<h4>Chapter 26: Chapter 26 Where Are You Headed</h4>


    Cecilia’s pov


    I frantically reviewed our conversation in my mind.


    He said he was going home to crash. I said I was too. So...


    So what exactly?!


    How was I supposed to respond to that?!


    Just moments ago, I’d been the fierce she-wolf who had torn through the banquet hall with unwavering confidence. Now I stood with wide, bewildered eyes, looking as confused as a deer in headlights.


    Sebastian turned his gaze away abruptly.


    Seeing he wasn’t going to keep pushing the awkward conversation, I lowered my head in relief.


    The topic died as the elevator reached my floor. I politely said goodbye, "Goodnight, Alpha Sebastian. Sleep well."


    Sebastian responded with a barely audible "Mmm."


    I stepped out, watching as the elevator doors slowly began to close. Just as I was about to let out the breath I’d been holding, a pale, elegant finger suddenly extended through the narrowing gap, forcing the doors to reopen.


    ...What?


    The tension that had started to ease came flooding back.


    "I tried on the suit," Sebastian stated in that annoyingly calm tone of his.


    Oh, that.


    I managed a smile. "Did it fit?"


    "Not really. Too narrow in the shoulders. Pants too short."


    "..."


    I froze, internally groaning. "Well then... maybe I should just pay you back for it instead?"


    Sebastian didn’t acknowledge my suggestion.


    He simply fixed me with those eyes—deeper and more mysterious than midnight oceans—revealing nothing of his thoughts or feelings.


    The elevator doors gradually closed once more.


    I remained standing at the elevator entrance, my brainpletely scrambled.


    What was that supposed to mean?


    Was the suit okay or not?


    Couldn’t he just give me a straight answer?


    Thismunication style that left me guessing was driving me crazy, which exined why I’d bailed from our conversation so quickly. Talking with him felt like walking through a minefield... my brain was fried.


    Realizing I was bitching about him, I remembered that he was my savior. He had put his reputation on the line to testify on my behalf tonight, and his appearance in the park was likely out of concern for my wellbeing.


    Looking at it that way, I felt rather ungrateful.


    I walked into my apartment.


    I tossed my purse aside and copsed like a rag doll onto the couch, closing my eyes and immediately drifting to sleep.


    Author


    At the police station, nine photographs wereid out in a perfect, clinical row—eight men and one woman.


    The men had the dead-eyed, greasy look of bottom feeders, each one captured looking smug, as if proud of what they’d done—or tried to do.


    Xavier sat at the table, jaw clenched, his entire body rigid. But his eyes—his eyes burned.


    He couldn’t bear to look at the photos, and yet he couldn’t look away.


    The thought of those animals touching his mate made his blood curdle. The thought of her calling him—three times—and getting no answer...


    The officer across the table spoke, voice clipped and cold.


    "Your mate stated that after being drugged and taken to the hotel, she attempted to call you three times. You blew off the first two. The third was answered—by your side piece, Miss Cici."


    He pressed a button. A recording yed.


    Cici’s voice filled the room—sickly sweet, mocking, cruel.


    Xavier flinched.


    Everything he’d tried to deny, everything he’d tried to rationalize, came crashing down in those few seconds of audio.


    The betrayal.


    His negligence.


    The damage he could never undo.


    When the recording ended, silence filled the room like a heavy nket.


    The officer’s eyes were sharp. "Why didn’t you answer your mate’s calls? And why was your phone in Miss Cici’s hands?"


    Xavier took a shaky breath, visibly forcing himself back into control.


    "I was workingte," he said, voice hoarse. "Cici stopped by my office. She said she wanted to y some game on my phone. I was buried in a report—I didn’t think anything of it."


    The officer raised an eyebrow. "You gave personal ess to your mate’s contact... for a game?"


    "You can check the security footage," Xavier muttered. "My office has cameras everywhere."


    "Oh, we definitely will," the officer said tly.


