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CHAPTER FIFTY

Penulis: Blossom Harold
last update Terakhir Diperbarui: 2025-12-15 17:49:51
~SCARLETT~

I hadn’t opened the gift Dimitri had gotten me last night. Opening it meant acknowledging not only him but my feelings for him, and I didn’t want to do that myself anymore.

I had wanted to call Chase and Cleo and tell them about my job but if Dimitri knew, then Chase probably knew.

With that thought, I had gone to bed and was up early the next day for work.

“Let’s do this” I muttered before leaving the house.

The bell above the café door chimed as I stepped inside, and for a second, I just stood there.

It smelled like roasted coffee beans and sugar and something warm I couldn’t name. Cinnamon, maybe. Or safety. The kind of scent that made you believe nothing terrible could happen as long as it lingered in the air.

“Scarlett?”

I startled, clutching my bag closer to my chest. The manager, Maren, stood behind the counter, her dark hair pulled back neatly, eyes kind but sharp in a way that told me she noticed everything.

“Yes. Hi. I…” I stopped myself from ram
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  • Claimed by two Alphas   CHAPTER FIFTY NINE

    ~SCARLETT~ I notice it on a Tuesday.Not because anything dramatic happens but because something doesn’t.For the first time in days, I didn’t feel watched from a distance.I felt… accompanied.It started small.When I step out of my apartment building that morning, the street is already busy. Cars pass, people rush by, the city hums like it always does. I adjust my bag on my shoulder and head toward the café, mind already bracing for another long shift.That’s when I see him.Dimitri stands across the street, phone pressed to his ear, posture relaxed but alert. He isn’t hiding. He isn’t pretending not to see me.And when his gaze lifts and meets mine…He doesn’t look away.My breath catches.Not because of surprise but Because of relief.He nods once. Not an invitation. Not a demand. Just acknowledgment.I’m here.Something warm spreads through my chest before I can stop it.I don’t cross the street. He doesn’t either.But the space between us feels different now.Alive.At work, t

  • Claimed by two Alphas   CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT

    ~SCARLETT~ The tension at work changes shape.It’s no longer whispered comments or sidelong looks. It becomes deliberate, sharper, more pointed, meant to remind me exactly where I stand.Or where they think I stand.“Careful,” Maya says as she passes me a tray of pastries, her smile thin. “Wouldn’t want to mess up. Not when so many important people are watching.”I grip the tray tighter than necessary. “I’ve got it.”She tilts her head. “Of course you do.”Louis opens his mouth to say something, but I shake my head subtly. I don’t want a scene. I just want to survive the day.Still, the weight of being watched presses into me. Not just by my coworkers but by the city, by rumors, by expectations I never agreed to carry.And by two men who refuse to leave my life in very different ways.Alexander picks me up after work.I didn’t ask him to.But I didn’t say no either.His car is parked across the street, polished and discreet. He steps out when he sees me, opening the passenger door li

  • Claimed by two Alphas   CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN

    ~ALEXANDER~ I’ve learned that love doesn’t always look like urgency.Sometimes, it looks like waiting without complaint.That’s what I remind myself as I stand outside Scarlett’s building, hands tucked into the pockets of my coat, the night air sharp against my skin. I don’t look up at her window. I don’t want to know if she’s watching.I didn’t come to see her.Not really.I came to remind myself that she exists outside my memory.Alive. Breathing. Choosing.And that choice may never be me.Brian’s voice still rings in my ears from earlier that day.You’re losing control of the pack.He hadn’t shouted. Brian never does. Disappointment carries more weight than anger when it comes from your beta.I’d looked at him then and said, “I’m not losing control. I’m prioritizing.”He’d stared at me like I’d lost my mind.Maybe I have.The boardroom was full this morning. Advisors.Lawyers. People who speak in numbers and market shares like lives don’t exist beneath them. They talked about expa

  • Claimed by two Alphas   CHAPTER FIFTY SIX

    ~DIMITRI~ I stopped three floors below her apartment.Every time.The elevator doors slide shut behind me with a muted sound, sealing me into a hallway that smells faintly of detergent and old paint. The lights hum softly overhead. My reflection stares back at me from the darkened window at the far end, composed, controlled, and dangerously close to shattering.Her floor is above me.I could be there in seconds.One ride. One knock. One moment of weakness.But I don’t move.Distance is a discipline.That’s what I tell myself as I lean back against the wall and close my eyes. Discipline keeps people alive. Discipline keeps monsters contained. Discipline is the difference between love and destruction.Scarlett asked me to leave her alone.So I did.Not because I don’t care but because I care too much.My phone buzzes in my pocket.Chase.I already know what he’s going to say.“You’re here again,” his voice says when I answer.“Yes.”“And you still won’t knock.”“No.”A sigh. “She wen

  • Claimed by two Alphas   CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE

    ~SCARLETT~ If anyone had asked me what I expected coffee with Alexander to feel like, I would have said awkward. Or tense. Or unbearable.I wouldn’t have said quietly normal.That realization unsettled me more than I wanted to admit.We sat across from each other in a small café tucked between a bookstore and a florist, the kind of place people go when they want to be left alone with their thoughts. The windows are fogged slightly from the warmth inside, and soft music hums in the background, something instrumental and unobtrusive.Alexander chose the place, but he waited for me to approve it before we came in. He even asked where I wanted to sit, like proximity was something I should get to decide.That alone tells me he’s trying.He doesn’t reach for my hand. Doesn’t crowd the table. Doesn’t stare like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he blinks. Instead, he wraps his fingers around his mug and looks down at it for a long moment, like he’s grounding himself.I watch him over the rim o

  • Claimed by two Alphas   CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR

    ~DIMITRI~ Distance is not the absence of care.It’s a discipline.That’s what I tell myself as I stand across the street from the café, hands in my coat pockets, gaze fixed anywhere but the door.Scarlett asked me to step back.So I did.Not halfway. Not selectively. Completely.I don’t approach.I don’t call.I don’t make myself visible unless circumstances demand it.And it is killing me.Chase stands beside me, arms folded, watching the steady stream of people pass by. “You could at least look at her.”“I am,” I reply.“Not like that.”I glance at him briefly, then return my focus to the reflection in the glass across the street. Scarlett moves behind the counter, braid loose today, hands busy. She laughs at something Louis says, a small sound that twists something deep in my chest.She looks tired.She looks alive.She looks like someone who deserves a life untouched by the shadow of my past.“You’re not doing what she asked,” Chase says quietly.I frown. “I am.”“She asked you

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