SCARLETT

I struggled to sleep after Roman's confession of his semi-arranged marriage, spending the majority of the rest of the night staring up at the ceiling, longing for my brain to just shut itself off.

It wasn't until around six in the morning that I fell asleep, only to be awoken around twenty minutes later by Roman, fully dressed and showered. "Scarlett. I need to go to work."

I furrowed my brows at him. He was going to work? I had fully expected him to refuse to leave me alone. Did this mean I was going to have the perfect opportunity to escape?

It wouldn't work, though. I had no idea if there was anything around here, and I didn't want to head further into the forest or near another pack's land.

There also seemed to be a lot of rogues around that were set on terrorising innocent passer-by's, so I needed to know where I was heading before leaving. I had to find the nearest city. It was safer there - being so busy that nobody paid any mind to anybody. It was easy to lose people, too.

"Do you feel well enough to come?" Roman questioned me, cupping my cheek. "If you don't, that's fine. I can work from home, but it's a large centre with lots of things to do. There's multiple rooms for you to nap in if you want, as well as a library and a games room."

My ears perked up. A library? Libraries had maps. Perfect.

I nodded, pulling myself from the bed. "I'll come. I'm interested to see where you work."

This made Roman beam as he took a step closer to me and held onto my waist lightly, his fingers feeling like magic on my skin. I took a second to admire him, feeling no shame about it since he had admitted to me that he noticed when I did it. He looked like he was carved from the Gods. I didn't compare to him one bit.

"I've got Erica waiting to join you if you don't feel like napping," Roman told me while I made my way into the bathroom.

"Who's that?" I asked. I didn't need to be babysat.

"She's my brother's mate. I think you'll get along well."

I nodded. I had always wanted a friend, but Pearl had insisted I kept people at arm's length in case they discovered what I was. I did hang out with a few people that I knew sometimes, not telling Pearl in fear that she would ground me. It was stupid and reckless, but I had been a lonely child who just wanted someone to call a friend.

But I had a feeling that somebody had seen my mark, and that was the reason why the Enclave clan had shown up. Technically, my stupidity had got Pearl killed. It was my fault.

I spent the whole shower rubbing at my temples, the excess emotions I had inside of my head causing me physical pain. I needed to off-load.

I met Roman downstairs, still dressed in his clothing, having rolled up the bottoms of his jogging pants so they didn't drag along the floor.

"We'll get you some of your own clothes," Roman chuckled. "Although I do love you wearing mine."

There really was no need to buy me any, but I agreed. I usually just stole clothes or thrifted. There was no point buying anything expensive when I was just going to shift and rip them.

The walk to the centre was quick, and I felt a little self conscious once I caught a few people looking my way. I reeked of Roman, having slept in his bed all night and from wearing his clothes. If Roman was as closed off to women as he said he was, then it was pretty obvious to anyone that passed us that I was his mate. I just hoped none of them looked too hard.

A tall blonde woman was waiting by the front door of the large centre, the building like nothing I had ever seen before. It appeared to have at least five floors and was incredibly modern.

"Scarlett, this is Erica," Roman introduced me, and I could tell that Erica wanted to lean forwards to give me a hug, but Roman stopped her from doing so, pointing to his shoulder and shaking his head.

"Hi, I'm Brandon's mate, but I'm guessing that you haven't met him yet?" Erica asked me.

"I'm Scarlett, and no, I haven't," I responded.

"He's inside waiting for me, so I need to get to work, but Erica," Roman grumbled, turning to her with raised brows. "Please, for the love of the Goddess, don't leave the building. Trouble follows you everywhere and I would appreciate it if you didn't get up to mischief today."

I laughed, taking in Erica's offended expression. I could already tell that she was a very outspoken and opinionated individual. Those were usually the type of people I liked, although they were risky to be around.

Roman turned to me, taking my covered hand in his. "If you need anything, just come and knock on my office door. It's number nine, but Erica can show you where it is. I'm cutting work short today so I can spend my afternoon with you, so I should only be a few hours."

A few hours was good. We needed distance from each other. Roman was blinding me. Our mate bond was working to pull us together, I couldn't get attached.

"I'll see you later," I told him, flashing my teeth. Roman disappeared after a few seconds, and Erica turned to me, looking up and down my body with a chuckle.

