Scarlett's POV
When I finally opened my eyes, the harsh sunlight of the yard was gone, replaced by the soft glow of a lamp. I wasn't on the gravel anymore. I was in my small room, and someone was dabbing a cool cloth against my forehead.
"Slowly, Scarlett. Don't sit up too fast."
I blinked, my vision clearing to reveal Lana. She looked at me with a mixture of pity and anger—anger directed at her brothers, not me.
"Lana?" My voice came out as a broken whisper. "What happened?"
"You fainted," she said softly, setting the cloth aside. "Liam brought you inside, though he'd never admit it was out of anything but spite. I'm so sorry, Scarlett. I'm sorry you're going through this."
I looked away, the sting of the lashes on my back punctuated by the sting of her kindness. "It's okay. I'm used to it."
"It's not okay," she snapped, her frown deepening. She stood up and paced the small room. "Listen, tonight is the Great Hunt. There's an after-party in the clearing by the lake once the wolves shift back. I want you to come with me."
I shook my head immediately, wincing as the movement pulled at my wounds. "No. Lana, I can't. I'm a servant. I'm a 'thief,' remember? I don't belong at a pack celebration."
"You belong wherever I say you do," she countered, her jaw set. Lana was only eighteen, but she had a regal authority that made her seem years older. She had been my closest friend once, though I remembered the early days when she had hated me—mostly because her brothers followed me around like lost puppies. Now, where was that attention? It had been replaced by a cruelty.
"I'm not taking no for an answer," she said, heading for the door. "I'm going to go get you a dress. "We'll remind them how beautiful you are."
True to her word, she returned an hour later with an expensive blue dress. She did my hair in a way that hid the exhaustion in my face.
When we arrived, the party was loud with music, the smell of roasted meat, and the heavy, earthy scent of shifted wolves returning to human form. Everyone was drinking, celebrating the kill. I felt like an alien in a silk skin. The air in the main tent became too thick with the scent of ale and sweat, making my head spin.
Eyes were on me… some stared at me with disgust. Others looked at me like I didn't belong there. I was an outsider to them—once a rogue, always a rogue—but they couldn't send me away because I came with Lana.
"I need some air, Lana," I whispered, feeling suffocated by the stares.
"Don't go far," she cautioned, distracted by a warrior asking her to dance.
I slipped out of the party and into the shadows of the trees near the lake. The cool night air felt like a balm on my skin. I walked toward a secluded corner of the clearing, hoping for a moment of silence.
But the silence was broken by a low, guttural grunt.
I stopped, my breath hitching. Just a few yards away, hidden by the thick trunk of an ancient oak, was Leon. I knew it was him through the tattoo on his back. The triplets looked exactly the same—same height, same body structure, everything. One could only differentiate them by the different shades of their eyes and their tattoos.
He had a she-wolf pinned against the tree, her legs wrapped around his waist. The sound of skin hitting skin was sharp in the quiet night air. The girl was moaning, her head thrown back, her fingers digging deep into Leon's shoulders.
I should have run. I should have turned back to the party. But I was frozen, trapped by the raw, animalistic intensity of the scene.
Leon's head snapped to the side. He didn't look surprised. His dark eyes locked onto mine immediately.
He didn't pull away. Instead, he tightened his grip on the girl's waist, his thrusts becoming harder, more shallow, and aggressive. He let out a low, dark chuckle meant only for me. A deliberate taunt.
I watched, paralyzed, as Leon didn't just continue; he decided to put on a display. With a brutal tug on the girl's hair, he forced her to turn around, leaning her forward against the rough bark of the oak. He didn't even glance at her as he guided himself back inside her with one swift, punishing thrust.
The girl let out a choked, high-pitched cry that echoed through the dark trees, her fingers clawing at the wood for support.
Everything in me screamed at me to run, to bolt back to the party, but I was pinned to the spot. My feet felt like they had grown roots into the damp earth. Leon's eyes—those dark, calculating eyes—never left mine. He was fucking her with a raw, rhythmic violence, but his gaze was a dead lock on my soul. He was daring me to move. Daring me to look away.
And then, the ultimate betrayal happened.
As the scent of his arousal drifted toward me, my body reacted with a mind of its own. A sharp, electric throb ignited deep in my core, a heavy, dragging ache that made my knees tremble. I felt the heat rising, the sickeningly familiar moisture pooling against the silk of my expensive blue dress.
It was disgraceful. I was getting wet just watching them… maybe it was because I had imagined him touching me like this once, years ago, when we were friends… but this was a nightmare.
Leon smelled it. His wolf's nose caught the change in my scent, and he knew. His thrusts got faster and more brutal, each one making the she-wolf beneath him wail in a mixture of pain and desperate pleasure. He was making her scream for me.
"Yes! Oh, Goddess, Leon!" she sobbed, but he wasn't looking at her. He was watching the way my chest heaved, watching the way my pupils dilated in the dark.
Finally, the shame became too much to bear. I broke the spell, tearing my feet from the ground and bolting into the dark. I didn't care about the branches scratching my face or the hem of the dress catching on thorns. I just needed to escape the sound of his breathing.
I was only a few yards away, gasping for air, when a hand shot out from the shadows and gripped my arm. The heat from his palm burned through my sleeve, and I was spun around so hard my head swam.
The scent of him hit me instantly—sweat, sex, and the raw power of an Alpha. I didn't need to see the tattoo on his arm to know who it was.
"Leon…" Before I could speak, he pinned me to a nearby tree. He was still naked, his hardened cock pressing against my stomach.