    Elsewhere in the station, behind closed doors, the walls echoed with other voices.


    Cici broke down under questioning—tears ruining her makeup, hands trembling. She med Dora for everything. imed Xavier knew nothing. Said the call was just a joke, a jealous moment meant to upset his ex.


    But the female officers weren’t buying it. They knew what kind of monster was hidden beneath her delicate exterior.


    In another room, Dora sat stone-faced and pale, herposure cracking under the weight of public disgrace. She answered the questions—quietly at first, then with a kind of tired eptance.


    For the first time, she regretted everything.


    She had thought the daughter of the Shadow Pack would be a valuable alliance. That she could be turned into Luna material. But what she’d invited into her family was something darker. Something rabid.


    And now, that creature had backstabbed her too.


    Back in the main hall,wyers from both families had swooped in like vultures—trying to minimize the damage, negotiate bail, preserve reputations.


    But Harper was already there.


    Prepared. Precise. Ruthless.


    She handed over stacks of evidence, videos, witness statements. She stood before the officers not just as a representative—but as a fortress.


    Cici wouldn’t get away with this.


    And Xavier?


    He wouldn’t be released until morning.


    He sat in that interrogation room long after the questioning ended, staring at nothing.


    He had failed his mate.


    And nothing in the world—not bloodline, not status, not rank—could undo that.


    Cecilia


    Two in the morning.


    Harper drove from the police station to my apartment.


    I had slept for a few hours before waking up. I’d changed out of my red dress, removed my makeup, and was now packing my suitcase.


    "I broughtte-night munchies. Come eat something," she said.


    We sat on the balcony, eating barbecue and drinking beer.


    I ran my finger along the rim of my ss, gazing up at the stars. "Someone told me that after getting revenge, I should feel happy. And I suppose I should."


    I tilted my head back and chugged the rest of my beer, then exhaled loudly. "Damn, that hits the spot!"


    This marriage had destroyed me, nearly killed me. After finally reaching its end, all I wanted was to leave on my own terms. But Xavier couldn’t even grant me that small mercy.


    He had pushed and pushed until I snapped, tearing everything apart.


    "Cecilia, after this... will you ever believe in love again?"


    She was asking me, but I could tell she was also questioning herself. Had she lost faith too? Was it inevitable that every woman, no matter how beautiful or aplished or kind, would eventually be betrayed and hurt?


    I hugged my ss to my chest, staring into the peaceful darkness. "I can’t write off every wolf in the world just because one bit me."


    "But I will be cautious. When one tries to approach me, I’ll keep my guard up."


    Harper nodded in understanding.


    Bottom line, I wouldn’t trust so easily again...


    We finished our drinks and, slightly tipsy, curled up under nkets to chat for hours—about happy things, sad things, the past, the present, the future. Weughed, we cried, and eventually, I fell asleep with my arms around Harper.


    Morning came.


    I wore a trench coat and wheeled my suitcase into the living room.


    Harper hugged me. "Go enjoy your trip without a care in the world. Leave everything else to me. When you return, you’ll get your divorce certificate, and you’ll bepletely free of him."


    "Okay."


    I nodded.


    I decided to stick to my original travel ns. Though dumping everything on Harper felt selfish, I desperately needed to escape, to go anywhere in the world that wasn’t here.


    My flight was scheduled for eight AM.


    Harper had intended to drive me to the airport but received a call from the police station—Xavier’s charges had been dropped, and he would be released in thirty minutes!


    I left the apartment with my luggage.


    While waiting for a taxi outside the building, I received a call from an unknown number.


    Staring at my phone, my gut told me not to answer...


    At that moment, a sleek Maybach emerged from theplex and came to a smooth stop directly in front of me.


    The driver’s window lowered to reveal Liam’s friendly face. "Cecilia, where are you headed?"


    I looked up, momentarily surprised, and answered truthfully, "To the airport."


    "Perfect, we’re going to the airport too, we can give you a ride."