Chapter 18 – Van
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Van's POV

I really wasn't Oliver's biggest fan.

I was self-aware enough to feel some guilt about it. If I was a true friend, I'd support Axel out in his conquest to find a mate, with no ulterior motives.

But instead, I wanted to keep a wedge between them. So that even if they did get together, the place beside Axel would still belong to me.

If Axel's mate was on one shoulder, I'd be even closer on the other shoulder.

And to my convenience, Oliver was helping me out, behaving just how I wanted.

It was very convenient that Oliver wasn't friendly and sweet with Axel the way his reputation described him to be. Axel already was upset with the situation, so Oliver being sarcastic and dismissive worked perfectly to piss Axel off even more.

And all it took was my agreement, that yes, Oliver was, in fact over-hyped —that yes, Axel was right in not liking him—and Axel had created a barrier between them for me.

It wasn't like I was lying either—Oliver did seem too good to be true. When I got others to ask around, not a single bad word was spoken about him, and he had never had issues with anyone.

It was suspicious.

If everyone—from bullies, to the popular kids, to unlikable losers, to friendly folk—had the same, generic good impression of Oliver, there was no way he wasn't going to raise eyebrows.

After all, what kind of person would be liked by racists, bullies, rude jerks, and homophobes? A friend of an enemy is an enemy.

Either Oliver was one of them—which he didn't seem to be, to his credit—or he was lying about who he fundamentally was.

It was easy to see that everyone knew and liked Oliver, but I also found it pretty telling that nobody really liked him. Oliver didn't have any close friends.

Every lunch he spent with another group of people, blending in perfectly, but holding no affection for any of them. He was able to act like your friend and then turn around and forget about you—or worse, use you.

It was embarrassing, but he even did it to me. Even if I knew he was faking his behaviour and personality, Oliver was so easy to get along with.

He bickered and joked and teased you, never let conversation drop for a second.

The banter was so natural I didn't even think about it. I didn't have time to think about it, he kept you busy and talking, laughing. I wanted to like him. I did like him, in that moment—he joked so naturally, as if we were already friends.

Friendly, easy-going and up-beat, there was no way the playful glint in his eye was fake, was it?

And then Axel cleared his throat, and I broke out of our bubble. Seeing him turn around and continue it with James as if nothing had changed at all had made me almost reel from shock.

That was it. That was Oliver's act. Even though I knew from Axel's first-hand account that Oliver wasn't pleased to be there, he fit in so well I accepted him within moments.

Still disbelieving, I watched Oliver do it again in front of me.

James whined about class all the time, but it was clear he was genuinely unhappy with his biology class.

Oliver's sympathy was perfectly timed, swooping in saying the right things. Validating James' whines, listening to and sympathizing with him, and then offering help, as generous and benevolent as one could hope.

And then he turned around and it was like he reset. Chatting cheerfully with Jayy, then turning around and forgetting him, chatting cheerfully with James.

It seemed harmless. But it was a bit chilling to watch him do it over and over again. Especially when I realized what he was getting out of it.

Whether it was Mila's notes getting soggy, Ella complaining about Luca, Minerva being upset about her clothes—Oliver's integration into the conversation was so easy.

He said exactly what you wanted to hear, validated your every petty concern, made himself seem like he belonged there beside you, made you trust him.

And then he asked for favours. Nothing too large—English homework, or some fries, covering for his late arrival. It wasn't weird, and it wasn't insidious.

It was just a bit scary watching how easily everyone did exactly what Oliver wanted.

His every smile was so calculated for his benefit, and I was beginning to understand why I instinctively distrusted him.

He did it in front of me with James. Offering to help James seemed so kind and selfless, and he didn't ask for anything in return.

But I noticed it quickly. The entire car ride back, he had James as a buffer between him and Axel.

James felt indebted to Oliver for the favour Oliver offered, and willingly placed himself at Oliver's beck and call. It was obvious that James would take Oliver's side and defend him if Axel did anything.

It was like Oliver had erupted a silent barrier using James' feelings. Even his easygoing openness with the intimidating, unfriendly Jayy got him on Jayy's good side.

Oliver didn't know anything about the fact that he was in a car with a bunch of werewolves, and that one of the werewolves wanted to eat him. But it didn't matter—the little human sat comfortably surrounded with his barriers and pawns to keep him untouchable. And we couldn't do anything about it.

As a werewolf, and a Beta at that, I was hyper-sensitive to social hierarchies.

The cunning way Oliver gained favour and manipulated social situations to always keep an upper hand was a bit thrilling—if unsettling—to watch.

I couldn't help but be amused when it happened in front of me—and surprised, when I saw the quiet Mia chattering away with Oliver at lunch.

What is Mia talking about with Oliver? I had linked Zoe, taken aback.

Zoe was overprotective as hell, yet seemed fully relaxed, reclining in the chair next to Mia, watching her with fondness as she talked to Oliver.

Nerd shit, she replied. Why? You jealous? Mia likes you too, don't worry.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Why would I be jealous? Mia was lovely, but I had no interest.

I'm not gunning for Mia, you two are already mated, I deadpanned. Zoe seemed smug at my acknowledgment of her bond with Mia.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again. I was just... surprised to see her talking like that... I hesitated.

Zoe's overprotective mate radar was finally ticked, and I saw her sit up a bit straighter in her chair, turning her head to send me a frown across the room.

