Cecilia’s pov
I stood there, looking down at the open bag in my hands, and felt all the blood drain from my face.
My pupils widened in horror.
Ultra thin... ribbed... strawberry flavored... WHAT?! Why are there so many boxes of various condoms in my shopping bag?!
Ti rewound in my mind: From shelf to basket, from checkout counter back to the lakeside...
All that ti... if only I had looked down ONCE. Just once!
"This, this, this... I, I... these..." My voice ca out as a pathetic whimper.
I bent down quickly, burying the condom boxes beneath everything else and hastily tied the bag shut. "I grabbed the wrong items."
"The wrong items?" Alpha Sebastian’s eyebrow arched with suspicion. "Several wrong items in a row?"
I wanted nothing more than to throw myself into the lake and never resurface. "...The situation was... complicated."
"Complicated how?" Alpha Sebastian’s voice held a dangerous edge of amusent. "Does the convenience store force custors to shop blindfolded? Is that their business model?"
I couldn’t even respond.
Finally, I had no choice but to tell the truth: "I was on the phone and wasn’t looking at what I was grabbing. I just... randomly took things."
Alpha Sebastian nodded with mock understanding. "Ah, I see. So you went to the convenience store specifically to make a phone call."
The temperature around us seed to drop as his eyes narrowed. "Though I wonder who you were talking to that was so engaging it rendered you temporarily blind?"
His sarcasm landed like a physical blow.
"...Harper," I mumbled.
Alpha Sebastian made a sound - half snort, half laugh - and turned to face the lake. Points of light reflected off the dark water as silence stretched between us.
I sat down beside him.
Fine. I’ll admit it - I’d stepped away to make that call on purpose. Sue .
After a few minutes of awkward silence by the lake - seriously, I could hear the fish judging - I tried to break the tension with my usual failsafe: snacks.
"Alpha, want so chocolate?" I asked, waving a bar like a peace offering. "I brought a few."
He barely turned his head, "The one nestled beside the strawberry-flavored condom?"
Oh. My. God. Could this man let one thing go? Just once?
I forced a smile and ignored the jab. "Okay, how about sothing to drink? I brought options. Water, soda... emotional support whiskey."
He arched a brow. "Ah, yes. The whiskey. A heartfelt gesture to make up for the Petrus I missed at Alpha Xavier’s place. How thoughtful."
Two sarcasm-laced arrows. Direct hit.
My patience, already hanging by a thread, snapped. I yanked the bottle from my bag, unscrewed the cap with righteous fury, and shoved it toward him.
"That’s exactly right. Bought it just for you. Now drink it and feel appreciated.
He recoiled slightly at the sll. "Secretary Moore, am I to assu this gift cos without poison?"
"Why do you always call that when you’re trying to offend ?" I muttered.
How was this poison?! It was duty-free whiskey, not arsenic!
To prove my point - and to defend my honor - I took a dramatic swig.
Bad idea.
The burn hit instantly, like I’d swallowed a small, angry bonfire.
My lungs protested. My throat tried to flee the scene.
I doubled over, coughing like I’d swallowed fire.
Holy hell. That was aggressive.
Alpha Sebastian was beside in a flash, his hand patting my back like I was a toddler who’d inhaled her juice box.
"Why would you drink that? Are you okay?"
I waved him off between coughs. "I’m fine. Just - testing it. For you. Honestly, maybe you shouldn’t drink it. It’s a little... intense."
The last thing I needed was for him to keel over and have his family drag back to Silver Peak headquarters and hang upside-down like a traitor in a dieval drama.
He chuckled - actually chuckled - as if my near-death experience was mildly charming.
"So you do have a conscience," he said, reaching past toward my bag.
"What are you doing?!" I lunged like he’d reached for my diary instead of a bottle of Fiji water.
"Relax," he said calmly. "I’m just getting you so water to rinse your mouth."
"I can get it myself!" I snapped, clutching the bag like it held state secrets.
I clutched the bag tightly to my chest, then double-knotted it and sneakily hid it by my feet.
Alpha Sebastian just stared at .
