Chapter 20

Rowan

The insistent chirp of my phone jolted me awake, and I groaned, reaching for the device on the nightstand to pull it close to me. I cracked my eyes open and saw that sunlight was peeking through the blinds, painting golden stripes across my rumpled sheets. I fumbled with the phone, squinting at the message notification until I eventually got it right. It was a message from Elara, a simple, "Good morning, sleepyhead", accompanied by a winking emoji, but it made me smile.

I opened the message thread to see that she had left me another.

"Rhys is going to eat your toast if you don't come down soon. I've been protecting it but I'm not sure how much longer I can hold him off."

I laughed out at the message, before typing a quick reply.

"Good morning darling. Make sure he doesn't get it. I'll be right down."

I pulled myself out of bed and rushed through my morning routine. It had been over two weeks since our date and the official start of our relationship, and it was going even better than I could have imagined. There was no awkwardness or unease between us, and it was mind-blowing how easily we each had been able to settle into the routine.

Once I was done taking a shower and dressing, I pulled my hair into a man bun, making a mental reminder about Elara's appointment at the salon later in the day.

I heard Elara's infectious laughter even before I reached the dining room, and it sent a warm feeling through me. Her vibrant personality was something I was quickly getting used to, especially since the last couple of weeks had presented a more relaxed and happier version of her.

"… wouldn't know if I had one slice. That should be his punishment for waking up late." I heard the last bit of Rhys' words as I approached the dining room, and I rolled my eyes.

"You woke up late yesterday, and nobody ate your food," came Elara's response and I pushed open the door.

"Finally, here you are! I protected your toast," Elara said excitedly as I walked into the room. I walked toward her, bending down to scatter kisses across her face, an action that made her squeal with laughter.

"Thank you, sweetheart," I replied, accepting the plate of food she gave me.

"I'll get you a hot cup of coffee." She moved away as she spoke.

"You're so damn lucky she was here. You would have gone without breakfast," Rhys said, and I flipped him the bird, dodging in time to avoid the fork he threw my way.

"It's like hanging around a bunch of kids all the time," Kai commented with a sigh, and both Rhys and I laughed, making Kai move away from the table. "We have a meeting with council officials at ten, don't be late," he said, before exiting the dining room.

My morning unfolded in its usual rhythm and after breakfast and saying goodbye to Elara, Rhys and I made it to the administration office where the meeting with the officials was set to take place. I had an office in the administration building, but I was rarely ever there since I spent the majority of my week on the training grounds. I only ever had to be here for occasional meetings, but the moment I stepped into my office, I immediately knew that something was wrong.

And then the scent hit me. A heady mix of honeysuckle and plum, a fragrance so utterly unique, it could only belong to one person.

Scarlett.

My breath caught in my throat, the familiar ache in my chest twisting into something sharper: a jolt of unwelcome surprise. It had been years, years of carefully curated indifference, years of burying the past deep within the recesses of my heart.

Panic clawed at me immediately and I spun around, my gaze sweeping over the sterile office space. Empty. My heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs as I searched every nook and cranny of the space. She was nowhere to be found, but yet her scent lingered, a cruel phantom haunting my senses.

"Rowan? You all right?" Rhys' voice, laced with concern, cut through the haze of my confusion. I hadn't even noticed when he had walked into my office

I wondered if he could smell the agonizing scent in the air, but I quickly realized that even if he could, he probably wouldn't recognize it. After all, I was the one who had spent all those years in a relationship with her, drowning in this particular scent.

But I ignored him. My wolf was straining inside me like there was some sort of leash holding him within me. I shoved open the office door, the scent thinning out almost as soon as I stepped out into the hallway, but back inside my office, the scent seemed to be clinging to every single item.

"Dude, what are you looking for?" Rhys asked as I stepped into the office again, holding onto my shoulders to prevent me from moving. His voice was full of concern, but all I could do was shake my head in response. Her scent was almost clinging to me like a second skin now, and I was itching to get rid of it.

"The meeting is starting now. Are you sure you're okay, man? You look a little pale," Rhys said, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Yeah, I am," I said, and without another word, I left the office and headed for the conference room, not wanting to be around that scent any longer.

The scent lingered, following and mocking me, refusing to dissipate no matter how hard I tried to ignore it. It bled into the meeting room where the officials were waiting for me, turning my prepared report into a jumbled mess. I could see the worried glances that Kai and Rhys threw my way. The other officials whispered amongst themselves, but I couldn't explain the sudden haze clouding my mind.

Luckily, the meeting finally came to a close, and I rushed out of the conference room before Rhys and Kai could try to stop me. Thankfully, they stayed back to discuss some things with other people, and I took the time to lock myself away in my office. I had some paperwork to look at before I could return to the training ground, and I knew I had to attend to it now or it would pile up by the next time I came into the office. Back at my desk, the scent still haunted me. Every document that I flipped through seemed to carry it.

I tried to work, but every inhale brought Scarlett's memory closer. It had been years since the last time I had seen her. It had been years since her betrayal, and every day since that incident, I had spent regretting the day I had met her.

I remember the day the war had broken out. It had been so brutal and destructive, but the hardest part of it all, was seeing the smirk on Scarlett's face as she watched the enemy fight against our people. I had trusted her, told her the details of all the patrols and security, thinking she was a concerned lover who just wanted to know my schedule, but she had been my doom.

I slammed my fist against the desk, ignoring the pain that lanced through my hand. The frustration was becoming unbearable.

