Filed to story: Watch Me Win Alpha (Olivia & Ethan)
It was strange how empty it felt now. Not just the campus. My chest too.
Eventually, I made my way to the small grove behind the man-made lake. It was hidden enough that no one usually came here. Still quiet.
I remembered the night we’d come here. It was the night we realized we were fated mates.
Ethan brought me here, saying he had something important to do.
It had been dark then. We used our phones for light, sitting on the damp grass. He pulled out a small box, and two pieces of paper. We each wrote something – a secret wish, a promise, I don’t remember what exactly. Then he told
“In twenty years, we’ll come back and open it. No matter what.”
His eyes were serious, glowing even in the weak light.
We buried it together, right under a crooked tree near the water’s edge.
I found the tree casily. My hands were already dusty when the tip of the box appeared. I brushed the soil away care- fully and pulled it out.
It was a little worn, but intact. I held it in my lap, but I didn’t open it.
–
Some things are better left where they belong in the past.
I stared at the box for a long minute, then gave a quiet smile.
“Goodbye, Ethan,” I whispered.
Not just to the man. But to the memories. To the girl I was back then. To the life I thought I’d have.
Ethan’s POV
I frowned as I flipped through the proposal in front of me. The formatting was off, the ideas scattered, and the tone felt like it was written by a high schooler. Eight days for this?
Chole leaned over my shoulder, her perfume too strong for this early in the day. Her fingers brushed my arm. “Don’t be mad, baby. I was just getting started.”
Her hand trailed lower, trying to distract me with her usual tricks. “We could try something else now… here?” she whispered, eyes playful.
It wasn’t that Chole was prettier than Olivia, but she knew how to seduce better. She knew all the tricks. But right now, her blunder was too much to be distracted by her touch.
I snapped the file shut and stood up. “Chole,” I said sharply, “is this the trash you’ve been working on for over a week?”
She blinked, pout fading. “I-I was just waiting for the right inspiration-“
“Use your brain this time,” I muttered and rubbed my forehead. I didn’t expect her to be Olivia. But I also didn’t ex- pect her to be this incapable. The project department was always in order when Olivia ran it. She knew what she was doing.
I reached for my phone. Just then, a message from Fin popped up. “Luna went out again. First to a high school. Stayed there a long time. Then she went Duskhollow Pines.”
I looked up. That place was for elites. Gated, strict, ridiculously priced. “She knows someone there?”
“Maybe. Only owners are let in.”
“Send me the full address,” I said. “Keep an eye on her.”
I closed the phone and turned. Chole was still lingering near me, arms crossed.
“You’re still thinking about her?” she said, voice sulky. “Do you even love me anymore?”
I didn’t answer that. I just peeled her arms off me and handed her the proposal. “Do it again. Properly this time. This is a position of responsibility and I want you to start acting like it.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but I was already out the door.
Later, I parked just outside Duskhollow Pines. Olivia still wasn’t replying to my calls or messages.
Fin sent over the list of registered owners at Duskhollow Pines.
I scanned through it, not expecting anything-until her name jumped out.
Olivia Whitemore.
She hadn’t just visited. She owned an apartment there..
But what hit harder was the name right above hers-Alpha Alexander Green. Top floor.
Green Pack’s alpha. I’d heard he returned from abroad recently.
She bought a place right beneath him. Without telling me.
She became his neighbor. Just like that.
That’s a coincidence?
My jaw tightened.
I placed the box on a shelf in my new apartment.
I didn’t open it again. Didn’t even brush the dust from the corners. I wasn’t going to throw it away or burn it either. That memory-what we buried-it wasn’t just about Ethan. That paper held a version of me too. A girl who used to believe in something.
My phone vibrated. Ethan.
I stared at the screen. He’d been calling more often lately. Maybe he could feel it too-that we were done. That this thing between us was already dead. I didn’t answer. I didn’t hang up either. Just let it ring until it stopped.
A few seconds later, I got a new text. From Mike.
“Mr. Green will be attending a meeting at Ashmoon Hotel on Friday afternoon. You may deliver the suit at that time.”
Ashmoon Hotel? That’s… secluded.
My brows furrowed. Why would Alexander want to meet me at a hotel? And why now? I didn’t want to read too much into it. I wasn’t naive, and I sure as hell wasn’t desperate. But it did feel strange.
Still, I didn’t reply. Not right away. I needed to think.
Two hours later, I pulled out of the Duskhollow Pines gate, sunglasses on and my hair pulled into a neat low bun. But my fingers slammed the brakes the moment I saw that familiar blood-red Ferrari parked down the road.
My heart sank.
Ethan.
He was leaning against the side, smoking. His expression behind the curtain of smoke wasn’t hard to read. He was pissed off and intentionally was parked in my way.
I knew I couldn’t avoid this. I parked behind him, grabbed my bag, walked over, and slid into the passenger seat with- out being invited.
I spoke first. “Why are you here?”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?