Why? He's the one—Axel's mate, right? He seems nice. Zoe looked between Mia and Oliver, cautious. He doesn't smell bad.

I found that curious.

Zoe was a former rogue. Living out in the forest, more wolf than human, avoiding human and wolf civilizations alike her whole life—she was probably the most cautious and paranoid of us all, especially when it came to her mate.

If she couldn't smell any ill intention on Oliver, that was good, but also something I'd take note of. Did Oliver really not hold any negative feelings, any hatred, bitterness, or any ill will that we could smell on him?

Nothing bad, I assured her. Just wondering about him, you know, he's new to the pack and all.

Zoe sent me an eye-roll. Are you wiping Axel's ass for him again? Geez, don't be so overprotective. The kid's a harmless human. Just talk to him normally instead of slithering around him like a loser. She shut me out of her head.

Irritating as it was to be chastised by her, I let it be.

It was better she think I was being overprotective of Axel than clue her in to my suspicions about Oliver.

She knew nothing of subtlety, I didn't want her to put Oliver on guard by being wary of him.

He seemed rather harmless for all the influence he had, from what I could see. He liked sitting at the top of the social hierarchy, but it wasn't like he was using that to hurt others, right?

I was once again shown his lack of ill-will with his behaviour towards Roman. I wasn't in their math class, but from Kai, heard how Roman and Oliver got along—or rather, how Oliver got Roman to like him by helping him out and just conveniently getting gifted lunch coupons in return.

But I still didn't trust him.

I knew it was probably a bit childish of me. But it was so much easier to dislike Oliver, to not trust him.

Because if Oliver was a nice guy, that would make it so much harder for me to handle being around him.

Plus, it only made it more curious that he didn't play nice with Axel. Sure, it was convenient for me, as I didn't like the idea of them being together.

But it was a bit weird.

Oliver's motives were something I couldn't fully figure out—yet—but in any case, I couldn't figure out why he gave Axel so much cheek. And from Axel's accounts, the rudeness and attitude was limited to passive-aggressive displays, mostly when they were alone.

Otherwise, Oliver seemed to want to ignore Axel.

His intentions were hard to discern. Oliver should, theoretically, treat Axel the same way he treated everyone else, or even more understandably, try to gain favour with him because of Axel's popularity.

There were two reasons I could think of to explain why he didn't:

Oliver held some feelings towards Axel and was playing hard to get. 

That, or Oliver somehow could read Axel's intentions and wanted Axel to dance to his tune.

I didn't like the first, but the second wasn't much better. Oliver's manipulative behaviour made me wary of him as a person in general, but if he had some ulterior motive or goal, I had even more reason to be cautious around him.

Oliver read exactly how others felt, and knew how to take advantage of it. He was potentially dangerous, especially if he truly felt no remorse for being so manipulative. 

Sure, everyone lied a bit. 

But no sane person took joy in being an awful person. And I didn't know if Oliver enjoyed being the way he was.

If he was only faking a nice persona for convenience, that was unlikeable, but understandable enough. You couldn't guilt someone for being a bit deceptive for their own benefit, nobody was a saint. But there was a reasonable limit of acceptance to someone's selfishness. Someone who carelessly manipulated and used others at their own leisure regardless of the consequences for anybody that wasn't themselves? That was cause for concern to see if they had issues with not having empathy.

I had a feeling that if I put a gun in Oliver's hand and told him to shoot someone, he could do it without losing sleep over it. My gut told me I couldn't trust him. I didn't like that Axel's mate was somebody like that.

Though that was undoubtedly, at least in part, my own bias. 

I knew I should be less emotional when it came to Oliver.

If anything, I should be glad Oliver was the way he was, and make use of it. The supernatural world was unfortunately full of powerful assholes who treated others like pawns.

Even our own Reaper pack could be accused of that, to an extent. It was just a requirement of the world we lived in, with all the constant intra-species and inter-species wars and clashes. We had to be tough, and to an extent, selfish.

The city and surrounding land we owned was constantly facing territorial issues with nearby packs from the north, never mind the fae and other folk living on our lands. There was only so far peaceful talks could take us when our negotiation attempts were met with claws digging into our flesh.

Oliver's position as a human mated to the future alpha was, in all honesty, a dangerous one.

We couldn't be sure that information about his identity wasn't already leaked to other packs or supernatural beings in the area. Hell, we couldn't even be sure there weren't spies in the pack that were watching Oliver and making plans to use him against us.

So it would be rather advantageous—for both him, and for us as a pack—if Oliver was crafty and manipulative, unafraid to be cold-hearted and ruthless. That would make his integration into the supernatural world a lot easier.

But at the same time, nobody would want their best friend and person they loved to be mated to someone so borderline sociopathic.

And there was nothing I could do save watch Oliver from the sidelines. I couldn't intervene, or stop him if he eventually would decide to use my pack, our wolves, my Axel to his benefit.  

At least for now.

He wasn't hurting anybody, but the moment I saw him using others with malicious intentions, I needed to be in a position where I could stop him. It would upset Axel if his mate was dead, after all.

I didn't like getting dirt on people or holding blackmail over their head. And I wouldn't do anything that would upset Axel.

I just needed some sort of leverage against Oliver, something that would, in a worst case scenario, make Oliver stop and listen to me.

So for Axel's sake, I wouldn't stop until I had something over his mate.

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