Chosen as the Cursed Alpha's Seventh Bride

Chapter 267: Chapter 267 Old Habits

Emilia’s POV

Sebastian’s whole body went rigid the second that name left the phone.

Abigail.

I watched the easy grin slide right off his face.

He sat up, one hand pressed flat against the mattress, and turned away from me like a switch had flipped inside him.

"What do you want?" His voice came out clipped, all the warmth from a minute ago gone.

Eve stirred low in my chest.

"That woman means trouble," she murmured."I don’t like her scent."

"Neither do I, "I thought back.

Sebastian listened, jaw tight, then finally said, "You’re sick. Fine. Where’s Damien Zordon? Call him."

I sat up straighter, watching him.

Whatever she said next made his eyes narrow.

"Out of town? " He dragged a hand through his hair. Then, grudgingly, "Fine. Send me the address."

He hung up and stared at the phone.

"So," I said, propping myself up on one elbow. "Let me guess. Your ex-love, the one who left you standing at the altar, is suddenly running a fever and you’re the only wolf in Silverlake with a working car."

"Emilia—"

"No, no, this is fascinating. Please, continue. Does she also need someone to hold her hand and read her a bedtime story?"

He shot me a look. "She’s genuinely ill. Damien’s out of the city. She’s got no one else."

"She’s got a phone, clearly. Phones call ambulances. It’s this wild new technology."

"You’re impossible."

"And you’re about to walk out that door for a woman who publicly declared war on me last week." I kept my voice light, but Eve was pacing under my skin. "You remember that part, right? The ’I’m going to take what’s mine’ speech? Ring any bells?"

Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose. "I’m not going for her. I’m going because my family owes her a debt, and I’d rather clear it than owe her anything at all."

That, I hadn’t expected.

I studied his face. He meant it.

"You want me to come with you?" I asked, half a challenge.

"No." He said it fast. Then softer, "You don’t need to see her. This is old business. I’ll settle it and be back before you finish sulking."

"I do not sulk."

"You’re sulking right now."

He leaned over before I could argue, pressed a quick kiss to my forehead, and patted my cheek with that infuriating gentleness he only ever showed when he thought he was in trouble.

"Don’t overthink it," he said. "I’m not going to do anything that hurts you. You have my word."

Then he was up, pulling on his jacket, and gone.

I sat alone in the middle of that enormous bed, listening to his car pull out of the drive, and felt the excitement of five minutes ago curdle into something heavy and cold.

"He’ll come back," Eve said quietly."Mates always come back."

I hope you’re right, I told her, and slid down under the covers, one hand drifting to my stomach without meaning to. I thought of what Mila had said the other day, about pups and bloodlines and the future.

When are you coming, little one, I wondered. When?

Sebastian’s POV

The house on Violet Garden Road was dark when I got there, the front door hanging half open like an invitation I didn’t want.

"Abigail?" I called into the black. "You in here?"

"Sebastian. Over here."

Her voice drifted from the direction of the sofa, thin and cracked. I felt along the wall, cursing under my breath. "Where’s the damn light switch?"

"Ten more steps."

I counted the steps, found the switch, and flooded the room with light. And then I saw her.

Abigail was curled up on the sofa, knees drawn to her chest, her face drained of all color and her hair plastered to her forehead with sweat. Whatever act I’d braced myself for, this wasn’t it. She looked genuinely wrecked.

I crossed to her and pressed the back of my hand to her forehead. Burning. Hot as a furnace.

"How did you let it get this bad?"

She didn’t answer. She was shivering.

I swore, scooped her up, and carried her out to the car. The whole drive to the hospital she said nothing, just trembled against the seat while I ran two red lights getting there.

Emergency room. IV drip. The doctor called it a bad cold, nothing worse, and the fever started coming down almost as soon as the fluids hit her veins.

"How much longer do I have to sit here like this?" Abigail gritted her teeth, glaring at the needle taped to her arm.

And there it was. The thing I’d spent years trying to forget. She was terrified of needles. Always had been.

"Two more bags," I said.

"Two? Sebastian, please. Can we just go home? I feel loads better already."

"Sit down. If we don’t flush this out completely, the fever’s back by tonight."

"But it hurts." Her voice wobbled, and the tough front cracked clean down the middle.

That was Abigail. The more scared she got, the more everything hurt. The back of her hand was already swelling around the needle, red and puffy, the way it always did no matter how carefully they placed it.

I looked at her for a long moment, then stood. "Wait here."

Ryder rumbled."What are you doing?"

Nothing, I told him. Shut up.

I came back ten minutes later with a small bag from the shop downstairs. I fished out a lollipop, tore off the wrapper, and held it up.

"Open."

She blinked at me, then parted her lips. I slipped it into her mouth.

"Better?" I asked. "Still hurt?"

Abigail shook her head slowly. "No," she whispered, her voice thick. "It doesn’t hurt anymore."

Her eyes filled, tears spilling over before she could stop them. And I knew exactly why. After all this time, all the years and all the wreckage between us, I’d still remembered the one stupid trick that used to fix everything when she was sick. A single lollipop, and the whole world stopped hurting.

I didn’t know what to do with the look on her face, so I did nothing.

Then my phone buzzed in my pocket. Emilia’s name lit the screen.

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