Luna Olivia’s Choice

Chapter 6: Just Friends

Chapter 6: Just Friends

(Olivia Reed's POV)

Fiona Blackwell-Gray's words still rang in my ears as I stood in the Gray Manor living room. Her disappointment in me—the supposedly good influence on her son—cut deeper than I wanted to admit.

"Did my mom scold you?" Ethan asked, his grip still firm around my wrist.

I couldn't bring myself to look at him. Luna Fiona had given me considerable face by keeping her reprimand brief, focusing mainly on the impropriety of a potential future Luna being seen at the Shadow Bar. Even so, I felt deeply wronged.

The injustice of it all burned inside me. I'd always been the proper Reed pack daughter—never disciplined harshly by pack elders or my parents. I had little tolerance for such rebukes, especially when I'd done nothing wrong.

My eyes stung with unshed tears, my throat tightening painfully.

"Hey," Ethan said, noticing my distress. His voice softened immediately. "Sorry, Little Liv. Don't worry about it. If you ever need anything, you know I'll go all out for you..."

I turned my head away, unable to bear his casual kindness after what I'd just done for him.

"This is the last time," I said, my voice barely audible.

Ethan paused. "What?"

"Don't use me as your shield anymore," I stated, my neck stiff as I refused to meet his gaze. "It's not appropriate for our positions or the potential bond our families expect."

Ethan looked stunned, his amber eyes widening slightly. He clearly hadn't expected pushback from me—not after years of my quiet compliance.

I seized the moment of his surprise to pull my hand from his grasp. Without another word, I turned toward the door, desperate to escape the suffocating atmosphere of Gray Manor.

"Olivia, wait," Ethan called after me. "Aren't we best friends?"

My steps faltered. Best friends?

The words struck me like a physical blow. Humiliation burned my face as the sharp sting of reality hit me. So this was all I was to the Future Alpha—just a friend, despite the lifelong expectations woven by Elder Jonathan Reed and the Gray pack leadership.

Without replying, I turned and hurried away from the imposing Gray Manor, my heart cracking with each step.

The walk back to Reed Manor felt endless. When I finally arrived, the contrast between the two pack homes was stark. Where Gray Manor bustled with activity and staff, Reed Manor stood quiet and empty.

Our home, which once teemed with Reed pack members serving as staff, now felt hollow. Six months ago, my father, Alpha Harold Reed, had dismissed most of them due to the pack's worsening financial troubles. Only a part-time cleaner came occasionally now.

I went straight to my room, trying to focus on my university textbooks. My phone kept vibrating with calls from Ethan. After the fifth call, I silenced it completely, attempting to shut out the noise and confusion from my life.

The quiet didn't last long. Before noon, the silence downstairs shattered with raised voices.

"All you do is attend pack social events and get beauty treatments!" My father's voice, already slurred despite the early hour, carried clearly up the stairs. "Why don't you help manage the pack resources?"

My mother's cold laugh followed. "You mean the resources you squandered on that foolish territorial expansion? The one I warned you against?"

I paused on the stairs, reluctant to descend into their battlefield. The differences between the Reed and Gray packs had never been more apparent. While the Grays hid their scandals behind immense power and wealth, my own pack home was a constant war zone of arguments fueled by decline.

Taking a deep breath, I forced myself downstairs and greeted my parents.

"Olivia," my mother said, quickly composing her features into a mask of calm. "I didn't know you were coming home today."

My father merely loosened his tie in silence. The scent of moonlight wine clung to him, his Alpha authority diminished by stress and alcohol. Without acknowledging my presence, he disappeared into the bathroom.

"Why is Father drinking so early?" I asked quietly.

My mother sighed, smoothing her designer dress—one of the few luxuries she still maintained. "He was up late negotiating resource allocations with allied pack representatives. The meeting didn't go well."

"How bad is the pack situation?" I ventured timidly.

Rebecca Reed's smile was brittle. "Nothing for you to worry about, dear. Focus on your studies."

Her dismissal, though kind, left me feeling suffocated in the sparsely furnished living room—a symbol of our pack's fading status.

I drifted into memory, recalling a time when my parents worked harmoniously together. They had co-led the Reed pack with pride, building it into a respectable mid-tier pack in the Northern Territory.

But my father's ingrained preference for a male heir had poisoned their bond and the pack's atmosphere. After my birth, Harold Reed's dissatisfaction grew steadily.

When my mother's second pregnancy ended in tragedy—a stillborn male pup, lost after a perilous journey negotiating pack boundaries went wrong—their relationship fractured irreparably.

Blame flew back and forth: Harold accused Rebecca of prioritizing pack politics over ensuring a male heir's safe delivery, while Rebecca retorted she was only compensating for his poor leadership decisions.

Since then, my mother had withdrawn from active pack management, focusing instead on social alliances. Sometimes, I wondered if being born a male pup would have spared my parents—and myself—such pain and pressure.

I decided to return to Northern Territory University. There was nothing for me here except painful memories and the weight of expectations I couldn't fulfill.

As I packed my things, my father appeared in my doorway. His imposing figure filled the frame, though his once-commanding presence had diminished with our pack's fortunes.

"When do you finish your studies?" he asked abruptly.

The question surprised me. Harold Reed had never shown interest in my academic life—only my potential value in pack alliances.

"End of this semester," I replied cautiously.

He nodded, his gaze calculating. "How are things between you and Gray Pack‘s Future Alpha lately?"

I hesitated, choosing my words carefully. "There's nothing significant between us, Father. We're just normal friends."

Harold Reed looked shocked, his bloodshot eyes widening. "Normal friends? You have a potential mate bond, arranged by Elder Jonathan Reed and Alpha Gray himself! Both packs agreed long ago!"

His persistence frustrated me. Why was everyone—Ethan Gray, my own Alpha father—making this potential bond such a burden?

"Ethan has never clarified our relationship," I tried to explain. "He's never formally acknowledged—"

"You have to secure the mating bond with Ethan Gray," my father cut me off, his voice cold and hard with desperation. "The Reed pack needs financial backing, territory security—we need the Gray pack's alliance. Do you understand what this mating means for our survival?"

I was stunned by his bluntness. In that moment, I realized that my father saw me not as his daughter, but as a political pawn, a bargaining chip for the Reed pack's future.

"You're almost finished with university," he continued relentlessly. "The pack might not last much longer without support. If you and Ethan Gray can announce your formal intention to mate before the Winter Solstice Gathering, the allied packs will extend us credit and resources just to curry favor with the Grays..."

He fixed me with a hard stare, devoid of paternal warmth. "What's with that look? It's not like I'm asking you to suffer hardship. Any she-wolf would desire a mating with the Gray heir. Besides, you've always been close to him—aren't you practically mated already in everyone's eyes?"

"What if Ethan Gray doesn't want to formalize the bond?" I pressed, my voice calm despite the storm inside me.

My father waved dismissively. "The Gray elders approve of you. That's enough."

"What if..." I swallowed hard. "What if he doesn't desire me as his mate? What if he already has another female he intends to choose?"

Harold Reed's answer was harsh and final: "Then win him back. Seduce him if you must. Don't be useless. I've raised you, provided for you within this pack all these years; you'd better be of some use to its survival."