Chapter 5

Scarlet's POV

Sunlight filters into my room and I lay my arm over my eyes with a groan. Wait a minute? Where is the sunlight coming from? And... am I in a bed?... I remove my arm and peek out with one eye as I adjust to the bright light that surrounds me. Suddenly I'm sitting up, both eyes wide open as I take in the gorgeous room that I'm in. How did I get here?

Long velvety drapes frame a huge arched window. The walls are a light gray and are adorned with canvases displaying beautiful abstract designs that bring in some color. There is a large white dresser with a gigantic decorative mirror hanging above it. I'm sitting in a king-sized bed with deep, wine colored sheets and a lavender duvet. There is a sitting area with two comfy-looking white armchairs with a small round table sitting between them, a vase of pink roses positioned in the center. The exquisite hardwood floors are covered by a Persian rug that lies in the middle of the room.

I throw the covers back before dangling my legs over the edge of the bed. Stretching and flexing, I take stock of my injuries. My body aches but not as bad as I expected it to. I carefully step down, my feet landing on the rug before I walk over to one of the doors to the room. Opening it, I find a large walk-in closet, complete with a tufted stool and a full-length mirror. There are about a dozen outfits hanging in it along with several pairs of shoes. However, it is still mostly empty. I leave the closet and open the door next to it, finding a beautiful bathroom with a walk-in shower and stand-alone bath big enough for two people. I turn to the mirror above the sink and my eyes widen. Walking slowly closer I examine my dull, dirty red locks and the pallor of my ivory skin. My eyes are sunken and I look sickly compared to my normal appearance. I've always been on the thinner side, there isn't exactly an abundance of food in The Scourge, but now I look almost skeletal.

Turning around, I examine my back. It has clearly been cleaned of any blood and the wounds are now mostly healed with thin strips of gauze over them. I wonder who did this. Why am I not in the dungeons anymore? I reach my arms around to try and peel the gauze off, but I struggle to reach. With a sigh I turn around, trying to figure out a solution. I spot another small door and open it to find towels. A shower would be nice and would help with removing my bandages. Quickly picking out an outfit from the closet, I go back to the bathroom and adjust the water until the room begins to fill with steam. I climb in and the hot water instantly relaxes my sore muscles causing me to exhale in relief.

I take my time as I lather up my hair and body, standing under the shower-head as water runs down me. I don't know how long I'll be able to access such nice accommodations, so I might as well make it count. When I walk out of the bathroom, toweling my hair off, I freeze mid-step. Sitting in one of the armchairs is my mate. He instantly sits up straighter as he sees me and I narrow my eyes at him. "What are you doing here?"

The corner of his mouth quirks up as he gestures to a tray of food on the table beside him. My eyes widen at the smorgasbord lied out in front of me, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, fruit, the works. My eyes dart to him then back to the food before I sit down in the chair opposite him and begin digging in, moaning in satisfaction. His eyes darken at the sound before he regains his composure. "Be careful," he begins. "You eat too much too fast after not having anything you're going to end up regretting it later."

I nod and place the food back down on the table, forcing myself to take my time. My hands begin to fidget in my lap as I look down at them, chewing slowly as I can feel his eyes on me. Finally, I can't take the silence any longer. "So... umm... thanks for the food," I reply as I pick up a strawberry and take a bite.

"You're welcome," he says simply, continuing to stare as if he finds me somehow fascinating.

I nod while I avoid his gaze. Instead, I choose to observe my fingers as they twist around each other. He still doesn't speak so I let out an exasperated sigh before turning to him. "What am I doing here? How did I get here?"

"I brought you here. You are in a guest room of my penthouse," he answers. He seems to be watching me, figuring out how I'll handle the situation. I'm not sure what to think of it. Is this a game to him?

"Okay, but why?"

"Because I wanted to."

I scowl at him. His short responses are making me increasingly more irritated. "Well it wasn't long ago that I was in the dungeons getting tortured because that's what you wanted. Are you always this indecisive?" This time his eyes narrow at me. So, he's getting angry now? I can't help but to let out a scoff as I swiftly stand up from my seated position. I begin pacing across the room as I try to wrap my head around everything that has happened lately. "Do you just always do what you want without any regard for the consequences?"

