Chapter 73

“Change of plans,” Sebastian growled as he stormed out of Alpha Steven’s house. “I need you to stay here with these assholes. Call for my warriors to collect them and bring them to the jail.”

“Yes, your majesty,” Arnold said right away. “What are you going to do?”

“I have to see Emily.”

It didn’t take long for Sebastian to get to the hospital. He hasn’t been by to see Emily in a few weeks; not since Hannah went to Bluemoon. Ever since she told Hannah that she was pregnant with his baby, he wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.

He barged into Emily’s room; thankfully she was alone. She was startled to see him, but her expression quickly turned into excitement.

“Sebastian!” She said, cheerfully as he walked into her room. “I wasn’t expecting you…”

“I’m not here for a social visit,” he said to her, his voice hardening.

She frowned and stared around his serious face.

“What’s going on?” She asked.

“Why did you do it, Emily?” He asked.

She was supposed to be a longer-term friend; someone he once trusted. She was there for him during a lot of his childhood, and he thought he owed her so much. But now, looking at her, he was coming to realize that she took advantage of him. She was never in any actual trouble; this was all part of some big plan that she’s been scheming, and he felt stupid to have fallen for something like that.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” she said, innocently.

But he could see the deviousness in her eyes as he stared at her.

“You know exactly what you did,” he said in a low tone, trying to keep himself and his wolf under control. “Where do I begin… you told Hannah you were pregnant with my baby. You know damn well I haven’t touched you.”

She was silent as her face reddened.

“I can explain that…” she said, he could see the wheels turning in her mind as she tried to come up with an excuse for her actions.

“Don’t bother,” he hissed. “I don’t want to hear your excuses. But I would like to know why you made Naomi and Amy steal my scepter.”

Her breathing got caught in her throat as she stared up at him; her eyes growing wide and alert as she realized she had been caught in the action. There was no talking her way out of this.

“I didn’t make them do anything…” she tried to say.

“Stop lying to me!!” He roared.

She flinched at the sound of her tone, and she fell silent. She was growing frightened of him. She was looking at him the same way that she looked at him the day she left when they were young. When she told him she was going to study abroad.

Now he was wondering if that was a lie too.

“I already know the truth. So, you might as well tell me everything,” he said to her, keeping his tone low.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she pulled her gaze away from him and stared down at her hands. He could tell she was embarrassed and wasn’t sure where to begin. So, he waited quietly.

“I love you…” she finally whispered after a long pause. “It’s not fair that you chose her as your mate instead of me…

“You left!” He growled. “You have no right to be upset about anything. You were the one who walked out on me!”

“Do you blame me?!” She spoke loudly. “You disappear for months and return all disfigured and mean. You were ugly on the inside and the outside. I left because I was afraid. I feared you more than I loved you.” She paused to take a breath. “But I’m back now. I want to prove that I can be what you need and want. I can be better than her…”

“No,” he said firmly. “You will never be anything like her.”

He turned to walk out of the room; he had nothing more to say to her. He was disgusted that he was even in her presence at that point. He needed to find Hannah and get her out of that cell before Jack finds out she’s alone and hurts her.

“Sebastian!” Emily cried, tears flooding down her narrow features. “Please don’t walk away from me. Not like this.”

“I have nothing to say, Emily,” he hissed. “You crossed the line. There’s no coming back from that.”

He slammed the door as he left; but he could hear the faint sounds of her sobbing as he stood in the hallway, trying to clear his mind. He shook the thought out of his head as he got outside. Just as he stepped out of the hospital, his phone began ringing.

He groaned as he looked at the Caller ID and saw that it was Magnolia.

“What?” He growled as he answered the phone.

“We can’t delay the trial any longer. We are going to have it now, whether you are here or not,” she told him, keeping her voice emotionless.

“I found the scepter,” he said. “Hannah didn’t steal it. I have warriors coming to take the ones responsible.”

She was quiet on the other end for a while; Sebastian was about to hang up when she started speaking again.

“You found the moonstone scepter?” She breathed. He didn’t respond; he wasn’t willing to speak to her about the scepter. “Bring it to me,” she ordered.

He wanted to almost laugh out loud. He would never present to her the scepter. In fact, he was going to hide it somewhere she would never get her hands on it. The scepter was the most powerful object on the planet. If it got into the wrong hands, there’s no telling what kind of damages could be done.

He would never give the scepter to Magnolia.

“You’re never going to get that scepter, Magnolia,” he told her.

“Someone as unstable as you shouldn’t hold an object as powerful as the moonstone scepter,” she growled. “As your stepmother, I demand…”

“You have no power over me,” Sebastian hissed in return. “I allow you to stay at the palace because it’s what my father would have wanted. But you have no power over me. I will not give you the scepter.”

She scoffed.

“You will give it to me if you care for the rest of your servants,” she said, her tone was icy, and it gave Sebastian an unsteady feeling. He didn’t know what she meant.

“What are you planning on doing?” He asked.

“I’ll kill every last one of them until you hand over the scepter,” she said with a slight chuckle. “Starting with your Luna’s handmaiden. I know they’ve grown close. It’d be a shame if something happened to her.”

“Magnolia!” Sebastian roared. “Don’t you dare…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the line went dead.

Sebastian didn’t waste any more time; he shifted into his wolf form and ran from the hospital to the palace. He feared the worst; he just hoped that he would get to the palace in time. As he ran toward the palace, Arnold mindlinked him to tell him that the guards have collected Naomi and Amy. But there was no proof that Steven was involved so they left him alone. Sebastian told Arnold to get to the palace as soon as he can.

Sebastian broke through the doors of the palace just as Arnold and Raya arrived as well. They were panting from the run and confused as to why they needed to rush back. Magnolia was nowhere in sight, but he could smell her presence somewhere in the palace.

Then, he smelled something else.

Blood.

The smell of blood only grew much stronger as he busted through the doors of the living quarters.

He stared at the body that lay on the floor. Blood draining from her flesh and oozing into the carpet.

He was too late.

Caroline was dead.