"Let’s go," he said suddenly.
I was still debating whether to throw the entire bag away when Alpha Sebastian grabbed my arm and pulled up.
The next mont, he was holding my hand.
His palm was broad and warm, enveloping mine completely, giving a strange sense of security.
After walking a short distance, I rembered I should pull away. "My hand - "
"Keep moving!" His tone was urgent, and instead of releasing , he tightened his grip.
"What’s happening?" I felt his tension spreading to .
When I tried to look back, he turned my face forward. "Don’t look. He’s following us."
Xavier was following us?
If we weren’t going back to our rooms, was he just planning to stalk us all night?
I felt both irritated and exhausted.
But how did he know we were by the lake?
Sebastian held my hand firmly as we moved with steady, confident strides through a flower garden, then weaved through a wood.
When we reached a three-way fork in the path, instead of continuing forward, he led to a large tree.
He positioned himself against the trunk first, his back to the rough bark.
I tripped over the tangled roots at the base of the tree and tumbled straight into his arms.
I heard his breath catch.
His hands instinctively caught my waist.
One of my hands was still clasped in his, while my other hand and the rest of my body pressed against him. My lips were dangerously close to his neck.
My mouth went dry. I wanted to... bite him.
My free hand crept upward, inching closer to his face when - footsteps approached from the path.
I snapped back to reality and quickly withdrew my hand.
The footsteps circled around for a mont before fading away.
Sebastian’s pov
I led Cecilia from behind the tree, taking a different path back to the lakeside.
My wolf, Soren had been pushing toward her for weeks now, insisting what I already suspected - this human woman was sohow ant to be ours.
We boarded a small tour boat docked at the shore.
Cecilia collapsed onto the cushioned bench the mont we boarded, staring into space with unfocused eyes.
That single gulp of Whiskey was clearly hitting her harder than she’d admit.
"How do you like it here?" I moved closer, drawn to her like a magnet.
The mont I approached, she stiffened. I could hear her heart rate accelerate.
She edged away slightly, looking at the floating curtains and the shadowy lake surface barely visible in the moonlight. "I feel like... Nessie might crawl up any mont."
I stared at her in disbelief.
Romantic atmosphere thoroughly shattered.
"Alpha, don’t you find this setting rather creepy?" she continued, completely oblivious to my intentions. "And this boat is rocking so much."
"Is it?" I asked, amused despite myself. The boat was perfectly still in the calm water.
"Very much. I’m getting dizzy."
I lifted the curtain beside us to let moonlight fall across her face. Her cheeks were flushed pink, eyes glassy and unfocused. "The alcohol is hitting you."
"Impossible," she protested imdiately. "It was just one sip. I have excellent tolerance."
The stubbornness of this woman. Even half-drunk, she refused to admit weakness.
I laughed softly. "Right, right. Our Miss Moore has the best alcohol tolerance in Denver. It must be the Nessie causing trouble."
Soren growled in satisfaction within :She is so cute.
Seeing her lean increasingly toward the railing, I reached out to pull her back, concerned she might tumble overboard.
She had been stable enough leaning against the railing, but my sudden tug sent her falling against my chest. Her cheek rested against my chest, right over my pounding heart.
Could she feel it racing? Hear it betraying ?
When she looked up, her forehead brushed against my neck, and her hazy gaze fixed on my throat.
Her expression shifted, darkening with unmistakable desire.
In an instant, she wrapped her arm around my neck, parted her rose-pink lips, and tilted her head to capture my Adam’s apple between her teeth.
My body instantly tensed, electricity shooting through .
My breathing beca ragged as Soren howled in triumph.
How could this woman be so timid one mont and so bold the next?
With her eyes closed, she allowed her hands to roam over my face, my chest, my shoulders... growing increasingly daring with each touch.
I should stop this. But I had waited too long.
I cradled the back of her neck in my palm, feeling the soft strands of her hair against my skin.
In the next mont, I captured her lips with mine, pouring weeks of restraint and desire into a kiss that made her lt against .
Her taste - sweet with a hint of alcohol - drove wild.
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