Five

RAI

Few minutes ago,

      "Did you hear?" My younger sister asked, her voice tinged with excitement. It was quite rare for her to call me out of the blue. She knew I wasn't one to listen to gossip, either. It made me wonder why she was really doing this. 

"Izzy, can we talk later? I have a business to attend to," I said, unable to hide my growing irritation.

"Just hear me out. You remember Raelynn, don't you?" She said, and I swear, my heart stopped beating for a moment. 

I'd heard of her death a few years before. Hearing my sister say her name worsened my already sour mood. 

"I'm hanging up-"

"She's alive!"

I froze, every cell in my body freezing over. 

"What?" I breathed. 

"She's not dead. She returned to her family home not too long ago. Isn't that great?" She said.

I swallowed hard, relief sinking into me. Only now do I realize that I'd felt responsible for her death, even though I had nothing to do with it. 

"I know that you miss her. I saw you that night, gazing at her photo," my sister continued. 

"Izzy," I warned, and she chuckled. 

"You should go and see her---" 

Lowering my phone from my ear, I abruptly ended the call and shoved my phone into the pocket of my coat, adjusting my tie. 

Blankly, I stared at the door of the elevator. Raelynn's name bounced around my mind, it irked me. I had rejected her. Why am I still affected by her?

Cursing under my breath, I rubbed my forehead. The elevator doors slid open, and right then, the smell of cinnamon and strawberries hit my nostrils. I went still, my thoughts going on overdrive. 

"It can't be..." I muttered. 

Confused, I stepped out of the elevator, only to be greeted by an aggravating sight. Air rushed out of my lungs at the sight of her hurrying along the hallway, dressed in a gorgeous dress. I caught sight of the male hurrying after her and immediately sensed his hostility. One minute, I was standing by the elevator; the next, I was standing in front of her, shielding her from violence. 

I did not hesitate to yank her stalker's arm out of its socket. He crumbled to the ground with a cry of pain. 

Then I turned to look at her. I knew right then that I was in trouble. 

     Five years. It should be enough for me to forget about the woman who was once my contract wife. Nonetheless, the moment our gazes connected, my wolf stirred within me. And my chest tightened.

Her chestnut brown eyes slowly grew stormy as she stared at me. She appeared to be just as stunned as I was. Even so, it was clear that she wasn't happy to see me.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" The alpha I'd just taken down growled. I could smell his fury. But it didn't matter. He had attempted to hit a woman. What's worse is that this woman was once my wife. 

Turning away from Raelynn, I strode towards him and grabbed him by the shirt, lifting him off his feet. His eyes bulged in their sockets, and his face turned pale. 

"W-who are you?" He stuttered. 

"Does that matter?" I demanded, tightening my grip on his throat. He gasped, his face quickly turning red. 

"Please, don't kill me," he choked out. 

I turned to look at Raelynn, whose expression had turned stony. 

"What's going on here? Who is he?" I said, and she frowned. 

"I don't know. I met him at the party," she droned, and my brows knitted into a frown.

"A party? What party?" I asked.

"Her f-father invited us," the alpha in my grip gasped, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. 

"Us?" I hissed, releasing him. He slumped to the ground, coughing hard. 

"Here's a warning for you and the rest of your company: stay the hell away from this woman, or I'll be forced to chop off your body parts. Do you understand?" I said, and he nodded frantically, still coughing hard.

I watched him as he stumbled to his feet and hurried down the passageway. 

Once he was out of sight, my gaze met Raelynn's. I could hear the sounds of footsteps approaching, so I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the elevator, quickly tapping the button for the 9th floor, where I was supposed to meet up with an important guest. 

"Let go of my hand," Raelynn said through gritted teeth, and I slowly released her hand. 

"You disappeared five years ago only to return and attend a party?" I demanded, and she glared at me. 

"I was supposed to be on a date, none of this is your business," she retorted, and I stiffened. 

"A date? Really? How shameless can you be?" I hissed, and she took a step towards me, her eyes clouding up with an intense emotion. 

"Shameless? Who's the shameless one here, Alpha Rai?! You're the one who threw me aside like a ragged doll," she stated. 

There was something about seeing her so angry that heated my blood. I'd never seen her so fired up. No, she had never shown me her angry face because she'd always acted all prim and proper. This was something new. Something that shouldn't excite me. I should be repulsed by her.

Why then does my gaze continually wander to her lips? Refusing to give in to these strange feelings, I fought back.

"Go ahead and play the victim. That's all you ever do," I spat, and rage flashed in her eyes. 

Before I could process what she was doing, she'd grabbed me by my tie and yanked hard. We both stumbled forward, and she crashed into me, her face colliding with my chest. Her breasts were pressed against me, and I could feel her soft warmth with every inhale and exhale.

'Fuck,' I cursed inwardly as my manhood began to stir. 

She trembled. It was most definitely not out of fear. It appeared to me that she'd held in so much resentment towards me. She pulled away from me, clenching her fists.  

Slowly, she looked up at me, her chest heaving. Her full lips were parted, her eyelashes fluttering slightly. Has she always been this beautiful? I wondered.

"Where is she?" Raelynn suddenly demanded through her teeth, and I lowered my brows, puzzled.

"Who?"

Her eyes darkened, and she took another step closer to me. She halted right in front of me, with only a little space between us. Up close, I could see the flecks of gold in her eyes. I'd almost forgotten. But in this moment, I was reminded of how stunning she was. 

She appeared to be even more beautiful than before. She looked healthier, too. 

"Your little bitch. Why aren't you with her right now?"

She had to be talking about Nadia. But why would she drag her into our conversation?

"I bet you got married to her the moment I was out of the picture. You probably have ugly children running around the house as well. Why don't you run along? Go back to her. She must be waiting."

Sarcasm dripped heavily from her words. But what she didn't know was that Nadia was not my wife. 

"You can't blame me for what happened. If you didn't get ahead of yourself, I wouldn't have had to ---"

Raelynn cut me off, and I clenched my jaw, annoyed.

"You refused to listen to me! No matter how many times I begged. You even tried to --"

The door slid open, and she shook her head and stormed out of the elevator. 

"To hell with you, Rai," she spat and stormed off. The moment I stepped out of the elevator, I nearly bumped into Nadia, who was standing by the elevator, staring at Raelynn's retreating figure with wide eyes. 

"Is that....her? How is she still alive?" She asked, and I ignored her statement.

"Let's go. We're going to be late," I said, moving past her. 

"Wait, what's that on your shirt?" Nadia said, and I turned to look at her, my patience wearing thin.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded, and her eyes misted over. 

"Why do you have a lipstick mark on your shirt?!" She exclaimed, a deep frown settling in between her brows. 

I lowered my gaze, and there it was on my white shirt. A bright red lipstick mark.