Chosen

Second Chances

Alex

I could feel her coming from a mile away. A desperate urge clawed at my heart. She was getting closer, I could feel it in my bones. My blood appeared to be boiling. I felt my teeth sharpen, but pushed them back. She needed to see me like this.

She needed to see me as a human.

I heard shouting right outside my door, and my body ached for her. It ached to be near her, to kiss her. I heard running and then all of a sudden, the door shattered, showering me with debris. I yelped when it hit me in the gut. But all my pain subsided when I see the beautiful tiger standing in front of me. Even though she was covered in blood, I could easily tell who it was because of the scar running from her eyebrow to her chin.

Scarlet.

I was out of that chair in a matter of seconds, and my wolf form tackled her tiger form to the ground. She laughed and we both changed back into humans, embracing each other tightly.

"I thought I'd never see you again." I whispered into her hair. She pulled back and looked at me, and tears danced in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around my neck and brought my face down to hers.

"I'm here now, and I swear to you Alex, I'm not going anywhere." Our breaths mingled. I laughed and pulled her in for another kiss. I wrapped my arms tighter around her waist and nuzzled her neck, inhaling her scent.

How had I lived without this for so long?

I heard someone clear their throat awkwardly and Scarlet and I reluctantly parted. I didn't let her leave my side, though. I kept a protective arm around her shoulders as the two people in the doorway stepped forward. Scarlet turned to me.

"Alex, you remember Jasper, right?" I narrowed my eyes. Oh, I remembered him all right. I remembered the way he sat back and did nothing while Scarlet was being tortured. I remembered the way he ignored my pleas and he even slapped me for yelling.

Jasper cleared his throat again, not meeting my eye contact. Scarlet and the girl standing next to Jasper looked between us. I turned to Scarlet, making sure Jasper couldn't hear us. "What are you doing with him? Do you know what he did when you were being tortured? Nothing! He sat back and watched my soul shatter along with your body!"

Scarlet paled. She turned to Jasper, an accusation on her lips. The girl stepped forward. "Scarlet." She hissed the name. "You know that everything we did was calculated and we couldn't afford to blow our cover so early on."

"So you just let her be tortured!?!?" I was yelling now, but I didn't care. I stepped in front of Scarlet, and she let me. "Whatever you did, it wasn't for her. It wasn't for us. This is all about you and your stupid mission."

Jasper's head flings up, and there's cold fury in his voice. "You think that was easy for us? You think we wanted to sit back and do nothing!? I still have nightmares about what they did to you. To both of you. You don't know how many times I wanted to stab that monster through her pitch black heart for what they did to you" He turned around and slams his fist on the wall.

The girl steps forward. "I'm sorry to be the bringer of bad news, but now would be a good time to get out of here. Being that there's about fifty or so guards coming this way as we speak." We all turn towards the door. The girl looks at me. "So. Are you in?" She holds out her hand. The guards are only 100 yards away now.

I look at Scarlet. She looks at me and squeezes my hand, silently letting me know that whatever I do, she'll stand with me. I know what I have to do to protect her.

"Let's get out of here." I shake the girl's hand, and she smiles.

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