Chapter 9

I hadn’t been in the mood to see anyone. Maybe I could still make a quick exit with a believable excuse.

“Hey, it’s me, Brisa. I just got home, and I need a shower,” I said hastily, but then another voice chimed in.

“Sis, get in here now, or I’ll break down your door.”

Running wasn’t an option. The fallout would be worse. At least it wasn’t Mom, I thought, heading toward the kitchen.

Karen and Brisa were in the middle of lunch when I walked in. A wave of embarrassment washed over me as I entered the kitchen.

“Hmm, looks like someone spent the night at Mathew’s,” Karen observed, eyeing my clothes. My face hardened as I remembered the events of the night before.

“What’s up?”

I took a deep breath, gathering the courage to say what needed to be said.

“Nothing much. I went to Tyler’s to find Mathew and caught him cheating on me,” I managed to say, fighting back the tears threatening to spill over.

“Wait, are you saying you guys broke up?” Brisa asked, her concern evident.

“No,” I replied, not offering any further explanation.

“But you’re wearing men’s clothes. What happened?” Karen asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said, turning to leave. I didn’t feel like explaining myself to them, but Brisa was quick to grab my arm.

“Come on, Scarlett, spill the beans,” she pleaded. My heart pounded at the thought of telling her about her ex.

“Sis, I don’t have any romance in my life right now; I need to live vicariously through your stories,” Karen said, pouting. I saw Brisa sniff the air around me, and panic set in. She would recognize the scent.

They would find out sooner or later. It was better to just tell them.

“I spent the night at Christopher’s,” I confessed, trying to sound as gentle as possible. I didn’t want to hurt Brisa. “I’m sorry, Brisa, I …”

“The alpha? You fucked the alpha?” Karen exclaimed.

“Brisa, I’m sorry; it wasn’t planned, it just happened,” I tried to apologize.

Brisa was silent for a moment, then she sighed.

I was anxious about her reaction.

“Chill, Scarlett, we haven’t been together for a long time, and what we had was more of a fling than a relationship. I was the one who got too attached,” Brisa said.

“But how did this happen?” Karen asked, practically leaping out of her chair.

“Like I said, I went to Tyler’s to surprise Mathew, but instead, I found him kissing someone else. I was devastated. I collapsed on the dance floor, and the alpha saw everything. He got me out of there, gave me a drink, and we talked. He was really nice. That was supposed to be it. He offered to drive me home, but he got a call and had to go back to his place. One thing led to another, and it happened,” I tried to summarize everything. I wanted to tell them how complete I felt with him, but I decided to spare them the details.

“Wait, he just picked up a random girl from the dance floor at Tyler’s?” Karen asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

“I treated the head of the guard on the day of the attack, and he saw me. Then I treated him in the ER the other day for a silver burn. He recognized me from there,” I explained, trying to justify what happened. Karen’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this before? You should have told me the alpha came to the hospital,” Karen said.

“I don’t know, with all the shift changes I hardly see you anymore. And I mean, I was attracted to him, but he’s the alpha. I didn’t stand a chance, right? Until we started talking last night. I felt like he really got me.”

It felt like the fairy tale I had always dreamed of, but after my failed relationship with my mate, I was scared. I knew the alpha had tried dating a few times.

Suddenly, thinking about everything that had happened, I felt a wave of fear. What if he was just a player? What if he was like Mathew and only wanted sex?

“I’ve got to get ready for work,” I said, and quickly left the room. This conversation was bringing up thoughts I didn’t want to deal with.

I went upstairs to change and headed straight to the hospital. I volunteered to cover the next shift when another doctor called in sick. I didn’t want to be at home and have to explain everything to my parents. At least I needed to tell them about Mathew.

I took advantage of Christopher being out of town and threw myself into work.

I did everything I could to avoid thinking about Christopher.

I wasn’t just scared—I was terrified of getting my heart broken again. I could lie to anyone but myself. I was already falling for Christopher, and my heart fluttered just thinking about him.

Damn it, Scarlett.