Chapter 62
“You could at least pretend to be comfortable. Your dislike for being in my car is too plain obvious, niñita.” Sebastian mused, tilting his head slightly to the side to look at the woman curled up at the far side.
She was sitting so close to the window, practically glueing her body to the car door, as if she would rather be outside than in here with him. He was even surprised she hadn’t jumped out already while the car was still moving.
When they had stepped out of the healing house earlier, she hadn’t wanted to even sit inside his car at all for a ride. Instead, she had begun to walk down the road, intending to walk all the way back to the High Tower where she stayed.
Sebastian had offered her a ride, and she had bluntly and forced-politely said no, thank you, claiming she needed the exercise from walking and insisting that he should leave her be and return to his work instead.
It had taken him using his Alpha strictness and authority, issuing a clear command, to order her into the car. “Get in p>
She had glared at him, gritting her teeth before childishly storming into the passenger seat and slamming the door behind her with a force that made him internally grimace. He hated people, anyone, slamming doors in his face or presence.
Normally, he would have been so annoyed and irritated that he would have thrown the person out of the car without hesitation. But for some odd reason, or perhaps because of the damn fact that she was his mate, a woman he was destined by fate to protect and provide for, he hadn’t.
Instead, he found himself silently amused, again.
She always did the unexpected and went against his wishes. Unlike most people who catered to his every word and order, she argued against them, resisted him, and acted like someone who had been thrust into his life solely to defy him.
Most men, especially wolf shifter men who had already rejected a mate for being wolfless, would find it exhausting to spend time with a woman like her. But Sebastian actually enjoyed it to a little extent.
Too many people had readily agreed with him for far too long, to the point that he had come to find people predictable and boring, especially the she-wolves. Having a woman who refused to bend, who thought for herself and challenged him openly, he realized, was something he had never truly experienced, until now.
For some reason, he found himself looking forward to tomorrow. He hoped she wouldn’t disappoint him, though there was a very real chance she could die.
The trial was nothing like the virtual system he had witnessed her play through before; the real thing was twice as brutal and unforgiving. Still, now that he had put his new plan into motion, having her stand as his future Luna, even though she wasn’t what prophecy dictated he should choose, he wanted her there for his future plans to work.
She was already willing to die for the position, which meant she was willing to look past every single danger sign presented to her. He only hoped she could convince the elders and the people of Silver tomorrow.
When she didn’t respond to his words and instead kept inching farther away from him, Sebastian mentally shook his head.
She had turned sideways, staring out the window at the blue holographic screens and floating billboards lining the roads and side streets, with cars moving through the screens. They displayed tomorrow’s competition, sliding images of the three participants, and the location where it would take place, and the little twig’s eyes were glued to the screens, even adjusting her glasses to see better.
Sebastian’s eyes also went to the screens, and immediately his gaze fell on one particular display showing her image. His eyes narrowed darkly. Who the hell had done such a thing?
Viola was no longer even aware of the Alpha sitting beside her in the moving car. Her attention was fully captured by the screens appearing in midair along Silver’s streets, screens that showcased everything about tomorrow’s event, including the memes made of her that flashed repeatedly across them.
She was still getting used to Silver’s advanced technology and their impossibly beautiful world. Though she desperately wanted to admire the streets just to numb herself against the Alpha’s delicious scent wrapped around her senses, she couldn’t. Not with what she was seeing displayed so openly about her.
There were edited images of her hanging herself with a rope in the middle of a fight. Others showed her transformed into a helpless cat while Laila’s wolf loomed over her, tears streaming down the kitten that had her head and glasses, with written words coming from the kitten’s mouth: I forfeit to your mighty Supreme Luna.
A WOLFLESS CAN NEVER WIN TO RULE US was written boldly across many of the screens.
Nobody still took her seriously. Not that she actually knew what she was getting herself into without a wolf. It would be a lie if Viola said she wasn’t terrified of tomorrow, especially knowing she had wasted two full days sleeping instead of training. She didn’t have a wolf like the others, and her chances were so slim that she didn’t even want to think about them.
A cold shiver ran down her spine at the thought that she could actually die in this trial and never have any chances. She quickly pushed the thought aside and hugged herself tighter, looking away from the screens when she suddenly felt a vibration inside the pocket of the coat.
She frowned.
Sliding her hand into the pocket, she fished out a phone. Without looking at it properly, she began to hand it to the Alpha, assuming it was his phone that he had left inside his coat. But then she noticed the pink case, Zoe’s gift to her, with the little bunny ears attached, and her eyes dropped to the screen.
It was her phone!
How did it get into his coat? she wondered, glancing sideways at him. He wasn’t looking at her. Instead, he was focused on the green, transparent holographic screen projected from his wristwatch, sliding through data with a cold expression on his face, as if he didn’t like whatever he was reading.
How did he have her phone when she clearly remembered leaving it in her bedroom?
When the phone began to ring again, Viola looked away from him and answered immediately upon seeing Zoe’s name. She had completely forgotten about Zoe, and guilt washed over her. Zoe would have been worried sick. No doubt she didn’t even know Viola had been unconscious in the healing house, or she would have been there already.
The moment Viola picked up the call, she didn’t even have time to say hello before Zoe’s angry voice burst through the line.
“Hermano, I swear to the Moon Goddess, if you don’t bring back Viola p>
“It’s me, Zoe,” Viola said quickly, realizing at once that the Alpha must have answered one of Zoe’s earlier calls, making her think it was him on the line.
“Vee?” Zoe, who was curled up on her bed crying her eyes out as she stared at the designs she had made for her friend for the competition, but designs Viola would never get to wear now that her brother had ruined everything, shot out of her bed and exclaimed at the sound of the voice. “Is it really you, Vee p>
Viola couldn’t help but smile at Zoe’s shocked words. “Of course it’s me. Who else were you expecting?” she said gently, but her smile faded when she heard Zoe suddenly sob on the other end of the phone. “Zoe… are you okay p>
“Oh my Moon, I thought you were dead! I couldn’t sleep for two days, Vee,” Zoe cried out. She crouched down in the middle of her room, crying so hard that her voice became broken and unclear through the phone.
Viola immediately became worried. She sat up straighter in the seat, completely forgetting for a moment that she wasn’t inside her own car, or one she had any right to command. Still, fear for Zoe overrode everything as she leaned forward and spoke to Matt, who was driving them.
“Could you speed the car up, please p>
Her voice came out urgent, firm, and slightly commanding, fueled by concern. Matt’s brows lifted in surprise before narrowing sharply.
Since when had he become a driver for a wolfless woman to command? He wasn’t even Sebastian’s personal driver, he was only driving now because he needed a ride back to the High Tower after being stuck in that healing house, keeping rumors at bay for the woman and enduring sleepless nights that had left him a little irritable.
Did she really think he took orders from anyone but the Alpha? Matt thought irritably, already intending to ignore her request. She might have earned his respect for winning an A-Plus, but he still firmly believed she didn’t belong here, and he certainly wasn’t going to take orders from her. His pride as Beta, and his wolf’s pride, would take a hit if he did.
But the moment he lifted his eyes to the rearview mirror, he was met with Sebastian’s cold gaze and arched brow. Then the Alpha’s voice cut through their link.
’Do I need to repeat her words? You heard her. Speed the car, Matt,’ Sebastian ordered calmly. ’Zoe is in distress p>