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.

floral, and chemical—the fake scent of Scarlett. My wolf went from zero to a hundred in a split second, his claws

a door was opening. A woman in a simple hoodie stepped out. I

I breathed

I rushed 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 pupils blowing out with shock as she

​"Le—"

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

a low, urgent vibration. "We have to go in.

panic, but she didn’t fight me. I reached into her hand, snatched the

I thought she had vanished. I thought I’d have to spend the rest of my life hunting her down through the forests

ghost. She looked small in the oversized

she began, her voice trembling as she backed away. "I had to leave. I can’t keep doing this.

why she ran. I knew she was trying to protect herself—and maybe even me—from the mess our lives had become. And surprisingly, I wasn’t angry. Looking at her now, I realized

she kept whispering, tears starting to

It was deep, passionate, and filled with all the words I couldn’t say. She froze for a second, then melted against me, her hands clutching at my shirt as she responded with a hunger that matched my

pulled away just an inch, our foreheads resting

eyes wet and

go through. I was supposed