Chapter 140 - 140- The Forgotten Red

"What is it?" Mikael asked as they entered Markus' messy office. 

It seemed as if the man never really cared about placing his things in order. It was quite difficult for others to understand how he managed to find his things in such a chaos but he never looked like he was troubled in sorting his stuff or finding the document he was asked. The blonde wolf sat on one of the chairs that he had in front of his desk and waited for him to do the same. 

Markus though searched through one of his libraries first and took out a thick yellow envelope. Mikael looked at the object confused as he dumped it on the desk and sat down. With his fingertips he pushed it towards him like he was waiting for him to take it. 

"Open it" Markus told him and Mikael grabbed the heavy envelope. 

"What's that?" Mikael asked but the man remained silent. He didn't seem willing to answer by the way he was just aggressively staring at him. Mikael with a wave of his head he opened it carefully, undoing the red wax seal and pouring its contents onto the wood. 

He saw another small letter, photos and a bigger piece of paper with what it seemed to look like a family tree. At first he stared at these objects confused, and spread them out with his fingers waiting to understand on his own what exactly was the point of all of these. Markus noticing how lost he was found a certain photo through all the others and passed it to him. It was faded, and yellowish. Like it had been taken quite a while back and Mikael needed to blink and focus a few times to be able to understand what he was looking at. 

"No…" he mumbled. "This is not possible. She is…you said…" 

"This woman here." Markus started talking. "Is Mark's great grandmother."

"What? Is this some kind of stupid game? Like always?" Mikael asked shocked as he through the image away, not baring to stare at it. He stood up, his chair falling on the floor and deep wrinkles appeared between his eyebrows. "What is your goal this time? Adam made you do this?" 

"No. Adam has no idea about this. Pick up the chair and sit down. I will explain everything" Mikael, hesitant and in the brink of getting really mad he grabbed the chair and positioned it properly before he sat down. Markus fixed his glasses before he began to speak, as if he wanted to make him wait more. There was something in this man, that always seemed to hype the suspense of everything. He didn't care about the events so he always took his time to speak, leaving their hearts shaking with worry.  "Back then when Adam ordered Daniel and I to take care of your mate, Scarlet we took her into the forest with the intention of killing her. But we couldn't. Daniel couldn't bring himself to kill a child. You were only sixteen at the time. He believed that by sparing her life he would relieve some of the sin in Adam's hands. So we let her go, with the term that she was never to approach you or anyone again. She…"

"Scarlet. Scarlet was alive?" Mikael asked, frozen in his chair. He wasn't the kind of person that cried a lot. He didn't feel sadness in such tremendous waves. He rarely had something to lose. An orphan with no family and believing that the love of his life was dead he had become numb.

Now though, suddenly he felt different. It wasn't just sadness the one that seemed to be caging his heart. That tight feeling as if someone was clenching their fingertips around his neck making him unable to breathe. That feeling and the ringing in his ears as his eyes turned blurry. He felt stupid. Almost as if he had been tricked by everyone. Like the universe was laughing at him. He spent years grieving her death, trying to stand on his feet again but she was alive? She was alive and she had gotten married with a human? While he was slowly dying inside. 

"Yes. After we let her escape we lost track of her and didn't search for her again. We didn't want Adam to find out but when I saw Mark, that red haired kid, his scent was oddly familiar. He didn't seem to be a wolf or know about these things so I was curious. Then I noticed how you seemed to like him and things began to click. After Scarlet left she met a human man, she married him and this is how her lineage led to Mark. When A wolf woman has children with a human the gene gets lost. That's why mark is not a werewolf but he has the same scent as she. I wonder how you didn't notice." 

"I…." Mikael mumbled. He hadn't noticed. All of these times he had spent alone with him he had never thought of Scarlet. All of his thoughts were occupied by Mark and only Mark. He believed he had moved on so why now that he knows that she could be out there, his brain turned fuzzy and his heart ached. Could his mate be out there and he was here falling in love with one of her relatives? "Why are you telling me this?" He asked him and tried to stop the tears from straying. 

"I am telling you this to protect you. Mark, you are attracted to this human because he subconsciously reminds you of Scarlet. It is not true attraction. The moment you get to meet her again your feelings about him will disappear. Spare him the pain and spare the guilt from yourself too." Markus advised him. 

"No! This is bulshit. I am sure I would know my own feelings. I have no intention of meeting Scarlet again. There is no reason to. She chose to stay away even after all these years. What I will do with Mark is my business. I feel happy after so long. Don't ruin this. Please. Do not tell him any of this. He doesn't need to know." Mikael said and stood up, ready to leave. There was no reason for him to remain there. He would just pretend he never heard of this and keep going the way he had planned with Mark. He liked him, he was sure about it. 

"Mikael I do not wish to ruin your happiness. I just don't want you to make a mistake you will regret. And Mark needs to know about this. Don't be stupid like your best friend and repeat his mistakes. You saw how things ended up." 

"No, the situation is completely different. It had nothing to do with Mark. I will never hurt him and I won't regret this." He announced Markus before he disappeared from the room like smoke. He couldn't bear staying here longer. If he did his eyes would stray to that photograph and her face would appear in his mind again. He didn't want to remember the details of her characteristics. The clearness of her laughter. There was no need to reminisce the sweetness of her kisses. She was gone and to him she was dead. Even if she was alive somewhere. 

When he reached his room the door was still open and Mark sat awkwardly at the edge of his bed, waiting. When he locked eyes with him he stood up and smiled but Mikael ran inside and hugged him with all his strength. Mark too wrapped his arms around him and breathed in, letting himself relax. 

"Is everything alright?" He asked him and tried to step away from his arms but Mikael didn't let him. He held him closer, letting his head fall on his shoulder as he was trying to calm down. It was alright. It would be fine. Tomorrow they would leave and no one would mention her again. No one would make him remember. 

"Can we stay like this? Just for a bit more. I…I heard something I didn't like" Mikael told him and felt Mark's palm caress his blond hair. 

"Okay. Don't worry. I will be with you" He whispered and Mikael felt as if he was going to cry again. He was so kind, so cute, so smart so much of everything that was nice. He had been so sure that his heart beat faster because of him, because he was Mark and just that but Markus came in, with that heavy envelope of his and destroyed everything. He filled him with doubts and messed up his heart and mind. Now he simply felt horrible. 

"Can you stay with me tonight?" Mikael asked him, his eyes showing how desperate he was. He was pleading with him to remain here a bit longer. Mark was hesitant at first but as he stared at his face and the pain he was trying to hide he just couldn't say no. His heart wouldn't allow him to.

"Alright, come on. Let's lie down" he said and by taking his hand in his he led him to the bed and under the covers. 

Mikael hugged him, bringing him close and inhaling his scent. No, he didn't remember anything. Nothing. It would be fine. 

"I like you and only you" Mikael mumbled.

....

expect the unexpected sweeties. 

Thanks for reading hope you enjoyed!