#Chapter 27 Reese & I

Olivia’s POV

The back wall holds many tables with several brochures, framed documents and pledges of money people have made just this evening. I’m too confused to admit it to myself, Gabriel leading me down the lengthy tables full of information about my charity as if I had been the one to set these up; but I haven’t.

I stop near the center of the onslaught of information, seeing a single photo framed and propped upright in all of its nostalgic glory. It’s a framed photo of Reese and myself, my childhood features so cheerful, so innocent, before my brother and I faced our first hardship together in the death of our parents.

“How did you find this picture?” I ask, choking back a sob, my brother’s cheery grin so cherubic and innocent that it physically hurts my wolf and my heart. “I have never seen this picture of—of Luna Olivia and her brother.”

Gabriel grins, his hand gently sliding across my back. “I may have gone through some of Reese’s things after he was inducted from our pack and rejected out of Alpha Herold’s. I found this photo and I left it at first but when I came up with the theme of this gala, I knew it had a place at this event.”

I hold back a flood of tears, seeing the old photo of us before I had been killed and before my brother had been close to the same fate. I feel responsible for helping Alpha Herold and putting myself in the situations I had, leading to my untimely death.

I’ll be damned if I allow the same fate for Reese.

Pulling from Gabriel’s touch, I hear the fluttering of photographer’s cameras at every little movement I make. I keep a pristine, tight face with reserved features, knowing those tabloids will spin any little expression as if I’m fuming angry or utterly distraught when in reality, I feel oddly content.

I’m motivated on something now that doesn’t involve winning over the favor of my mate. It’s a different perspective from my first life, the life squandered to losing my organs, my blood, just to appease an easily manipulated Alpha who wasn’t good for me; not the other way around.

My brother’s face in that photo pulls for my focus, yearns for my attention, and I deem myself secondary to such ordeals. I owe it to him, to myself, to grow this charity up and help cure my brother of his countless, debilitating illnesses.

“If I ever burn-out,” I breathe, “then pick me up, hand me a cup of coffee, and push me back into the fire.”

Gabriel’s eyes soften, his hands folding into his black suit pants. “You are my wife, and the pack Luna. You have a responsibility to this pack, to yourself, and even to Reese, to put yourself on a pedestal every now and again. You need to take care of yourself.”

I scoff at his words. “Take care of myself?”

Shaking my head, those words seem so damn selfish, even from his lips. I lived my first life for myself and the only highlight near the end was that pregnancy I had found out about and even then, I knew I wouldn’t live long enough to reap the benefits of it later.

Frankly, I fucked up my first life living for my own selfish needs. Never again.

“You said you would support me as my mate,” I say, my glare narrow on his. “I am grateful of this gala and the amount of detail you have put into making this happen, but if you ever try to pull my focus off of this work and onto my own selfish needs again, I will find a way to divorce you; with or without your permission.”

I watch his throat move with a hefty swallow.

I’m sure Gabriel is unfamiliar with threats of this caliber but it’s the truth then it had to be said at some point. Whatever aim he has tonight, I just hope it is for the betterment of Reese, for the intent to better my charity and the work I am striving so damn hard to do. If it’s instead for the self-boasting of some false love between us, then he should feel embarrassed.

“The damage done to those two little, innocent souls is insurmountable,” I say, slinging a finger in the direction of the picture of my brother and I as young, carefree pups. “With the gaps in our system now, wolves like them will continue to suffer, to die, without even a chance to find the cures necessary to live full, happy lives.”

I turn on my heels, ready to stomp back into the heat of the battle, back into the world of numbers and pledging promises to upgrades in every hospital around the world, for every pack, but Gabriel has other plans.

His hand snatches mine, spinning me around so fast that I lose my balance, his arms latching around my hips and yanking me upright so hard that I feel a pang of shock spike through my spine. It’s not so much his abrasiveness, but his determination, his eyes a fiery red color I have never seen before.

He lurches forward, claiming me against his chest, his lips piling a heavy, panting kiss onto my own. It’s a moment before I make sense of his sudden movements, only snapping back into reality when I feel his tongue part my lips, his hands squeezing at my hips, and easily half of the gala staring at us now.

I rip myself backwards, stumbling in the process, my wrist wiping the taste of his lips off of my mouth, the tingling sensation his tongue left on my lower lip so electric that if I didn’t know any better, I’d say I’ve been struck by lightning.

“How dare you?” I growl, left in obliterating rage at his actions tonight. “Who do you think you are, Gabriel, to kiss me like that?”

His red eyes burn holes through me. “I am your husband. I will always be your husband. You can bury yourself in this work as much as you like, but you will only find me at every intersection, patiently waiting for my wife. For you.”

“You cannot have me,” I say, squaring up to the broad, towering Alpha. I don’t care that he stands over me, that his eyes are like rubies and that even if he is blocked in my mind link, I can physically feel his wolf’s aura penetrating my soul. “My life is now dedicated to this charity, to this goodwill, and if you think there is any ounce of my heart leftover for you to claim, you are so wrong, King Alpha.”

He tips his chin upward, staring down at me through dark eyelashes. “If you think your life was miserable enough to end before you had my attention, you should know that it will hurt a million times more now that you have my love and you throw it aside.”

“I’m not afraid of getting hurt,” I bite. “I know it too well to be scared away from my goals.”

He steps aside after a long, silent moment between us. I feel overwhelmed with the rush of emotions I have had tonight, forcing them all down with such a steady hand that I fake my smile, I stand straighter, and I go back into the buzzing gala with every intent to collect as much interest as possible to grow this project.

My brother is my focus, not the childish whims of love from the King Alpha.