His Worst Behavior

Chapter Twenty-Four

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - WHICH ALPHA WILL WIN?

In the morning, I walked out into the living room where Scarlett was situated on the couch, recovering. All of her wounds had been bandaged, a wet rag rested on her forehead, and one of her legs was propped up with a pillow. Upon seeing me, she extended a hand, her eyes softening. I was  so angry that Roake had hurt her - and despite what she said, I felt guilty. 

Scarlett pursed her dry lips. "Chloe."

"How are you doing?" I asked, slowly approaching her side. There was a table next to her and I noticed the glass was empty. I poured some water from the pitcher into the glass, then handed it to her with gentle hands. "You should drink."

"My wounds are healing," she told me, taking the glass from me. "Finally." She carefully changed her position on the couch, sitting more upright. I watched as she took a sip of the water, wincing. "I need to apologize to you."

I frowned. "For what?"

"I used you," she admitted, quietly. "I used you to enact my own revenge. When you came into Roarke's life, I knew I could hurt him by getting to you." I dropped my gaze, just as she coughed into her arm. "You needed to know the truth about Roarke, but I encouraged you to challenge him. I wanted him to submit and lose his reputation. It was the least I could do for Luna. I'm sorry."

With a sigh, I kneeled down. "I'm not mad at you."

"Really?" she countered, in disbelief. "I'm at my weakest right now - if you want to hurt me, now is the time to do it."

"Scarlett, I appreciate you telling me the truth," I responded, shaking my head. "Even if you hadn't encouraged me to challenge him, I probably still would have."

Her eye seemed to light up. "You're going to change everything, you know that?" I stared at her in confusion as she took another sip of her water. "I wanted Rudy to come here with me. After he saved me from Roarke, I tried to make him come with me - I knew Julius would accept him. Julius has always been kind to me since Luna's death."

"Why didn't Rudy come?"

"Because, he's angry at me," Scarlett said, relaxing back. "He cares about me too much. Because of me, he's been kicked out of Roarke's pack."

I hesitated. "I don't think that's your - "

"It is my fault," she interrupted, scolding herself. "I knew he wouldn't just watch Roarke kill me. I knew he wouldn't - I knew he would interfere." She turned her head, pondering for a moment. "I really hope he's okay."

"Yeah, me too," I murmured, followed by Julius hurrying into the room. When his eyes settled on me, relief crossed his face, followed by an indistinguishable emotion. His blond hair was messy, untouched for the day, and his shirt was partially unbuttoned, as if he had raced to get dressed. 

"Uh-oh," Scarlett blurted, looking at him. "I know that face."

"Roarke is attempting to cross onto my territory as we speak," Julius said, quickly walking to me. "We need to get you out of here."

Scarlett narrowed her eyes. "Can't your warriors hold him off?"

"His warriors are more skilled than mine," Julius grumbled, extending a hand to me. "Come, I'm having you taken somewhere safe."

"No, I'm not leaving Scarlett," I said, grabbing her hand instead. His eyes darkened and his shoulders tensed at my words. I turned my head, looking at Scarlett who was staring at me in disbelief. "I'm not leaving you behind."

"She will be kept safe - "

"I don't believe you!" I hollered, suddenly angry. "Roarke already tried to kill her once. If he reaches your home, he won't hesitate to try again. I'm not leaving her." I was daring him with my eyes. I wasn't budging on this. I didn't trust anyone, but at this point, Scarlett was one of the few people I liked.