<h4>Chapter 317: Misunderstood</h4>


    Olivia’s POV


    It was almost midnight, but I couldn’t sleep. My mind was too loud, too restless. I was worried—yes—but more than that, I was jealous and scared. Lennox was out there somewhere—God knows where—likely surrounded by a swarm of beautiful women. And from the way our mind link had felt earlier... something wasn’t right.


    What terrified me most was the absence of their marks on my skin. Without them, I had no way of knowing if he’d been with someone else. No confirmation. No certainty. The only chance would be catching another woman’s scent on him. And even that would be gone by the time he returned tomorrow.


    "Olivia... are you even watching?" Levi’s voice pulled me out of my spiraling thoughts. Hey to my right, stretched outfortably on the bed, his tone casual, but his eyes fixed on me with quiet curiosity.


    I nced at him, forcing a small smile. Louis was on my left, leaning back against the pillows. We were in Levi’s room watching a show ying on the TV in front of us.


    I tried to focus on the screen, but my thoughts kept drifting to Lennox—to the way he had reacted earlier when I reached out through the bond. That clipped tone. That breathless tone. The way he shut me out. I knew I was jealous. Dammit, I’d always been jealous when it came to the triplets. And it didn’t start now—it started when I was seven years old.


    Back then, it was something small, harmless... or at least that’s what everyone else thought. The boys were already protective of me, even as kids. But sometimes... they gave their attention to others, and I hated it. I remember one afternoon at the training grounds, Levi had been sparring with one of the Beta’s daughters. She’d giggled at something he said, brushing her hair back in that fake shy way girls do when they’re trying to be cute. I remember my chest tightening, my small fists curling at my sides. I was only a child, but I marched right over, tugged Levi’s sleeve, and told him it was time to leave—like I had the right to decide that for him. He hadughed, ruffled my hair, and left without finishing the spar. But that girl had looked at me like she knew exactly what I was feeling.


    Then there was Louis. He’s always been the charmer, always smiling at people in that warm,zy way that makes them feel special. When I was about nine, there was a visiting Alpha’s daughter who wouldn’t stop following him around. She kept trying to braid little flowers into his hair while we sat outside. I remember yanking every single flower out the moment she left. Louis had just watched me, a small smirk tugging at his lips like he knew exactly why I’d done it.


    But my worst bout of jealousy? That came when I thought Lennox was seeing the Gamma’s daughter. I must have been eleven. I’d overheard two omegas whispering about how pretty she looked sitting next to him during a council lunch. The image burned into my mind—her leaning close,ughing softly, her hand resting on his arm like she had every right to touch him. For days, I avoided Lennox, my heart aching for reasons I didn’t understand yet.


    When he finally cornered me and asked why I was ignoring him, I blurted it out in a rush—using him of liking her. He’d stared at me for a long moment, then actuallyughed. Not mocking, but soft, like he couldn’t believe I was serious. "She’s not who I want, Olivia," he’d said simply. At the time, I didn’t know how deeply those words would carve themselves into me.


    But now... now I was older. Now I knew exactly what my jealousy meant. And tonight, with Lennox at some Alpha "meeting" in a club penthouse surrounded by who knows how many women, that same bitter, ugly feeling was gnawing at me again. Only this time, it was sharper. Real.


    I shifted between Louis and Levi on the bed, trying to look like I was watching the TV. But my mind kept circling back to Lennox—his clipped voice through the mind link, the breathless quality, the way he ended it so fast. I’d felt his pulse. Quick. Uneven. Distracted. And Goddess help me... I was sure there was a woman involved.


    "Are you spending the night here?" Louis asked suddenly.


    I nodded without hesitation. I didn’t feel like returning home. Truthfully, I wanted to be here when Lennox walked through that door.


    "Are you okay?" Louis asked, his brow furrowing. "You’re frowning and spacing out."


    "Oh, so you noticed too," Levi sighed.


    I rolled my eyes at both of them. "I’m fine..."


    "Does it have something to do with your mom?" Levi asked, but I shook my head.


    Louis’s gaze narrowed slightly, his arm stretching behind me on the headboard. "So it is about Lennox’s absence, then."


    I turned to look at him, forcing a shrug. "I didn’t say that."


    "You didn’t have to," Levi muttered from my other side, his tone sharper now. "It’s written all over your face."


    Heat red in my chest, but it wasn’t from guilt—it was from frustration. They thought they knew why I was upset, but they were mistaken. I wasn’t sitting here sulking just because Lennox wasn’t around. My anger wasn’t about his absence. It was about the hollow ache in my chest, the ugly twist in my gut from what I felt through the bond earlier. But I couldn’t tell them that without sounding paranoid... or worse, insecure.


    Louis leaned forward slightly, his deep brown eyes locking on mine. "We’re both here with you, Olivia. Right now. But you’re sitting between us like your head is somewhere else entirely."


    Levi’s jaw ticked. "Exactly. You’ve got two of your mates here, giving you their time, and all you can think about is the one who’s not."


    "That’s not true," I muttered, my voice tight.


    Louis arched a brow. "Isn’t it? Because that’s what it looks like."


    Levi’s lips pressed into a thin line, irritation flickering in his eyes. "If you miss him, fine. But don’t sit here with us and act like we’re invisible. We notice, Olivia. We’re not blind."


    Louis crossed his arms, his tone turning more annoyed. "We’re here, giving you our time, and you’re acting like it’s a burden. Like our presence means nothingpared to his."


    The air between us turned tense, heavy, like a storm waiting to break. I swallowed, guilt and anger tangling in my chest. I wanted to tell them it wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate them. I wanted to tell them it wasn’t about Lennox’s absence at all. But I couldn’t—not without opening the door to questions I wasn’t ready to answer.


    So I stayed quiet.


    "You’re being silly," my wolf’s voice broke through the noise in my head, low and annoyed. "You’re letting your jealousy eat at you for no reason. You don’t even know what’s happening over there."


    "I felt him," I argued back silently. "I felt his pulse, the way his breath hitched. He was distracted. I’m not imagining it."


    "You’re making yourself miserable over a guess," she warned. "If you keep going like this, you’ll end up pushing them away before you even have proof of anything."


    I pressed my lips together, staring at the TV without really seeing it. Maybe she was right. But the image of Lennox in that club penthouse, surrounded by beautiful women... it refused to leave my mind.