SCARLETTI blinked once. Twice. Thrice. It had to be a dream, I must've drifted asleep without noticing it, and that sound was nothing but a vivid echo from my dream. All I had to do was pinch myself hard enough to wake up fu—“Oh my god!” I shrieked, cut off when I heard a much louder and closer explosion. It’s not a fucking dream, Scarlett, get your ass up and get out of this house, My wolf cautioned when I remained glued to the bed. I stayed put for a while, too grief-stricken to move a muscle. But the moment I heard heavy grunting downstairs, I jumped out of bed and threw on the first thing I could find before rushing out of my room. The only reason I found that energy was because I sensed that those grunts belonged to the Vaughn brothers and I couldn't just sit back without knowing if they were okay, it didn't matter whether I was grieving or thriving. “Scarlett, go back inside!” Logan yelled as soon as I reached the stairway. I paused in my tracks, taken aback by the rogue
SCARLETT Blake had been treating me like goddess whose feet dare not touch the ground in the last few days, and I absolutely loved it. As Logan had predicted, he healed the next morning after downing the potion so I didn't even have to tend to him as I’d assumed there’d be need for. Blake was in turn helping me through my grieving process by taking every day as gently as I required. We weren't getting sexually active, and yet, the fleeting kisses and warm hugs he was always throwing my way made me feel closer to him than ever. Still, Alex and Logan made sure they were never out of my heart or mind by constantly checking up on me and sending lovely care packages to Blake’s new cafe branch since the other was still being fixed after an attack and they didn't have Blake’s home address. Nothing could stop the Vaughn men from being there for me, it was such a precious feeling to be adored by them. With their help, the pain of my mother’s death grew lighter and lighter by the day. I wr
SCARLETTI walked closer to the screen, my legs wobbling with every step.A dizzy feeling struck and made my head throb when I confirmed that it was indeed my name on the header of the document Blake was signing. My charming, blameless, thoughtful, bubbly, free-spirited Blake?No, it couldn’t be.“Yes, it could and it has been, dear,” Harland responded, making me realize that I’d said that thought out loud.I knew I shouldn’t ask for more, but I couldn’t help it, “And what’s this long game operation about? There has to be a good reason Blake was part of it, he couldn’t have been paid to betray me, he has enough to last him and generations to come.”That was my attempt at convincing myself that he was innocent, that he was nothing but the amazing man I’d come to love and care for.“You might want to sit down for this, judging from how hard you’re swimming in denial, you’ll drown real quick if you remain on your feet,” Harland was making himself awfully comfortable on the couch as he sp
SCARLETTI looked at Blake, unable to believe his betrayal.“So it was a lie? All of this was a fucking ploy to deliver me on an alter as a sacrifice?!” I yelled, enraged and heartbroken in a way that made my entire body numb.A tear dropped from Blake’s left eye and his lips trembled as he opened them to speak but he couldn't voice out anything. He just stared at me, eyes heavy with shame and guilt, but I didn't pity him one bit.By no means would he get to be the victim here. That was me, not him.“What’s the problem? You’ve had the time of your life lying to me for months, so why not lie to me again? Tell that none of it was a lie, that you cared for me from the very beginning, that you fell in love with me and treated me like a queen because it felt right! Not because you were ordered to!” I let out a hoarse laughter, fighting back tears.“I love you, Scarlett, that's never been a lie, I swear it,” he said through choked sobs, running a strong hand over his face to wipe his tears
SCARLETTThe car ride to Logan’s place was silent, dreadfully so.I was looking out of the window wishfully, praying with all my might that the evening breeze and the faint signs of the sun setting would ease my broken heart. I felt tears dampen my cheeks every now and then but I didn’t wipe them away, I just made sure to keep my face hidden from Logan’s view as he drove so as to not worry him.He was such a sweetheart to have gotten burnt on my behalf, I didn’t want to burden him with any more of my issues.Thoughts of how Blake welcomed me from the very evening I joined them for dinner at the Vaughn mansion assaulted my memory and my heart squeezed so painfully that it ached physically. I sighed deeply and harshly pushed some hair out of my face as I realized that every moment from that day until this morning when he kissed me goodbye was a fucking lie.All of it, lies. Bloody lies.I wrapped my arms around my torso, hugging myself tightly as I choked back harder sobs. I thought of
SCARLETTSuddenly, all my worries were out the window and all that matters was the glint of adoration and a burning passion in Alex’s eyes.He seemed to be in a hotel room from the look of things and he was hurriedly shutting the curtains after readily agreeing to my request. Simply seeing his enthusiastic attitude in action was causing a pool between my thighs.“I’m at your mercy now, sweetheart,” he announced in a breathless voice once he was seated on the bed again, his eyes darkening with desire as they raked over my body.“Take off your clothes,” I ordered, feeling oddly empowered by knowing that he was at my mercy, that he was mine to do with as I pleased, that he didn’t have to be near to get the same crazed effect my body triggered in him each time we’d been together.“As you please,” he set his phone down and started to pull his shirt over his head.My mouth watered with need as his beautifully muscled chest was exposed to me. I swallowed, weatherly following the slow torturo
