The Triplet Alphas' Secret Mate

Chapter 168: Found Her Again

Leo’s POV

​I stood in the center of Leonard’s hotel room, my heart broken into pieces. I had spent the last thirteen hours fueled by a desperate, panicked need to track Scarlett down. I had scoured Nigeria, terrified she had vanished into some dark corner of the world where I could never reach her—only to come back to Australia empty-handed and exhausted.

​And now, here was my brother, barking orders and demanding truths I wasn’t allowed to speak.

​"What I do is none of your business, Leonard," I snapped, my voice filled with annoyance. "I have a life outside this circle. Respect that."

​"Respect?" Leonard laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "You’ve been acting like a weirdo since you returned from Nigeria. You lie about where you’re going; you lie about what you’re doing. We are triplets, Leo. We are supposed to be a unit, but you’re treating me like an outsider."

​"Maybe because you’re acting like a child!" I roared, the frustration of losing Scarlett finally boiling over. "I don’t owe you an itemized list of my every move. If I want to fly across the globe to clear my head, that is my right. Stop suffocating me!"

​"I’m not suffocating you; I’m calling you out on your bullshit!" He stepped closer, his Alpha aura flaring to challenge mine. "Something happened in Nigeria. You came back different. And then you lie about New Zealand? What are you hiding?"

​"Nothing!" I lied, even as the weight of my secrets was suffocating me. "Get over yourself, Leonard. I’m going to my room."

​I didn’t wait for his reply. I turned and stormed out of his suite, slamming the door hard enough to rattle the frame. I needed to get away from him before I said something I couldn’t take back. I started down the long, quiet hallway, my boots thudding against the carpet, my head down as I rubbed my temples.

​Then, the air changed.

scent of Scarlett. My wolf went from zero to a hundred in a split second, his claws digging into

the far end of the hall, a door was opening. A woman in a simple hoodie stepped out. I couldn’t see her face yet, but I knew that

breathed

toward her, my speed blurring the hallway. She must have heard the thud of my footsteps because she turned in my direction. Her eyes widened, her

​"Le—"

didn’t let her finish. I reached her in a flash, slamming my hand over her mouth to stifle the sound. I looked back toward Leonard’s door, my heart racing. If he heard her voice, if he smelled even a hint of her through that fake scent,

I hissed, my voice a low, urgent vibration. "We have

around in panic, but she didn’t fight me. I reached into her hand, snatched the keycard, and swiped it. The light flashed green. I pulled her inside, shoved the door shut, and

chest heaving. I just stared. For the past thirteen hours, I had been imagining every horrible thing that could have happened to her. I thought she had vanished. I thought I’d have to spend the rest of

ghost. She looked small in the oversized

I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep seeing you behind your family’s back. It’s too much... the lying,

to protect herself—and maybe even me—from the mess our lives had become. And surprisingly, I wasn’t angry. Looking at

so sorry," she kept whispering, tears starting to well in her

deep, passionate, and filled with all the words I couldn’t say. She froze for a second,

an inch, our foreheads resting together. "I’m sorry," I

her eyes wet

alive," I said. I saw the way she swallowed hard, her eyes shifting. She already knew. "Scarlett, I am so sorry. For all the pain I let you go through. I was supposed to protect you. I was supposed to cherish you... love you. But instead, I