04

Scarlet's POV

“Brace yourself, Red,” and "This is the only beginning." 

Those words stuck with me, and I didn’t know what to make of them. Two days later, the fight between Alpha Brett and Roman was to take place.

I guess I arrived late at the arena since I was the last person on the queue. Our pack was one of the biggest packs in the south. There was no doubt that the arena would be filled tonight with the pack of wolves. 

Once my identification was verified, I was allowed in.

I had ninety days to steal what those monsters wanted from the pack or lose my daughter forever. But Roman’s return changed everything. Now the clock was burning faster than ever

As I walked to an available seat, someone called my name. I turned in the direction of the voice and wished the floor would open up and swallow me up.

Shit!

It was Emma. My ex-bestfriend and Roman’s ex-girlfriend. I hadn’t talked to her in the number of years that I’d been away from home. It was out of shame. I’d gotten pregnant for her boyfriend, and I hated myself for that.

“Scarlet,” She gestured at me to come sit beside her. I had no choice but to join her, as so many people were already staring at us.

“Hi Emma,” I said nervously as I sat next to her.

She hugged me. “It’s been a decade,” She joked while beaming gloriously at me. My heart ached at that moment. How could I sit so close to her or even enjoy her smile after betraying her trust? I knew I shouldn’t feel this guilty because Roman was my mate, but I honestly couldn’t help it.

She didn’t know the truth. That I had a daughter. That her ex-boyfriend was the father. That I’d built an entire secret life from that one broken night.

“It’s two years shy of a decade, and you look great,”

She shrugged as though she didn’t care, or maybe I was lying about how great she looked.

Compared to my black hair, her brunette locks seemed to shimmer in the light. She used to be the tall one while I was the short one. That hadn’t changed either. She could pass for a supermodel.

“You don’t look bad yourself,” She commented.

“Thanks,”

“I didn’t think you would want to be here to see the fight. You’ve kept to yourself mostly since you came back.”

I bit down on my tongue.

“Why is the pack’s council allowing this? Is this legal?” I asked about the fight, as I tried to change the topic.

“Shockingly, it is legal. Roman submitted some evidence to the werewolf committee regarding Alpha Brett. I’m guessing he had some serious dirt on him.”

In the werewolf world, the pack’s council is responsible for the administration of each pack, while the Werewolf committee is a group of five powerful werewolves who rule over the affairs of the werewolf world as a whole.

Holding my breath, I asked within a second because of how stupid I might sound. “Didn’t they say Roman killed his father?” I asked. Considering the fact that Alpha Brett used to be Roman’s father Beta, this was shocking.

She nodded. “They said he did, but whatever he has against Alpha Brett must be so dirty for the werewolf committee to accept that he fights for the Alpha position.”

“I guess it’s a dog-eat-dog world we live in,”

“Welcome back to the werewolf world, Scarlet. We’ve been expecting you,” She joked, and a small smile graced my lips.

Alpha Brett came into the arena first before Roman joined him. I could hear the mumbling around the people. They were not comfortable with the idea.

What if Roman won?

As much as I wanted him to lose, a part of me wished he would beat the shit out of Alpha Brett.

Alpha Brett was a control freak and an opportunist. Most people didn’t see it, but that was only because they had never lived beyond the four walls of this pack.

Roman looked through the crowd as though searching for something until his eyes settled on me. He stared at me, smirked, and I frowned before I looked away.

I couldn’t handle the way his stare crawled under my skin. He didn’t know about Elara. There was no way he would know about her. But if he found out…

“What is he searching for?” Emma asked.

“A heart or soul perhaps,” I answered with a mumble, and she frowned, trying to make sense of my words.

He had no heart and no soul. He needed one. I wanted to yell in her face, but I stopped myself.

“Do you think Roman would win this fight?”

She asked. I didn't answer. I didn't want him to win, but I was afraid that he could win.

Almost everyone in the pack knew how powerful Alpha Brett was. They could calculate his strength, and his moves, and predict his win, but Roman was almost a stranger; no one knew how powerful he was. No one knew anything about him.

No one could predict his win.

The whistle was blown, and the fight began.

Everyone in the arena was on the edge of their seats as we watched the two of them fight till the death.

Roman delivered one final blow to Alpha Brett's jaw, and the big wolf fell to the ground. Everyone gasped and stood up to their feet. I didn't stand. I sat there as a bolt of anger rushed through me. We waited in silence for Alpha Brett to get up and resume fighting, but that didn’t happen.

I wanted to run to the ring and yell at Alpha Brett to get up his ass and fight. I would rather spend my days under a dictator like him than under Roman.

But it wasn't possible.

Alpha Brett never stood up, not even once.

Emma grabbed my hand and pulled me up, and what welcomed me was a gory scene of Roman looming over Alpha Brett's as he delivered blow after blow to his already limp body.

Blood splashed all over him.

Jake and a few other warriors had to intervene before Roman would kill him.

Roman wiped his face with the back of his hand, but the blood on his knuckles only smeared it further.

He won! The fucking bastard won the fight!

“This is vengeance, isn't it? This was more than a fight,” Emma noted.

I stared at her. Maybe she was right. But vengeance for what exactly?

I shook my head, pushing the matter out of my mind. I've got better things to worry about.

Roman had just become the Alpha of the pack and I was running out of time.

When it was time for him to address the pack, we all took a seat.

One of his men came in with a towel. He wiped his hand with it and dropped it to the ground carelessly.

“From today onward, I'm your Alpha. My word is the law. To everyone who has one or two things against me, you know your way to the Alpha's office,” He paused and looked through the crowd. My anger surged, and so did my anxiety. I shouldn’t be here, listening to the words that come out of this bastard. I had a sudden flash of that night, and I held back the tear that threatened to fall. I bit down on my lips, hoping it’ll stop the tears till I almost tasted blood.

“You can do all sorts of things, say shit behind my back, throw jabs at me, but if you start a revolution group, I'll wash off your sins with your blood. let's work together…”

Roman hadn't finished talking when I suddenly stood up and began walking out, even though I wasn't supposed to because it was deemed disrespectful.

The entire arena went silent, and Roman stopped talking. I could almost hear the whispers and felt the glares behind my back, but I couldn't care less.

No one disrespected an Alpha like that.

No one walked out in the middle of his first speech.

But I did!

Few minutes into leaving the arena, the hairs behind my neck stood frozen. I heard hurried footsteps and before i could look back, someone grabbed me, dragging me away even though I tried to fight it.