Abandoned Luna Now Untouchable (Cecilia) novel Chapter 26

Cecilia

1 frantically reviewed our conversation in my mind.

He said he was going home to sleep. I said I was too. So…

So what exactly?!

How was I supposed to respond to that?!

Just moments ago, l’d been the fierce she-wolf who had torn through the banquet hall with unwavering confidence. Now I stood with wide, bewildered eyes, looking as confused as a pup during their first full moon.

Sebastian turned his gaze away abruptly.

Seeing he wasn’t going to pursue the awkward conversation further, I lowered my head in relief.

The topic died an ungraceful death as the elevator reached my floor. I politely said goodbye, “Goodnight, Alpha Sebastian. Sleep well.” Sebastian responded with a barely audible “Mmm.”

I stepped out, watching as the elevator doors slowly began to close. Just as I was about to release the breath I’d been holding, a pale, elegant finger suddenly extended through the narrowing gap, forcing the doors to reopen.

…What?

The tension that had started to leave my body snapped right back into place.

“I tried on the suit,” Sebastian stated in that maddeningly even tone of his.

Oh, that matter.

I managed a smile. “Did it fit?”

“Not particularly well. Too narrow in the shoulders. Pants too short.”

I froze, internally groaning. “Well then… maybe I should just reimburse you for it instead?” Sebastian didn’t acknowledge my suggestion.

He simply fixed me with those eyes-deeper and more mysterious than starlit oceans-revealing nothing of his thoughts or feelings.

The elevator doors gradually closed once more.

I remained standing at the elevator entrance, my brain thoroughly muddled.

Was the suit acceptable or not?

Couldn’t he just give me a straight answer?

This communication style that left me guessing was mentally exhausting, which explained why I’d fled from our conversation so quickly. Talking with him felt like navigating a minefield…my brain cells were dying by the second.

Catching myself complaining about him, I remembered that he was my savior. He had Lowered his Alpha status to testify on my behalf tonight, and his appearance in the park was likely out of concern for my wellbeing.

With that perspective, I felt rather ungrateful.

I walked into my apartment.

I tossed my purse aside and collapsed boneless onto the couch, closing my eyes and immediately drifting to sleep.

Author

At the police station, nine photographs were laid out in a perfect, clinical row-eight men and one woman.

The men had the hollow-eyed, greasy look of sewer vermin, each one captured mid-smirk, as if proud of what they’d done-or tried to do.

Xavier sat at the table, jaw clenched, his entire body locked in stillness. But his eyes-his eyes burned.

He couldn’t bear to look at the photos, and yet he couldn’t look away.

The thought of those creatures touching his mate made his blood curdle. The thought of her calling him-three times-and getting no answer…

The officer across the table spoke, voice clipped and cold.

Your mate stated that after being drugged and taken to the hotel, she attempted to call you three times. You failed to answer the first two. The third was answered-by your lover, Miss Cici.”

He pressed a button. A recording played

Cici’s voice filled the room-sickly sweet, mocking, cruel.

Xavier flinched.

Everything he’d tried to deny, everything he’d tried to rationalize, came crashing down in those few seconds of audio.

The betrayal.

The negligence.

The irreversible damage.

When the recording ended, silence cloaked the room like a shroud.

The officer’s eyes were sharp. “Why didn’t you answer your mate’s calls? And why was your phone in Miss Cici’s possession?”

Xavier dragged in a breath, visibly forcing himself back into control.

“I was working late,” he said, voice hoarse. “Cici came by my office. She said the wanted to play a game on my phone. I was in the middle of a report-l didn’t think anything of it.” The officer raised an eyebrow. “You handed over personal access to your mate-bonded device… for a game?”

“You can check the security footage,” Xavier muttered. “My office has full surveillance.”.

“Oh, we will,” the officer said flatly.

Elsewhere in the station, behind closed doors, the walls echoed with other voices.

He had pushed untit I-snapped, tearing everything apart.

“Cecilia, after this… will you ever believe in love again?”

She was asking me, but I could tell she was also questioning herself. Had she lost faith too? Was it inevitable that every woman, no matter how beautiful or accomplished or kind, would eventually be betrayed and hurt?

1 hugged my glass to my chest, staring into the peaceful darkness. “I can’t reject every wolf in the world just because one bit me.”

“But I will be afraid. When one tries to approach me, I’ll keep my distance.” Harper nodded in understanding.

In the end, I wouldn’t trust so easily again…

We finished our drinks and, slightly tipsy, curled up under blankets to talk for hours-about happy things, sad things, the past, the present, the future. We laughed, we cried, and eventually, I fell asleep with my arms around Harper.

Morning came.

wore a trench coat and wheeled my suitcase into the living room.

Harper hugged me. “Go enjoy your trip without worries. Leave everything else to me.

When you return, you’ll get your divorce certificate, and you’ll be completely free of him.”

“Okay.”

1 nodded.

I decided to stick to my original travel plans. Though leaving Harper to handle everything felt selfish, I desperately needed to escape, to go anywhere in the world that wasn’t here.

My flight was scheduled for eight AM.

Harper had intended to drive me to the airport but received a call from the police station

-Xavier’s charges had been dropped, and he would be released within thirty minutes!

I left the apartment with my luggage.

While waiting for a taxi outside the building, I received a call from an unknown number.

Staring at my phone, something instinctive told me not to answer…

At that moment, a silver-topped Maybach emerged from the complex and came to a smooth stop directly in front of me.

The driver’s window lowered to reveal Liam’s kindly face. “Cecilia, where are you headed?” I looked up, momentarily surprised, and answered truthfully, “To the airport.”

“That’s just as well, we’re going to the airport too, on the way.”