Cecilia’s pov
My heart nearly stopped when I heard those footsteps approaching.
Xavier? No, impossible. Even if he’d figured out I escaped and guessed which direction I’d gone, how would he know I was hiding on so random hillside?
It made no sense.
Then a chilling thought hit —the man who had shouted outside the car window earlier.
Could it be him? Had he been lurking nearby, watching crawl out of the trunk and head down this road? Had he been following this entire ti?
The thought made my skin crawl. I crouched lower, trying to burrow deeper into the vegetation, but it was pitch black. I couldn’t see the path, and I didn’t dare turn on my phone’s flashlight. I was stumbling through the brush like a panicked rabbit.
The footsteps behind grew closer, more deliberate
My mind raced with horrifying possibilities—being dragged into the wilderness in the middle of the night, my body never to be found, or being trafficked, or worse.
Maybe I should have stayed in the car after all.
No, that was stupid. Even if I’d stayed, once Alpha Xavier left, whoever this was could have easily broken the window and attacked there.
I moved faster, ignoring the burning pain in my leg.
A beam of light cut through the darkness. I thought I heard soone calling my na, but terror had my ears ringing so loudly that my heartbeat drowned out everything else.
"Help! Sobody help !" I scread as I sensed the presence right behind , reaching for .
I scrambled uphill in blind panic. Suddenly, sothing heavy circled my waist, and my feet left the ground. A strong arm had lifted completely off the earth.
"HELP! HELP! MURDER! HELP!" I shrieked, kicking wildly at whoever had grabbed .
"...No one’s trying to kill you."
That voice—rich, smooth, and unmistakably familiar—cut through my panic like a knife. The kind of voice that, once heard, is never forgotten. Deep but not overly so, with a clarity like spring water over ice.
I froze instantly.
Looking over my shoulder, through the hazy darkness, I found myself staring into a strikingly handso face with pale features.
And suddenly, I was even more confused than before.
Anyone else appearing here would have made more sense. Hell, even so supernatural creature would have been more logical than... Alpha Sebastian.
"Y-y-you..." I stamred, sohow more flustered than scared now.
"Scared speechless? Don’t recognize ?" Alpha Sebastian asked, his voice sending a shiver down my spine that had nothing to do with fear.
Hearing him speak again made everything feel real. Relief washed over so intensely I nearly cried. "How are you here?"
"Just taking a stroll," he replied casually.
"...What?"
I knew he was being ridiculous, of course. But then again, my question had been equally obvious. Why else would he be here except to rescue ?
Alpha Sebastian lifted one long leg onto the slope and settled on his thigh, letting sit while his arm moved from my waist to loosely encircle my shoulders. "I called your na. Why did you keep running?"
"...My ears were ringing," I admitted honestly, perched on his leg like an obedient child.
"Running so fast with your injury—weren’t you afraid it would reopen?" he asked, his voice a mixture of concern and mild admonishnt.
As if on cue, a burning sensation shot through my leg.
[Oh crap.]
Alpha Sebastian caught the wince on her face imdiately.
"Cecilia, you’re not aggravating your injury on purpose just to extend your sick leave, are you?"
"What? Of course not!" she shot back, offended.
His gaze stayed cool, unreadable.
"Then why aren’t you resting at ho instead of walking straight into an obvious trap?"
He let the silence hang just long enough to make her uncomfortable, then added dryly,
"Maybe you should stop being my secretary and beco my spiritual guide instead. You clearly have a gift for making go out of my way for you."
Cecilia blinked, thrown off by the sarcasm.
"...Sorry," she muttered, properly chastised.
Sebastian stepped closer, his voice still as flat as ever.
"Since that injury happened on company ti, I’ll bail you out—this once. But next ti? You’re on your own."
She nodded quickly, raising her hands in surrender.
"Got it, got it. You’re a lifesaver. I owe you big ti—I an, I’ll even work weekends with no complaints."
He just stared at her.
She had the distinct feeling he was seriously considering leaving her on the hill.
But instead, without a word, he knelt down a little and motioned for her.
"Get on," he said.
She hesitated only a second before climbing onto his back.
His shoulders were broad and warm, steady beneath her hands.
