5: Why Does He Smell Like Us?

LEVI

For years, I've dreamt of seeing Brooks again but nothing could have prepared me for the way my heart ached, my throat tightened, and my hands shook.

I was practically an alpha king. I've conquered territories, traveled the world, signed unprecedented contracts and built an incredible wealth system over the last seven years but I never felt this way in any of those moments.

I've never felt this tense, anxious, relieved, excited, and happy at once.

She turned slowly and I didn't allow her to finish turning before I pulled her to me. I held her, heart racing in my chest as her scent enveloped me and the mate bond flared to life. She remained pliant in my hold.

“Thank you,” the words slipped from my mouth before I could stop them and when I finally let go, it was to examine her body, her face, her skin, to check if she was really okay.

“Brooks, you have no idea…” I trailed off when I did the one thing I should have done earlier; look into her eyes. Gone was the puppy eyed girl who looked at me as if I was the center of her universe. She was looking at me like I was a complete stranger whom she had no business with.

Heck. She was looking at me like one would look like something that repulsed them. My heart dropped.

“Brooks, it's a long story but I…”

“What are you doing here, Levi?” her voice was equally as cold as her eyes and the crowd that had gathered around us gasped in shock, probably at the fact that she called their Alpha King by name.

Ohh, what I’d give to shout to them that she was my mate and their future Luna Queen.

“I searched everywhere for you, Brooks,” I stepped closer, voice breaking and she took a step back, “I turned the whole world upside down looking for you. I paid millions to find you. I did everything possible and you've always been here? Just two hours drive away from me?”

She scoffed bitterly and her green eyes flashed with a rage that didn't go away, “you looked for me? Why? To further embarrass me? To accuse me of more monstrous crimes? Or to finish the job you started?”

“Oh Brooks,” I stepped closer again, “You have no idea…”

“No, I don't.” She interrupted me, voice firm and definite, “I don't and I don't want to. Now you're going to leave or go back to whatever business brought you here.”

It was my turn to scoff, “leave without you? I lived seven years without you, Brooks. No,” I shook my head, “I endured seven years without you. Don't ever think for a second that I'd endure another moment without you.”

She stared at me. Said nothing. Shook her head before she scoffed again, “You… You're still a spoiled brat, aren't you?”

Another collective gasp from the crowd but they didn't matter. Their reactions didn't matter. Brooks could talk to me that way all she wanted. She could bang my head against the wall but I wasn't leaving here without her.

I stepped closer till there was no distance between us and when I spoke, my voice was a murmur, “you're still mine, Brooks. The mate bond still exists between us. You know it too and I'm not going to leave here without you.”

“Yes, you are, Levi,” she replied without stuttering, “We've survived…” she trailed off, took three steps away from me before she glanced anxiously around. She probably didn't find what she was looking for because her eyes snapped back to mine.

“Leave now, Levi. Just leave. You've wrecked enough havoc in my life. I can't allow you to do any more harm.”

I tried to move closer to her but she held out a hand to stop me. My body complied instantly.

“I fucked up but I'm here to make everything better, to explain why I had to…”

Her icy cold glare shut me up, “no, you don't have anything to explain. No amount of explanation can undo what you did to me. You think it ended that morning in the auditorium?” her voice shook and tears pooled in her eyes and it fucking broke my heart, “No, that was the beginning of everything you put me through. And you want to explain? No way.”

“Brooks…”

“Please leave, Levi, please.”

“I can't leave here without you. I'm unable to. Let me make it up to you. Let me…”

I couldn't complete my statement because a scent hit me straight in the guts. It wasn't coming from my mate but rather from a short distance that was thinning by the seconds. It was a familiar scent. One that felt like home and childhood memories.

I looked at Brooks. She could smell it too but from the way her eyes were widened and her hands were trembling, she was terrified of me finding out the source of the scent.

“Levi…” she pleaded.

“Mummy,” a child yelled from a distance. She sighed in exasperation while my body numbed out instantly. There were no words to describe how I was feeling as the child came into view. He ran straight to Brooks who scooped him up and tried to shield his face away from me but it didn't work.

I wasn't staring at just any child. I was staring at what I looked like when I was five.

“Mummy,” my son called out again before pointing at me, “why does he smell like us?”