LOGANWide-eyed, my clearly naked younger brother on the other end of the phone ended the call with immediate effect.Scarlett on the other hand didn’t seem very alarmed by what I’d just walked in on. In fact, she still seemed dazed from the screaming orgasm she’d just enjoyed while jerking off on the phone with Alex while I was dutifully cooking in the kitchen.When she didn’t say a word to me and just got into the tub and turned on the water, my jaw tightened angrily.“I’d rushed over her leaving a pot of bubbling stew because I was worried you’d tripped and cracked your head open or something,” I fixed my gaze on her face, refusing to be distracted by her insanely hot curves that were on display.“Well, go and check on your stew because that wasn’t the case and I’d appreciate some privacy as I clean up,” she said calmly, soaping the loofah with an annoying precision.She was simply unbothered by my knowledge of her sexual indulgences with my brothers. Completely unfazed.“Fine. But
BLAKEDays of agony and restlessness passed with one thing on my mind;How to earn Scarlett’a forgiveness before I drowned in an abyss of pain or got crushed to bits by an unbelievable weight of guilt and shame. Each time I closed my eyes and tried to think up a reasonable apology, I was smacked with the scenes of how enraged and heartbroken she’d appeared when she found out and I felt like my heart was physically bleeding out.I’d tried to call her countless times but I couldn't get through to her. I’d send a million messages asking her to give me a chance to straighten things out, but she never opened any of them.It was killing me, tearing me apart and chewing me up from the inside out in a way that hurt too much for words. I needed to see her. I couldn't live with her hating me, nor allowing her believe that what we shared wasn’t the greatest bond I’d ever been blessed to experience.She needed to know that my love for her was the realest thing I’d ever felt, that it consumed me s
SCARLETT “How many minutes apart are your contractions?” “Can you feel the pups crowning already?” “Should I get the midwives?” My husbands circled around me like vultures readying their prey, asking me a million and one questions like I was not as clueless about childbirth as they were. They’d read a library worth of childbirth and parenting books from the moment I found out I was pregnant and yet they were as nervous as a completely ignorant parent would be. “Stop hovering over her, please,” Hyacinth sighed and rolled her eyes as she walked into the birthing room, “the birthing process will begin any moment and I’ll need you all to either be quiet and or absent so I can get to work.” They all murmured amongst each other before finally falling quiet. “I’m going to give you a mild anesthetic so you don’t feel a thing and sleep through it, alright?” she turned to me with a kind smile and I nodded. I felt nerves already wrecking my body upon hearing that, I was reminded of the c
LOGANThree long yet amazing months went by and the D-day finally arrived. I couldn’t believe that I was about to be married to Scarlett and it seemed that neither Blake nor Alex could believe it seeing how nervous they were while getting dressed for the ceremony. We’d watched her become the best version of herself in the last three months and judging from all the power and potential she radiated, even three Vaughn men might not be enough of a match for her. Still, I was beyond elated to see what a marriage as unique as ours had in store for us in the coming years. And for the rest of our lives. “I still can’t figure this shit out!” Blake whined as he wrongly knotted his tie for the hundredth time and Alex and I laughed at him. “If you’re too nervous to knot your tie, maybe you should just sit out the wedding ceremony,” Alex teased him. “Yeah, it’s a small wedding anyways. We’ll just add your name to the marriage certificate and crop you into the pictures for the wedding album,” I
SCARLETTWe did it? “Yeah, we fucking did it,” Logan’s excited response made me realize that I’d asked that question out loud instead of in my head as I’d assumed. “And that’s only because you had the balls to put yourself on the line when we weren’t willing to take that risk,” Alex added, flipping a pancake effortlessly with a slight tilt of the pan. Inwardly, I rolled my eyes at his stellar skills, wondering how he was able to pull that off when I couldn’t even do it while carefully using a frying spoon. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say that you’re no longer focused on our victory over the Shahato and you’re now hating on everyone that can make a proper pancake unlike you,” Blake said through a chuckle. I narrowed my eyes at him, picking a grape off my plate and throwing it at his head for teasing me. “Ow!” he exclaimed when it hit his forehead. “Serves you right,” I grinned before taking a generous bite of my sandwich. That led to back and forth banter, and as much a
