Scarlett’s POVI ran my hands down the front of my dress. Nerves made my stomach sway from side to side and bile rise in my throat. I swallowed hard, keeping my eyes fixed firmly ahead – and firmly away from Alpha Ryker.“Come on, Omega.” His raspy voice was too close to my ear as he grabbed my elbow and dragged me forwards, forcing me towards the swelling crowd under the marquee. My palms started to sweat, but he’d punish me if I tried to wipe my hands now. He’d bought me this gown, after all – every inch of its gauzy, flowing silk belonged to him. Just like I did. “Hurry up.” He shoved me again; I stumbled. “Would you prefer to return to the pack house, Omega?” Alpha Ryker’s voice dipped into a growl, and it took everything in me to keep from shuddering. “No, Alpha.” I ducked my head, my cheeks flushing. But I’d say or do anything it took to attend the Mating Ball tonight.“Say sorry.”My face burned. “I’m sorry,” I mumbled.“Say: ‘I’m sorry, Alpha.’”I curled my hands into fists
Enzo’s POVI looked down at my watch. I rocked back on my heels. I sighed. “Are you ready yet?” There was a tremble in my mate’s voice – Scarlett’s voice, I corrected, though even thinking the word mate sent a flush of heat roaring through me – as she replied. “Nearly, Alpha Enzo. I’m sorry.”“Don’t be sorry,” I said, my eyebrows pinching together. Why would she be sorry? What did she have to be sorry for?I frowned at the closed door. She’d not let me follow her into her room, though she’d given me no explanation as to why – but her pretty face had reddened and her upturned, blue-green eyes had glittered. She’d turned away quickly, her auburn hair whipping through the space between us, creating a physical barrier that had made me wonder if she truly wanted me to claim her.She was mine, after all. Despite my impatience, a smile pushed at my lips. I’d waited four years for this and, though I knew nothing about her, about my Scarlett, I knew that she was perfect for me. I scrubbed a h
Scarlett’s POV“It’s not a trick,” I snapped – only to immediately feel the hot rush of blood warming my cheeks and neck. My gaze dipped to the floor again, and I waited for my punishment to come. What would it be today? A kick? A smack? A punch?“I don’t know what’s happening here,” said Enzo, his tone so cold I almost shivered. His hand wrapped tightly around my bicep – too tightly, hard enough to bruise – and he yanked me a step away from Alpha Ryker. “But I don’t want a mate that can’t shift.” He scoffed. “I’ve never heard of anything like that before. Are you sure you aren’t lying, Ryker? Do you want to keep her for yourself?”He tugged me further back. I wanted to squirm free, but I let him manhandle me where he pleased. I’d been Ryker’s servant long enough to know that fighting back only hurt more in the long run.“I’m not lying.” Ryker’s lips curled up into a sadistic grin. “Go on, Omega,” he purred, “shift for him. Prove me wrong.”“I – I can’t,” I whispered, shame crawling u
Enzo’s POVI was going to kill him. My hand tightened on Scarlett’s as we stepped through the portal. The cold hit us almost instantly. I barely felt it; my rage burned so hot that I could’ve sworn the snowflakes melted before they even touched my skin.Alpha Ryker had hurt her. She wouldn’t admit it, but she didn’t have to. It was clear as day in the quiver of her lower lip and the distant look in those beautiful blue-green eyes.“It’s amazing,” she breathed, as we stepped out into a meadow, teeming with wildflowers and scraggy, dry grasses. The Canadian Rockies reached above the heads of the pines and firs in the distance, capped with snow, imposing against a blue sky that was crisp in a way it only ever seemed to be in autumn. Fat grey clouds drifted above, scattering snowflakes on the wind.My lips hooked up into a smile. “Yeah, I suppose it is.” “I know about the time difference, of course, but,” she paused, her lips parting as she spun on the spot, twisting as far around as sh
Scarlett’s POVMy throat closed up. I’d tried to make light of it, knowing that I was pushing Alpha Enzo away every time I refused to talk or dropped his gaze and wanting to do better, to please him, but inside my heart pounded and my breath caught in my lungs. Fuck, I thought, over and over and over again. I’d failed Enzo. I’d failed myself.I’d just escaped being the pack outcast. I’d wanted so badly to be accepted here, to find a way to hide my dirty little secret – and I’d ruined it less than two hours after I’d arrived in Moose Creek. Fuck.“Maybe they didn’t hear,” he murmured, catching my chin and holding my gaze. I shivered. “This whole top floor is mine. I thought they were drunk, stumbling around, lost after the ball…”I felt like I couldn’t breathe. “What if they weren’t? What if they wanted to catch a glimpse of your new mate?” His brow pulled taut. “They wouldn’t. We’ll all meet tomorrow – we always do. I give my wolves the morning off, and we have a lunch to welcome the
Enzo’s POVI chewed on the inside of my cheek as I stared down at the book. Simply Elemental, it was called: a battered old paperback that looked as though it had been passed around a lot, the spine bent out of shape, the corners dog-eared. I picked up the scrap of paper that had fallen from it and went to tuck it back inside the cover.I paused, the paper curling in my palm. I could look at it. Just quickly. Nobody would ever know…With a sigh, I tucked it away. I would know, and that was enough. Scarlett needed to trust me – I couldn’t break it so soon. My heart swelled at the thought of her, panging at the memory of the fear and pain in her eyes before she’d all but sprinted from the room. Something bad had happened to her, I could guess that much. And, as much as I wanted to rush things with her, sometimes wanting to bend her over the bed and others wanting to ask for her hand in God-damned marriage, I knew we’d have to take this slow. Like, snail’s pace slow.I’d only known her a
Scarlett’s POVSomeone clapped a hand over my mouth. I flinched; it was hot and sweaty. I tried to bite into the meaty palm, but another hand closed around my throat.“Don’t try anything,” hissed an unkind male voice. “We know what you are. What you’ve done.”I writhed in their grip. More hands closed around me, lifting me from the ground, never once letting up on my windpipe. My chest heaved uselessly. I stared at the wooden logs of the walls, which blurred into one swathe of warm brown as I was hauled down the corridor. Away from Alpha Enzo, away from all his gentle touches and soft, fond gazes.“Stay still,” another voice, more nasal, whispered in my ear. “It’ll only hurt more if you don’t.”Well – of course that sent me into a frenzy. I bucked and reared, digging my nails into their flesh, wriggling desperately to dislodge myself from their eight-handed grip. I hated being touched. It made me think of Ryker, of large hands hurting, claiming – I tried to scream. The thick hand pre
Enzo’s POVScarlett was asleep by the time we reached the medical centre. I laid her down gently on the crisp white bed and started carding my fingers through her hair, plucking out dry leaves and snapped twigs. Even in sleep she didn’t look peaceful, her full mouth twisted with pain and shadows hollowing out her closed eyes.“So, this is your mate?”I looked up, my fingertips stilling on her scalp. Medic Emila was a harried-looking woman in her late twenties, though the first streaks of grey in her brown hair and the permanent frown line between her eyebrows lent her years she was yet to live. “Yes.” I worked my jaw, but before I could fill the silence Emila set to inspecting Scarlett’s head.“I feel quite fortunate to be the first to meet her. Well – not quite the first.” She paled, her gaze flicking up to meet mine. “No.” Why had this incident rendered me an idiot? “And,” I added, “these are not the circumstances I wished for anyone to meet her under.”“Of course not, Alpha.”Sil