Filed to story: Watch Me Win Alpha (Olivia & Ethan)
– my werewolf hearing picked it up.
“Boss,” Mike said on the other end, “Could you let me know your body measurements?”
He looked at me and then replied. “Is it Ms. Whitmore asking about my measurements?”
My spine straightened like a stick. My neck turned slowly, painfully.
Lukily, the elevator doors opened. I walked out fast, holding my lower back with one hand.
Damn it.
By the time I got home, my whole body was sore, and the pain in my back wasn’t letting up. I barely made it to the bedroom and dropped straight onto the bed. Face up. Still in my clothes.
A few minutes later, Ava came in.
She didn’t knock. Just walked straight into the room, and saw me sprawled across the bed.
She crouched beside me. “What the hell happened?” Her voice was low, but I could hear the edge in it.
I told her eyerything. Ava’s mouth dropped open. “Wait-hold on. You’re telling me… that slut walked into Ethan’s office in a bathrobe and during work hours-they were screwing around, and you walked in?”
I nodded slowly. “Yep.”
She crossed her arms. “They’re provoking you. You sure you still just want the divorce and not burn their entire pack to the ground?”
I turned my head slightly and winced.
“Don’t move,” she said, walking around to the other side. “Where does it hurt?”
“Lower back,” I muttered. “Corner of the table. Hit me hard.”
She pressed gently. “This spot?”
I sucked in air through my teeth. “That one.”
She sighed and started massaging the area softly. “You don’t have to prove anything to him, Liv. You don’t have to go out like this.”
“I’m not doing it for him,” I said. “I just want to leave clean. Quiet. I want to be the one who dumped him, not the other way around. He’s garbage.”
Ava didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she reached out and rubbed my hair lightly. “You’ve always been strong. How’d it come to this?”
I laughed bitterly. “Impulse. And I was fine. Honestly, I’ve been holding it together. But today… today just hit a nerve.”
She looked at me, frowning. “You’ve got two weeks left. Don’t let them break you.”
“They won’t. But if I see them again, I might just throw up.”
Ava chuckled. “Don’t. Bad for your stomach.”
I smiled, relaxing a little. Her hands worked on my back and the pain started to dull.
By the time it got dark, I felt like I could finally breathe.
That’s when Ava’s phone buzzed again.
She glanced at the screen. “It’s Ethan. Tenth call.”
She walked to the balcony to answer.
“Ethan,” she said, her voice cold, “shouldn’t you be celebrating? Olivia’s finally missing. No one’s stopping you now. Go screw around with that slut as much as you want.”
Then I heard Ethan’s voice on the line through my senses. Quiet. Raspy. “Put her on. I need to talk to her.”
Ava snorted. “Can’t. Don’t know where she is. Maybe she was too upset and jumped in a river. Maybe you should too.”
She hung up. A second later, her phone rang again.
“I’ll get it,” I said. I answered.
Silence at first, then a slow breath. “Olivia… where are you? I’ll come pick you up. Is your back okay? Does it still hurt?”
I didn’t answer. I just stared ahead, the phone still pressed to my ear.
What a hypocrite. Now he pretends to care.
It made me sick.
Voucher
There was a long pause on the line. Ethan finally spoke.
“I didn’t mean to push you. It’s my fault,” he said, voice low. “Just tell me where you are.”
“I’ll come back on my own.”
“No,” his tone shifted – sharp, commanding. “You’re coming back tonight. Or I’m not sure what I’ll do.”
I stared at the phone in disbelief.
“Fine,” I said flatly. “I’ll be there in an hour.”
I didn’t want him to know where I’d been staying anyway.
Ava was already pacing. “You’re really going back to that prick?”
“He threatened me, Ava.”
She sighed and grabbed her keys. “Let’s go. I’m not letting you drive.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes until Ava said, “How does he even have the nerve to act mad? He cheats, he lies, he pushes you and now he’s acting like you’re the problem?”
–
“He’s a control freak,” I muttered.
She looked over. “I think he’d strangle you if he found out you tricked him into signing the divorce papers.”
I smirked, eyes fixed on the rows of houses glowing under streetlamps. “Maybe I should’ve poisoned him instead.”
Ava burst out laughing. “Too quick. He deserves a slower death.”
We pulled into the driveway. Ava parked and put a hand on my arm.
