“Garret is real,” she continued. “The danger is real. But I think you’d want to leave either way. Because that’s is what you do. Whenever you get close to something good you convince yourself you don’t deserve it, and then you find a reason to go.”
“Olivia—”
“If you walk out that door, don’t come back.”
She meant every word.
He loved her. He loved her more than he’d loved anything in the entire world, his entire life. But that was exactly why he had to go. Love hadn’t saved his mother. It hadn’t stopped her coven from throwing her out or protected her from Garret or saved her from dying alone. But love wasn’t enough to keep the people you cared about safe.
“I’m sorry.” He took one last look at her beautiful face, memorized it, then turned and left without another word.
The mountain air hit his face and he kept walking. Behind him, Olivia’s sob filtered from inside the cabin. The sound broke something inside him and it would haunt him forever. His wolf,too, let out a howl of pain. But the moment he walked out that door, there was no looking back.
Chapter 14
“Iknow I keep saying it, but she’s really gorgeous,” Olivia cooed at the infant inside the crib. Mismatched blue-and-green eyes tracked her finger as she reached down to touch plump, baby-soft cheeks. “I can’t believe Ivy’s two months old now.”
“Me too,” Isabelle said. “The sleep schedule has been murder, and some nights I just want to scream with frustration. But, it’s all worth it.” She glanced down at Ivy, and then at Evan perched on her hip. “Just think about that when you have yours.”
Olivia forced a smile on her lips, and if the Lupa noticed it wasn’t genuine, she was too polite to say anything. In fact, in the last three months, no one had said anything about the night Eli left. Isabelle had come the next day, sometime in the evening, worried because she hadn’t called or shown up at their place. Olivia had been in bed, hadn’t moved since the moment she lay down and cried until she was too exhausted to fight sleep. She thought she had no tears left, but the moment Isabelle entered the cabin, she broke down once more. Through sobs and hiccups, she told Isabelle everything that happened. The Lupa had held her and soothed her with comforting words. “Whateveryou need, Olivia,” Isabelle had said. “I’ll be here. And take all the time you need.”
That time, apparently, was three months. She had remained here in Kentucky the entire time, God knows why.
Her wolf let out a sad yowl, as if to say,you know why.
“Baby, baby!” Evan cried, mercifully interrupting her thoughts.
“Aww, you wanna see Ivy?” Isabelle said. “One sec.” She pushed the crib’s railing down so he could easily reach in. His little eyes grew wide with what Olivia thought could only be described as fascination and love as he touched baby Ivy’s chubby leg.
“Well, now I’ve been standing here a full minute and Evan’s hardly noticed me.” Silke was at the door, hands on her hips, a wry smile on her face. “I guess now that Ivy’s here, I’m yesterday’s news to Evan.”
“Silkie!” Evan reached for her, and Silke laughed as she hurried over to him.
“There he is. I knew you still loved me.” She ruffled his hair, then peered into the crib. “She gets prettier every day. Can I hold her, Isabelle?”
“Of course.”
Silke reached in for Ivy, but the second she did, Evan grabbed a fistful of her shirt and yanked.
“No! Silkie mine!”
“Evan—” Isabelle began.
“Mine!” His face crumpled, lower lip trembling.
“Oh, sweetie.” Silke gathered Evan into her arms. He buried his face in her neck, one hand still gripping her shirt. “I’m not going anywhere. I was just going to hold Ivy for a second.”
“No.” His face was all scrunched up, yet he was even more adorable.
“He’s been like this all week,” Isabelle sighed. “Won’t let Silke get near Ivy. But otherwise, he just loves his baby sister.”
Olivia watched Silke bounce Evan on her hip, her hand rubbing circles on his back until his scowl softened.
“You’re a natural with kids, Silke,” Olivia said. “You’re going to be a great mom someday.”
Silke’s hand stilled on Evan’s back and while her smile stayed in place, something changed in her eyes. It was brief, a mere flicker of raw emotion that she blinked away quickly, but not fast enough that Olivia didn’t notice it.
“That’s sweet of you to say.” Silke shifted Evan to her other hip. “Oh, I just remembered, Arlene needed me to check some invoices before the end of the day. I should go take care of that before I forget.” She passed Evan back to Isabelle, dropped a kiss on Ivy’s forehead, and was out the door.