"I see he's already making his mark on you by getting you to wear his clothing," she said, and I laughed, not having the energy to explain to her that I had arrived with absolutely nothing.

We entered the centre, where the lobby was much busier than I had expected, and I wasn't used to being around so many people. I felt uneasy, and all my body wanted to do was curl up in a ball on Roman's lap, but I had to force the thought away.

"Can we go to the library?" I asked Erica. "Roman said there was one here and I'm a huge bookworm."

Another lie. When did I have the time to read books?

"Of course. I have a few great recommendations," Erica laughed, leading me down a straight corridor, two large glass double doors at the entrance of the library.

I was no stranger to one, using them to map out where I was going to move to next, but this one was next-level. The bookcases were metres high with every genre you could ever want sign-posted out on little boards next to them.

Everything was expensive looking, but it appeared cosy at the same time. I needed to slip away from Erica, not wanting her to see what I was doing. Heading straight for the map section would look a little strange.

"Do you mind if I wander around here by myself for a little bit?" I asked sheepishly, attempting to look anxious and a little shy, not wanting to raise any suspicion. "It's nice just to lose myself in finding a good book every now and then."

Erica seemed surprised, but she nodded, forcing a smile. "Sure. I'll just be over in the baby section." She pointed at the corner of the room. "I'm expecting and I need to do some research."

I raised my dark eyebrows. Erica didn't look pregnant, so I assumed that she wasn't too far along. "Oh, congratulations."

She smiled, and I immediately turned and headed around the corner, pretending to scour the fiction books for a few minutes, wanting to seem casual in case Erica was secretly watching me. After I was sure that she was distracted, her nose deep in a book, I quickly made my way to the geography section, furrowing my brows at the sheer amount of maps and books on the World.

This was going to take a hell of a long time.

I picked through as many maps as I could, but none of them showed me where I was or what was around me. I had almost given up when I heard someone clear their throat behind me, and I jumped, releasing a startled gasp.

"Can I help you find something?" a young lady asked me, her long brunette hair flowing past her waist, the front two pieces braided. Her lashes were long, her bone structure to die for. "You look like you've been searching for a while."

I noticed the way she looked me up and down curiously, her nostrils flaring as she breathed in the scent of what I assumed was mine mixed with Roman's. Going out in his clothes was a mistake, but my body loved it.

"Oh, um," I mumbled, unsure whether to tell her what I was really looking for. "I'm new here, and I was just wondering if there was a map of the pack or the surrounding area? It's huge and I keep getting lost. It would also be nice to see if there is anything around worth visiting."

The woman smiled, nodding, reaching past me to pull out a map from the bookcase. "Sure, this one shows you the entire pack." She then turned her back to scour through a few other maps, mumbling to herself in frustration when she couldn't find the one she was after. After a minute though, she hummed, picking out the map. "Oh, and this one shows the surrounding area. It's recommended not to go South, though. Rogues linger around there."

This was going well, so I attempted to pry a little more.

"Thank you so much. Are there any nearby towns or cities? I desperately need to go shopping for clothes."

"There is a city about three miles from here. It has a lot of stores and restaurants there. It's a popular destination," she informed me, making me smile. "I'm Olive, by the way. I work here."

"Scarlett," I introduced myself. "Thank you for helping me."

"It's no problem, but I do have a question to ask," Olive stated, gulping. "Are you wearing Roman's clothing?"

I ground my teeth together.

I didn't know what to say, but there was no point in lying. She could smell him on me, and I was going to be spending a lot of time with him. People would begin to notice. I definitely needed to leave sooner rather than later.

"Um, yes, I am," I responded, taking a step backwards, making it obvious that I was planning on going.

"Is there a specific reason for it?" Olive asked me, prying a little too much for my liking. "It's just, he never lets anybody wear his clothing besides me."

My face turned sour, and I knitted my brows together as I stared at her. What?

I couldn't cause a scene. Although I did want to.

I shrugged, hissing as my shoulder cracked, making me grimace. Why was she asking me this? What did she mean she had worn Roman's clothing before? "I really need to go," I huffed.

Heading towards the large glass double doors, I caught Erica's attention, a small gasp leaving her mouth as she spotted my unimpressed face.

"Scarlett, don't leave without telling me," she said, frowning as she rushed over. "Roman will have my head."

