#Chapter 29 An Unfamiliar Friend

Olivia’s POV

I’ve made it a point to avoid the news on TV, pushing away any offer to read the papers or magazines brough into the palace by the maids. I’m not embarrassed, though I probably should be, that the Royal pack and several others seem keen on guessing who I share my bed with these days.

Frankly, I’ve been sleeping in Gabriel’s office, denying him any opportunity to pull the same stunt he had tried to pull at the gala. To him, it was a kiss a husband would give to his wife. It was a simple, even natural, act and he probably considered it to be harmless.

To me, it was a violation of my desires.

We sit in the dining room now, silent as it has been for days, my eyes focused on the small spoon swirling around my coffee cup will Gabriel glares through me, waiting for me to say something, to explain my brazen behavior toward him at the gala, but I will let him suffer a little longer in this tensile silence. He has earned it.

The attending warrior from the foyer bows his head as he enters the dining room, looking toward me for a change instead of directly addressing his boss, the King Alpha. “My Luna, Celine has returned from her study abroad early, she requests to greet you at once.”

My brow furrows, my lips parted agape as I try to recognize that name but nothing comes to mind at the moment. Gabriel leans forward, grinning crookedly, like he knows a secret and watches me suffer without the information he holds to his chest.

“That’s great, my dear, isn’t it?” His voice trails on the borderline of sarcasm, something so sneaky in his words. “You have missed Celine so much, haven’t you?”

Swallowing hard, I assume my answer without much knowledge to go off of. “Ye—Yes, of course I have, King Alpha. It’s been—umm—forever, since I’ve seen… Celine…”

I hope the panic is written over my features too much as I stand and make a hasty exit of the dining room. The warrior follows shortly after me and to my dismay, so does Gabriel. I walk into the foyer, a young woman with brown, rolling curls hiked over her shoulder, her dark caramel eyes brighten up when I enter the room.

She kicks aside her bags at her feet, throwing her long, lanky arms around my shoulders and pulling me into the tightest, cheerful embrace I’ve ever felt in either of my lives. I pull away first, faking a grin that I know reads as nervous, but I can’t help it. Is she a relative of the Queen Luna, and old foe perhaps, or someone I’ve never met before and Gabriel was just testing me before?

None of those options seem clear to me right now.

“My goodness, Gabriel,” she huffs, crossing her arms over her chest as she stares at me in whole. “What have you done with my best friend? She’s so stiff!”

“My apologies,” he hums, smiling obnoxiously wide as he pulls himself up to my side, his hand brushing my shoulder blades before tucking me into his warm side. “You’ve missed quite a lot in your time away.”

“I’d say so!” She shakes her head, picking through her purse before throwing a familiar newspaper on the floor, the pictures of me and the other males still taunting the front page. “I came right back here when I saw all the news swirling through the system. I’ve got a week away from school; it helps when your Queen Luna is the best friend.”

“Best friend,” I breathe, snapping back into my false self. “I’ve missed you so much, Celine. It’s great to finally see you again. Should we go upstairs and talk in private, perhaps?”

I yank myself out of Gabriel’s possessive hold. Celine watches the notion but thankfully doesn’t mention it. The King Alpha rolls his eyes and mutters commands to his warriors at once, the guards grabbing Celine’s countless bags to stow away in a guest room down some endless hall downstairs.

We head for the office, the door finally repaired and the lock clicking into place as we let ourselves inside. She pulls up a chair beside my seat behind the large, mahogany desk. She crosses her ankles thoughtfully, leaning back in her chair as she strolls her eyes down the length of me, making now attempt to hide the notion.

“So,” she hums, her voice less airy and excited as before, “Tell me everything, girl. What has been going on?”

I motion to my files and my stack of paperwork. “Well, I started this new charity that—”

“No, no,” she cuts in. “Not the philanthropy part of your life. I want to know why the press is running stories about you having affairs with other wolves, another Alpha even, and the news about you being pregnant from the week before that. What is going on?”

“Oh yeah,” I grumble. “I guess you would want to know about all of that.”

“Last I checked, you were having trouble getting Gabriel to leave this very office to even have a meal with you. I come back to see him pulling you into his arms and you almost seem to… I don’t know… refuse his affectionate touch.”

I wave her words off carelessly. “I’m too busy working to care about affection, Celine.”

Her lips purse. “Who are you and what happened to Rebecca?”

My heart stammers to a halt. “Wh—what are you talking about?”

“Stop playing with me, girl, I know Rebecca Marquee to her blood and I could tell from these articles alone that you are not my best friend.” She gives me a stern look; one I shouldn’t argue with.

I try, anyways. “You must be tired from your travels. I think you’re just confused.”

“Where did we first meet, then?”

I look away, anxiety biting at me like a ravaging pack of rogues. “We met… obviously I know when we met, I just… I might recall it differently than you do—” She gives me an unrelenting glare and I feel instantly defeated already. “Fine. You’re right. My name is Olivia Opal and I died the same night the Queen Luna took her own life. I was sent back to have a second chance.”

“Well, that’s a lot to take in,” she hums, nodding slow. She slumps back into her chair, exasperated. “I was always afraid Rebecca would do something so devastating but I can’t believe she actually went through with it. I should have been here to protect her better…”

I cut in, feeling her same guilt over the Queen’s unfortunate death, even if I technically benefited from it. “She was really depressed in this marriage, in this life, Celine. She would have never overcome those feelings. She was too proud.”

I watch a tear dare to fall from her eye and although I feel I’ve grown cold to so many emotions these days, I can’t deny pain. I push forward, taking her in a warm, familiar embrace. My soul may be Olivia, but my body is Rebecca. When we pull apart, she wipes her eyes, trembling just at her fingertips.

Celine glances up at me with misty, curious eyes. “So, Olivia. I take it Gabriel doesn’t know any of this information, huh?”

“Yes, and I need it to stay that way.”

While I expect her to be sullen, she instead seems to collect herself, her eyes a dull, wolf gray. “I can’t believe he pushed her away so much. She would call me every weekend, crying that she was alone in her marriage. I guess being alone finally got to her—and he didn’t even help her. If he cared, she would still be alive.”

It’s not possible for me to defend Gabriel, I hardly know a thing about him before I came into the picture. It’s not unreasonable to think that some level of ignorance had pushed Rebecca away, but to imagine the amount necessary to lead her to take her own life; it’s so unfortunate.

“You can’t punish him,” I breathe. “It would only set him off to know that I am not who he thinks I am. If that happens, I can only imagine the treason…”

“Don’t worry,” she says, her voice light and kind. “Gabriel will pay in other ways; I am sure for it. For now though, your secret is safe with me.”