I told Ava. “Just
until this whole Windsor mess dies down. But they haven’t
booked the tickets yet.”
“Maybe they’re not worried because they know you’re
protected.”
“Protected?”
“Liv, do you think people didn’t notice what Alexander did for
you at the g? That wasn’t just polite manners. That was a
stand. The Windsors aren’t idiots. They’ll think twice before
doing anything.”
That did make sense, though I hadn’t dwelled on it too much.
Mostly because Alpha Alexander had beenpletely avoiding
me since I moved into his penthouse.
At first, I thought he was just busy. But then I realized–he was
doing it for me. To avoid more gossip. To not make my recovery
ufortable.
Thoughtful. Too thoughtful. It was messing with my head.
That evening, I offered to help Mike with dinner. He looked
scandalized but handed me a pair of gloves and let me peel
potatoes while he chopped vegetables.
“Have you seen Alexander today?” I asked, keeping my tone
casual.
Mike hesitated. “He left this morning.”
“Work?”
“Family,” he said. “His parents called him in. For a blind date!””
I blinked. “A what?”
Mike chuckled. “Yep. As the Green Pack’s heir, his marriage is
sort of… a public interest. Apparently, his mom’s worried he’ll
die alone in a suit and a frown.”
I snorted. “Doesn’t he hate those kind of things?”
“He does. They tried once, two years ago. The girl cried halfway
through and the waiter spilled wine on his coat. Never again.
But now that he’s back in China, they’re insisting.”
I looked down at the half–peeled potato in my hand. A blind
date? Alexander?
“He’s… actually going?”
“Couldn’t get out of it,” Mike said. “Apparently, they’re trying to
arrange an alliance through marriage. Very old–school.”
I didn’t know why it bothered me. It wasn’t like I had any say in
who Alexander dated. He was calm, stoic,pletely
unattached to people–except when it came to defending me in
public, cooking dinner, and picking me up like I weighed.
nothing.
C