SCARLETT

"You were gone longer than I expected," Pearl said as she pinned her hair back into a neat bun. "I thought you were only going to be out for ten minutes."

I shrugged. "Well, you said no practising my gift in the house, and I was on a roll."

Pearl placed her hand on her hip. "Scarlett, you're fourteen. I like to know where you are. It's dangerous for you to be out and about."

"I had my gloves on." I smiled sheepishly. Pearl hadn't been a fan of the name I had chosen at the age of three years old, but I was young and liked the scarlet colour of my mark. My parents hadn't informed her of what they had decided to call me, but due to the fact that I couldn't recite it, my guess was that it was something pretty unmemorable.

"I know that, but please remember -"

The both of us widened our eyes at the sound of a deafening explosion, the air around us feeling as if it was vibrating, our ears ringing.

"No," mumbled Pearl as she ran towards me, wrapping her arms around my midsection, gasping as the door to the small bungalow was blown open, debris and rubble flying through the air. The both of us tumbled to the ground as a huge stocky man sauntered in, the sound of his boots hitting the crumbling floorboards echoing throughout the room.

"We have intel that there is a gifted wolf being hidden in the area," the intimidating man spoke, glaring down at the both of us.

Pearl's bottom lip wobbled, and she turned to me, cupping my cheeks. "Scarlett, the Enclave clan have found you. You need to use your gift and run."

"What about you?" I cried, the wolf in front of us releasing a loud growl as he lunged for me. Pearl shouted as he gripped me by the forearm, pulling my black glove off my hand. His eyes lit up as he stared at my splotchy red mark, a smile creeping up onto his face.

"Nyx is going to be very happy with this," he said before pointing down at Pearl, her body shaking. "And you! You will be killed for committing treason by hiding a hunted breed."

"You don't rule us!" Pearl spat, shaking her head.

"No, let me go! Don't touch her!" I cried as I yanked against the wolf's grip, screaming as he picked Pearl up by her neck with his free hand, lifting her off the ground.

Her face was beet red and she gargled for breath, her sad gaze focused on me. The man then quickly snapped her neck with both hands, dropping her to the ground with a loud thud.

"What did you do!?" I screamed, tears pouring from my eyes.

Pearl had been like a grandmother to me. We weren't related - we weren't even the same species, but I had loved her. She was all I had ever known.

"She was just a human," the wolf spoke harshly, gripping me. "Now, come on."

"No!" I growled, tensing my jaw as tightly as I could, glaring at the man in front of me with such hatred that I thought I was going to pop a blood vessel. I pushed out as much guilt as I could muster onto him, balling my hands into fists, my heart beating out of my chest. I felt as if I was about to throw up, but this wolf had killed Pearl, and I was going to end up dead too, if I didn't do something.

The man fell to his knees suddenly, his brows furrowing as his eyes became teary, and I knew he was feeling the intense guilt I wanted him to. He immediately released me, a single tear dribbling down his cheek as he clutched onto his heart.

I didn't have long before the emotion wore off, so I darted, sprinting through the forest as fast as my little legs could carry me.

This was it.

This was now my life.

Forever on the run from the Enclave clan.

I bolted upright, breathing heavily, the scene of what had happened that night playing over and over again in my dreams. My emotions were becoming too much, and I was going to need to use my gift soon to off-load.

"Scarlett," muttered Roman sleepily from next to me, shuffling over so that he could place his large hand on my arm. "What happened?"

I was sweating, and I shook my head, pulling my knees to my chest. I wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep. "I just had a bad dream."

I hoped that Roman wouldn't ask me to explain what it was about. My mind was a mess, and I didn't believe I could come up with a good enough lie on the spot to convince him, so I couldn't risk being questioned about my past anymore.

I had fallen asleep much faster than I had expected, and I needed to keep my guard up. Roman was my mate, but that didn't mean I trusted him. Perhaps one of us sleeping on the couch was a good idea?

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Roman asked, quickly switching on the bedside lamp. It allowed me to see his shirtless torso, and I found my eyes travelling up and down, taking in just how muscular and tanned he was. This made him chuckle. "You can look all you want, Scarlett."

I immediately blushed, dropping my gaze to the duvet, but Roman hooked his finger under my chin, forcing me to look into his sympathetic eyes. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. Myself and my wolf like it when you ogle me though. I'm happy that you find me attractive."

I gulped. "I didn't think I was being so obvious." I really thought I had been subtle with my admiration.

