Chapter 100
Scarlett’s POV
He looked away, a muscle jumping in his jaw. The silence stretched between us, thick with the smell of his expensive cigar.
“I don’t know,” he admitted, his voice barely audible. “I should, shouldn’t I? She’s my mate. The goddess chose her for me. I’m supposed to feel an eternal pull, a love that defies logic.” He finally met my eyes, and the sheer exhaustion in them broke my heart. “I want to fulfill my destiny, Scarlett. I want the peace that comes with finding your other half p>
He stepped even closer, his shadow falling over me. The heat radiating off him was intoxicating, making my head swim. My body, still sensitive and humming from the “fever” of the night before, leaned toward him instinctively.
“But then I look at you,” he rasped, his hand rising to hover just inches from my cheek. “I see how you look at me, and it makes everything so much harder p>
“Ethan p>
“You’re making it hard for me to focus on her,” he confessed, his thumb finally making contact with my skin, tracing my jawline. “Every time I try to chase her, I find myself wondering where you are. I find myself wanting to come back to this room. To you p>
The vulnerability in his voice was my undoing. I saw a tear glimmer in the corner of his eye, a crack in the Alpha’s armor that he was only showing to me. Without thinking, I moved my hand from his arm to the back of his neck, my fingers tangling in the short hairs there.
Ethan let out a broken sound, a mix of a groan and a sob. He leaned down, his forehead resting against mine. “Why couldn’t it have been you, Scarlett? Why is it so easy with you p>
He didn’t hesitate anymore. His mouth crashed onto mine as he kissed me deeply. As his tongue swiped against mine, my body ignited. The dull ache between my thighs flared into a sharp, demanding throb, and for a moment, the faces of the triplets flashed behind my eyelids. But I pushed them away, clinging only to Ethan.
Ethan pulled back so suddenly it felt like a cold slap. His chest was heaving, and his eyes were full of a haunting regret that made my stomach drop.
“I can’t,” he rasped, his voice cracking as he looked at me. “I can’t do this to you, Scarlett p>
“Ethan?” I whispered, reaching out for him, but he stepped back, putting distance between us.
“I’m using you,” he said, and the words felt like ice water in my veins. “I’m hurting and rejected by my mate, and I’m reaching for you because you’re here. Because you’re kind. It’s selfish, and you deserve more than to be a bandage for my broken bond p>
“I don’t care,” I argued, my voice trembling. “I wanted this p>
“But you shouldn’t want it from a man who is obsessed with someone else,” he said, his face hardening into that cold Alpha mask. “Go back to your room, Scarlett. And please stay away from me p>
The rejection hit me harder than a physical blow. I didn’t say another word; I couldn’t. If I opened my mouth, I would have sobbed. I turned and practically ran out of his suite, my vision blurring with hot, angry tears. I felt like a fool. I had offered him my heart, and he had handed it back because it wasn’t the one he wanted.
I was rushing down the hallway, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, when I rounded the corner and slammed into a wall of solid muscle.
Strong hands gripped my shoulders to steady me. I looked up, my breath hitching as I saw Leon. His brown eyes were already dark, his nostrils flaring as he took in the sight of my tear-stained face.
But then his expression changed. It went from concern to something terrifyingly dark. He leaned in, his nose brushing against my hair, then my neck. He was smelling me.
“You smell like him,” Leon hissed, his voice a low, angry vibration that made my skin crawl. “You were in his room. You were in his arms p>
“Leon, let me go,” I sobbed, trying to pull away, but his grip only tightened.
“No p>
He didn’t give me a choice. He dragged me toward the heavy double doors of the library, shoving them open and pulling me into the shadows behind a towering shelf of ancient books. He slammed the door shut with his foot, pinning me against the wood. The room was silent and dark, smelling of old paper and the overwhelming, earthy musk of his anger.
“He hurt you, didn’t he?” Leon growled, pressing his body flush against mine. “The ’Great Alpha’ made you cry, yet you still let him put his scent all over you. It’s disgusting p>
“It’s none of your business!” I snapped, my heart hammering against my ribs. “Why do you even care? You hate me too p>
“I don’t hate you,” he rasped, his face inches from mine. “I hate that he touched what doesn’t belong to him p>
Before I could yell back at him, Leon buried his face in the crook of my neck. He didn’t kiss me—he rubbed his jaw against my skin, a primal, marking gesture. He was trying to wipe Ethan’s scent away with his own. His skin was burning hot, just like it had been in my dream, and the sensitivity I had felt all morning flared back to life with a vengeance.
“Stop it,” I whispered, but my legs were going weak.
“I won’t stop until I can’t smell him on you anymore,” Leon growled.
He grabbed my wrists, pinning them above my head against the door. His tongue swiped against the spot where Ethan’s scent was strongest, a wet, rough trail that made a shameful moan escape my lips. Leon groaned into my skin, his own body reacting violently to the sound. He pressed his knee between my thighs, his cock heavy and demanding, forcing me to feel how much he wanted me.
“He doesn’t want you, Scarlett,” Leon whispered into my ear, his breath hot and ragged. “But I’m right here… and I want you p>