Lennox's POV
"A job for me?" I asked, confused.
Levi nodded and turned away, already walking. He didn't explain. He didn't slow down. He just lifted a hand slightly, signaling for me to follow.
Every instinct in me went alert.
I followed him anyway.
We walked through the halls in silence, past guards and servants, until we reached his office. He opened the door and stepped inside. I followed, my shoulders tense.
"Have a seat," he said, pointing to the chair in front of his desk.
That only made my confusion worse.
I sat, keeping my back straight, my face calm. "Alpha," I said carefully, "what job do you have for me?"
Levi didn't answer right away.
He walked behind his desk, then stopped. He didn't sit. He just stood there, staring at the wall like he was fighting something inside himself.
Then he spoke.
"I love Olivia."
The words hit hard—not because I didn't know, but because of how he said them.
"I love her with my life," he continued, his voice low. "She is my everything. I would do anything for her. Anything. Even if it destroys me."
I stayed silent.
"I've loved her for years," Levi went on. "I fought for her. I tried to be enough. I tried to love her harder, better, louder." His jaw tightened. "But it never worked."
He finally looked at me.
"She loves me," he said. "I know she does. But not the way she loved my brother."
My chest tightened.
"Lennox was always ahead of me," Levi said bitterly. "In strength. In loyalty. In her heart." His hands curled into fists. "No matter what I did, I was always second."
I swallowed.
"Then we lost him," Levi continued. "And I thought… I thought maybe now things would change. Maybe now she would choose me fully."
His eyes darkened.
"But instead, she's slipping away."
He laughed once, dry and hollow. "And now there's you."
I frowned. "What about me?"
Levi stared at me for a long moment. Then he said, "Olivia confessed something today."
My heart skipped.
"She said she's into you," he continued. "She said you make her feel safe. Loved. Protected." His lips twitched. "Things she said Louis and I no longer give her."
Shock slammed into me.
I opened my mouth to speak—but Levi lifted a hand sharply.
"Don't," he said. "Don't interrupt."
I closed my mouth, my pulse racing.
"This is not normal," Levi went on. "She was supposed to be mourning Lennox. She was supposed to be broken. Instead, she's opening her heart to you."
He leaned forward, his palms pressing into the desk.
"You are replacing him," he said quietly. "Whether you want to or not."
My throat felt dry.
He kept talking. Talking too much. Circling. Digging.
He continued like if he stopped, everything inside him would crash all at once.
"You don't understand," he said, pacing the room now. "I've loved her since before she even knew what love was. I watched her grow into herself. I watched her choose my brother again and again, and I swallowed it. I told myself it was fine. That being second was still something."
He laughed under his breath. It sounded broken.
"I tried to be patient. I tried to be strong. I told myself one day she would see me the way she saw Lennox." His voice cracked. "But she never did. Not fully."
He ran a hand through his hair.
"Do you know what it feels like," he continued, "to love someone with your whole soul and still feel like a replacement? Like a backup plan in case the real one disappears?"
My chest tightened.
"I stepped up when Lennox died," Levi went on. "I took responsibility. I carried the pack. I carried her grief. I carried everything." He turned sharply toward me. "But she looks at you and breathes again."
He scoffed. "You walk into a room and she softens. You speak and she listens. She trusts you."
His voice dropped. "She never looks at me like that anymore."
He stopped pacing and leaned both hands on the desk.
"She flinches when I raise my voice," he said quietly. "She pulls away when I touch her. And yet—" his eyes lifted to mine, sharp and accusing, "—she runs toward you."
Silence filled the room, but Levi wasn't done.
"So don't stand there pretending this is shocking," he snapped. "You know it too. You feel it. You feel how she clings to you."
For a moment, an awkward silence hung in the air, but me… my heart was bleeding for so many reasons, yet I couldn't let it show.
Finally, I said calmly, "Alpha Levi, please. Just get to the point."
That made him smile.
A slow, unsettling smile.
"I want you to be with her," he said.
I blinked. "Excuse me?"
"My mate," he clarified. "Olivia."
The room felt like it tilted.
"Be with her," Levi continued, his voice flat. "Love her. Touch her. Sleep with her. If that's what she wants."
My stomach dropped.
"You can fuck her," he added bluntly. "If that's what keeps her here."
I stared at him, completely stunned.
For a moment, I couldn't even breathe.
This wasn't grief.
This wasn't love.
This was desperation.
And something far more dangerous.
I slowly stood from the chair. "Alpha… I don't understand."
Levi's eyes burned into mine. "I'm giving you permission," he said. "Do what we no longer can."
Pain hit me like a blade to the chest.
Not just mine—his too.
I could feel it rolling off Levi in heavy waves. Years of jealousy. Years of being second. Years of swallowing his feelings until there was nothing left but fear and desperation.
For a moment, I almost understood him.
Almost.
But understanding didn't make this right.
I shook my head slowly. "No," I said. "I can't."
Levi's eyes darkened. "You can."
"I won't," I said, firmer now. "This is wrong."
His jaw tightened. "It's not a request," he snapped. "It's an order."
That did it.
Anger flared hot and sharp in my chest.
"So this is it?" I said, my voice low but shaking. "This is what you've become? You're willing to hand over your mate to any man just because she feels something for him?"
He flinched, but I didn't stop.
"What is wrong with you?" I demanded. "You're supposed to be fighting for her. Both of you. You're supposed to be fixing what's broken, not throwing her away like she's some problem you're tired of dealing with."