Chapter 174: “The Moonstone Amulet”
Chapter 174: “The Moonstone Amulet”
(Olivia’s POV)*
“The moonstone amulet wasn’t Victoria’s, she picked it up! You’ve mistaken her for someone else from the very beginning!” I glared fiercely at Ethan Stone, a powerful Alpha who seemed to lose all reason when it came to Victoria Frost.
My emerald eyes flashed with my wolf’s fury as I confronted him. I wouldn’t be wasting my breath if it weren’t for my mother, Matriarch Evelyn, and Lily. I didn’t want Ethan blindly protecting Victoria just because of some imagined “childhood sweetheart.”
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He could cherish his “childhood sweetheart” all he wanted; I didn’t care. My only concern was justice for my mother who lay in a coma because of Victoria’s schemes.
Ethan’s amber eyes studied me intently. His wolf seemed to be processing my words, weighing them against years of certainty.
“If it’s not Victoria,” he asked almost instinctively, “then who is it?”
The question hung in the air between us. I opened my mouth to answer, to finally reveal the
truth that my mother had discovered.
I was about to speak when the door to the hospital room swung open with dramatic timing.
Victoria Frost stood in the doorway, her eyes red–rimmed and puffy. Her wolf was projecting distress pheromones so strongly that even a human could have sensed her apparent anguish.
“Olivia,” she cried, cutting me off before I could reveal anything, “what do I have to do for you to
finally let me go?”
My eyes flashed with a furious hatred, my wolf surging beneath my skin. Perfect timing! This
she–wolf was truly vicious, manipulating everyone and everything around her.
Werewolf life meant nothing to her. Not my daughter’s, not my mother’s, not even her own
daughter’s if it served her purposes.
“First, you bribed Connor Blackthorn to frame me and make Ethan misunderstand me,” Victoria continued, her voice trembling with false emotion. “When that failed, you started
spreading rumors that I’m not Little Orange. What are you trying to do?”
I felt my control slipping, my wolf clawing to the surface. The audacity of this woman to stand
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+25 Points >
there and accuse me after what she’d done to my mother!
“You say I’m not Little Orange?” I retorted, my voice dripping with venom. “Then who is? You?”
Something inside me snapped. With werewolf speed, I lunged forward, grabbing Victoria by her perfectly styled hair and slamming her head against the Hospital Ward door.
As Victoria reeled from the impact, I rained down slaps across her face. Like a vengeful she–wolf, I tightened my grip around her throat, pinning her against the door.
“It’s not me, so it must be you? Victoria Frost, have you convinced yourself you’re Little Orange?” My fury was palpable, filling the room with the scent of my rage.
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My fingers constricted around her neck, choking the air from her lungs. I wanted to hurt her like she had hurt my family, to make her feel a fraction of the pain she had caused.
Victoria, gasping for breath, looked pleadingly at Ethan Stone. “Ethan… help me…” she choked
out, her eyes wide with fear.
Ethan finally snapped out of his stupor. I could see the words “It’s not me, so it must be you?”
echoing in his mind, creating cracks in his certainty.
He strode forward and grabbed my wrist. “Liv!” he exclaimed, his voice sharp with command.
If he didn’t intervene, I would actually kill Victoria. The realization didn’t frighten me as it
should have. My wolf wanted her blood.
Even with Ethan pulling at my hand, I refused to release my hold. My wolf’s desire to eliminate
Victoria was overwhelming, drowning out all reason.
But I was no match for an Alpha’s strength. He finally pried my fingers loose from Victoria’s
throat, leaving angry red marks on her pale skin.
Fearful of another outburst, Ethan pulled Victoria behind him, shielding her from my rage. His wolf was conflicted, torn between protecting his supposed childhood friend and believing the
evidence against her.
“Liv,” Ethan said, his voice firm with Alpha authority, “we can’t just condemn Victoria based on
the Care Aide’s words…”
He looked at me, his brow furrowed in confusion. “And what did you mean by what you just
said?”
Victoria, catching her breath, clung to Ethan’s arm like a lifeline. Her wolf whined pathetically, playing the victim to perfection.
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“Ethan, you don’t actually believe her, do you?” she sobbed, her eyes wide with disbelief.
+25 Points >
I watched as she composed herself, preparing for her next performance. Victoria was nothing if not adaptable, always ready with a new lie when cornered.
“I can say I picked up the moonstone Amulet,” she continued, her voice gaining strength as she found her footing.
My eyes narrowed at the mention of the amulet. That was the key to everything, the physical proof of her deception.
“But you were the one who couldn’t see as a pup, not Little Orange!” Victoria pressed on, her
voice growing more confident. “You look so much like you did back then.”
She turned to me, her eyes hardening despite the tears still clinging to her lashes. “If Olivia
were Little Orange, how could she not recognize you?”
I felt my hands clench into fists at my sides. The manipulation was so obvious to me, yet
Ethan still hesitated.
“She loves you so much; if she were Little Orange and knew you were looking for her, how
could she not tell you?” Victoria continued, driving her point home.
Her words were carefully chosen to plant doubt in Ethan’s mind. She knew exactly how to play
him, how to use his own insecurities against him.
“If I were an imposter, why didn’t she expose me earlier? Why wait until now?” Victoria’s voice
rose with righteous indignation.
I could see Ethan’s wolf responding to her distress, his protective instincts warring with the
evidence before him.
Victoria’s eyes filled with fresh tears as she delivered her masterstroke. “It’s because she
knows Emma’s kidneys are failing and she needs a transplant.”
My breath caught in my throat. Emma’s kidneys? The irony was almost too much to bear. After what had happened with Lily’s donor…
“She wants revenge on me and Emma,” Victoria continued, her voice breaking with emotion. “She just wants you to believe I’m not Little Orange, that I’m a fake, so you won’t care about
me or Emma anymore.”
Ethan’s face paled at the mention of Emma’s condition. I could see his wolf responding to the
threat to a pup he considered under his protection.
“Without you, we can’t find a kidney donor, and Emma will die,” Victoria sobbed, clutching at
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Ethan’s arm. “And if something happens to Emma, I won’t be able to live either!”
Her performance was flawless, hitting every emotional trigger that would resonate with
Ethan’s wolf.
+25 Points >
“That’s what Olivia wants!” Victoria cried, pointing an accusing finger at me. “She’ll stop at
nothing for revenge!”
