Chapter 40: Roman’s pov.Scarlett refuses to meet my eyes.I can’t seem to find the energy to get angry at her for that. The salty scent of her tears still wafts into my nose if I move. It’s soaked into my now dry shirt and has been imbued into the fabric. I thought today was a good day. She received uproarious applause when the meeting ended and she smiled for the rest of her very short day at the office.What’s making her sad then?“Is it the mate bond?”Scarlett chuckles and shakes her head, bringing her teacup to her mouth and sipping gently. She drops it once she’s done and sighs heavily.“I’m crying for a very stupid reason.”Anger rises in me at this but I let it simmer down. She needs support now, not someone to scream at her and tell her she isn’t stupid. I don;”t think she can ever be stupid.She adapted to the office environment very fast and it’s remarkable seeing as she’s never stepped foot in one in the past eight years.“Can I hear the reason why you cried first? Mayb
Scarlett’s pov.I wake up to see angry purple eyes glaring at me.Maya is staring at me with such open ferocity that for a moment I believe I messed up her homework or something, that is, until I realize I am not in my bed, or my room, and I didn't sleep with Maya laying beside me.I turn and not far from me is the sleeping face of the Alpha.“I thought you would be sharing a room with me, mummy?”I bring my hand to my lips so suddenly that Maya almost jumps at the spontaneity of it, but she closes her mouth. The glare remains though and I try to move out of the bed. The first thing that stops me is the arm around my waist.I clench my teeth so hard brief dots of pain rush to my brain.How did this happen?How dare he hold me like this!“Mummy?”Worry seeps off Maya’s tone but I look at her and give her a hard stare. She glares right back but keeps silent.I move gently and separate myself from the Alpha of the Ironclaw pack.How did we even get here?Memories come rushing back and a
I take Maya back to our room and find the dresses that have been put out for me. I don’t know what to feel.I run my hands over the straight fabrics and I see some of them have been in different stages of wear already. I turn to find Maya looking at me guiltily.“I might have tried some of them on.”The scent I had caught on her this morning wafts heavily from the dress in my hands and my heart warms up as Maya blushes.“I fell asleep in that one. I didn’t know you wouldn’t be coming back and it was sparkly, the light from the ceiling made the sparkles look like stars.”I look at the dress and I will admit that while it is sparkly, it looks really expensive.Who could have done this?A frown lines my face as I pick up each dress. My hands are heavy by the time I’m done and I set them back on the bed firmly.“Did you see who dropped these here, Maya?”She shakes her head and points to the other side of the bed.“There are more in some bags there. I met them in the room last night after
Maya turns to cock an eyebrow up.“Why are you following me?”“I want to see what morning training is like.”“But it’s for children, mummy. You aren’t a child.”I put my hands on my waist and stand Akimbo.“I could manage against four of you if I wanted to.”“There won’t be any need for that.”I’m sure Maya stills at the same time I do but instead of her face retaining its frown, a glare settles in her eyes.Roman approaches us from the hallway Maya is backing and she turns when he gets five paces to her. There is a formidable fierceness in Roman’s gaze and it makes me feel a chill spread in my bones.Fear seeps into them again and this time, I don’t know why, but I feel he’s annoyed at something.He stops in front of us and with a nod of his head, gives me the coldest greeting I've received since I got here.“Scarlett.” I don’t know if my confusion shows on my face, but some flickers ever so subtly behind his cold blue eyes.I nod and clear the bitter taste at the back of my throat.
I feel like backing out.(Wipes fake tears from corner of eyes.)If anyone told me jogging would cause such a strain on my calves and waist, I would have told them I wasn't that rusty and I could still handle myself.That would have been a lie. That would have been such a huge lie.“How about we go for one more lap?”The humor in Roman’s tone makes me feel like killing him.“We’ve been running laps for an hour and a half, Alpha Roman. That’s ninety minutes!”“And you’ve stopped about twenty-eight times in the span of ninety minutes. Even Maya wouldn’t have stopped that much and she’s eight.”I frown.“Are you mocking me right now Alpha?”Roman moves ahead of me and again my eyes are glued to his form. His sweatpants don’t help in making me any more focused than I already am, which is very little and it’s appalling.My eyes track up from well-built calves to powerfully formed thighs and then to a compact waist. Roman is in a gray sweatshirt and with every move he makes, the fabric str
We do a three-hour workout routine in which Roman has me do nothing more than run from one end of the field to the other. It might sound easy, until you’re running the same path for what might be the sixtieth time in thirty minutes. My mind travels between the pain I am feeling and the controlled outburst Roman just had. I could always just rule it off as something that has been on his heart, or rather something that he says to everyone. “I am not a good man.” I could always rule it off as something normal………… but I don’t and I won’t. Something tells me the Alpha of the Ironclaw pack hasn’t fully recovered from the trauma of his pack’s attack. He might be hiding a lot of pain underneath that handsome face and cold eyes. My body screams in protest when I get up and I can swear I hear my bones crack slightly Roman opens the door to the room the next moment and we both engage in a staring contest. I win because he looks really good in his tuxedo and his eyes pop in this sky bl
Last night, Roman and I devised a small plan.I think I fell asleep conceiving the idea but after the workout session, Roman gave me the full rundown of what he had drawn up from my vague idea of last night, and we agreed to carry out the plan this morning after the workout. though I don’t remember ever having agreed to jog for three hours.My calves send a slight ache through my body but I ignore it and look ahead instead.Hunter Tyson of the Nightshade pack is one of the most enigmatic men you’ll ever meet.He’s manly. He carries that certain aura that allows anyone who looks at him to become unsure of themselves, and overly sure of him.They see him and they nod, thinking “Yes, this is the kind of man I need”, or “This is what a really confident man looks like.”In public, he walks with a smile on his face, a twinkle in his purple eyes, and the charisma of someone who’s seen the playing field of the world and knows the game plan to win.On the inside, he’s a dick. He will lie, chea
The car moves smooth and steadily on the tarred road and Roman explains some inner workings of the Alpha conference to me.To begin with, the conference is as much a physical event as it was a spiritual one. It can only take place during the season of a silver moon, and that surprises me because I thought the moon was always silver.Roman says we are in that period right now and in the next two months, a silver moon will hang in the sky. It will be bigger than a normal moon, and it will shine brighter tooThe Lykos fundraiser is happening in the mansion of a former Alpha in the Lykanos pack.My knowledge of pack history makes me tell Roman to get us hyacinths on the way, or any purple flower at least. The members of the Lykos pack are… superstitious would not be the word for it, but they believe in omens.And a good omen to them, is a purple flower. When purple flowers bloom in the pack, they thank the moon goddess and take it as a sign of fortune and goodwill.Roman says he doesn’t