Claimed By My Cheating Mate’s Rival Alpha Chapter 13

Claimed By My Cheating Mate’s Rival Alpha Chapter 13

Scarlett

The first thing I registered when I woke up wasn’t the sterile sting of the hospital or the dull ache in my abdomen. It was the scent. His scent.

Pine, musk and his dark cologne. It was thick in the air, wrapping around me like a heavy velvet blanket. For a second, my wolf stirred, purring in my chest which she hasn’t done in a long time.

I opened my eyes, expecting to see Cassian piercing gaze. Instead, the chair beside my bed was empty.

I sat upright, and my head spun. I looked at the table beside me and saw a bowl of hot oatmeal, with a written beside it. I reached for it and read it out loud.

“Eat. Don’t make me come back and force-feed you.”

My heart did a strange little flip.

“Oh, you’re finally awake!”

Nurse Moira suddenly walked in, a wide, knowing grin on her face.

She started checking my vitals, but her eyes gleaming.

“Where is he?” I asked, my voice sounding like I’d swallowed sandpaper. I still don’t know why I asked about him or why I even cared to ask.

“Your boyfriend left about ten minutes ago,” she said, swapping out my drip effortlessly. “Eyes were completely bloodshot. I don’t think he slept at all.”

I stared at her. “He stayed the whole night?”

“He sat in the chair all night and didn’t move.” She leaned closer, her eyes gleaming. “The man in the next bay was snoring something awful – I could hear it from the hallways. I came in around two to check on you and he’d already moved the guy to a VIP room. He carried him out himself.” She smiled like this was the most romantic thing she’d heard all week.

“There’s oatmeal on the table,” Moira added. “He brought it. It’s probably still warm if you eat it now.”

“He’s quite the protector,” Moira added, tapping my chart. “That’s all the vital checkup for today. Eat and get some rest.”

She smiled and left.

I sat there looking at the oatmeal. It was still warm. I picked up the spoon and took one bite, and the heat of it spread through my chest.

Nobody fussed over me when I was sick. Not in six years. Mason thought just getting a doctor’s appointment, sending flowers, and not bothering to pay a visit while I was in the hospital was enough.

I set the spoon down.

What kind of man is Cassian North?

The question sat there with no answer attached to it. I’d done nothing but repelled him every chance we met, yet he’d taken me to the hospital, and watched me sleep all night.

I didn’t know what to do with that information. So I ate the oatmeal and decided not to think about it.

Mason

The sunlight from my window hit my eyes like a physical blow. My head felt like it had been cracked open and

stuffed with wolfsbane.

“Scarlett?” I croaked, rolling over.

My hands moved along the sheet, expecting to find the warmth of her body, but it was cold and empty.

That’s right. She was gone.

Fury and a strange, cold dread pooled in my stomach. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since she walked out, and she was still playing this ridiculous game. How long was this going to take?

I was about to head to the shower when I heard voices. It

came from downstairs.

Scarlett. She came back. Of course she came back. That was how this worked. She gets angry, I give her space, then she comes back. Relief crashed through me.

I threw on a robe and stormed downstairs. I reached the foyer and froze. A familiar face that wasn’t Scarlett’s and two strangers stared back at me.

Harlton, a local realtor who worked with the pack’s properties, was standing in the middle of my living room. Beside him was a man in a loud, checked suit and a woman whose perfume was so cheap it made my wolf snarl.

“The master suite has an amazing view of the Crawford territory,” Harlton was saying, gesturing toward the stairs. “And as I mentioned, the owner is looking for a quick liquidation.”

“What the hell is this?” I roared. “What are you doing in my house?”

Harlton jumped, his face going pale. “Alpha Crawford! I… I didn’t think you’d be home. I have an appointment.”

“An appointment for what?” I stepped closer, looming over him.

“To… to show the mansion,” Harlton stuttered. “Mrs.

Crawford—I mean, Scarlett Blackwood-listed the

mansion. She said it needed to be bought immediately. These are the Millers, they’re very interested in the property.”

The woman looked me up and down, her eyes lingering on my chest. “It’s a bit rustic, but with some new paint,/ it’ll do for a summer pack-house.”

A summer pack house?

I felt the blood leave my face. This mansion wasn’t just a building. It was a wedding gift to Scarlett. It was the heart of the Crawford-Blackwood merger. This was where we lived together. No one knew better than me how much Scarlett had poured into this mansion.

I could still remembered the way she’d decorate the place like her life depended on it. She did most of the work while I just provided support.

And now she was just willing the sell it like that? Like it meant nothing. It wasn’t possible.

I turned to the intruders, my fists clenching at my sides as my fangs potruded.

“Get out,” I bit out, my voice low and vibrating with a growl.

Harlan’s eyes widened. “But Alpha, the listing-”

“I said get out!” I barked, the Alpha command snapping through the room.

The Millers scrambled for the door, the woman tripping over her heels in her haste to escape as she held unto her husband’s arm for support. Harlton stayed, trembling, clutching his clipboard like a shield.

“She’s bluffing,” I hissed, more to myself than him. “This is a trick. She hired you to put on a show because she wants me to beg. Well, tell her it didn’t work.”

“Alpha, she signed the deed for a fast-track sale,” Harlton whispered. “She’s not bluffing. She’s selling the Crawford legacy for pennies on the dollar.”

I gripped the banister until the wood groaned and splintered under my palm.

“She’ll come back,” I spat, my heart hammering against mygribs. “She always comes back. She has nowhere else to

go.”

But as I looked at the foyer, and a terrifying thought flickered in my mind.

What if, this time, she doesn’t?