Chapter 116 OH DEAR
SEBASTIAN'S POV
Before I can even fully process what’s happening, Alpha Dax finally reaches me.
Strong arms wrap around me before I can protest, pulling me firmly against his chest with his body as a solid wall between me and the crowd.
A shield.
My hero…
My breath catches as I'm shocked by the unexpected physical proximity.
“Back off,” Dax says, his voice low but carrying and dangerous in a way that makes even the closest wolves to us instinctively take a step back. “All of you.”
The square erupts again, but this time it’s different from before. There's confusion, shock and mostly disbelief.
“What–?”
“Him?”
“Since when–?”
Peter’s voice cuts through it all sounding sharp and incredulous from the side. “What the hell is this?”
Dax doesn’t even look at him at first.
His grip on me tightens slightly, not in a possessive way, it was actually… calming.
It's like he saw I was spiraling and suffocating from all the questioning so he came to hold me down… to keep me grounded so I don't pass out.
After making sure I wasn't at risk of passing out any longer, he lifts his head and finally meets Peter’s gaze.
“I said he’s mine,” Dax repeats, sounding calm and unyielding towards the incredulous looking Peter.
Peter lets out a harsh laugh, shaking his head at the same time. “That’s impossible.”
His eyes flick down to my shoulder, where the sigil still burns like a brand for everyone to see.
The one little thing that started all of this.
“That mark doesn’t lie,” Peter continues with his voice rising. “He’s mated to you. So how exactly did he not know since?”
The crowd quiets again, hanging on every word as I feel my heart climbing to my throat.
Dax doesn’t hesitate either.
“I’m from a different pack,” he says smoothly. “I only arrived recently.”
Peter frowns, clearly trying to piece all of it together. “So what, you expect us to believe that he just… missed you?”
“Yes. Yes I do.”
The answer is simple and so direct everyone's stumped.
Dax finally glances down at me, and for a split second, his eyes soften to something that resembles a smile of assurance.
Then, very subtly for only me, he tilts his head to a weird angle.
A signal from him.
Play along, I assume is what he wants to tell me.
My breath stutters as I look back and try to wink at him.
My facial expression is probably asking why he's doing this.
He briefly squeezes my shoulders before putting me behind him.
I don’t understand what he’s doing or why he’s doing all this and putting himself in this but I understand enough.
I don't know if it's because of my own selfish desire to not put Ragnar on the spot and force him to choose, so I stay quiet.
Sorry Dax.
Peter scoffs. “How convenient,” he mutters. “Very convenient that you show up now, right when he’s being questioned too.”
“We were keeping it private,” Dax cuts in before I can even think of a response. “Or is that a crime now?”
That shuts a few of them up. It really wasn't any of their business.
Mated pairs are revered in a sense, but they’re also protected.
They are sacred in a way that makes prying into their bond was taboo and forbidden as long as they weren't getting intruded on.
Hence why it was a sin a while ago that I was mated and still ‘cheating’ with Alpha Ragnar.
Dax takes advantage of their hesitation.
“I know about the Alpha too,” he adds, his tone shifting to more firmer now. “And I know about Sebastian.”
A wave of tension rolls through the square.
“I also know that whatever is between them,” he continues, “is none of your business.”
Peter’s jaw tightens. “It becomes our business when there’s betrayal involved in–”
“There is no betrayal,” Dax snaps, his voice cold like steel.
Silence falls again as they start nodding and acknowledging it all.
Dax exhales slowly, then looks around at all of them, one by one, his gaze sharp enough to cut if they even dare to lie.
“I would appreciate it,” he says a bit quieter now, but no less commanding, “if you all remembered your place and left Sebastian and I alone.”
No one speaks or moves as he says all of this.
Hell after this, this whole scandal would be talked about for years to come.
The good news is that all of the tension, wariness and just all magically gone.
Well not gone–but… redirected.
Now it's more confusion than anger.
Dax doesn’t wait or give them any time for them to recover.
His arm stays around me as he turns, guiding, no, basically dragging me away from the center of the square.
“Come on,” he mutters under his breath.
My legs move automatically, even though my mind is still spinning on the inside.
We pass through the crowd, and this time… they part for us to go through.
The whispers sound softer now even though they've somehow forgotten we all have super hearing.
“…from another pack…”
“…makes sense…”
“…maybe…”
But I barely hear any of it because my focus is entirely on the man right beside me.
Dax.
Why is he doing this?
Why would he–
I steal a glance at him but his expression is unreadable and calm the entire time.
Like this was all planned and he knew this might happen.
My stomach twists to discomfort so I ignore it and want to get away from this place.
We’re almost out of the square when it suddenly hits me, a cold and niggling sensation tickles me from the base of my spine to my head.
The bond flares sharply, really intense and sudden like a rubber band snap in my mind.
And like a possessed person, I turn just slightly. I shouldn't have done so in hindsight.
And then I see him.
The person I wanted to be there for me all along instead of Dax.
Ragnar.
He's standing at the edge of the square completely still with Lila smiling and waving at me from his side.
His jaw is clenched so tightly it looks like it might crack as he looks coldly at me.