#Chapter 14 Falsities

Olivia’s POV
“You didn’t know a damn thing about Olivia!” I am screaming now, something I’m not necessarily proud of but I can’t hold it in any longer. “You will not sit here and tell me that you knew a damn thing about your wife of five years!”
“I knew her well, Queen Luna.”
“What was her favorite color, then? Or, what was her favorite food? Hell, Herold. What was Olivia Opal’s favorite fucking place in the world? You didn’t know her and you never cared to! You don’t get to play grieving husband now! It’s all a fucking lie!”
Herold opens his mouth, as though he could have anything in rebuttal to say to me now. It’s useless, though. He can’t say anything to change my mind. He ends up shutting his mouth, a glint of pain in his eyes as he must realize that he has no idea what the answers are.
I feel angry tears fill my eyes now. I wish I could stop them; he doesn’t deserve to see me so upset over this predicament. He is the reason for my cries. He has always been the reason for my crying. I want him to be distraught and crying, not me!
“She fucking cared for you and you squandered it. You fucking squandered it.”
He shakes his head, breaking with my words. “I know.”
“Do you? Do you know what she said last? Her last fucking words in this existence, did you know what they were?”
His eyes cross, his brows pinched. “I don’t, Queen Luna.”
“They were, Herold, help me.” I bark, turning quickly, disgusted with the sight of him.
Herold’s face loses all color. If he looked sick before, he looks dead now.
“How do you know such a thing, my dear?” Gabriel asks, reaching for me, but I slap his hand away. “My Luna. Please, calm down. Talk to me.”
“The jailer told me when I asked about her death,” I lie. “I wanted to know if she suffered, and she sure did. She suffered a horrible and untimely death because of this Alpha right here. He got her killed and didn’t care at all about what pain it caused her. She lost a child that day, and she begged for his help; he never helped her. He never cared for her.”
“I have enough beratement from my wolf; we lost our mate. I have plenty of pain in my soul already, I can’t take anymore of it,” Herold whimpers. “I am sorry I can’t bring her back but if I could, Queen Luna, I would show her a better life than the one I gave her.”
“That’s not how things work,” I say simply. “You ruined her life, her only life, and you are responsible for her death. I hope you’re happy with what you’ve done, Alpha Herold. It lands you a spot in hell.”
My old mate has had enough of this fight. He stalks away at last, leaving me at last while he goes out the hospital doors. I fall backwards into my seat, trembling all over and feeling as if I’ve done something terrible. I haven’t, though. I did the right thing, making him feel terrible. It’s the least he could do for letting me die.
Gabriel moves to kneel behind the desk with me, his hand stopping me from grabbing for the pen and getting back to the paperwork at hand. Some of these papers get wolves like Reese better care and I have to focus on that now. I can’t break more than I already have today.
“My dear, I’ve never seen you so fervent. Alpha Herold seems to make you that way a lot, huh? You always seem so vibrant when he is around, as though you two have a history.”
“Why would you even think that, Gabriel?” I groan.
“Well, I have to agree. You never mentioned your friendship with Olivia Opal before. Now you seem keen on forcing Alpha Herold to pay for his loveless behavior toward his wife before she passed away. I just want to know why you won’t let the Alpha find peace.”
Speaking into my palms, I shudder. “He doesn’t deserve it.”
“You’re my Luna,” he says, a reminder I didn’t need. “You belong to no other Alpha than me. You can’t see that Alpha again. I won’t allow it.”
Gabriel brushes the back of my head gently, playing with my long, light hair and trying to sooth me slowly. It works somewhat but not enough to get my mind off the idea of finishing this paperwork. I need to work. I was never allowed to do it before, but I have the time now. I have to do something with that time before I lose it.
“Just divorce me already,” I say, begging under heavy sigh.
“Can’t, my dear. I tore up the papers.”
I snap a look up at his features. He can’t be serious. I stood him up and I’ve been ignoring him for weeks. Why would he destroy the divorce agreement he wanted?
“I’ll never stop fighting for the divorce,” I groan.
“I didn’t think you would, my dear.” He reaches for my sore hands, tired from all the paperwork I’ve done today. “We have a party tonight. I want you to attend with me, please. It’s in the hot springs so we can swim and mingle with the other packs and their Alphas. It’s a good opportunity for you to network some more, my dear.”
He’s playing to my interests and it works.
I let him whisk me away from my desk, form my charity work, and we head back to the palace to change. I am not very good at swimming so I put on the bikini with no intentions of having to use it. I slip a white knit dress over the swim suit, though and let Gabriel walk me to the hot springs behind the palace walls. It’s not far from the beach, down a freshwater stream that cuts through the woods.
Music and festivities have already commenced. Gabriel makes his typical rounds, shaking hands and greeting people, all while wearing a pair of swim shorts that leave the rest of him open to sight. He is carved beautifully in muscle, in strength, and I can’t help but gawk.
He enjoys it too, eyeing me carefully as I sit on one of the cliffs, my feet dangling just over a small pool of warm water from the hot springs. I lean back, the sun kissing the spots of my skin where the bikini doesn’t cover.
“Are you going to scream at me some more?” Alpha Herold asks, pacing the path nearby before he finds a seat on the rocks beside me. I stare up at him, then catching a look from Gabriel nearby, both of these Alpha’s masculine energy bouncing off one another. “I want to apologize if I upset you earlier, Queen Luna.”
“You did upset me,” I admit. “Standing here will only make it worse.”
“I can’t help but think of my mate when you speak. There’s something about you, Queen Luna, that reminds me so much of her. She would have never yelled at me when she was alive, but she should have. If she did, she would have said the same thing you’re saying to me now. I would deserve to hear it from her, just like I deserve to hear it from you.”
“Don’t tempt me, Alpha Herold, I will say more,” I bite.
Why doesn’t he just walk away? He may have his suspicions but he can’t prove a thing, and he won’t be able to if he keeps pushing for me to talk to him. He sits down on the rock, Gabriel’s attention striking harder now from a distance.
“Herold, go,” I snap.
He acts as though he hadn’t heard me; a hefty mistake. “There are too many things I did wrong with Olivia. I never wanted to hurt her. I just—”
I can’t take it anymore. I throw my hands forward, watching him fall right off the rocks and land in the hot, sulfur smelling pools below. He breaches the surface, steam trailing off of his skin while he wipes his shocked, green eyes, something so surprising about my decision to throw him off the rock.
It brings me a small pinch of pride.