<h4>Chapter 140: Chapter 140 Mason’s Mother</h4>


    Cecilia’s pov


    I wasn’t prepared for Tang’s sharp turn around the mountain bend.


    My body lurched sideways, hands iling for something, or anything, to steady myself.


    Alpha Sebastian caught my waist with practiced ease, his fingers curling inward with deliberate pressure that didn’t just stop my fall - it guided me face-first into his chest.


    My hand, which had been reaching for the seat back,nded squarely on his thigh.


    And not just anywhere on his thigh - somewhere decidedly north of his knee.


    My chest pressed firmly against his torso, my other hand clutching desperately at his shirt near his waist.


    My breathing stuttered to a halt. The softness of my chest pressed against his felt like it was suddenly connected to a live wire.


    Internally, I was screaming like I’d been thrown into a furnace.


    Externally, I was petrified like I’d looked Medusa in the eyes.


    When I fully registered exactly where my hand was resting, my face turned even more stone-like as I began to withdraw my fingers with the speed of a cier.


    Alpha Sebastian looked down at me, his eyes narrowed in that predatory way Alphas have.


    Though he said nothing, his gaze conducted a full interrogation.


    I wanted to tuck and roll out of the moving car.


    Trying to be casual, I attempted to lift my chest away from his, but the hand at my waist tightened with Alpha strength, pulling me back against him.


    His warm breath cascaded over my neck as he murmured, "I thought you said you don’t get carsick? Yet here you are, practically copsing into me. Perhaps you need to lie down for a bit?"


    "I’m fine," I said quickly, prying his hand from my waist with more force than necessary.


    I sat up poker-straight, hands ced primly on myp like a schoolgirl caught misbehaving.


    My burning cheeks, however, were giving a Tony-worthy performance of "Woman Who Just identally Felt Up An Alpha."


    The others in the car were suddenly fascinated by the Coloradondscape outside their windows.


    Meanwhile, I stared at my best friend, then the others. I guess it’s time I put you all in your ce.


    ----


    Forty-five excruciating minutester, we pulled up to a rustic lodge nestled at the base of the mountains.


    The man who emerged to greet us was the same one Alpha Sebastian had visited yesterday.


    Now I learned he was Mason’s uncle, Zaire.


    "Please,e in," he said, his expression considerably more grim than during yesterday’s meeting.


    Alpha Sebastian instructed Beta Sawyer and Tang to keep watch outside - standard Alpha paranoia.


    Harper told Levan to stay put too, probably to avoid crowding the space.


    Alpha Sebastian and Zaire took the lead, with Harper and me following behind as we entered the house and climbed to the third floor.


    The wooden staircase creaked under our weight, the sound echoing in the otherwise silent building.


    Zaire opened a door midway down the hallway.


    Inside, to my surprise, sat another person - a woman who appeared to be in herte fifties with stark white hair and a hauntingly gaunt face.


    She wore a simple white cotton shirt. Her features were delicate; she must have been beautiful once, but extreme weight loss and vacant eyes had hollowed out what had once been lovely features.


    "Are you...?" Harper gasped, clearly shocked.


    She hesitated to make assumptions, probably because ording to her research, this woman shouldn’t be among the living.


    The photos Harper had shown me revealed someone who looked at least twenty years younger than the woman before us.


    "This is my sister, Willow." Zaire said quietly. "Mason’s mother."


    Willow nodded and attempted a smile, making an effort to appear energetic. "Hello."


    I felt like I’d been punched in the gut.


    Mason’s mother? Wasn’t she supposed to have died in that gas explosion?


    "Hello, Willow ," we greeted her, trying to keep our voices steady.


    Zaire gestured for us to sit on the worn but clean furniture and poured tea for everyone from an old ceramic pot.


    Willow looked at Alpha Sebastian with genuine pleasure, her eyes showing a spark of life. "Young Mr. ck, you look handsome as always."


