Fated To Not Just One, But Three

Chapter 366: I have to do it

Olivia’s POV

I felt like teleporting away like I always did when anger consumed me, but this time, my feet refused to move. It was as if the floor itself held me in place. My chest rose and fell heavily, my glare locked on Lennox. Not because I hated him. No, never that. But because, as always, he refused to let me have my way. He never did. And suddenly, a memory struck me like lightning.

We were younger. I was no more than ten, sitting on the edge of the riverbank with my bare feet dipped in the water. I had wanted to cross, to prove I was brave enough. But Lennox had stood there, arms crossed, his face stubborn even then.

"No, Olivia. It’s too deep."

I had pouted, snapping back, "You’re not my father, Lennox!" Then I had jumped in anyway, thinking I could swim across. But the current was stronger than I imagined. It had pulled me down, choking me, swallowing me.

I would have drowned.

But Lennox had been there. He always was. He had leapt in after me, dragging me back to shore, his body shaking with fear and fury as he yelled at me.

"Do you want to die? Don’t ever do that again!" His voice had cracked, his eyes wet, but he hadn’t let me go until I promised I’d listen next time.

And now, looking at him in this room, his fists clenched, his chest heaving, it felt exactly the same. He wasn’t just angry. He was scared.

I swallowed hard, my glare faltering for a moment, and then without saying a word I lowered myself onto the single-seater couch. Silence weighed heavily in the room as the four of us sat without speaking. Each of us was waiting for someone else to break it, and it was never going to be me. Lennox moved away, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed tightly over his bare chest, muscles flexing with the motion, his skin catching the dim light of the room.

My eyes betrayed me.

myself, they trailed over him—slow, unwilling sweeps across the lines of his chest, the slope of his shoulders,

"Hottie."

fall of his chest, the sharp set of his jaw, the way his eyes lingered on

as I forced myself to look down. "Not now," I whispered under my breath, though I wasn’t sure if

wolf growled softly inside me,

And again the awkward silence hung in the air. Louis leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, and Levi... Levi’s eyes stayed fixed on

Finally, he spoke.

us how. Step by step. How do you mean to

Louis told me I wasn’t allowed to climb the tall tree behind the mansion. I had begged, pouted, even

Lennox had said flatly, his

had echoed, his arms folded. "It’s dangerous. Don’t

at me with those soft eyes, and

me yes when I wanted

climbed higher. He’d been terrified for me—anyone could see that—but he had let me try. Because I had wanted

scraped and bruised, I had smiled through the pain. Because Levi had believed in

from him, I saw the same thing in his eyes. That flicker of trust. That silent vow that if I

finally said, "The plan is simple. I get close. I act like I’m considering him. He’ll let his guard down. That’s the only way I can learn where his vessel

a word, and