“Since your injury happened on company time, I’ll bail you out-this once. But next time? You’re on your own.”
I nodded quickly, raising my hands in surrender.
“Got it, got it. You’re a lifesaver. I owe you big time-I mean, I’ll work weekends. No complaints.”
He just stared at me.
I had the distinct impression he was seriously considering leaving me stranded on this hill.
But instead, without a word, he knelt down slightly and motioned for me.
“Get on,” he said.
I hesitated for only a moment before climbing onto his back.
His shoulders were broad, warm, and steady beneath my hands.
I clung to him awkwardly.
“Um… where do I put my hands?”
He didn’t look back.
“Anywhere that won’t get you dropped.”
After a brief pause, I carefully placed my hands on his shoulders. Like the double-door refrigerators you see in manga comics, his shoulders were impressively broad and solid.
When we reached the bottom of the hill, his car was parked quietly by the roadside. He gently lowered me into the passenger seat, then circled around to the driver’s side, climbed in, and started the engine.
He had driven here himself.
As far as I knew, he rarely took the wheel, usually relying on Lian or Beta Sawyer to chauffeur him.
I felt oddly honored.
I quickly texted Harlow to let her know I was safe and on my way back to Denver. Naturally, she was curious about who had come to my rescue, since she was already nearby in this remote area, ever the loyal friend.
She’d parked by the roadside and messaged back: [Who rescued you?]
I wanted to dodge the question, but ignoring it would only make me seem secretive.
What was I hiding? Absolutely nothing!
With confidence, I typed three simple words: [Alpha Sebastian].
Harlow’s excitement practically vibrated through the screen: [WHAT?! Alpha Sebastian?! He came to rescue you? Isn’t your boss being a little TOO caring toward his employee?]
“Because I’m his star player,” I replied with a sly smirk.
[Careful-if you impress him any more, he might get down on one knee.]
[At this rate, forget law school. Ask if he’s hiring. I’d gladly switch careers.]
[Please. If he’s not into you, I’ll eat my entire closet.]
[No thanks-I’m not letting you chew leather. Believe what you want, but he’s genuinely just a good guy. He likes saving people, that’s all. And besides… I’m pretty sure he’s sworn off women anyway.]
Harlow: [Wait-what??]
I ignored her triple question marks.
Looking at my last message, a pang of regret nudged at me. Whether Alpha Sebastian’s preferences were true or not, it was something he had confided in me. I shouldn’t be spreading it around.
Alpha Sebastian noticed my troubled expression. “Is something wrong?”
I quickly shook my head. “No, nothing at all.”
I pressed my phone protectively against my chest.
He narrowed his eyes at my obviously guilty behavior.
Meanwhile, Alpha Xavien returned with a bag of food, only to find the car empty and the trunk wide open. Frustration boiled over as he threw the bag to the ground in anger.
Wasn’t she still using a wheelchair? Hadn’t her leg injury yet to heal?
What a liar!
But even if she could walk, she couldn’t have gone far.
Suddenly, a wave of panic surged through him as he considered the dangers she might face-wild animals roaming the hills, dangerous strangers on deserted roads. Hadn’t a man just passed by earlier? And she was so beautiful…
Without hesitation, he guessed she had gone the opposite way from him and took off running after her, even though nearly fifty minutes had passed.
As Alpha Xavien sprinted along the road, Harlow’s car suddenly appeared from behind. With no streetlights to guide her, she nearly hit him and slammed on the brakes.
She jumped out. “Are you trying to get yourself killed, running in the middle of the road at night-“
Her words died when she recognized him. Silence fell.
Alpha Xavien stared at Harlow, who stood with one hand on her hip, momentarily confused.
Then realization dawned. He hurried to open her passenger door, found it empty, and checked the back seat. “Where’s Celina?”
“How should I know? I’m just passing through.”
“Cut the crap. Where is she?”
“Alpha Xavien, I honestly don’t know. I need to get home-it’s already eleven, and I’ll be up past midnight. I have court in the morning.”
Harlow yawned, looking exhausted.
She climbed back into the car.
To her surprise, Alpha Xavien also got in, buckled his seatbelt, and settled in with his arms crossed.
Harlow was speechless. “…Do you think this is your car and I’m your driver? Get out!”
Alpha Xavien remained unmoved, like a statue carved from ice.
She didn’t know what to do with him. Physically removing him was impossible, and arguing seemed pointless.
She fastened her own seatbelt. “Fine, fine, fine. Don’t believe me? Then just sit there and see if I’m really meeting your… ex-wife.”
The words “ex-wife” made Alpha Xavien’s eyes flash with cold fury.
Harlow felt a flicker of fear. She started the car and focused on driving.
It didn’t matter anyway-Celina had already been picked up, so let him waste his time if he wanted.
After twenty minutes with no sign of stopping, Alpha Xavien’s frown deepened.
Just then, Harlow’s phone pinged with a new message.
As soon as she unlocked it with facial recognition, a pair of long, elegant fingers snatched the phone from her hand.
Xavien
The sting of her rejection still burned deep inside me-sharp, humiliating, as if her words had sliced straight through my chest. Celina had pushed me away-me, her Alpha-as though I were nothing but an error she was desperate to erase from her life.
Beneath my skin, my wolf growled in restless frustration, urging me to claim her, to make her understand exactly where she belonged. But instead of yielding, I had only tasted her defiance. And then she fled.
No one ever ran from me.
I gripped the steering wheel so tightly that the leather creaked beneath my fingers. My jaw clenched until it throbbed with pain. She thought she could slip through my fingers, disappear into the sprawling city, shield herself with flimsy excuses and borrowed courage. But she didn’t realize-I wouldn’t let her get away.
The sudden trill of Harlow’s phone shattered my focus. Without hesitation, I snatched it from her hands, ignoring her startled gasp and the brief swerve of the car. My patience was already razor-thin.
Her protests barely registered as I unlocked the screen and scrolled through the messages. I didn’t need Harlow’s explanations. I was after one thing: a trail.
And there it was.
Her name. Celina. Illuminated across the glowing screen, tangled in conversations she thought were private.
Even worse-Sebastian Black’s name threaded through the messages like venom.
Alpha Sebastian.
The muscles in my jaw tightened until I feared they might snap. So he wanted to play the savior, the gentleman? The thought of him near her, of his attention focused on what belonged to me, sent a dark, violent heat coursing down my spine.
I forced my breath to steady, though rage pulsed through every vein. Losing control now would solve nothing. I needed her back-where she belonged-by my side, under my protection, within my reach.
“Fine,” I muttered, my thumb stabbing the screen as I sent a reply. My voice was low, clipped, every word vibrating with barely restrained fury.
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