Moon Bound

(9) Perfect Reflection|Regan's POV|

Empty space staring back at me. I was drowning in her scent still lingering in that room. Mine to breathe in like the sweetest of poisons. An addiction.

The bed looked lonely without her body sprawled across the sheets, missing her the same way I was missing her. Air absent from oxygen-starving lungs. Warmth gone from cold skin.

It was how it felt to be suddenly in that room – my room – on my own.

Taking another step in, I noticed the covers laid discarded on the floor like she'd thrown them there in a fit of rage before she left.

My heart ached. There were just too many reasons why she would do that and none why she shouldn't.

It's all my fault.

Closing my eyes for a brief moment before I spoke again, "Scarlet? Where are you, sweetheart?" My voice sounded almost faint in my ears with the panic audible.

Eyes scanning the empty room, the silence following these words so loud, it was screaming at me. I waited for an answer – it never came.

Dropping to my knees, I leaned against the rug on the floor to look for her under the bed – nothing.

The beast's rumble tumbled out of my lips, the sound more animal than human.

Where the hell is she?

Rising to my feet, I took another sweep of the place all. The wolf was getting frantic.

Don't come out.

"Scarlet!" I shouted. My gaze stopped at the closed bathroom door. No light seeped from the cracks but I had to check there too.

Rapid steps took me to the doorstep. My shaking hands gripped the handle, revealing a sight that had my heart miss a beat.

Drinking her up, her slender, small frame wearing a light pink, nearly see-through nightgown, the man was breathless just watching her with her curls framing down her back, the beast was still under the skin.

Enchanted by her too.

She turned and pinned me under her stormy gaze. Eyes filled with tears stared back. Tearing me apart.

"You scared the shit out of me, Scarlet," I breathed out instead of saying what I needed to say.

I'm sorry.

Finding her here like this felt so much worse than not finding her at all. That fear from a few minutes ago skyrocketed by the glassy look in her eyes.

My hands felt empty without her wrapped inside. My body trembled with the strain from holding myself back. I had to resist the urge to go to her, envelop her in an embrace she didn't want.

"You should answer when I'm calling you." Harsh words in place of the ones I needed to tell her.

Don't look back. Forgive my crimes. Forget my mistakes.

She needed to be cherished. She needed me to show her that she could lean on me, trust me not to hurt her like I had before. Now more than ever, she needed to be pieced together into the proud woman she had been – the woman I broke.

An alpha doesn't beg. An alpha doesn't ask. An alpha takes.

"Alpha." Her face remained blank. She lowered her eyes – not to look at me, never to look at me. Carefully skirting past me, she didn't allow a single part of her to brush against me. She was trying to avoid my presence.

Shaking hand stroke out. My fingers snaked around her elbow. "Is something wrong, Scarlet?"

Looking at her, I willed her to look back and see me as the man I was. Her gaze stayed downcast, her lips trembled, her face paled. She refused to regard me at all.