*****CHAPTER 25

ALCOT'S POV
 
"M–my Lord.  Forgive me."  Mae immediately crouched to the ground and began to pack the broken pieces of ceramic together. I stared at her in alarm as one of the broken fragments of ceramic slit her finger and blood oozed out.
 
"No.  Stop."  I brought myself to crouch beside her and pull her hand away from the sharp broken pieces. "Are you a fucking sadist?" "Do you enjoy hurting yourself?"
 
"It's my fault, my Lord." "Please let me handle it." She kept her gaze fixed to the ground and refused to look up at me. I could tell that it was because of my shirtless body and her shock at seeing the scars I had done well to hide from everyone else up until now. Even though a part of me warned me to run back inside and seek cover from her, I remained stubborn and refused to back away. There was no way I could leave Mae alone to deal with her bloody hand. It felt weird how with her comes the feeling and need to protect her at all costs.
 
For the first time in a very long time, I cared deeply and felt responsible for someone else. A girl even.
 
I pushed Mae's hand gently aside and packed the broken pieces into my hand while she still kept her head hung low and sniffed.
 
Was she crying?
 
After packing the pieces into my hand, I rose up again and held out my hand for her to take.
 
"Come on. Get up, Mae."
 
"Forgive me, my Lord." She refused to take my hand. Her voice was shaky and thick with tears. But I refused to listen, and I ordered her this time.
 
"I am not asking you to get up, Mae. "I am ordering you to take my hand and rise up, as your Alpha and Lycan king."
 
She hesitated for a second before taking my hand gently and rising to her feet. Even though she still had her head hung low, I could see the wet glint of tears on her cheeks, and I looked away with a burning chest. My heart was heavy with so many emotions right now, and seeing her in tears made me feel like the shittiest person ever.
 
It was all Sia's fault too. If she hadn't tried to play her little cupid game in the first place, none of this would have happened. Mae wouldn't have found out about her secret, and she wouldn't have been in tears right now from her clumsiness.
 
"Come with me." I led her in and shut the door behind us again. As we walked into my chamber, I dumped the broken cup in a small bin close to my work table and led Mae to sit on my bed. She was still refusing to meet my gaze. Now, I had begun to suspect that being sorry for her clumsiness wasn't the only reason she was acting this way. Seeing my scars played a great role in this too.
 
If only she knew how hard it was for me too.
 
"Let me get you a glass of water." I said to her, but her warm, feminine hand shot out to stop me as soon as I was about to leave.
 
"No, please."  She nodded her head at me, and for the first time, she raised her head to look at me. My heart hurts to see how her sad face was wet with tears. "What would people say about the Alpha serving his own servant?" "It is an abomination, my Lord."
 
"I don't care about what they think." I defended myself. "You hurt yourself because of me, and I cannot leave you this way."
 
Gently, I disentangled my wrist from her hand. "Let me get you water, Mae." "And then we'll treat your wound."
 
But again, as I made to move, she held me back by the wrist again. I looked back at her.
 
"The scars on your body... The sad look on her face deepened, and she stared at my body as if trying to put the puzzle pieces together and figure out what could have happened to me. "How did you get them?"
 
I bit my tongue and looked away again. Just when I thought she was going to keep her mouth shut about this, here we go.
 
"My Lord…"  She spoke again after a short moment of silence filled the room as I refused to answer her question.
 
"Stop asking questions, Mae." "My scars have nothing to do with you."
 
"Maybe it is because I care." She rose from the bed slowly and closed the distance between us, such that our bodies were almost touching now. I could feel the tension in the room thicken, and I felt a sudden urge for her in a way I had never felt for any woman before.
 
"Is it wrong to care for my alpha the same way he cares for a mere servant?"
 
I almost scoffed at her last word. If only she knew she was more than just a servant to me. If only she knew I was her best friend—the stranger from the bridge.
 
Again, I kept silent and looked away, refusing to answer her. I felt her soft, warm fingers gently slide over my bare back, and I jerked slightly away from the eccentric feeling her touch sent throughout my entire body.
 
But Mae didn't look the least bothered by my reaction. Instead, she had a curious look on her face as she looked back at me.
 
"May I?"  She was referring to my scars, and even though my head screamed at me not to let her close, my heart wouldn't listen and instead chose to do things its own foolish way.
 
I sighed deeply and gave her a gentle nod. She took a step closer again, bringing her body very close to mine and placing her hand over my back, trailing her finger across the horrible scars that adorned my body. I hated that she could see the ugly side of me, but there was nothing I could do to stop her. If anything, it was a sweet and comforting feeling to have someone else aside from my mother know about these scars. Maybe not the story behind it, but at least someone else knew, and that person was Mae.
 
"Even though I badly would like to know the story behind these scars, I know I cannot ask you that." Yet."  She whispered behind me, close to my ears, causing my body to go warm and beg for more of her touches. "But I am not bothered." "I bet it would be worth the wait."
 
That instant, the door pulled open, and we turned our heads as the loud sound of heels walked towards us.
 
Scarlet.