When Sebastian arrived at the common building of the omegas, his presence alone caused a visible stir. The Alpha never came here unless a crime had been committed in the building, his Beta was the face they were accustomed to seeing, and some of the omegas had never even laid eyes on the Alpha in person, for their work had never brought them close to the main building.

Seeing him walk in dressed in dark blue, loosely fitted trousers and a matching coat, his silver hair disheveled and falling carelessly across his forehead, sent a ripple through the gathered female omegas.

He was gorgeous, more breathtakingly handsome in person than he ever appeared on screen, and the sharp set of his jaw only added to a presence that made them stare helplessly until he walked close enough that they were forced to bow their heads. He passed them in a warm drift of expensive cologne that lingered long after he had moved on.

"Goddess, I would give my life to be his mate. I have never seen a mortal with such good looks. Our Alpha is something else, only he got himself an undeserving Luna." The omegas whispered among themselves as he disappeared around the corner.

"I don’t know what he saw in her, but then again, if a wolfless girl has a chance with someone like him, I believe wolves like us have a chance too. And I know for a fact that I am more beautiful than she is." Murmured another one, and the girl beside her rolled her eyes.

"Stop dreaming, Natasha, and get back to work." Nudged the other, but they weren’t the only omegas entertaining such thoughts. Almost every female omega in the building had been quietly nurturing the same hope ever since word spread that the Alpha had banished his own blood relatives for the sake of their unwanted, wolfless Luna. If he could do that for her, perhaps there was still a chance for someone more worthy.

Sebastian stepped into one of the common rooms Matt directed him to through the mind link. The room was spacious and just as well-equipped as the high buildings in Silver, except that it housed large bunk beds, a wide-screen television, and one full wall of glass looking outward.

His guests were seated on the bunk beds, the children pressed close together, their eyes moving around the unfamiliar space with quiet wariness. Everything they had ever known had been a run-down pack with muddy roads and crumbling buildings, and this was a world away from all of that.

Miss Lara was standing nearby, and beside her was Julia, who had stars in her eyes from the moment she stepped through the door, her mind already quietly rearranging her future and her ambitions.

When the Alpha walked in, however, she quickly smoothed her hair and composed herself, bowing alongside Miss Lara in greeting.

"Supreme Alpha," they said together, and Sebastian acknowledged it with a single nod before his eyes moved to Matt, who was standing to the side with his back against the solid glass wall, one foot propped casually flat against it, arms folded across his chest.

’She hasn’t said a word since she agreed to the bargain. Good luck getting anything out of her.’ Matt said through their link, and Sebastian’s gaze returned to the woman. She and the children looked twice as thin as the last time he had seen them, matted hair, sunken faces, bones that pressed too visibly against their skin.

"Let’s not waste time dragging this out, Lara. The sooner we talk and close this, the sooner I will have my people give the children rooms and proper care, they don’t look to be in good condition." Sebastian remarked, and the woman’s face remained blank as she said,

"Can we speak in private?"

Sebastian turned to Matt with a look that communicated everything, and Matt moved to take the children with him, signaling to the omegas to bring them food at the Alpha’s silent orders. Sebastian had originally intended to hold that back until Miss Lara gave him what he came for, but he couldn’t stand the sight of those protruding bones. They needed to eat first.

Everyone filed out, leaving the two of them alone.

"I didn’t come here to stay, Supreme Alpha. My only hope is that you will take care of these children and give them a proper home here." Miss Lara said quietly. "I made a pact with someone I should never have made one with, someone connected to the Luna’s twin, and if I give you the answers you’re seeking, that person will take my life."

Miss Lara had not known who this man truly was until his people came for her. She had felt the energy coming off him from the very beginning, something that didn’t belong to an ordinary werewolf, and now that she had agreed to his terms, she needed to be certain he wouldn’t throw the children out the moment she had given him what he wanted.

There was no doubt in her mind that the creature she had made that pact with would not let her walk away from this freely. Miss Lara had been carefully avoiding anything to do with water ever since, knowing that water was the easiest gateway, the creature’s way of opening a portal from the sea to land.

"What kind of creature?" Sebastian asked.

"I cannot share that. It is personal." She said, her expression remaining passive. "What is it you want to know?"

"What did you do with my wife’s twin, and where is she?" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Miss Lara’s eyes drifted upward toward the sky visible through the glass wall, and sadness settled quietly over her face. "I can see that you love your wife, Supreme Alpha. I don’t know how deep your bond with her runs, but if you force me to speak the full truth, you will be putting that love at risk. It will break what you have built between you." She turned to look at him directly and asked,

"Would you rather live in comfortable ignorance, unaware of what happened and what led to it, or be told the truth that will tear you away from the one you love?"

Sebastian’s expression hardened. "I don’t do riddles, Lara. In fact, I despise them. I asked you what was done with the twin, and I want a clear, straightforward answer."

"She was taken away." Miss Lara said quietly. "I couldn’t have stopped it even if I had tried, so I allowed it to happen in order to save the others."

"By whom?" He asked, just as quietly, because he could tell this woman knew far more than she was releasing, and for reasons he hadn’t fully sorted yet, he was beginning to feel that he wasn’t entirely ready to dig all the way to the bottom of it. But if it would lead him to his wife’s twin, he would have to face whatever truth waited there, including the possibility that his wife was something he was never supposed to keep by his side.

"By their aunt, or so I was told."

Sebastian’s brows furrowed. "Their aunt? You know their aunt?"

Miss Lara smiled, but it was a bitter, hollow one. "It is better to have no relatives at all than to have an aunt like that one. Take my advice, Supreme Alpha, do not dig into something that will only destroy you. Leave every unanswered question exactly where it sits. You cannot find the twin, because she is somewhere you cannot reach. Let Serena go on believing she never had one, it is the kindest thing for her, because the moment the aunt realizes she knows, she will come for her too."

Saying that, Miss Lara slipped a hand into her pocket as though she were about to retrieve something, and Sebastian didn’t move quickly enough, he didn’t even register the threat in the motion until it was already far too late.

His silver eyes widened as everything unfolded in the span of a single breath, too sudden and entirely beyond his power to have stop it before it happened.