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Chapter 227: In His Arms
Scarlett’s POV
The door clicked open slowly, and Leo stepped into the room. He looked completely different from the fierce Alpha who had just been ready to tear Leonard apart downstairs. His shoulders were tense, and his usual confident smile was nowhere to be found.
He didn’t rush toward me. Instead, he closed the door quietly behind him and stayed near the entrance, as if he were afraid that one wrong move would make me kick him out.
"Hey," he said softly, his sea-blue eyes locking onto mine with a look so full of sorrow it actually pinched my heart.
I mean, can you blame me for softening up? One minute I wanted to throw a pillow at his face for leaving me alone today, and the next, he looks like a lost puppy who just needs a hug. It is honestly exhausting how much power these triplets have over my emotions.
"Hey," I replied, shifting my weight on the mattress. I looked at his exhausted face and sighed, moving over to make some space. "Come into bed, Leo."
He hesitated for a second, looking down at the sheets and then back at me. Without a word, he sat down on the edge, unlaced his heavy boots, and took off his shoes, setting them neatly on the floor. Then, he slid onto the mattress, crawling up until he was sitting right beside me.
He reached out, his fingers shaking slightly as he gently touched the edge of my oversized shirt, right over my healed left arm.
"Does it still hurt?" he whispered, his voice thick.
"No, it’s fine. The skin is just a little tight," I told him, keeping my tone gentle. "But you need to talk to me, Leo. What happened this morning? Why did you really leave?"
Leo looked down at his large hands, his jaw clenching hard as he fought back his emotions. "Because I’m a coward, Scar. Every time I see Liam and Leonard looking at you, feeling so grateful that you’re back... it feels like a knife in my chest. They don’t know that I had you first. They don’t know that I kept you a secret from them for years."
He finally looked up at me, and my breath caught in my throat. His eyes were glassy, full of a deep, painful torment.
"I felt like if I stayed in this house today, under the same roof with them while it was supposed to be our time, I was going to snap. I couldn’t handle the guilt," he confessed, his voice cracking. "And because I ran away like a child, you almost died. If anything had happened to you because I wasn’t here..."
He couldn’t even finish the sentence. He dropped his head into his hands, his broad shoulders shaking slightly as the weight of the day—such as the assassin attack and his family breaking apart—finally broke him.
Seeing a powerful Alpha triplet break down like this is not something you ever get used to. It completely shatters your defenses. Any trace of my annoyance vanished into thin air.
I crawled closer to him, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck and pulling his heavy frame against my chest. "Shh, stop it. I’m right here. I’m alive, Leo. Look at me."
Leo wrapped his large arms around my waist, burying his face directly into my neck. He held onto me so tightly, his chest heaving as he let out a long, shaky breath against my skin. I could feel his heart hammering wildly against my own ribs, his whole body still trembling from the residual terror of almost losing me.
"I can’t lose you, Scar," he choked out, his voice muffled against my shoulder. "If that arrow had been an inch closer to your chest... if your healing hadn’t kicked in... I would have torn this entire world apart."
I rubbed his back in slow, soothing circles, letting my scent calm his frantic wolf. The air in the room was a bit chilly, and with the exhaustion from pushing out the poison finally taking its toll, a sudden shiver ran down my spine.
I looked down at him, my heart softening even more. "Come inside the covers with me, Leo."
He lifted his head, his eyes looking at me with a mix of surprise and deep gratitude. He didn’t say a word. He just pulled back the heavy duvet, slipping beneath the thick blankets right beside me. The moment the covers settled over us, he immediately pulled me back into his space, wrapping his long legs with mine and pulling my back flush against his chest.
I mean, can you blame me for melting into him? One minute I was freezing and completely drained, and the next, I was wrapped in the absolute best kind of personal heater. His body heat was incredible, radiating through my shirt and making all the lingering tension in my muscles instantly vanish.
Leo rested his chin on top of my head, one of his large hands resting flat over my stomach, holding me securely against him.
"I’m sorry for ruining our day," he whispered into my hair, his voice sounding incredibly small for a man of his size.
"You didn’t ruin it," I murmured, closing my eyes as the warmth of the bed and his familiar scent began to make me drowsy. "We’re together now. That’s all that matters. But you have to promise me something, Leo."
"Anything," he answered without hesitation.
"No more keeping secrets, and no more running away," I said, tilting my head back slightly to look up at him. "Whatever guilt you are carrying, we deal with it together. We have to be a team."
Leo stared down at me for a long moment, the torment in his eyes finally replacing itself with a deep, unyielding devotion. He leaned down, pressing a soft, lingering kiss against my forehead. "I promise, Scar. No more running."
I pulled back just enough to look up at him, my fingers tracing lazy circles over his chest. "You have to make up for leaving me alone today, Leo."
He tilted his head, that dark hunger already flickering back into his sea-blue eyes despite the lingering emotion. "How?"