Page 57 of Fated to the Hunters
Scarlett looked around for Vince but before she could ask, Ezra indicated the front door. “He’s been hiding in the workshop all day.”
“Scarlett?” She turned to face Mateo again. “You don’t need permission to go anywhere in this house or property.”
“What about your bedrooms?”
Was he…blushing? “Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say that if you want to come in, you’re always welcome to.”
She stood and slipped into her sneakers, still feeling odd leaving the house without someone guarding her or getting official permission to do so. The fading evening sun bathed the sky in deep tones of pink and orange as it slowly sank behind the horizon. Scarlett timidly approached the barn and with the doors wide open, she could already see Vince inside. He shaved away at a chunk of wood with a small tool she’d never seen before. Flakes of wood and ashes of sawdust littered the floor at his feet.
He didn’t look up when she stepped in, and she suddenly felt as if she’d done something wrong. Maybe this was his safe space. “I’m sorry.”
His eyes shot up to her, his movements halting as if someone had pressed pause on a movie.
“I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. I just didn’t know what to do to stop them.” Scarlett looked down at her hands, picking at her fingers. “I’m sorry for not saving you sooner.”
Vince straightened to his full height, but Scarlett didn’t dare lift her gaze. “Look at me.” His tone was rough, and Scarlett was too frightened to do as asked. Not ofVince,but what her memories would fill in if she did.
“Scarlett, look at me,” he repeated.
With a racing heart she did and found his face full of regret.
“Why are you apologising?”
“You got hurt because of me. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“That’s not your fault.” Vince let out a heavy breath, as if he’d been holding it for a while, and scrubbed his hand over his face.
“Why are you upset then?”
“Because you chose me.” Before Scarlett could speak, Vince continued, “You weren’t supposed to choose me. You weren’t supposed to leave your family yet.”
“It’s okay.”
His features hardened, and Vince returned to the detailed work in front of him. “You clearly weren’t ready.”
She sighed and walked past his workbench to the dresser he seemed to be restoring, repairing some of the flowery details that had withered over time. “I think if we’d waited for me to be ready, it never would have happened.” She couldn’t look at him, her eyes fixed on her fingers tracing over the fine lines of the flowers. “I’ve never known anything but them. Seeing myself with you scared me. It still does.”
“I didn’t mean to rush you.”
“I believe you. If it was Ezra, maybe I wouldn’t. He’d have stayed for the thrill. He doesn’t want me here either, but he would have enjoyed the fact that I came for him.”
“Scarlett…” She looked up to see Vince’s struggling emotions written all over his face. “We want you here.”
“Part of you believes that, just like part of me wants to be here too.”
“We will take care of you.”
“I know.” Scarlett closed the distance between them and gently pushed a strand of his dark, sweaty hair out of his face. She may have been mistaken, but he seemed to shudder in her grip. “Mateo is cooking dinner, and I believe it’s a rule in this house that you all eat together.”
Without another word, she returned to the kitchen and joined Mateo to see where she could help. Thankfully, the onions werealready diced so she took over cutting the potatoes into wedges and seasoning them before adding them to a baking tray.
“I’ve put your new clothes in the wash,” Mateo said as he stirred the sauce. “I’m just waiting on the dryer.”
“I don’t mind doing my own if you show me where everything is.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Scarlett caught Mateo giving her a cheeky grin. “No. I think I’ll keep the laundry room a secret.”
Scarlett knew he meant the best, but doing her own chores would be a hard habit to break. It had been her responsibility to take care of her clothes and her brother’s. It was custom in the pack, in order to teach her to be a good housewife. If she couldn’t keep a home, it would be an embarrassment to her mate.
