2

Scarlett’s POV

I, Scarlett Violet labeled a traitor — by the same people that I could lay my life down for. 

I found it hard to believe that it was all true and that I wasn’t having a nightmare. My brain still refused to process that it was true until I heard the sound of a rogue snapping its teeth not too far from me. 

I instinctively wrapped my arms around my waist as though the danger would get to my child before it’d get to me. 

Taking one last look at the dark gates of the pack territory that was rightfully mine, I started to move even though every instinct of mine wanted me to fight harder for all that’s mine. 

But how do you defend yourself against the people who already concluded that you’re guilty? 

“We’ll be fine, I promise. We’ll be back stronger. And this time, so ruthless that no one would dare to trample upon us.” I made the promise while turning to my stomach as though my child could hear me already. 

With that, I went deep into the woods, careful enough not to trespass into any pack’s territory. Because if I were seen, I’d be killed on sight. A traitor who could go rogue in a matter of weeks.

That continued for days, and I found shelter in the woods and fed on just fruit. But the will for survival was so strong that I started to adapt to life in the woods. My baby was growing by the day and before I knew it, I had already spent a week alone in the woods. 

The resistance and toughness that I built came in handy when a makeshift camp that I made in the woods was invaded. I smelt them before I saw them and I immediately assumed position. 

I stared viciously at the men as they came towards me. There were three. Shit, I was outnumbered. 

I couldn’t tell whether or not they were rogues as their scents were masked and that was why they got so close before I sensed them. 

“I’m not a threat to anyone.” I said stiffly, “Who are you all?”

They didn’t respond. Instead, one of them flew towards me, immediately telling me that they hadn’t come to dialogue with me. I also met him with a harsh kick.

He held my throat and I returned the favour by kicking him where the sun didn’t shine. I kicked him so hard that he rolled on the ground. The other two who were shifting into their wolves during the process of the fight jumped on me. 

Fear settled in my chest as I realized that I could really be killed right there. But no, not before I gave it my all too. I didn’t shift into my wolf but I showed them what it meant to have Alpha blood. 

It was very gruesome — flesh was torn, teeth gnashed against one another and blood spilled onto the grass. 

But at the end, I held one by the throat while the other two lay in their own pool of blood. I pressed the blade I retrieved from them against the wolf’s neck as I forced him to shift back. . 

“Who sent you?” I growled. 

His eyes widened, “No one—” he tried to say but I pressed the knife harder, enough to draw out blood from his skin. 

“It takes me nothing to end you here right now,” I said. 

“It’s Alpha Rowan.” He said shakily, “He says we should kill you or watch our children die.” 

No wonder their scents were masked and they just dived right into fighting to kill me. 

“I’ll just help him out then. He won’t have to see you again to punish you for not doing your job.” I smirked darkly. 

He shook his head repeatedly, “No—” the words died in his throat as I dug the knife deep enough to draw out more blood and cut through his throat. 

His eyes rolled back and he went still. The other two watched in mortification but I also didn’t spare them. 

By the time I rose, I could barely feel my body. I looked around, my brain going into a spiral as it tried to figure out whether there were still more around. 

Rowan didn’t just cast me out of my pack, he also wanted me dead. And if he thinks my pregnancy would make me a liability then he’s very wrong. But for now, I needed to get a strong footing. 

I had spent years hating this body, but it just killed three wolves while protecting the lives in it. 

“You need strength.” I told myself as I pressed my hand against one of the injuries I sustained, “You’re going to need to be smart, and you need allies.” 

Rowan and Elaine better be ready for me when I strike back. 

I dragged my body over to a stream nearby and started to wash away the blood and dirt stuck in my clothes after which I sat to drink some of them. 

And as I started to force my body to relax a bit, I heard a sound that had me standing upright immediately. A grunt. 

Every one of my senses was on full alert. I sniffed the air and I instantly smelt it; a very different kind of scent. Since I arrived here, it was just my scent mixed with that of nature that perfumed the air and I had gotten very used to it.

Then the grunt turned into something that seemed heavy, like someone was dragging their feet against the floor and they were finding it hard to get it done. 

I confirmed that my blade was in its rightful place before stepping in the direction the sound came from. 

Then I saw him. A man who was so tall but the height seemed to be a big disappointment at the moment because he looked like he was about to fall.

He held his throat, blood dripped down his mouth and onto his clothes but it wasn’t nearly the amount of blood that oozed out of his body from different places. 

“Wh—at?” I muttered. 

By no means did he look like a normal man. The aura that emanated from him alone communicated that he was more powerful than many alphas. 

And his face… it was oddly familiar. 

“Who are you?” I asked and the moment his dark eyes swept over my body, he fell straight to the ground. 

If someone who looked as strong as him could fall like that, it only meant that something was very wrong. 

I clearly wasn’t thinking clearly when I rushed over to him even when I knew that he could have been sent by Rowan.

Upon getting closer to him, I saw the extremity of his injuries. 

“Who did this to you?” I asked, mortified. “And how are you even still alive?” 

“Stay the fuck away from me.”