#Chapter 130: Friends in Strange Places

Nathan The stillness of the night was suffocating, even long after I finished my midnight walk with Olivia. As I lay there, tangled in a web of sheets, the weight of the evening’s events pressed on my chest. Every attempt to close my eyes and find some semblance of rest was thwarted by a flood of thoughts—Olivia’s worried expression, Jen’s aloofness, the disconcerting discovery in her room. The earlier admission in my father’s study also kept replaying itself again and again. It was supposed to be a simple ruse. Pretend. But with each passing moment, the lines between pretend and reality blurred. And the worst part? My heart didn't seem to mind. But the game had changed, and there was a part of me—the wolf, the Alpha, the son—that couldn’t stand by idly while my family spiraled. Olivia’s words resonated within me all night: “I’ll stand by you.” They were my anchor amid the chaos. Eventually, the sky began to lighten and I hadn’t slept at all. My pitc