“It is a tradition in our pack for the woman who is to be the luna to get a prophecy from the old witch, Helga. It was the day for the mating ceremony. We were standing at the altar. The witch gave her prophecy, which was that I was going to cause a war between our pack and another pack,” Olivia said.
“How were you going to do that?” Sean asked.
Olivia shrugged her shoulders, helplessly, and said, “I don’t know. Until I came down here, I didn’t even know any wolf shifters from any other packs.”
“What was Declan’s reaction?”
“He had me dragged from the altar and put into one of the cells in the back of our ceremonial cave and decreed that I was to die. I’m pretty sure he planned on torturing me until I told him how and why I planned on starting the war,” Olivia said.
“So, then what? Did he decide to let you go?”
“No, my friend, Sandra, snuck in and gave me the key to my cell. She had packed my car and hid it in the woods,” Olivia said.
“Why is he still looking for you?” Sean asked. “With you gone, there’s no chance of you starting a war.”
“One would think, but this is where it gets really stupid. He thinks that because I’m still alive, he’s been cursed. One of his friends got into a fight in a bar and got shot. It hasn’t occurred to him that his friend is a blow hard that pisses everyone off and is also a complete moron.”
“Have you told Zac about this yet?”
“No. It sounds so stupid, like some kind of far-fetched story that no one would believe. I’m embarrassed,” Olivia said. “But, I was getting around to it.”
“He needs to know. Getting around to it isn’t good enough,” Sean said. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Declan is acting like a child. He doesn’t need to be an alpha if he’s behaving like this.”
“Tell me about it. His father was bad, but not this bad,” Olivia said.
Olivia finished her lunch and said, “I appreciate you covering for me and being my friend.” She hugged Sean and walked over to Jade.
“You’re going to run, aren’t you?” Jade said.
“I have to. Take care of yourself,” Olivia said.
She had almost everything packed when there was a knock on her door. Her heart stopped and she started shaking in fear.
Did they find me? I can’t fight all of them. I won’t go back, though.
“Olivia, it’s Zac. Open the damned door.”
Her hands shook as she twisted the locks on the doors and slid open the chain lock on the door. She stood back to let him in.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?” he thundered.
“I’m packing. I have to leave. I guess Sean told you everything.”
“He did. I should have heard it first from you.”
“I know,” Olivia whispered. “It sounds so stupid. I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“I don’t care how fucking stupid you think it sounded, you should have told me,” Zac said.
“I know. I’m sorry,” Olivia whispered, wiping a tear from her eye.
“So, you were just going to leave? Disappear without saying anything to me?”
“I am planning on leaving. I can’t put you or anyone else in danger. You don’t know them. They don’t care who they hurt. I care about you, Sean, and Jade way too much to see you hurt. And, I was planning on finding you and telling you,” she said.
“I obviously can’t force you to stay, but I really think that you should. You’ve made a lot of friends in this town who’ll protect you. We appreciate the fact that you care about us and don’t want us to get hurt, but you are a part of our family now. Family doesn’t just get up and leave at the first sign of danger,” Zac said, his voice a lot calmer now.
She plopped down on the bed and Zac sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close.