Page 33 of Awakening

“I don’t give a shit about mate bonds. I’ll probably never meet my mate, but even if I do, I’ll never know it. I won’t feel anything.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“I stopped suppressing my werewolf genes, but I never stopped suppressing my mate response.”

“What? Why would you do that?” There is something so seriously fucked up about this dude, and I feel even worse leaving Olivia behind than I did before. If I wasn’t worried about damaging our relationship for good, I’d go back in there and physically remove her.

“Like I said, I’ll probably never meet my mate. She’s probably somewhere in Italy. I’d rather make my own choices in life anyway.”

“I don’t trust you,” I say, getting chest to chest with him again. “Stay the fuck away from my mate.”

“I don’t trust you either, and you don’t tell me what to do. I loved Olivia once, and I still care deeply for her. I’ll be sticking around to be sure she’s okay.”

“You fucker,” I say as I draw my fist back.

“Okay, okay,” Nick says, grabbing my arm. “That’s enough. Things are already tense. Don’t fuck things up with Olivia by punching this douche.” Nick looks at Anthony and shakes his head. “You’re really not the stand-up guy I remember, man. You’re a real dick.” He then pats me on the shoulder. “Let’s go. There’s no good that can come of this.”

After walking to the car in silence, Nick and I just sit for a minute. “Fuck!” I slam my fist on the dashboard. Pulling my hands down my face, I take a deep breath and release it slowly. “What the fuck just happened back there? How am I going home and leaving Olivia here with him?”

“You’re leaving her with Chloe,” Nick says. “Chloe is going to do everything she can to bring the two of you back together. Plus, you’re going to spend time together, and she’s going to remember you.”

“That’s assuming whatever Ian gave her to destroy her connection to me wears off. Fuck, it has to wear off, right?”

“It will,” Nick says.

“I just can’t believe we found her, but she’s not coming home with me. I never imagined it would turn out this way. If she wasn’t so vulnerable right now, I would have thrown her over my shoulder and carried her out myself, just like I did at the bar the night we told her about us.”

“She’s scared right now,” Nick says. “This has got to be a lot to fucking process.”

“I need to get her back home as soon as I can. I don’t like him, I don’t trust him, and I don’t want him anywhere near her.”

“I mean, the one positive is that you know she’s safe. Chloe won’t leave her side, and I do think Anthony will watch over her,” Nick says.

“I wish that brought me more comfort right now, but it doesn’t. She needs to be with me so we can rebuild our connection. She needs to be in our home, around her things. I need to make her remember how happy we were to be having a baby together. Fuck, we need to grieve together.”

“I know, man. I’m sorry,” Nick says.

Leaning my head back against the seat, I take a long deep breath and release it slowly. “I don’t know how to fucking process any of this.”

“Chloe and I are here for you…whatever you need,” Nick says. “What’s the plan moving forward?”

“Tomorrow we go home, and I’ll pack up some things so I can move into our Denver apartment for a while, but I don’t plan on being there for long. I’m bringing her home as soon as possible.”

Olivia

“Is everything okay?” I ask, twisting my hands as Chloe and I sit on the couch when Anthony comes back into the apartment.

“Everything is fine. I don’t want you to worry about a thing. Are you okay?”

I shrug my shoulders as I look at the ground while tears build in my eyes. I’ve honestly never felt so emotionally confused about anything. On one hand, I feel a sense of guilt and obligation toward Ethan. He’s lost a part of his life too. At the same time, I don’t know him. Then, there’s Anthony. While we may have broken up years ago, we still have a strong connection. I know him. I can trust him.

“I just…I don’t know,” I say as the tears begin to fall.

He sits next to me on the couch, and reaches for me, but Chloe beats him to it. She puts her arm around me and pulls me into a hug. “It’s going to be okay, Liv,” she says. “I’m here for you.”

“Thank you. Your friendship means so much to me. I don’t know what I’d do without you right now,” I say as I relax into her hug.

“You’ll never have to find out. I’m not going anywhere,” she says with a smile as we part.

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