"I have the things I want," I said. "Do I need to check them out or can I just take them?" My eyes darted towards Olive again, who had now made her way to the desk in the back of the room. She tapped away at the computer. I didn't want to check out my books with her and have her tell me more things that Roman allowed her to do. What was her deal?

"What's wrong?" Erica wondered, knitting her eyebrows together.

"If I have to check these out with her, then I'll just put them back." I sighed, and Erica looked between Olive and I for a few seconds, shaking her head and gesturing towards the doors.

"Let's just go," she whispered. "As long as you return them soon."

We exited the library, and I stopped, leaning against the wall. I wanted to ask Roman what Olive had meant when she said that she was the only person who had been allowed to wear his clothing. "Scarlett," Erica sighed, looking upset. "What happened in there? What did Olive say to you?"

I leaned my head back against the wall, shutting my eyes. I had wanted to shove her into the bookcases. "Just that the only person who's allowed to wear Roman's clothing is her." I pretty much spat the words.

Erica's eyes blazed, and she glared through the double doors, cursing to herself. "Olive is a weirdo. She feels she has this claim over Roman."

Claim? That was the exact word Roman had used when talking about the woman he was being encouraged to marry.

"Why?" I chuckled. "Because they were supposed to get married and live happily ever after?"

It made sense.

"He told you about that?" Erica gulped. "Honestly, Scarlett. Roman never agreed to it. I mean, that's what Brandon told me. I wasn't in the picture then, but I've known Roman for years now, and he's always mentioned waiting for his mate. He wouldn't marry someone just because his parents wanted him to. Olive would have smelled Roman on you, and she'll know that your mates. She was probably just trying to get to you."

I was about to flip out. I understood that the marriage prospect had happened before I had come along, but the cheek of that woman to mention how she would wear Roman's clothing when she most likely knew that I was his mate was enough to make me want to throw hands.

"Can you stay here for one minute?" I asked Erica, holding my finger up. "I'm not going to hurt her. Don't worry, but please just stay here."

"What?" Erica asked in confusion as I made my way back into the library, sauntering up to the desk with a glare. Olive gazed at me with narrowed eyes, a suspicious look flashing across her face for a few seconds, looking worried.

"I believe you owe me an apology," I told her, and she widened her eyes, her mouth popping open slightly.

I knew she was going to react as if she hadn't hurt a fly, and so I focused, pushing out some guilt and sympathy onto her, knowing that it was going to weaken me and delay my recovery. I didn't care, though. I was going to make Olive apologise, and then battle with herself on why she had done it when she actually came to realise she felt no remorse.

I was careful not to unload too much onto her, not wanting to make it obvious that the emotions weren't her own.

Olive's eyes began to appear cloudy as she thought deeply, her chin dipping as she tapped her foot anxiously against the floor.

It was a big risk doing this to her in a public place, but my frustration clouded my thoughts. I wanted Olive to get the memo to stay away from me from now on. I didn't want her digging or prying anymore. The less people that knew about Roman and I, the better, and she was most likely going to open her big mouth and shout to the world that he was mated, meaning more attention on me.

It was for the best to manipulate her mind and make her wary of me, so she kept my name out of her mouth.

"As I said, I believe you owe me an apology for the way you behaved," I stated.

Olive nodded. "You're right. I don't know why I said what I said. It was inappropriate, and I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"I hope not," I told her, releasing a breath and turning on my heels, making my way back out of the library towards a frantic looking Erica. She had her head through the double doors, and had been watching my interaction with Olive.

"She apologised?" Erica questioned with confusion.

"Yep," I said, feeling rather happy with myself, a wave of nausea hitting me causing me to clear my throat and swallow. "I think she understood the severity of the situation."

"Wow," Erica chuckled, smiling, her eyes travelling down to the two maps I clutched in my hand, but I quickly hid them behind my back, distracting her with questions. I hoped she hadn't seen what I had taken.

"Maybe the library isn't the best place for me. Roman said there was a games room?"

I couldn't wait for the next few hours to be up. The question was burning in the back of my mind. What was Olive and Roman's relationship really like? Had it actually been more than he had let on? Had something happened that he hadn't told me about?

I hated how jealous I was, but now that I had offloaded some of my emotions, my head felt much clearer, and I was a little more in control of myself. It meant I wasn't going to do something that would bring attention to myself that I would later regret, despite how frustrated I still felt.

I had my maps, and that was all that mattered here though. It was time for me to plan my escape route.