Page 24 of The Careless Alpha
Scarlett smiled at me with feline satisfaction. "Such a shame you missed the end of the party last night. Marshall and I had such a wonderful time, didn't we, darling?"
"The best," Marshall agreed, pressing a kiss to her neck that made my stomach lurch.
I stood frozen in the doorway, watching the man who'd made love to me treat another woman with the intimacy that should have been mine. He didn't remember. Whatever had happenedbetween us, whatever connection I'd felt, he had no memory of it.
This is wrong,Sapphire snarled in my mind.He is ours. They cannot act this way in front of us.
But they could, because Marshall seemingly didn't remember claiming me. In his mind, nothing had changed. I was still the teenage obligation he was avoiding, and Scarlett was still the woman who satisfied his adult needs. Or worse, he did remember and was choosing to ignore me.
"I should... I'll eat later," I managed to say, backing toward the door.
"Are you sure, dear?" Luna Etta looked concerned. "You barely ate yesterday."
"I'm fine," I lied, fleeing before anyone could see the tears threatening to fall.
I made it back to my room before breaking down completely. The sheets still smelled like him, still held the impression of our bodies twined together. But downstairs, he was with someone else, treating our night like it had never happened.
He does not remember,Sapphire said sadly.The alcohol... he was too drunk to form clear memories.
"Then it didn't matter," I whispered through my tears. "None of it mattered."
But it mattered to me. It mattered that for one perfect night, Marshall had looked at me like I was precious. It mattered that he'd been gentle and loving and everything I'd dreamed of. It mattered that I'd given him my heart and my body, and he had no idea.
I spent the day in my room again, unable to face the pack knowing what I knew. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see Scarlett on Marshall's lap, see the way he touched her like she belonged there. How was I supposed to sit through meals andpack meetings, pretending I didn't know how his hands felt on my skin?
He will remember eventually,Sapphire insisted.Something will trigger the memory.
I wanted to believe her, but looking out my window at the snow-covered territory where Marshall continued his life as if nothing had changed, I wondered if she was wrong.
Maybe some things were too beautiful to remember. Maybe some nights were destined to live only in the heart of the one who treasured them.
The night that should have changed everything had instead become my most beautiful secret and my deepest heartbreak.
And Marshall had no idea that either had happened.
Chapter 10
Marshall - Age 23
Iwas reviewing border patrol reports when Annalise knocked on my office door. The sound was so soft I almost missed it, but something about the hesitant quality made me look up from the papers scattered across my desk.
"Come in," I called.
She entered slowly, her eyes wide with what looked like fear. At seventeen, she'd grown more beautiful over the past few months, though she seemed thinner lately, more fragile. She wore a loose sweater that hung on her frame and jeans that looked too big for her small body.
"Marshall," she said quietly, closing the door behind her. "I need to talk to you about something important."
I leaned back in my chair, studying her pale face. "What's wrong? Are you sick? You've been missing a lot of meals lately."
"I'm not sick, exactly." She took a deep breath, her hands twisting together in front of her. "I'm pregnant."
For a moment, I couldn't process what she'd said. Pregnant. Annalise was pregnant.
"What did you say?" I asked, my voice deadly quiet.
"I'm pregnant," she repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. "About two months along."
The timeline crashed through my mind like ice water. Two months ago was February. The winter solstice festival. The night I'd drunk too much and woken up the next morning with fragmented memories and a satisfaction that suggested an excellent evening with Scarlett.