Chapter 115: First Time

LUCAS’S POV

SLAP!

For several seconds, I couldn’t move. My head had turned slightly to the side from the force of the slap, and a sharp sting spread across my cheek. I slowly raised my hand to my face, struggling to believe what had just happened.

Olivia had slapped me.

A woman had just raised her hand and slapped me across the face!

I slowly turned toward her, my jaw tightening as I stared into her furious eyes. She stood directly in front of me, breathing heavily, with her hands clenched at her sides. There wasn’t even a trace of regret on her face.

Did she have any idea what she had just done? I was the Alpha King, for Moon Goddess’s sake! No one had ever dared to raise a hand against me, not even when I was a child. Yet here she was, standing in my bedroom—no, the bedroom I had personally arranged for her—and looking at me as though she was prepared to slap me again.

"Olivia," I said slowly, struggling to control my anger. "Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?"

"Yes, I do!" she snapped. "And I’ll do it again if you ever make decisions about my life without asking me!"

I stared at her in disbelief. Was she seriously threatening to slap me again?

"Watch how you speak to me," I warned, lowering my hand from my cheek.

"Or what?" she demanded. "Are you going to punish me? Throw me into the dungeon? Go ahead, Lucas! Because I’m tired of you acting as though you own me!"

My wolf growled angrily at her disrespect, but I forced him to remain calm. The last thing I wanted was to frighten her, especially after spending so many years searching for her.

"Lower your voice, Olivia. I’m trying to have a conversation with you."

"A conversation?" She let out a bitter laugh. "You want to have a conversation now? Where was this conversation when you stood in front of your entire family and announced that you intended to marry me?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but she continued before I could speak.

"Did you even bother asking whether I wanted to marry you? Did you consider how embarrassing that was for me? You stood there and announced our marriage as though everything had already been settled!"

"I said I intended to marry you, Olivia. I didn’t say the wedding was taking place tomorrow."

"And what difference does that make?" she demanded. "You made everyone believe that we were already in a relationship! Do you have any idea how uncomfortable I felt sitting there while your family congratulated themselves over something I knew nothing about?"

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. I had expected her to be surprised by my announcement, perhaps even upset, but I hadn’t imagined she would become this furious.

"Olivia, listen to me. I didn’t bring you here to embarrass you. I wanted my family to understand how important you are to me."

"Then you should have told them that! You didn’t have to announce that you intended to marry me!"

"Because I do intend to marry you!" I replied firmly.

She stared at me for a moment before shaking her head.

"Unbelievable! You’re not even listening to what I’m saying!"

"Of course I’m listening!"

"No, you’re not! Because if you were, you would understand that I don’t want to marry you!"

Her words struck harder than the slap.

For a moment, I simply stared at her. I had imagined many things during the four years I spent searching for Olivia, but hearing her reject me so openly was something I had never prepared myself for.

"Why?" I finally asked.

She frowned. "What do you mean, why?"

"Why don’t you want to marry me?"

"Because I don’t love you, Lucas! Is that so difficult to understand?"

I stared at her for a moment, knowing very well that she was lying. She was angry with me, and I could tell that she was only saying those words because of what had happened at dinner. I refused to believe that she didn’t have any feelings for me.

"And you love Lucian instead?" I asked.

Her expression changed immediately.

"Don’t bring Lucian into this."

"Why shouldn’t I?" I demanded. "Is he the reason you’re rejecting me, Olivia? Because from the moment he walked into that dining room, you couldn’t seem to take your eyes off him!"

Her frown deepened. "Whatever is happening between Lucian and me is none of your business!"

"None of my business?" I repeated incredulously. "You’re standing in my palace, telling me that your relationship with my own brother is none of my business?"

"Exactly! Because you don’t get to decide who I should love!"

I took a deep breath and turned away from her for a moment. My wolf was becoming increasingly restless, and I could feel his anger rising with every mention of Lucian.

Of all the men in the kingdom, why did it have to be my brother?

I had spent four years searching for this woman. Four years wondering whether I would ever see her again. And now that I had finally found her, she was telling me that she had feelings for Lucian.

I turned back toward her.

"Olivia, do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for this moment? How many people I sent searching for you? How many sleepless nights I spent wondering whether you were still alive?"

She folded her arms across her chest.

"I never asked you to search for me."

"I know you didn’t. But that doesn’t change what you did for me four years ago."

"What I did for you?" she repeated, looking confused.

"You saved my life, Olivia."

She stared at me for a moment before letting out a frustrated laugh.

"I didn’t save your life, Lucas! All we did was have sex. How does that make me your savior?"

I went silent.

So she still didn’t know.

After everything that had happened that night, Olivia genuinely believed that our encounter had been nothing more than two strangers having sex.

"Olivia," I said quietly, "do you remember the mark I gave you that night?"

She frowned. "Of course I remember. How could I possibly forget something like that?"

"Then you should know that the mark was the reason I survived."

Her eyebrows drew together.

"What are you talking about?"