#Chapter 52 New Home

Olivia’s POV

“Please tell me you packed the silverware,” Celine groans.

We are busy unpacking in our new apartment in the center of the Royal Pack city. I’m closer to the hospital than before, in the beating heart of a city whereas I just left the seaside palace of my dreams. I had to, though, and Gabriel will be furious when he finds out.

He is taking the pack on a run and it seemed like as good as a time as any for Celine and I to make our move. We found this little apartment in a high rise on short notice. We pay a little extra a month now to ensure they don’t spread the news that the Queen Luna’s name is on a lease downtown.

The reporters would have a field day with that.

I shuffle through one of my many packed boxes, feeling overwhelmed in the mess. “I don’t think I packed any dishes, Celine.”

He huffs a hefty laugh. “Oh no. What’re we going to eat with?”

I shrug, my mind running miles while I think about what Gabriel will do when he goes home and the warriors mention his wife who packed up and left while he was away. I told them that I was helping Celine find an apartment for a more permanent spot here in the pack, which isn’t a complete lie.

I’m just moving in with her.

“I just came from a place with a live-in chef and other staff to do this dishes, Celine,” I remind her. “I didn’t think about when I threw my stuff in boxes to leave.”

She nods, her face fallen with my explanation. “It’s going to be okay, Olivia. You’re making a good decision here. You came back to life to focus on Reese and to live for yourself. This is a good move for you.”

I nod but my head is pounding with a migraine.

It doesn’t help when the front door is laced with a fist knocking out. My heart falls and Celine peers through the peephole, her hopeful smile falling.

She looks at me, her demeanor downtrodden. “It’s Gabriel.”

“Go ahead and unpack your bedroom boxes,” I groan. “I’ll handle my husband.”

She scurries off and the knocking continues, the force damn near denting the metal door to the apartment. I unlock the chain and flip the door open. Gabriel stands in the hall surrounded by warriors who are all out of breathe and flush in the face, like they were chewed out and then sprinted over here.

He speaks through his gritted teeth. “You better start explaining right now.”

The King Alpha charges into he apartment, looking around the boxes strewn about the floor of the living room and the kitchen. He is overwhelmed that much is clear. I feel bad about my methods but not for the notion. He wanted to run away with me and ditch being Alpha. How is this any different?

I can’t believe you’re doing this to me, my dear. How could you move out of the palace? I told you I am not divorcing you! You wanted space, that’s all you said, but this is enough space between us to get you targeted by rogues, Luna!”

I shudder at his words. I’ve thought of that threat, but not enough to let it change my mind. I have to focus on my life this round. I can’t get caught up in his aching heart.

“I know the risks, Gabriel,” I breathe.

“Then come home, please. I’ll move into the fucking garden if I have to, just let me look after you.”

“That’s the problem.” I bury my face into my hands. “I don’t need to be looked after, Gabriel. I need to take care of myself, worry about myself, and I’m done letting men take hold of that right and then squander it, leaving me for dead!”

I cover my mouth with my palm, my heart pulsing with a static rhythm.

He narrows his glare in my direction.

“What are you saying?”

“Nothing, Gabriel,” I just—”

“No,” a new voice chirps from down the hall. My stomach aches. “Finish that sentence.”

I turn to see Alpha Herold pushing through the hallway, the palace warriors all hesitating to let them through but Gabriel waves them back. Herold stands in the doorway, leaning on the wall while he looks around the box-filled apartment.

“Nice place,” Herold hums. “A little small for the royal Alpha and Luna.”

“Just the Luna,” I correct. “Why are you here, Alpha Herold? What could you possibly want now? How are you not at your pack lands right now, doing your typical Alpha bullshit as always—maybe screwing the next power-hungry whore that disparages your mate’s legacy!”

Both men are taken aback from my ferocity. I bite my tongue until it bleeds.

I’m unravelling faster than I can collect myself.

“Someone please tell me what is going on,” Gabriel gusts.

I fall to the floor, every piece of my soul shattering slowly within my body.

Alpha Herold looks elsewhere, pulling a set of keys out of his pocket and showing them to us both. “I got a short term lease so I would stop running up hotel bills when Reese was knocked out in your hospital. I wanted to look after him; he was born in my pack and so was my brother. I wanted to have a place on the side so I could be closer to them both.”

“You live in this building?” Gabriel groans.

“Only a night or two a week.” Herold shifts his eyes to me and I sniffle an inhale. “Obviously I should move away. I can see how this would look now. I don’t want to upset you, Queen Luna. I know I’ve done enough of that already.”

I stare at the floor, trembling all over. “I just want to be free.”

“Free from what, my dear? I’ve done nothing but try to be there for you.”

“That’s the problem,” I say, flicking a look toward Alpha Herold. “Every time I’m there for someone, it backfires. I get hurt, I get left behind, and I can’t go through it again, Gabriel. I can’t.”

“I don’t understand,” the King Alpha groans. He kneels in front of me, his hands pressing against my cheeks. “I love you, Luna. I love you enough to accept that you need space. If this is what you want, then fine, I’ll help decorate the damn place, just stop shutting me out.”

My breath catches, thinking of Alpha Herold, my stomach in tight knots. He promised to love me once too, to be there for me like I had been there for him. It didn’t work out that way, and I can only have the faint memory of my life and the hope of the child that never came to fruition as the lasting memory left in my heart.

Gabriel shoots forward suddenly, his lips locking with mine. I slide my arms around his shoulders, keeping him pinned against my body while we kiss thoroughly through the silence. Herold leaves somewhere in the moment, his faint look of pain left behind in his slow, somber steps in the hallway.