Halfway through the day, I reached my breaking point. My wolf was going crazy from being locked up in the office with the scent hanging around, and I couldn't take it anymore. I left the office.

Shifting into my wolf form, I tore through the woods behind the administration building. The familiar rush of wind against my fur, the earthy scent of the forest floor, the freedom of the run—these were the only things that grounded me to reality.

I ran for what felt like hours, wanting nothing more than to empty my mind of all the flashbacks that plagued me. Just as I thought of turning back, a faint trace of that same honeysuckle and plum fragrance prickled against my senses. Curiosity warred with a deep-seated fear, but an invisible force compelled me forward.

I followed the scent until I emerged into a clearing. In the center, by the shimmering surface of a lake, she stood. Her back was to me, but I would recognize that fiery red hair anywhere.

My wolf whined, a low growl rumbling in its throat, a primal instinct that warned me of danger, but I held my wolf at bay, deciding to transform to avoid any rash decisions.

She couldn't be real. Could she?

"Scarlett?" I called out, my voice rough with surprise.

She turned, a slow smile spreading across her face. Time seemed to warp, and years melted away. She was even more beautiful than I remembered, her features sharper, and her eyes held a depth that I didn't recall, but that wasn't the thing that caught my attention the most. Now that she was closer, the scent that hung in the air carried a new tinge of something dark and unsettling.

"Rowan," she breathed. Her voice was soft, almost a whisper, and it pulled at my insides. "It's really you."

I remained rooted to the spot, my wolf growling deep within me. Scarlet took a step forward, her movements fluid, but I held out a hand to stop her from coming any closer. The hatred in my heart rose to the surface, but a part of me wanted some kind of closure. I wanted to know why she did what she did, even though I wasn't sure I could forgive her.

"I knew you'd come," she said, her eyes locking onto mine. I saw the same warmth that I remembered, but there was a flicker of something else as well, something cold and calculating, lurking beneath the pleasant fa?ade. It took me back to that day.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, my wolf straining against my control.

Tears welled up in Scarlet's eyes, and her face was a picture of utter heartbreak. "I had to see you," she choked out, her voice thick with emotion. "I never meant for things to end between us the way it did."

She reached out a hand, her fingers trembling, but I refused to take it. Instead, I took a step back, wanting to be as far away from her as possible, but she didn't seem to take the hint, because she took another step closer, her eyes pleading.

"It's all my fault. I know you hate me right now, and nothing I say is going to change that," she whispered, sniffing as she spoke. "I was young, foolish, and I made a terrible mistake."

She moved even closer, her scent overwhelming me, but it mixed with the new undercurrent of something foreign. Desire flared in my gut, the memories of our passionate past threatening to consume me, but underneath it, I could feel the awareness that she was causing me to feel that way. There was something else going on.

"Don't," I managed to force out, fighting the urge that threatened to consume me.

"It's not what you think," she pleaded. "What happened all those years ago, it wasn't my fault. I was forced. They threatened my life if I didn't help them. I never stopped loving you, Rowan, even after I was forced to leave. I never stopped thinking about you."

As she spoke, her movements became more deliberate, her voice taking on a seductive edge. She inched closer, and her scent surrounded me, threatening to imprison my mind.

Her words were a spark, igniting the memories. I thought of her leaving me without a single explanation, leaving me with the last image of her working with the enemies while they raided the pack. I remembered her leaving me with a gaping hole in my heart that had been there until Elara's arrival.

A million questions swirled in my head, threatening to drown me. I had sworn never to dwell on the past, yet here I was, doing just that. Why didn't she try to come back sooner? Why did it take all these years?

"You're a liar and a traitor, and you should be thankful I'm letting you walk away with your life. Rhys and Kai might not be so merciful, so I suggest you leave the pack immediately, never to return," I said, and the iciness in my tone caused Scarlet to flinch.

Scarlet's face fell at my response. "Please, Rowan," she pleaded, taking a step closer and reaching out to take my hand against my will. "Don't turn me away. I have nowhere else to go."

"Well, you can go be with the people you planned the attack with. You're not fooling me with your sob story, Scarlett. I saw you that day and you didn't look like you were forced. I'm not sure why you came here. I have a mate now, so even if you were telling the truth, nothing would happen between us ever again. Coming here was a waste of your time. Go back to wherever you're from. I won't tell you again," I said, and the anger that flared in her eyes caused me to reel back.

"I'm trying to save you from your so-called mate!" she yelled, causing me to flinch slightly.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, recovering quickly.

Scarlet's eyes glistened as she pleaded. "She's not who you think she is, Rowan. She's a Siren, a creature of deceit. She tricked you all, used her powers to gain access to the pack."

A tear slipped down Scarlet's cheek, tracing a trail on her porcelain skin. "She has a power, Rowan," she said, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "A power to manipulate emotions, to create illusions that feed into your deepest desires. You have to listen to me Rowan, you have to see this clearly. She was sent to destroy all of you. You're in danger!"

I stood looking at her for several seconds before I shook my head in disbelief.

"This is your attempt to get back into my life? Accusing my mate of having dark magic? Who gave you this information? How low do you intend to stoop?"

"Then what is this, Rowan?" Scarlett pulled out a book from the bag she had slung across her back and tossed it at me.

I caught it before it could hit the ground, and I could have sworn my heart stopped working when I flipped open the front page.

Silas' Sirens.

That's what the heading said.

And true to Scarlett's words, the top right corner of the book held Elara's picture.