Chapter 15
Miranda's POV
Goosebumps litter the entirety of my skin. When my eyes meet Sebastian’s my body shocks to life. A gasp leaves my lips as he catches me and he slows my momentum from the shove.
His touch feels electric on my hips. My fingers dig into his biceps. My system shocks me to life as I gasp. Everything happened so quickly that I can barely process the last twenty seconds.
His face remains as cold and empty as ever, despite his usual hardened features gently softening, and he lets go of my waist. He steps in front of me, shielding me from the Gammas, and I poke my head out from behind him.
“Leave her alone,” his Alpha voice is commanding. It sends chills down my spine. The Gammas look at one another in disbelief. “She’s injured. Why are you kicking her when she is already down?!”
The Gammas bow their heads at Sebastian. Many of them hold anger in their eyes, glaring at me as I step out from behind Sebastian. They hold their defensive poses from before and narrow their eyes at me.
Many of their faces relax as their heads bob back up. The anger has vanished and it has been replaced with disappointment. Disappointment with themselves, I hope.
One Gamma steps forward, cautiously approaching me. He bows his head at Sebastian and turns his attention to me.
“Allow me to show you to the base’s infirmary. Let us help take care of your injuries.” I nod in response to him. I glance at Sebastian, who turns his head away. I follow the Gamma to the infirmary, where many other wolves lie and suffer in agony.
This is all Lily’s doing. Her reckless tampering with the formula has caused so much pain and turmoil. Because of her, she has worsened many wounds, leading to serious, and even life-threatening, infections. Many wolves are going to need amputations and many others will have a long recovery from other debilitating symptoms.
Lily is at fault for so many ruined lives. She should face the consequences of her actions, but we all know that will never happen since she is Sebastian’s betrothed.
My heart shatters when I pass a boy who barely looks over the age of ten. His face and body are covered in bright red rashes. He fiercely itches at them, his nails digging into his skin as the doctor tries to get him to stop. I can only imagine the misery he must feel from the medicine’s side effects.
I pull away from the Gamma and move to the boy’s side. I try my best to mask the frown on my face. He looks at me and his expression is begging me to help ease the pain.
I sigh and thrust my hand into the bag on my side. I pull out a few pills. I hand them to the boy, who swallows them with a gulp of water, and the red marks on his skin begin to fade. He sighs with relief and closes his eyes.
I turn around to see a handful of Gammas staring at me with stunned expressions. My gaze catches the tallest Gamma, whose eyes flicker with a hint of trust.
Sebastian breaks through the group and stares at the young boy. His expression falters ever so slightly and he shows a hint of surprise on his face. I divert my gaze and look back to the tall Gamma.
“It seems that you weren’t all talk…” he clears his throat, admitting, “You might actually know what you’re doing.” I nod at him and flash a smile but turn my face away to look at the young boy.
Under my father and Lily’s control, Moonlit Labs has greatly suffered. Instead of caring about patients and werewolves who were in dire need of proper medicine, they shifted gears and focused on profits instead.
They prioritized monopolization of the pharmaceutical sector. They shunned ethical production methods and refused to innovate their medicine. They hiked up prices and gouged their customers for subpar products and in the process, they’ve tarnished my mother’s name.
After basking in their wealth and false glory, they finally realized that there was a problem with the problem. It’s too late, though, and the damage they have caused has become irreversible.
My eyes darken and I turn to the tall Gamma. I tilt my head up and snarl.
“I’m here to clean up Lily’s mess,” my words are like ice as they leave my lips. I turn my attention to Sebastian, whose face goes back to its original scowl. “You. You’re complicit in all of this, Sebastian.”
I turn on my heel and storm out of the infirmary and out of the camp.
I stare at my phone as I confirm a cab to come pick me up. A gust of wind chills my body and I hug my arms to my chest, trying to keep warm. I close my eyes and slightly bounce on my toes to keep my body busy.
It feels as if hours pass. No cab shows up. I open my eyes and the sky has slightly darkened. I groan and pull my phone out to try and call another cab to come.
A car creeps up beside me and the window rolls down. I don’t even need to look over to know that Sebastian sits behind the car door. I roll my eyes and tilt my body away from him on the sidewalk.
“It’s not too late to back out of the bet. Even if you cannot fix the formula, I’m still willing to collaborate with you on developing new treatments.” Sebastian’s voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me now. I scoff at him, finally looking in his direction with an icy stare.
“I’m not going to lose the bet and I especially don’t need your pity.” My words are like venom, yet his face remains unaffected. I turn away from Sebastian. Even his mere presence is enough to consume my body with frustration. Loathing, even.
I watch as his black car drives away. It accelerates down the gravel road, kicking up dirt and dust, and disappears out of sight. I release a ragged sigh and kick the dirt beside me.
He’s so frustrating! Why does he care more about a stupid bet with me than the well-being of his own soldiers? Sure, he offered an alternative means to help find new treatments, but it was disguised as a get-out-of-jail-free card. He doesn’t think I can fix the problem that his fianceé made.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to forgo any bet that is made and focus his attention on finding a quick solution? Why does he have to be just as difficult as Lily?
A familiar black car pulls up next to me again. My head and ears feel hot and I clench my fists at my side. I turn to the window, which rolls down, and open my mouth to yell, but am quickly shut up by the Beta that sits in the seat. He smiles at me.
“Hello. I’m here to give you a ride, ma’am,” he says. His voice jolts me out of my anger. I blink at him for a few seconds. I nod and clutch my bag to my body.
I open the door to the backseat and slide inside. As soon as the seatbelt is clicked into place, the car moves down the road. I look at the Beta and make eye contact with him through the rearview mirror.
“Thank you,” I call out to him. He nods and warmly smiles back at me.
"It's not me you have to thank."
I blink at the driver.
“It was the Alpha King who told me to drive you home.”
Oh. Why…why would Sebastian do that?
Why is he being so…kind to me? What ulterior motives does he have?