Cecilia clung to him awkwardly.
"Um... where do I put my hands?"
He didn’t look back.
"Anywhere that won’t get you dropped."
After hesitating, I gently placed my hands on his shoulders., Those shoulders were as broad and solid as an oak door.
When we reached the bottom of the hill, his car was parked by the roadside. He carefully placed in the passenger seat before circling around to the driver’s side, getting in, and starting the engine.
He’d driven here himself...
As far as I knew, he rarely drove his own car, usually relying on Liam or Beta Sawyer to chauffeur him.
I felt surprisingly honored.
I texted Harper to let her know I was safe and heading back to Denver. She was naturally curious about who had rescued , since she was already out in this remote area, being the loyal friend she was.
She’d parked by the roadside and texted: [Who rescued you?]
I wanted to avoid the question, but not answering would make it seem like I had sothing to hide.
What did I have to hide? Nothing!
I typed three letters with perfect confidence: [Alpha Sebastian].
Harper’s excitent practically vibrated through the phone: [WHAT?! Alpha Sebastian?! He ca to rescue you? Isn’t your boss being a little TOO caring toward his employee?]
[Because I’m his star player,] I said with a 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’ll gladly switch careers.]
[Please. If he’s not into you, I’ll eat my entire closet.]
[I’m not letting you chew leather, thanks. Believe whatever you want, but he’s genuinely just a good guy. He likes saving people, that’s all. And besides... pretty sure he’s sworn off won anyway.]
Harper: [Wait—what??]
I ignored her triple question marks.
Looking at my last ssage, I felt a twinge of regret. Whether Alpha Sebastian’s preferences were true or not, it was sothing he had confided in . I shouldn’t be spreading it around.
Alpha Sebastian noticed my troubled expression. "Is sothing wrong?"
I quickly shook my head. "No, nothing at all."
I pressed my phone against my chest protectively.
Alpha Sebastian narrowed his eyes at my obviously guilty behavior.
Author’s pov
anwhile, Alpha Xavier returned with a bag of food only to find the empty car and the open trunk. He hurled the bag to the ground in anger.
Wasn’t she still using a wheelchair? Hadn’t her leg injury not healed?
Little liar!
But even if she could walk, she couldn’t have gone far.
Suddenly, he thought about the dangers she might face—wild animals in the hills, dangerous strangers on the road. Hadn’t a man just walked past earlier? And she was so beautiful... Panic surged through him.
He guessed she’d gone in the opposite direction from him and ran after her, despite having been gone nearly fifty minutes.
As Alpha Xavier ran along the road, Harper’s car approached from behind. With no streetlights, she nearly hit him and slamd on the brakes.
She got out. "Are you trying to get yourself killed, running in the middle of the road at night—"
Her words died when she recognized him. She fell silent.
Alpha Xavier stared at Harper with her hand on her hip, montarily confused.
Then realization dawned. He rushed to open her passenger door, found it empty, and checked the back seat. "Where’s Cecilia?"
"How should I know? I’m just passing by."
"Cut the crap. Where is she?"
"Alpha Xavier, I genuinely don’t know. I need to get ho—it’s already eleven, and I’ll be up past midnight. I have court in the morning."
Harper yawned, looking exhausted.
She got back into her car.
To her surprise, Alpha Xavier also got in, fastened his seat belt, and made himself comfortable with crossed arms.
Harper was speechless. "...Do you think this is your car and I’m your driver? Get out!"
Alpha Xavier remained unmoved, like a statue of ice.
She had no idea what to do with him. She couldn’t physically remove him, and arguing seed pointless. She fastened her seat belt. "Fine, fine, fine. Don’t believe ? Then just sit there and see if I’m really eting your... ex-wife."
The words "ex-wife" made Alpha Xavier’s eyes flash with cold fury.
Harper felt a flicker of fear. She started the car and focused on driving.
It didn’t matter anyway—Cecilia had already been picked up, so let him waste his ti if he wanted to.
After twenty minutes with no sign of stopping, Alpha Xavier’s frown deepened.
Just then, Harper’s phone pinged with a ssage.
As soon as she unlocked it with facial recognition, a pair of long, elegant fingers snatched the phone from her hand.
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