He stands up, his face set in a stern, intimidating expression as he steps towards me. I instantly step back. I don't know this man. I don't know anything about him. All I know is what I have gone through since meeting him and so far our relationship doesn't look promising. This can't be my mate. "I don't even know your name..." I state softly as though I'm talking to myself.

"I'm Alpha Ethan Kane."

My breath hitches and I gulp the air back down as I nod with widened eyes. This can't be happening. I've heard so many stories about the merciless Alpha Ethan Kane. After what he just put me through, his own mate, I have a feeling that most of the stories are true. And they aren't exactly heart-warming, far from it. I take a moment to compose myself and find my resolve before I turn to him and look him dead in the eyes. "I, Scarlet Denton from the packless, reject y-" I begin before he approaches me in one large stride and grabs me by the elbows, pulling me to him so that our noses are mere centimeters apart.

"No."

I stare up at him for a moment, searching his eyes as though they will give me answers. His eyes are darkened as though his wolf is trying to come to the surface. Anger seems to be rolling off him in waves as he holds me close enough to him that I can feel his shallow breath on my face. The sting of tears appears in my eyes as I try to understand why he won't let me reject him. He clearly doesn't want this, doesn't want me. "What do you mean no? Why not?" His gaze drops and his eyes move as though he is desperately thinking for an answer. "Tell me Ethan! Why not?!"

"Because I won't let you go. Not yet."

"Not yet? So you will? When?"

"Are you really in that big of a hurry to leave me?!" he growls, his grip on me tightening.

"I'm just trying to understand! Stop speaking in fucking riddles and just explain why the hell I'm still here? Tell me why you stabbed me, saved me, and then had be thrown into your damn dungeons! It doesn't make any sense to me!"

He drops his hold on me and walks away a few paces as he scrubs his hands through his hair agitatedly. When he turns back to face me, he lets out a deep sigh and reaches out his hand to take one of mine. I instinctively pull away and watch as his eyes seem to flicker with pain and sadness and what I think is possibly regret. "Please," he begs as he continues to hold his hand out for me to take. "Can we just sit down for a moment and talk. I promise I'll explain everything."

I don't take his offered hand, but I nod and walk back over to my seat. He inhales and bobs his head as though accepting defeat before he comes and sits opposite me. He leans back and drags a hand over his face, rubbing at his eyes and I begin to see how haggard he looks. It doesn't seem like he's been getting much sleep. "I'm not even sure where to begin..."

"How about from the beginning? Why did you and your men attack the packless?"

"We didn't—" he starts before I cut him off.

"You did."

He shakes his head in exasperation and continues. "Six of our men had been at one of the local bars when they were brutally killed. We followed the scent back to that alley."

This time my head moves back and forth. "I knew those men you killed. None of them would have done something like that."

He shrugs. "Maybe not, but someone from the packless did. We picked up multiple scents and all of them led back there." I shake my head again, trying to make sense of this information before he continues. "One of those scents had been all over you."

I tilt my head to the side and furrow my brows. "What exactly was the scent?"

He closes his eyes and his nose scrunches up as though he is remembering it. "Earth, sandalwood, and whiskey." Suddenly, his eyes open and narrow at me. "It was male...". My brain seems to be working a hundred miles a minute. That smell.... Where have I smelled that scent before?... "Were you with someone? Do you have a boyfriend or something?" he asks out of nowhere, distracting me from my thoughts. My eyes shoot over to meet his and see they are dark and his hands are gripping the armrests tightly.

"What?! No!" I quickly respond, startled by his severe reaction. I've always heard that Alphas tend to be more territorial and possessive. We haven't even accepted each other and he is already about to rip the chair to shreds at the thought that I had been with someone else the evening we met.

"Then why did you smell like him? He had to have had his paws all over you..." His eyes roam over my body as he pictures some unknown man touching me in the way that only my mate should. His lips twist in anger and disgust at the thought and I know that I need to speak up before he does anything drastic.

