I blinked, startled. “You do?”

    Frederick’s fury didn’t fade. He stumbled backward, his eyes zing, but his gaze locked on me like a predator refusing to let go. His voice was low, lethal, trembling

    with anger.

    Mother’s lips tightened, her voice calm when it finally broke through the silence. “Lord Frederick is a dominant, possessive man. You know this. You provoked him, Olivia— what did you expect would happen when you pushed him so far?” 3

    But where could I go?

    Her throat bobbed as she swallowed hard, then without another word, she turned on

    her heel and walked out, the door shutting quietly behind her.

    Frederick’s control snapped. His eyes darkened, feral, and before I could react, he yanked me toward the bed. The impact knocked the air from my lungs, my palms scraping the sheets as he pinned me. His body pressed hard against mine, heat and raw fury radiating from him.

    The bed shook as he stumbled backward, finally releasing me, his hands frantic, eyes locked on the fire now crackling along the edge of the sheets. I leapt away, rolling to my feet, heart hammering, breaths sharp and wild.

    He growled, rage and disbelief battling inside him, and lunged again, but I was ready this time, every nerve alive with heat and fury. My hand rose, mes dancing along my fingertips, and I let the fire speak my warning.

    I closed my eyes and reached out through the mind–link, my voice shaky and strained. “Louis…”

    Her face twitched, torn between anger and guilt, but she stood her ground. “You don’t understand, Olivia. Men like Frederick… they don’t respond to defiance. You can’t keep humiliating him publicly and expect there to be no consequences. I am trying to keep you alive-”

    Her face paled, her chest rising and falling in uneven breaths, I could see the battle raging in her eyes–fear, pride, desperation–but she didn’t take a step closer.

    336 Almost

    Slowly, I pushed myself off the bed and headed toward the dresser.

    I let out a bitter, humorlessugh, shaking my head. “Alive? You call this alive? To be chained to a monster who only sees me as property?” My voice rose, sharp and ragged. “You want to know the truth, Mother? You disgust me more than he does. Because at least Frederick doesn’t hide what he is. You pretend it’s all for my ‘good.””

    Her brows furrowed, her lips trembling as though she wanted to plead with me. “Olivia, please. Let us talk-”

    There was a pause, then his voice came, calm but edged with concern. “Olivia? Are you okay?”

    “No!” I cut her off, my voice loud enough to rattle the air between us. “If you don’t leave my room this instant, I swear I will teleport away, and you will never see me again. Not you. Not Frederick. No one. I’ll be gone, and you’ll have nothing left of your daughter but her memory.”

    He ripped off his briefs in one violent motion, his cock springing free, hard and huge. My stomach twisted at the sight, but I refused to flinch, refused to give him even a flicker of triumph. I tried to push him, to shove him back, but his strength pinned mepletely.

    My eyes widened, disbelief flooding me, and then rage followed like a floodgate breaking. “What did I expect?” I barked, stepping toward her. “So now it’s my fault? I provoked him? Are you even listening to yourself? He tried to force himself on me, Mother! He had his hands on me, he-” My voice cracked with fury, my wolf snarling inside. “And your first thought is to defend him?”

    “Do you understand? He–he lost control. He-“I shook my head, struggling to keep my voice steady. “He thinks he owns me, Mother. He thinks he can force me. But I—” 1 took a shaky breath, ring at her with everything I had left. “I’m not his. Not ever.”

    Three minutes.

    The silence that followed was suffocating.

    His voice dropped to something soft, something that steadied me even as I shook. “Wait beside our favorite coffee shop. Three minutes. I’lle to you. My ce is just

    behind it.”

    The thought of the triplets stabbed me. Lennox and Levi were still at each other’s

    b /b

    336 Almost

    throats, their bond poisoned by jealousy and rivalry. I had vowed not to see them until they made peace, until they could stand beside each other without tearing me in half.

    That left only one…

    I spat the words out before she could frame them any other way. “Your favorite Lord Frederick almost raped me!”

    Olivia’s POV

    Louis.

    I bit my lip, pacing, one hand pressed hard against my chest as though I could hold myself together. “Louis… can we meet? Somewhere else? Away from there?”

    He obviously noticed my emotions through the bond.

    “We all do,” he exined quickly. “Separate spaces… for when things get too much and for privacy.” [2

    I crossed my arms over my chest, still trembling slightly, still filled with rage. “If I was an ordinary girl, he could have had his way with me-” I spat at her. “That is the kind of man you want me to be with!”

