<h4>Chapter 215: Chapter 215 Conflicting Priorities</h4>
Author’s pov
Mrs. Dahlia was still stammering excuses when Sebastian’s phone rang.
The moment he answered, his expression turned to stone.
Luna Regina’s terrified voice came through--sshes, gasps, then a scream abruptly cut off.
Mrs. Dahlia fell silent. Color drained from her face as Sebastian’s gaze snapped toward her, sharp and deadly.
"Shut up," he said, voice like arctic steel. "Answer me now--are there any pools, ponds, or water features on this property?"
The intensity in his eyes was so severe, Mrs. Dahlia physically flinched.
"Y-yes," she stammered. "There’s an indoor pool on the first floor and a pond in the east garden. Nothing else."
Sebastian didn’t waste a breath.
He dispatched two men toward the indoor pool and turned on his heel, sprinting toward the garden.
As he ran, one of his men caught up beside him. "Alpha--the signal jammers have been destroyed."
Sebastian immediately tapped Tang’s number.
Tang had just picked up a call from Harper when he saw Sebastian’s name sh on his screen. He didn’t hesitate.
"I need to take this--it’s my Alpha," he told Harper, already switching lines before she could respond.
"Ladies are safe," Tang reported quickly. "They’re in a secure location. I’m heading there now to--"
"East garden. pond. Now."
Sebastian’s voice was a gunshot."Luna Regina’s gone in."
"On it," Tang replied, already pivoting sharply, his boots skidding on damp grass as heunched into a full sprint across thewn.
The radio at his hip crackled as he disappeared toward the eastern hedges.
--
Back behind the clematis wall, Harper stared at her phone, blinking.
The call had dropped. No--he’d hung up on her.
She looked up at Cecilia and Yvonne, both crouched awkwardly beside her in the shadows.
They were still clutching their shoes, dresses bunched at the knees, huddled like fugitives behind a wall of flowering vines.
"He hung up on me," she said tly. "Actually hung up. Mid-sentence. Like I was a telemarketer."
Cecilia blinked. Her expression was unreadable, but her eyebrows had inched upward--just a little.
Yvonne grimaced. She muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, "Men."
Neither volunteeredfort.
Harper emitted a sound that was partugh, part sigh. "I swear, the next time I see that man, I’m throwing my shoe at him."
--
By the time Sebastian reached the pond, Tang was already hauling Luna Regina from the water, both of them soaked and tangled in mud and pond weeds.
Though she knew how to swim, her evening gown had turned into deadweight, dragging her under like an anchor.
She’d managed to reach the edge--but copsed unconscious the moment she pulled herself free.
Sebastian’s pulse thundered in his ears as he saw her deathly pale face.
He dropped to his knees, took her from Tang’s arms, and lifted her into his own.
"Get her to the hospital. Now," he snapped at the driver, already striding toward the SUV.
During the ride, Sebastian made a flurry of calls--first to his father, then to his siblings.
On speaker, Alpha Yardley’s voice came through, tight with emotion.
"I’ll meet you there. Sebastian--take care of your mother. Don’t leave her side."
His brother and sister weren’t in Denver.Everyone wanted to be there. No one could.
When the calls ended, Sebastian turned to Tang, who was at the wheel, face still streaked with pond water.
"Once we reach the ER, don’te in. Go straight back to the mansion. Find Cecilia. Get her and her friends home. Personally."
Tang nodded, his voice dead serious. "Don’t worry, Alpha. I’ll get them out without a scratch."
Sebastian nced down at his mother in his arms.
Her face was tight with fear even in unconsciousness, her breathing shallow and uneven.
He felt torn in half. Every instinct screamed at him to go to Cecilia--to see her with his own eyes, hold her in his arms, make sure she was real and unharmed.
But he couldn’t leave his mother. Not now.
He looked back to Tang.
"Make damn sure they get home safe," he said, low and intense.
Tang met his gaze in the mirror.
"You have my word, Alpha. Zero room for error. I’ll bring them home like they’re made of ss."
--
Meanwhile, Cecilia and the others were still crouched behind the clematis wall, growing increasingly ufortable--and increasingly concerned.
They’d assumed Tang would arrive quickly after that abrupt hang-up. It made sense. Surely Sebastian had received Cecilia’s message and ordered an immediate extraction.
But thirty minutes had passed. And they were still hiding like fugitives in ballgowns.
No Tang.
No message from Sebastian.
No reply to her text.
Atst, Cecilia gave in and called him directly.
The call connected.
But instead of Sebastian’s voice, an automated message yed:
"The person you are trying to reach is not avable. Please leave a message after the tone."
She hung up immediately.
Harper and Yvonne exchanged a look--one of those wordless nces shared between women who knew exactly what wasn’t being said.
The silence that followed stretched thin and tight, like a rubber band about to snap.
Cecilia’s legs had gonepletely numb from crouching.
The night air was growing colder by the minute.
They were barefoot, and their once-elegant dresses were now smeared with dirt and snagged at the hems--like Cindere after midnight, minus the pumpkin carriage.
Finally, Yvonne exhaled sharply. "This is ridiculous," she muttered.
"We don’t have to sit here waiting for Tang like we’re stranded prom queens. I have other contacts in Denver--I’ll call someone."
Cecilia nodded, relieved. "Yes. Do it."
Because Yvonne was right.
Why were they tucked into shrubbery like forgotten props in someone else’s drama?
They weren’t helpless. They weren’t supporting characters.
And clearly--whatever Sebastian was dealing with had taken priority.
That realization settled over Cecilia like a cold weight.
It stung more than she wanted to admit.