Olivia saw the open gash on his upper arm and clenched her teeth. She picked up her nightgown and tore a piece. She walked up to him and then with shaky fingers wrapped the bandage around his wound. Her face was flushed and she could feel his heated gaze on her instead of being bothered about his wound. She stepped back and in a low voice said, "The moon is about to go down, and so must you."
His chest heaved and Olivia couldn't help stealing a gaze at those rippling muscles and sweat slicked skin. She broke herself free from all the thoughts and then turned back. She headed towards the exit of the tree's hollow. Just before she could come out of the exit, he strode to her and stopped her. She halted with a jerk and looked up at him through her thick eyelashes. He gave her his dagger. "Keep it with you as a memory of today." Olivia's lips parted as her body trembled. She lifted the dagger with its encrusted hilt.
"Thanks," she said, not sure if she should accept it or not. But nonetheless, she took it and then she circled past him. She could feel his gaze boring into her back as she walked back home. She dared not look back.
Olivia entered the mansion from the servant's door. No one was awake at this point of time. She tiptoed her way to her room, changed her clothes and then crashed in her bed.
"Olivia!" Her mother's voice hit her ears sharply. "Gods above! What the hell is wrong with you?" She plucked her blanket away. "It is so late in the morning! Get up."
"Mother," she protested and tried to snatch her blanket back.
"You look like a wreck. Whatever happened to you?" she said, aghast at her state. "And why is hair cut? Did you shear them?"
Her sleep gone, Olivia shot up in the bed. Her hands went to her pillow under which she had kept the dagger presented by him.
"What the hell are you looking for?"
Olivia removed her hand from there immediately and took them to her hair. She recalled that he had cut her hair. "I cut them," she said in a low voice, half wondering if she had dreamed of meeting the warrior.
Kaia threw the blanket over her and then walked to pull the thick drapes away. A cool gust of wind entered and Olivia shivered. "Get up, Olive," said Kaia. "You are smelling of wood and dirt. Did you go out somewhere?"
"N— no!" Olivia shook her head and rubbed the nape of her neck.
"Then get out of the bed and get dressed. Your father is waiting for you downstairs to break the fast." Kaia picked up her daughter's dirty nightgown and dropped it in the laundry basket.
"Why?" Olivia asked, bewildered. Her father never had the time to wait for her for breakfast.
Kaia walked up to her and sat down beside her on the bed. She placed her hand on her daughter's hand. With a solemn look, she said, "Olivia, what I am going to tell you is of extreme importance. You should listen to me carefully. There has been some heavy discussion going on between him and the Generals of the Whiteclaw pack. We all have come to the conclusion that we all want a peace treaty between Silver Vales and our pack. There's been too much destruction of the property and too much bloodshed. People are tired of it. Our Alpha, Murtagh, is still in house arrest at Draoidh. There is no news from him. Vaarin is taking a decision on his own to end this eternal battle for freedom." A pained look came on her face. "This battle against the kingdom has claimed your brother's life." She took a deep breath to control her emotions, her tears. Then she placed her hand on Olivia's cheek. "If your brother was alive, we would have been celebrating his marriage, but—" she pursed her lips and swallowed the burn in the back of her throat. "But here we are…" She stroked Olivia's cheeks with her thumb. "Your father has invited the Silver Vales leaders. They will be here for peace talks and a treaty will be signed. However, your father has been compelled to do one extra thing." Her gaze darted between Olivia's eyes and she knew that her daughter was holding her breath. "The Elders at Silver Vales have asked us to seal the peace talks with your marriage to the most important General of Silver Vales."
"Mother…" Olivia's lips quivered. She knew what was coming and realized that she had held her breath for so long.
Kaia gave her daughter a sympathetic look. "I am so sorry Olive, but your fates are sealed. I fought with your father against it, but he wouldn't listen." A tear dropped out of her eye and she wondered if she would even see her daughter alive after she was married to the Silver Claw General. The man was rumored to be extremely ruthless and fiercely loyal to his king and his prince. "Would you do that for us, my child?" For the first time Kaia hated being a beta's wife. She had to sacrifice her children for the pack's benefit. She gazed at her daughter with abandon.
Olivia placed her hand on her mother's hand on her cheek. She recalled her interaction with the man she had met last night and suddenly everything felt wrong. How could she marry a man who had killed her brother? How could her father do that to her? "He killed Luke," she whispered. "I won't be able to live with a man who did that."
Kaia's tears came out unbridled and she controlled herself from sobbing. "You have to leave your past and move forward. The peace talks depend on you, Olive. Don't let them fail, don't let your father fail. You have a duty towards your pack."
"Mother!" Olivia couldn't help but feel anxious as hell.
Kaia—