    "Sister, he’s Alpha Sebastian ck of the Silver Peak Pack. You shouldn’t address him so informally," Zaire whispered, embarrassment coloring his tone.


    "It’s perfectly fine," Alpha Sebastian replied with that effortless grace.


    His smile transformed his usually intimidating Alpha presence into something warm and approachable.


    Hearing this, Zaire dropped the matter, looking impressed by Alpha Sebastian’s humility.


    I couldn’t help but notice how familiar Willow seemed with Alpha Sebastian, which suggested they’d met multiple times before.


    But she lived in Boulder, and Alpha Sebastian hadn’t been here before...had he?


    Suddenly, I remembered that business reception Mr. Chu had invited Alpha Sebastian to attend on short notice.


    Was it possible that when I’d assumed he was meeting some mysterious business contact, he was actually visiting Mason’s mother?


    "Willow," Harper began, herwyer voice activated, "I know your background. You taught elementary school, but after Mason disappeared, you quit your job to search for him. Then, ording to neighbors, there was a gas explosion at your home one night, and you vanished too. Everyone believed you were..."


    She paused delicately. "Could you tell us what really happened?"


    Harper got straight to the point - after all, uncovering this mystery was why we’d made this trip.


    Willow’s eyes, which had briefly shown some vitality, clouded over again like storm moving across a mountainke.


    Zaire sat beside her and took her hand in his. "Sister, please tell them. They have invested considerable effort investigating Mason’s case. Like Alpha Sebastian , they’re here to help us."


    "Yes, I know," Willow nodded repeatedly, her thin hand clutching her brother’s.


    She didn’t cry - perhaps she had exhausted her tears long ago.


    After a moment, she released his hand and began to tell us the whole story, her voice surprisingly steady. "Five years ago, my son disappeared. I filed a missing persons report immediately. Through phone records, the police discovered hisst call was to Nicole, his childhood friend. I watched that girl grow up alongside my son. The police and I found her at the hospital - her face had been shed, and she was in acute psychological distress. No matter how we questioned her, she just cried and repeated that she didn’t know anything."


    "Later, school security footage revealed that Cici White had taken Nicole away that day."


    Her voice hardened slightly as she continued, "That girl transferred to our school and immediately began harassing Mason. She followed him home repeatedly. At first, Mason didn’t take it too seriously - he thought rejecting her advances would be enough. But Cici was relentless. She escted to having people block him after school, preventing him from leaving. He became incredibly frustrated."


    "When she couldn’t get what she wanted from him, she targeted Nicole instead. That girl was gentle and shy. After being bullied several times, she became too frightened to attend school."


    "Neither Nicole’s father nor I knew about any of this at the time. The children were trying to protect us by keeping silent. Not until it happened..." Her voice trailed off.


    Willow paused and pressed her fingers against her forehead, as if trying to physically hold back the memories.


    I handed her a fresh cup of water. "Please, take your time."


    "Thank you," she whispered.


    She epted the water and studied my face - something in my appearance seemed to trigger a powerful emotional response.


    Tears welled in her eyes, slow and reluctant. "Nicole was beautiful. So kind. I knew - just knew - my sweet, foolish son had fallen for her."


    I listened with growing sadness, the weight of the story pressing down on me.


    They were the golden kids. Childhood sweethearts. Smart, kind, full of future.


    If Cici White hadn’t walked in like a grenade, they’d probably be in college right now - sleep-deprived, over-caffeinated, and finally brave enough to tell each other how they felt.


    But instead, one was dead. The other shattered.


    Their future had been wiped out in a single, horrifying day.


    And suddenly, I couldn’t stop thinking about how breakable we all are.


    How close I’de to being a name on someone else’s tragedy.


    If I hadn’t met Alpha Sebastian - if he hadn’t stepped in the way he did - would I even be sitting here? Or would I be another photo on a missing person flyer, another cautionary tale buried under local gossip?


    I turned to look at him.