Roman chuckled, shaking his head. "Yes, but if it makes you feel any better, I was looking at you for a good five minutes while you were asleep. I can't get over how beautiful you are."

My eyes widened. I had never been called beautiful before, not even by Pearl. Our relationship didn't consist of mushy exchanges. The fact that Roman was watching me in my sleep panicked me, though. I was lucky he hadn't seen my mark.

"You opened up to me about your past, so I think I should do the same," Roman said, turning onto his side and leaning on his elbow, as if he wanted to try and distract me with his story. "My father didn't show much emotion towards anything, except to my mother. She was his pride and joy. It's why I was always so excited about meeting my mate."

I nodded. It was making me feel like crap, hearing how much he was looking forward to meeting me. I couldn't give him what he wanted.

"My parents were wrongfully killed by another pack and their Alpha when I was sixteen. It was an accident - a case of mistaken identity. My father didn't have time to stop a wolf from attacking my mother when she was murdered, which caused him to retaliate. He was greatly outnumbered though," Roman spoke, his voice soft and quiet, sounding like honey. "We both lost our parents as children. Mates are brought together to help each other heal."

I felt undeniably guilty. Roman had just opened up to me, thinking that we had gone through the same traumatic events as children and that was why we'd been paired together.

I looked down, clearing my throat. "How old are you?" I asked, trying to change the subject. I was genuinely intrigued.

"I'm twenty six," he said. "I've been desperate to ask you the same question."

"I'm twenty two," I responded, causing Roman to hum to himself, gazing over me.

"How's your shoulder looking?" he asked me, scooting a little closer so that he could pull down my black sleeping top, exposing just my shoulder. He narrowed his eyes at it, nodding to himself when he noticed that the swelling had gone down a little bit, meaning I was beginning to heal.

I loved the feeling of him so close, his fingers dancing across my collarbone as he looked at me, his tongue darting out of his mouth to lick his bottom lip. I wanted them on me so badly.

Was it selfish to kiss him? Was it selfish to let him have me before I left?

"I've never been this close to a woman," Roman informed me, causing me to widen my eyes.

"What?" I asked, shocked. He was beyond handsome, and was definitely every woman's dream man. There was no way that he had never even kissed a girl.

"I always told myself I was going to save myself for my mate," he said. "I haven't even so much as held a woman's hand."

I could tell that Roman was wanting to know my sexual status, and I laughed, feeling excitement that no other woman had ever felt him before. "I'm the same."

It wasn't technically a lie, but the reason for my abstinence was because I couldn't risk anybody seeing my mark. I wasn't sure what I would have done if I had just been a regular wolf, but I liked to think that I would have saved myself for my mate just as Roman had. That was simply a hypothetical, though.

Roman smiled, and I moved closer to him, pressing my hands to his chest. I couldn't help myself. I wanted to feel him.

His eyes darkened with my touch, and he released a small satisfied growl of approval asmy hands travelled upwards to hook around his neck, afraid that he would look down and notice my mark. My sleeve was covering it, but there was always a chance he would shuffle them up without me realising.

"There is something that I do want to tell you though," Roman said, and my blood ran cold. I was beyond anxious to hear what he had to say.

"What is it?"

"There is one woman here who believes she has some kind of 'claim' on me - if that's what you could call it," Roman began, but I immediately interrupted.

"Claim? What do you mean by that?" I was invested.

Roman soothed my hair down, shushing me sweetly. "Our parents had discussed a marriage between the two of us. I never wanted it though, but she was always open to it."

I felt a pang in my heart. A marriage? "Doesn't she have a mate out there somewhere?"

"That's what I've always said, but she always refused to go and search for him. I ventured out in an attempt to look for you, but I obviously never found you. Our parents wanted us to agree to marry one another if neither of us could find our mate. That way, my Alpha bloodline could continue. I've never wanted her though, and I never will. It's just something that I think you should know."

I shut my eyes, my emotions making my brain feel as if it was literally vibrating. If there was another woman in the picture, that was going to shine a white hot spotlight on Roman and I. It would lead to more drama and people poking around in our business, meaning more opportunities for people to find out who I really was.

However, that wasn't just what irked me. I was conflicted. I didn't want to care about what Roman did with his life, yet here I was, angry at the thought of him with somebody else.

I had to accept that reality, though. Once I left, he would most likely try and move on in order to continue his bloodline. He would have sex with another woman, and she would birth his children.

The quicker I accepted it, the better.