Chapter 591: Seeking Help

Laila watched his expression, expecting him to look as surprised as she had been, but Sebastian merely cursed under his breath.

"It’s the bastard," he muttered to his brother before turning back to Laila.

"You knew about his return?" she asked with a frown. She had thought he had only shown himself to her.

"No. We’ve only had our suspicions," Sebastian replied. "Where did you see him?"

"Outside Sunny Mall. I went to get some things for your babies. I mean, Gilbert asked me to do it, but I ended up getting caught in a fight, and that’s when I came across him."

Laila was still shaken by his aura and the way he had spoken to her, so certain that she would help him get closer to Viola. She didn’t leave that part out as she recounted everything to Sebastian. The more she spoke, the more his anger became apparent, and she swallowed hard under his increasingly intimidating gaze.

"One more thing. He seems to have gained more powers. He can move in the blink of an eye. He was talking to me one moment, and the next, he was gone," she added, recalling how long it had taken her to recover from witnessing his sudden disappearance outside the mall.

Everything Nickolas had offered her had been tempting. Had Laila been the person she was in the past, she wouldn’t have hesitated to accept his offer to give her everything she wanted. He had promised her the power to reclaim her old social standing and become the most admired she-wolf in the entire werewolf world.

It was everything she had ever wanted. But when she thought about the friends she had made, Zoe’s death, and the man she was beginning to develop feelings for despite all her reservations about him being her mate, she couldn’t bring herself to accept.

If she wanted revenge on Anna and Lorna, she would get it her own way. She didn’t need Nick’s powers to force them to apologize.

"You did well. Do me a favor and stay with my wife for a while. I need to handle something," Sebastian said, walking past her towards the exit with his brother.

"What are we going to do now? Should we gather the men and go after him?" Alex asked.

The corner of Sebastian’s lips lifted. "That’s exactly what Nicky Dicky wants. He wants us chasing after him like a bunch of losers while he looks for an opening to get to my wife. We won’t hunt him this time."

Sebastian couldn’t help wondering how Nick had survived for months in the waters, only to now crawl back out. When Alex had told him about the prints leading out of the water, his mind had immediately gone to his cousin, and Laila’s account had confirmed his suspicion.

That meant the plans he had been quietly considering in the back of his mind during those sleepless nights now had to be put into action immediately to protect his mate and children. But first, he needed to ensure their son was out of danger before they could move forward with those plans.

"Right now, let’s focus on getting the little one healthy. I need you to return to the warriors and bring them here. We can’t leave any openings for him to exploit. We need to tighten security and reinforce the surveillance cameras. He’s a master of technology, especially when it comes to Silver’s systems."

After leaving Alex, Sebastian shifted into his wolf form outside and sped towards his destination. He travelled beyond the city, past the trees and into the outskirts, until a building came into view. It was a two-story house surrounded by iron fencing, standing in stark contrast to the buildings within the city.

Sebastian shifted back into his human form, his bare feet pressing against the snowy ground as he approached the house. When he reached the gate, he checked the compartment where every house kept spare clothes, retrieved an outfit, and put it on before ringing the bell.

The surroundings were silent and still, unlike the city, and he hoped the person he had come to see was home. He rang the bell again, and this time, a red light came on. His face was scanned, and the gate opened automatically, allowing him inside.

Still buttoning his borrowed shirt, Sebastian walked up to the front door. It opened for him as well, and he stepped into a warm foyer with little framed pictures hanging on the walls. He had sworn never to set foot in this house again after exiling its owner to the outskirts of the city, but now he needed help that only she could provide.

"Margaret!" Sebastian called into the silent, dark house. His voice echoed through the rooms, and without his enhanced eyesight, he wouldn’t have been able to see a thing.

"Margaret!" he called again, glancing up at the staircase.

"By the Goddess! In here! Why are you yelling my name as though I’m all the way across the country?" came a displeased, cranky voice from the living room.

Sebastian walked in and found the woman he had come to see sitting in a rocking chair before a burning fireplace, a book in her hand and her grey head bent over its pages.

"Good evening, Margaret," he greeted her, trying to get her attention. But even if she heard him, she made no effort to look up from her book.

Margaret had once been the pack Seer and a close friend of Elder Ysara. The two women had been more like sisters than friends. However, at some point in her life, the she-wolf had ventured into witchcraft and begun practising magic and spells within Silver. She was the first she-wolf to explore such practices, and Sebastian’s father had allowed her to continue as long as she didn’t use her abilities to hurt anyone.

However, years ago, after Sebastian’s parents died, their accident was investigated and found to have been caused by a witch’s spell. In response, Sebastian had banned witchcraft and spellcasting throughout the pack and banished many of those who had practised it. Margaret was the exception. He had allowed her to remain in Silver on one condition: that she never used her magic or cast spells again.

It was a condition he was now about to ask her to break.

"What are you doing in my house, Alpha?" Came the old woman’s voice, without her looking away from her book or giving him the courtesy of respect that everyone gave Alphas.

Sebastian didn’t expect any respect from her anyway, and he didn’t beat around the bush as he came around to stand in front of her, blocking the light falling on her book. Rather than look up, she shifted to the side to use the light of the fireplace, but Sebastian blocked that one too, and she hissed.

"What is wrong with you, Alpha? Can’t an old woman read in peace in her own house anymore? I am getting to an interesting part of the book and you are blocking my light."

Sebastian didn’t give a hoot about her book.

"I need you to do something for me." He told her, and she lifted her eyes to look at him with annoyance.

"I thought we established from the start that we would stay away from each other?" Margaret said. "The last I remember, you believed I had worked a spell to help someone kill your parents."