    I couldn’t stay here. Not now. Not after Frederick’s filth and Mother’s betrayal.

    “Try me,” I hissed, venom and power coiling together, “and I’ll burn your cock.”

    I let out a trembling breath, already reaching for my shoes. Three minutes, and I wouldn’t be here anymore. Three minutes, and maybe I could breathe again.

    The moment she left, I sagged onto the edge of the bed, my body trembling, my wolf pacing restlessly inside me.

    “Olivia, what happened?” she asked, her eyes full of concern, confusion, and curiosity.

    “Answer me,” she pressed, voice sharper now, the worryced with usation.

    My throat tightened, but I forced the words out. “No. I… I can’t breathe in this ce anymore. Where are you?”

    I didn’t answer. Instead, I clenched my jaw, shoved thest of my hair behind my shoulder, and red at her. The fire in my chest had not yet cooled.

    “Get. Out,” I repeated, my voice lower now, but sharp enough to echo in the room.

    336 Almost

    I grabbed a pair of jeans and a simple shirt, pulling them on quickly. The denim hugged my legs, the shirt soft against my skin–mundane, normal, I needed to feel like myself again, away from the chaos Frederick had tried to drag me into.

    Her lips pressed into a thin line, hands clenching at her sides, a storm of fear and fury battling behind her eyes. She wanted to say something, anything, to make it all better, but the truth burned too sharply between us. I could see the gears turning in her mind, the questions and the horror, but I wasn’t letting her intervene–not yet.

    “You belong to me, Olivia,” he growled, stepping closer, while I stretched out my ming hand toward him. “You were vowed to me. You will be mine. I will marry you.”

    Frederick’s eyes widened in shock, his roar of anger colliding with surprise. I could feel his body stiffen, his grip faltering as the mes surged. Smoke curled around us, stinging my nose, but I didn’t stop. My wolf roared in unison with me, unleashed and victorious, demanding the dominance I refused to relinquish.

    Iughed, sharp and bitter, shaking my head. “Over my dead body,” I spat, every word burning with defiance.

    Silence filled the link for a heartbeat, and then his reply came, gentle but sure. “Yes. I have my own apartment.”

    I sucked in a shaky breath, my heart thudding faster. “Where?”

    “You think you can fuck me?” I spat, my voice a razor cutting through the chaos. “I am not yours, Frederick. Not ever.”

    I sank to the bed, chest heaving, wolf growling softly in my chest. I stared at my ming hand, and I inhaled deeply as the fire began to lessen. Suddenly the door to my room pushed open, and Mother stormed in.

    i“/iPackhouse, he answered instantly, his tone sharpening as if ready to drop everything,

    Her mouth opened, then closed, her expression faltering as my words struck. She looked balmost/b… wounded. But I didn’t let myself feel guilty. Not this time.

    Her mouth opened, then closed again, a sharp intake of breath betraying the shock she tried to hide. Her eyes narrowed, searching mine as though trying to find some reason to disbelieve me, but I held her gaze.

    I didn’t give her a response; rather, I quenched the fire in my hand.

     336 Almost

    I should have teleported, should have vanished in an instant, but rage consumed me. It was blinding, roaring inside like wildfire. My vision blurred with fury. And then it happened: fire erupted from my hand. A scorching wave of heat shot outward, licking the sheets, sizzling the air.

    He wasn’t caught up in their fight.

    I jabbed a finger toward the door, my jaw clenched so tight it hurt. “Get out.”

    Before I could react, he tore his briefs the rest of the way, yanking on his jeans over his nakedness, and with a searing re, he stormed out. The door mmed behind him. 2

    The air felt heavy, suffocating, pressing against my chest like a weight I couldn’t lift. Even with the mes in my hand gone, the fire inside me refused to die down. Every inhale scratched my lungs, every exhale burned. This room–these walls–were choking me.

    His eyes darkened, and a slow, terrifying smile curled his lips. “Then I will marry your dead body,” he whispered, each word a promise and a threat all at once. 3

    Her brows furrowed when she saw me in my torn dress, and then her eyes darted to the mes dancing in my fingers.

    “Olivia… what happened?” Her voice was tight, part concernb, /bpart curiosity. Her brows furrowed, her hands twitching as if she wanted to reach for me.

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