Page 41 of Marked By the Alphas

“I’ll get you a hot cup of coffee.” She moved away as she spoke.

“You’re so damn lucky she was here. You would have gone without breakfast,” Rhys said, and I flipped him the bird, dodging in time to avoid the fork he threw my way.

“It’s like hanging around a bunch of kids all the time,” Kai commented with a sigh, and both Rhys and I laughed, making Kai move away from the table. “We have a meeting with councilofficials at ten, don’t be late,” he said, before exiting the dining room.

My morning unfolded in its usual rhythm and after breakfast and saying goodbye to Elara, Rhys and I made it to the administration office where the meeting with the officials was set to take place. I had an office in the administration building, but I was rarely ever there since I spent the majority of my week on the training grounds. I only ever had to be here for occasional meetings, but the moment I stepped into my office, I immediately knew that something was wrong.

And then the scent hit me. A heady mix of honeysuckle and plum, a fragrance so utterly unique, it could only belong to one person.

Scarlett.

My breath caught in my throat, the familiar ache in my chest twisting into something sharper: a jolt of unwelcome surprise. It had been years, years of carefully curated indifference, years of burying the past deep within the recesses of my heart.

Panic clawed at me immediately and I spun around, my gaze sweeping over the sterile office space. Empty. My heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs as I searched every nook and cranny of the space. She was nowhere to be found, but yet her scent lingered, a cruel phantom haunting my senses.

“Rowan? You all right?” Rhys' voice, laced with concern, cut through the haze of my confusion. I hadn’t even noticed when he had walked into my office

I wondered if he could smell the agonizing scent in the air, but I quickly realized that even if he could, he probably wouldn’trecognize it. After all, I was the one who had spent all those years in a relationship with her, drowning in this particular scent.

But I ignored him. My wolf was straining inside me like there was some sort of leash holding him within me. I shoved open the office door, the scent thinning out almost as soon as I stepped out into the hallway, but back inside my office, the scent seemed to be clinging to every single item.

“Dude, what are you looking for?” Rhys asked as I stepped into the office again, holding onto my shoulders to prevent me from moving. His voice was full of concern, but all I could do was shake my head in response. Her scent was almost clinging to me like a second skin now, and I was itching to get rid of it.

“The meeting is starting now. Are you sure you’re okay, man? You look a little pale,” Rhys said, his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Yeah, I am,” I said, and without another word, I left the office and headed for the conference room, not wanting to be around that scent any longer.

The scent lingered, following and mocking me, refusing to dissipate no matter how hard I tried to ignore it. It bled into the meeting room where the officials were waiting for me, turning my prepared report into a jumbled mess. I could see the worried glances that Kai and Rhys threw my way. The other officials whispered amongst themselves, but I couldn't explain the sudden haze clouding my mind.

Luckily, the meeting finally came to a close, and I rushed out of the conference room before Rhys and Kai could try to stop me. Thankfully, they stayed back to discuss some things with other people, and I took the time to lock myself away in myoffice. I had some paperwork to look at before I could return to the training ground, and I knew I had to attend to it now or it would pile up by the next time I came into the office. Back at my desk, the scent still haunted me. Every document that I flipped through seemed to carry it.

I tried to work, but every inhale brought Scarlett's memory closer. It had been years since the last time I had seen her. It had been years since her betrayal, and every day since that incident, I had spent regretting the day I had met her.

I remember the day the war had broken out. It had been so brutal and destructive, but the hardest part of it all, was seeing the smirk on Scarlett’s face as she watched the enemy fight against our people. I had trusted her, told her the details of all the patrols and security, thinking she was a concerned lover who just wanted to know my schedule, but she had been my doom.

I slammed my fist against the desk, ignoring the pain that lanced through my hand. The frustration was becoming unbearable.

Halfway through the day, I reached my breaking point. My wolf was going crazy from being locked up in the office with the scent hanging around, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I left the office.

Shifting into my wolf form, I tore through the woods behind the administration building. The familiar rush of wind against my fur, the earthy scent of the forest floor, the freedom of the run—these were the only things that grounded me to reality.

I ran for what felt like hours, wanting nothing more than to empty my mind of all the flashbacks that plagued me. Just as I thought of turning back, a faint trace of that same honeysuckle and plum fragrance prickled against my senses. Curiositywarred with a deep-seated fear, but an invisible force compelled me forward.

I followed the scent until I emerged into a clearing. In the center, by the shimmering surface of a lake, she stood. Her back was to me, but I would recognize that fiery red hair anywhere.

My wolf whined, a low growl rumbling in its throat, a primal instinct that warned me of danger, but I held my wolf at bay, deciding to transform to avoid any rash decisions.

She couldn't be real. Could she?

“Scarlett?” I called out, my voice rough with surprise.

She turned, a slow smile spreading across her face. Time seemed to warp, and years melted away. She was even more beautiful than I remembered, her features sharper, and her eyes held a depth that I didn't recall, but that wasn’t the thing that caught my attention the most. Now that she was closer, the scent that hung in the air carried a new tinge of something dark and unsettling.

“Rowan,” she breathed. Her voice was soft, almost a whisper, and it pulled at my insides. “It's really you.”

I remained rooted to the spot, my wolf growling deep within me. Scarlet took a step forward, her movements fluid, but I held out a hand to stop her from coming any closer. The hatred in my heart rose to the surface, but a part of me wanted some kind of closure. I wanted to know why she did what she did, even though I wasn’t sure I could forgive her.

“I knew you'd come,” she said, her eyes locking onto mine. I saw the same warmth that I remembered, but there was a flicker ofsomething else as well, something cold and calculating, lurking beneath the pleasant façade. It took me back to that day.

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