Chapter 2

SCARLETT :

If only he hadn't touched me as if he truly desired me. If only he had been upfront about it when I arrived at his cabin, maybe the hurt wouldn't have been so bitter.

The look in his eyes was vastly different from the one he had when he was on top of me. I could have sworn I wasn't imagining it, but who's to say?

"You can't do this to me," I croaked, a tear streaming down my cheek. "Not after what we just did."

"You wanted it too, Scarlett," he smirked like the devil. "You had the chance to push me away, but you didn't, did you? If you don't want to freshen up in my bathroom, that's fine. You can just go home. The chauffeur will be waiting."

"Why?" I sobbed. "You can't be serious. That was my first time."

I saw his eyes soften for a moment before returning to their stern expression. "I thought so too from the way you lay flat like a board." He moved closer to me, towering over my frame. "If you think that would be enough to trap me, you're pitifully wrong." His words seeped through my skin like venom. "Go home, Scarlett De Luca. I don't want improper rumors flying around." That was the last thing he said before turning his back on me and heading into the bathroom, leaving me to sort myself out.

With great mortification, I managed to get off the bed, grabbed my clothes, put them on, and walked out. His housekeeper looked shocked to see me in that state; he didn't have to say it for me to know. Now that he had done whatever he wanted, there was no need to keep me around, and I didn't want to be around any longer.

"Miss Scarlett."

I returned his courtesy with a weary smile. Self-reproach weighed heavily on my shoulders after realizing he must have heard me making noises in his Master's bedroom.

******

"Where have you been?" Sophie opened the door to our home. Thankfully, my parents were still out. It was their dinner night.

They were lucky to have a love they cherished so much despite all the criticisms of being the weak ones.

"With Alpha Jax," I confessed.

Her eyes widened. "The Alpha?! No way."

I slumped onto the brown couch. "Sophie, he's my mate." I burst into silent sobs.

"Don't tell me—" Her eyes filled with concern.

"He rejected me after sleeping with me tonight," I added.

She enveloped me in a hug. "He's a jerk. He had no right to."

I scoffed amidst my sobs. "He's an Alpha, Soph. He can do whatever he wants."

"No," fury laced her tone. "He could have rejected you without doing that," she muttered, and I heard it due to my heightened hearing senses. "Does he know it's your first?"

I nodded in affirmation, embracing her tighter.

"Don't cry for him, Scar. You're wonderful, and if he can't see it, he must be blind. Who cares if he's an Alpha? You're an amazing person," she said to comfort me, but I didn't think I was amazing, and I cared that he was an Alpha. Being with him could elevate my family's status. I was tired of the sneers and mockery.

"Thanks, Soph," I broke out of our embrace.

"It's okay," she smiled and held my hand. "What you need right now is to take a long hot shower because it must hurt a lot right now, then we should watch a silly romcom since mom and dad might not come home tonight."

"They might not?"

She nodded before cringing. "Apparently things got heated. Not my words, but mom's."

I cringed too. "Ugh."

"I know, right?"

"Thanks, Soph."

"Stop thanking me," she rolled her eyes. "We're literally twins."

Though we were twins, we had a few distinctive features. Sophie was taller with dirty blonde hair, and I was purely blonde with a rarely visible mole under my right eye. However, we both had amber-green eyes.

"Yeah," I put myself together and took a long shower just like my twin told me to. Thanks to her company and the romcom, I was able to temporarily forget my awful night with the Alpha.

We got ready for bed when our parents failed to arrive.

"Sophie."

"Yeah," she replied sleepily.

"I want to make him pay," I told her.

"What?"

"Alpha Jax," I sat up from my bed, and Sophie did from hers. "I want to get revenge on him for treating me like that."

"I'd love for that to happen, but what can we do to him?"

I bit my lower lip, a little disgraced by my idea. "I plan to seduce him."

"Scarlett, you can't be serious," she looked at me, wide-eyed.

"I am. I know it's absurd. He rejected me, but I never accepted his rejection. Our mate bond might be weakened by that, but it's still there. Sophie, if he could want me like that once, he would again."

"But what are the chances that he'd take you to bed again," she rambled on. "And even if he does, it doesn't mean you'll become his Luna. I love you, and I'm worried about you. I do want you to find a man you'll be happy with, and I can promise that man isn't Alpha Jax. Not after how he treated you tonight."

"I know," my voice cracked as I recollected his cold words. "Still, I want to try."

"Scar."

"Soph, please," I looked at her, needily. "I'll do everything I can to make him fall for me. If he thinks he can use me and get away with it, well, two can play that game."

"Fine," she groaned. "I don't agree with your idea, but I know you'd go do it without me to support you anyway, and I'd be left out of everything. You're just too stubborn, you know."

I chuckled. "So, you'll help?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Of course. What's your full plan?"

"First, I need a way I can be with him almost every day."

"That's bizarre," she spat, then suddenly her mouth hung agape as she snapped her fingers. "I was going to apply for a job at the pack house now that I'm eighteen. Since we're omegas, we can only get low cadre jobs. I was going to apply for a training guard's personal assistant at the pack house, but then I saw an opening for a new chef and server," she added with a malicious grin. "The one that directly cooks for the Alpha."

"And guess who has exceptional cooking skills," I beamed.

We squealed at the idea.

Sophie's smile depleted faster than mine. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Scar, because this isn't just any random man."

"It's the Alpha," I sighed. "I'm aware." I squeezed my purple duvet with determination. "But I'm going to try."