Chapter 110 Outside the Gate
Emilia’s POV
Raelene’s face twisted with anger. She lifted her hand again, clearly trying to slap me.
Sebastian caught her wrist again. His grip was much tighter this time. "Touch her, and you’ll regret it."
"You never protected me like this," Raelene spat. "What’s so special about her? Is she more beautiful than me? More capable? More kind?"
"Yes," Sebastian said bluntly. "She’s more beautiful than you, more capable than you, and infinitely more intelligent than you. If you were in her position right now, you’d be throwing a screaming fit and making everything worse. She knows that would only make me hate you more. You, on the other hand, are proving exactly why I sent you away so quickly."
Raelene’s face went red, then pale. She looked between us, her eyes welling up with tears. People were definitely staring now. You could hear whispering all around us.
"We’re done here," Sebastian said. "Leave. Now."
Raelene turned around and rushed toward the door. Her heels were going crazy on the floor. Right before she disappeared, she looked back at me with so much hate in her eyes.
[This isn’t over, you bitch...]
I suppressed a shiver. Something told me I hadn’t seen the last of Raelene Ferguson.
Sebastian turned to me, his expression softening slightly. "Are you alright?"
"Fine," I said. "Though I think we’ve provided enough entertainment for one evening."
His lips twitched. "Agreed. Do you want to go home?"
I really didn’t feel like staying at this party anymore.
I nodded hard. "God, yes."
The drive back to the pack house was quiet. I stared out the window, watching Silverlake City’s lights blur past, processing everything that had just happened.
Sebastian kept glancing at me. Finally, he said, "If you have something to say, just say it."
I turned to look at him. "Which number was she?"
"What?"
"Raelene. Which wife was she? You’ve had six before me, so I’m trying to keep track."
Sebastian’s jaw tightened slightly. "The fourth one."
"So there are five more I haven’t met yet." I leaned my head back against the seat. "Should I expect more scenes like tonight?"
"No."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because Raelene was the worst of them," Sebastian said. "She had the shortest marriage of all—three weeks. Her temper was impossible, she had no sense of boundaries, and she made every day miserable. The others weren’t like that."
"So what happened to them?" I asked carefully. "You said you sent them away. Where are they?"
Sebastian was quiet for a long moment. When he finally spoke, his voice was low.
"They’re alive, if that’s what you’re worried about. Living comfortable lives in other packs with the settlements I gave them. The rumor about me killing my wives... I started that rumor myself."
I blinked. "You what?"
Tiffany had told me about this, but hearing Sebastian say it himself made me feel like I was getting a little closer to him.
"The curse," he said quietly. "Or what I thought was a curse. I believed it made me violent, unpredictable, dangerous. I was terrified I’d hurt someone who didn’t deserve it. So after I married each of them and realized we weren’t compatible, I sent them away. Paid them handsomely to leave quietly. And I spread the rumor that I’d killed them to discourage other packs from trying to marry their daughters off to me."
I stared at him, pieces clicking into place. The rumors. His reputation. The way his parents had insisted on this marriage despite everything.
"You were protecting them," I said slowly.
"I was protecting everyone," Sebastian corrected. "From myself."
"Do Mila and Titus know?"
"No. If they did, they’d just try to stop me."
I thought about all those times I’d seen him lose it—his eyes going dark, that violent side taking over. But then I thought about how he always pulled himself back when it came to me. How even at his worst, he never actually hurt me.
"Your mother was right," I said quietly.
"About what?"
"She told me once that underneath all that cold exterior, you have a soft heart. I didn’t believe her at first." I paused. "But now I do."
Sebastian’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. "Emilia—"
"I’m not finished," I interrupted. "You sent those women away because you thought you were protecting them. You built this whole reputation as a monster to keep people safe from what you thought you’d become. That’s not cold, Sebastian. That’s the opposite of cold."
He was quiet for the rest of the drive.
I watched his cold, sharp profile as he drove.
If he were really as cold and heartless as the rumors said, I wouldn’t have fallen for him. And I wouldn’t be hurting this much right now.
When we pulled up to the pack house, I was already unbuckling my seatbelt when my phone buzzed. I glanced at the screen and felt my blood run cold.
Richie Lind.
"Go on ahead," I said quickly. "I need to take this call."
Sebastian studied me for a moment. But he nodded and headed inside.
I walked to the side of the house, out of earshot, and answered.
"Hello?"
"Emilia, if it’s convenient, I’d like to meet with you. Now."
"Are you back in Silverlake City again?"
"Yes."
My head throbbed. I pinched the bridge of my nose. "It’s not convenient right now. Just tell me over the phone."
"Is it really inconvenient?"
"Yes..."
"I thought so. That’s why I came to see you myself. Come out."
My heart dropped. "Where are you?"
"Outside the gate."
The line went dead.
Damn it. Damn it all to hell.
I shoved my phone into my clutch and hurried toward the main gate.
When I rounded the corner, I caught sight of a figure standing in the shadows near the bushes—tall, imposing, unmistakably Richie.
"Uncle Richie," I said, not bothering to hide my irritation as I approached. "What are you doing here at this hour?"