05

Roman’s POV

“Bring her back!” I commanded coldly through the mindlink as I watched Scarlet walk away from the arena. 

“Yes, Alpha,” My right-hand man, Rue, responded through the mindlink.

I stood in the middle of the arena once I was done with my little speech. The floor, as well as my body, was still smeared with the blood of their Alpha. I’d wanted nothing more than that for the past eight years, and I was glad that I could finally do that.

He was a bastard, and he deserved everything that happened to him tonight. I wasn’t expecting these people to fall into line immediately and regard me as their Alpha. There would be opposition, there will be questions, but I'll burn them alive if they take it too far and if I want to.

The crowd began to reduce one person after another in deep silence. They dared not utter a word.

The Lucero family started this pack, and we had been the Alpha from the beginning of its existence. I was only back to claim what was mine.

Once every pack member had left, Rue returned to the Arena with Scarlet.

“She’s here, Alpha,” I nodded. I turned to stare at her. 

She's impossible, not in a loud manner but definitely in a dramatic way. She stormed out of here like it was on fire, and the last place she would want to be. Her eyes hadn't changed, they still hold pain and agony like they used to, but heavens, those eyes do something to me that I could never understand.

“I want everyone out,” I said menacingly. My men knew better than to stay after that.

I'd arrived back in this pack with my men, people who had worked for me in the past few years and gained their loyalty. Men who would kill just to please me. My own entourage of demons. 

“You walked away in the middle of my speech as the new Alpha. That’s a sin punishable by death,” I threatened. 

She didn’t look fazed.

“What do you want to do then? Kill me?” She asked. There was more to those words, but she stopped. For some reason, she hated me, and I can’t understand it, no matter how much I try. I'd expected hostility, but not this much hatred. How was I supposed to tell her that leaving her was the only option I had back then? That if I'd stayed back, life would've chewed me and swallowed me whole. 

I walked towards her and held her chin. She slapped my hand off and moved away from me.

That annoyed me.

Gritting my teeth, I threatened. “Not now, but remember you owe me your life. Go home, Red.”

She stared at me, ready to say something, but stopped. I was beginning to hate that. It was infuriating and made my skin crawl. If she had something to say, she should spit it out and be done with it.

I needed her anger, even though it sounded crazy. 

Scarlet turned and walked away. Someone was waiting for her at the door, his back turned to me, and his hand held out for her.

That made my blood boil. My jaw clenched tightly as I watched her take his hand. 

As much as I loved beating the crap out of their Alpha this night, I still hated his blood on my skin. I needed to wash it off, along with the image of Red holding another man’s hand.

FUCK! I cursed.

Since I came back to the pack, I decided to stay at my parents' old house because of the horrible memories that smeared these walls, tainted the floor and hovered even above the roof. That was the punishment I deserved.

I walked into the shower, got dressed, ready to go for a run.

My wolf needed that. I needed that.

I opened the door and walked out of my room.

“Everything okay, Alpha?” Rue asked.

“I'm just going for a walk,” I answered.

“Want us to come with you?” He asked.

I smirked. I wasn't scared of the dark. The dark should be scared of me. I'd entered allegiance with creatures more dangerous than werewolves.

I've been fueled by anger, and I became so power-driven, I couldn't even say what I was anymore. A werewolf, or a half-werewolf, half-vampire, and a little beast.

It's funny how much power I acquired only for me to return to this pack and realize that the tiny, frail human I walked out on years ago was still here. She was frozen in time just like I was.

When I finally stopped walking, I was behind her house.

Scarlet's house. My wolf had taken over my subsoncious and came to find its mate. That little bastard. 

I smirked. I wanted to turn back and leave, but I was stopped by the sudden movement in the forest behind her house. It was that of a black, average wolf. What intrigued and bothered me at the same time were its eyes.

They were pitch black with red ombre. I clenched my jaw.

That was a mad wolf. Mad wolves were more dangerous than rogues. Rogues live in solitude, dangerous when crossed paths with, but mad wolves were used as assassins. They were mostly on assignment and usually stalked their victims until the mission had been accomplished. Mad wolves only stalked branded or marked wolves.

I wondered who brought a mad wolf into the pack and what atrocity they have committed.

They're always in disguise and hard to pick out among the crowd when in human forms. They have to shift for them to be recognized.

I trailed after what its gaze was upon, and I saw it was Scarlet. Her window was open, and she was right in the middle of the room. She was naked with her back turned to the window. She probably couldn't see what was going on.

I hadn't planned on going closer to her tonight, but at the sight of the mad wolf, my plan changed.

I looked back at the mad wolf, and as soon as it saw me, it took several steps back. I smirked at it, and it turned on its heels and ran back into the forest.

Coward!

Rather than leave, I jumped through Scarlet's window. The plan was to ask who she pissed off with her sassy, yet tempting attitude but a few inches to her, something caught my eye.

I grabbed her hand from behind as I glared at the branded mark that settled on her back.

“What the hell is this?”