"Ethan, I help out at the homeless shelter. I know all the packless. There is no telling how many people I was around. Maybe I bumped into them or gave them a hug. I don't know, but I promise you that I'm not seeing anyone."

He nods, seeming reassured by my response as his tall, muscular body relaxes back against the chair. We sit there in silence as my mind goes back to working over the details. Suddenly, the answer hits me like a freight train. Ray. That bastard. I immediately try to control my facial expression. I can't tell Ethan who it was. I don't want him going back to my home and wreaking havoc like last time. I don't want any more innocent bystanders to wind up dead on his quest for Ray. I'm going to have to take care of that jackass myself. I don't want any more unnecessary bloodshed. While working this out, I forget that Ethan is right there watching me, glaring at me. "What?" I ask innocently.

"You know something..."

I take in a deep breath to calm myself and steady my heartbeat. "I'm sorry, but I don't. I promise to look into it when I go back home though..."

"What do you mean?"

I give him a confused look. "I'm going home...?" I state, though it comes out sounding more like a question.

"No. You'll be staying here," he replies sternly.

"Umm... excuse me, but no I won't be. There are people who depend on me. I need to get back there. They probably all think I'm dead right now," I insist as I stand up again.

He does the same and positions himself in front of me. "Scarlet, someone from The Scourge killed six seasoned wolves in cold-blood. There is no way I'm letting you go back there. Once the threat has been dealt with we can discuss the possibility of you continuing to work there or whatever." His tone is firm, leaving me little room to negotiate.

"You won't LET me go back??? I'm a grown woman. I can do whatever the hell I please! You are not my keeper!"

"Please Scarlet. I don't want to argue about this right now. Just let me deal with it and we can come back to this discussion some other time."

"But..."

"ENOUGH," he barks, causing me to instantly close my mouth. I can feel his Alpha aura. It doesn't seem to affect me the way it should, but I can still tell that I shouldn't push him further.

I huff in irritation. "So, what do you expect me to do all day then?" I ask with a sigh of defeat.

"For now, you'll stay here."

"What?! Why?!"

"Because you clearly know who the guilty party is and either you don't know it and could be in danger or you do and you are lying to protect him. Either way, I can't trust you to be out there right now."

"Seriously Ethan, let me help. I know all those people that live there. Just let me do some digging. I can get answers for you and no one has to get hurt."

"You go digging and you'll be the one getting hurt. That's out of the question. The answer is no. End of discussion."

"No, it's not. You can't just go around telling me what to do."

"I just did." I glare at him harshly with my fists clenched by my sides. I can just imagine smoke coming out of my ears with how angry I am right now. He must be the most stubborn, bossy man I have ever met. Before I can argue further, he gestures towards my bedroom door. "If you need anything my bedroom is at the end of the hall and my office next to it. Otherwise, if you go the opposite direction you'll find the kitchen and living room. Feel free to explore, but you'll have to stay on this level. The elevator requires an ID in order to function."

He presses a light kiss to my temple and I can't help but stand there dumbfounded. I hear the door close behind me and heave out a sigh. I may not be in the dungeons anymore, but I'm still a prisoner. I need to get out of here. I need to get back to The Scourge before he takes more men there and tears the place apart.

Whatever I decide to do, I'll need to be quiet about it. If he figures out what I'm trying to do, I'll lose even more of my freedom. I decide to stay in the confines of my room and walk over to the large window. There is a hooked latch on it that I quickly unfasten and open the window up wide to find a small Juliet balcony. This high up it's ice cold and windy. The people below look like ants and I breathe in deeply to calm myself. I must be at least forty stories up. I look in both directions and see that there is a small ledge that wraps around the building. It is only about six inches wide, but I can see a spiraling staircase tucked into the exterior wall just a few yards away. A fire escape. I frantically look around to see if there is a way for me to get over there without falling to my death. There are ridges along the stone wall. I can hold onto one with my hands while my feet use the ledge. It will be risky, but as far as I can tell, it's also my only way out of here.