SCARLETTAgain, they’d come to my rescue at the perfect moment.Unlike the last time, I refused to lose faith in them, so seeing them was more than an answered prayer, it was the confirmation of a truth I’d been steadfastly holding unto.I felt relief course through my entire body as the army pounced on the Shahato warriors, shifting to their wolf form and ripping our enemies apart before they had the chance to rejoice over my burnt corpse.Suddenly, the regret I felt when I was thrown into the portal that brought me here washed away and I was pleased with myself for following through with the baiting plan that brought us this far. I had a feeling that after this battle, we’d finally know peace and harmony instead of the chaos and despair we’d had to endure for months now.I was so lost in imagining a time of calm and quiet that I even forgot that fire was slowly creeping towards me as the altar behind me burnt away. It was when I smelt thick fumes suffocating me that I looked behind
LOGANI still felt shitty and stupid for how immature I’d acted when Scarlett disappeared behind that godforsaken portal.Blake didn’t deserve to be choked so heartlessly when all he did was keep me from breaking my foot to pieces—because believe me, that was my intention when I started kicking that rock. Yet, he’d stopped me from hurting myself foolishly and I repaid him like an absolute asshole.I knew I’d apologized, but it didn’t seem enough so I made a mental note in the back of my mind to make it up to him somehow after we rescued Scarlett.“Guys! Over here! Quickly!” Hyacinth called out to me and my brothers and we rushed to where she was bent over on the floor and holding a glass shard.“What did you find? Please give us some good news,” Alex practically begged as he crouched beside her.“Their sorcerer must’ve mistakenly dropped this while closing the portal in a hurry, and now I know exactly where those bastards took her,” she jumped to her feet and Alex followed suit.“Wher
ALEXFan–fucking–tastic!This bloody plan blew up in our faces just like I’d predicted it would. Those cunning bastards just zapped our mate through a portal and I couldn’t feel her through the bond from the moment they disappeared into it.I guessed that neither Blake nor Logan could feel her either because they equally seemed like they were going mad.“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck this!” Logan yelled on the top of his voice while kicking a rock repeatedly until I heard a toe snap and blood started to ooze from his boot.That didn’t stop him though, he kept spitting profanities and angrily kicking the rock until Blake ran towards him and dragged him away from the rock and set him on the floor.“What the hell is wrong with you, Logan? How the hell does that fix shit!?” Blake leaned forward, placing his hands on both knees while screaming right into Logan’s face.Instead od answering, Logan reached out and gripped Blake’s neck and started to twist it with rage burning in his eyes. I immediat
SCARLETTThe morning of the full moon had finally arrived, and just like everyone else, I hoped that things went according to plans.None of us could handle any surprises because the chances of the plan going smoothly hinged on us being in complete control. To ensure that nothing went wrong, Hyacinth got a team of sorcerers to cast truth spells on the army in a bid to uncover any hidden spies from the Shahatos.Once we confirmed that every warrior was loyal to us, we finally let them in on the plan for the first time since we’d hatched it.Afterwards, Blake and Alex guided them through morning drills and helped them memorize the parts of the plan they were instrumental to, Logan and I kept Hyacinth company while she and her group of sorcerers did a location spell.Unlike the former location spells they’d casted to locate me when I was captured, this was much more likely to work because she’d used the blood of the prisoners that were recently executed. She assured us that with a team o
SCARLETTOnce again, Hyacinth had to come to our aid.We rushed Alex home and called her to come by the house as soon as possible. After ten minutes that felt like an eternity, she finally arrived and got to work on speeding up his healing. She explained that he invested wolfsbane and that’s why he wasn’t healing even after Blake and Logan cleaned and bandaged his wounds properly as soon as we got home.Hyacinth fed him some potions, but when they didn’t work, she told us that the wolfsbane had been in his system for far too long so she would need a powerful spell to magically detox him of it so his wolf could heal.While she convened with the powers that be on the required spell for such a crucial procedure, I paced the entire room worriedly while saying prayers to the moon goddess and ignoring the words of comfort being thrown my way from Logan and Blake.For some reason, I still felt fractions of the fear and pain I felt when I thought he was going to take his life just to prove a
SCARLETTAn hour passed and I immediately rallied Logan and Blake into the car to go in search of Alex. The longer we went without being able to contact or find him, the more I regretted listening to Logan and Blake instead of my wolf.And now because of my negligence, we were all worried out of our minds for Alex.It was almost nightfall and neither of us could reach or find him still. And believe me, we’d tried everything we could possibly think of. Logan tried to track his phone but his men found it dumped in a roadside bin and had no other means of tracing where he went from there because the traffic cams in that area were all busted.After that dead end, we’d all gone around the city in search of him but we couldn’t pick up his scent talk less of find his car.Normally, we’d have assumed that he was just somewhere blowing off steam and stayed home to wait on him. But ever since the marking ritual, we had a much stronger bond and could feel each other’s emotions and a while ago we