Chapter 364 Whispers and Whimsy
Cecilia ’s pov
Before Zane could finish, Martha shut him down without blinking.
“Zane, stay out of it. This doesn’t concern you.”
She flicked her hand like she was swatting a mosquito.
The look on her face said it all. She was annoyed, and she didn’t care who saw it.
Zane froze. His face turned a mix of red and pale, like he’d just been slapped in front of the entire school cafeteria.
“Fine,” he muttered, voice tight. “I’m always the problem, right ? I’ll just disappear. That should fix everything.”
He turned and stormed off. Every step screamed wounded pride and teenage drama.
I felt a chill crawl up my back.
My brain jumped straight to the worst-case scenario.
What was he about to say before Martha shut him down ?
Was he seriously about to claim I’m his and Esther’s daughter ?
The thought hit me like a bucket of ice water.
That’s insane.
…Right ?
Martha let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry about my son. He’s… not always thinking straight.”
Cassian cleared his throat.
“That’s a pretty generous way to describe it, Grandma.”
Sebastian didn’t miss a beat.
“Maybe Cassian could take him in for a proper evaluation sometime. If the local options aren’t great, I can recommend someone in Denver.”
I turned to him, genuinely impressed.
“How do you stay so calm when things get weird ?”
He gave me a small shrug, like he didn’t even have to think about it.
“Practice.”
Martha looked ready to drop the topic, and honestly, no one wanted to keep talking about Zane’s mental health.
Sebastian and I took the hint and excused ourselves.
Cassian stayed behind with Martha, playing the good grandson.
As we stepped out into the garden, I spotted Zane sitting alone by the rose bushes.
He looked like a man unraveling.
His posture was so dramatic he looked like he was having a heart-to-heart with the flowers.
The image was almost funny.
“Don’t look. Don’t engage.”
I kept my eyes forward, like I hadn’t even seen him. That part was easy. I didn’t want to open the door to any more of his nonsense.
Sebastian chuckled and kept stride with me.
—
Back at Levi and Yulia’s place, things were starting to feel normal again.
The chaos from the night before had been cleaned up.
Aside from a few chickens and ducks that looked like they’d seen a ghost, everything seemed back in place.
Harper, Tang, Levi, and Yulia had returned after getting IV fluids. They looked better, if still a little pale.
Tang wouldn’t stop apologizing to Levi and Yulia, offering to reimburse them for the trauma he caused their backyard animals.
Upstairs, Harper was packing like we were fleeing the country.
“Cece, move your ass! We need to go. Now,” she called out.
I leaned against the doorframe, watching her throw clothes into her suitcase like she was prepping for a zombie apocalypse.
“Chill. Cassian’s not gonna follow you just to make fun of you.”
“Are you sure about that ?” she shot back. “That guy was sending Morse code to Tang while we were literally escaping an attempted murder.”
“Yeah, and you answered back,” I said, raising an eyebrow.
“That was survival mode! Not flirting,” Harper zipped her suitcase shut. “Sebastian’s quiet. Cassian’s just chaos with legs.”
I laughed under my breath.
“Trust me, you haven’t seen Sebastian when he’s bored. He’s scarier.”
Harper flopped onto the bed. “Exactly why I can’t deal with both of them at the same time.”
Author ’s pov
Downstairs, the kitchen smelled incredible.
With Levi and Yulia still recovering, Alpha Sebastian had taken over lunch duty. Beta Sawyer stood nearby, dutifully playing sous-chef.
When Levi walked in and saw Alpha Sebastian stirring soup in his kitchen, wearing Yulia’s floral apron, he rubbed his eyes like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Alpha Sebastian was laser-focused. “She likes this soup ? “
Yulia had mentioned, almost in passing, that Cecilia liked a particular vegetable broth. Alpha Sebastian had lit up like she’d just handed him classified intel. He memorized the recipe like a military op and even packed up the leftover ingredients.
Minutes later, Yulia and Levi stood shoulder to shoulder in the doorway, watching as Alpha Sebastian plated the food like a seasoned pro.
Yulia exhaled, half in disbelief. “Hot, rich, polite, and he cooks ? I swear, just having him in my kitchen probably raised the property value.”
Levi nodded slowly. “No wonder Cece’s not into Cassian. Just look at this guy. The face, the voice, the skin. He’s basically a walking Pinterest board.
Yulia wasn’t done. “His hands look like a concert pianist’s, his face belongs on GQ, and he cooks like he’s gunning for a Michelin star.”
Just then, Harper and Cecilia came downstairs and caught the last part of the conversation.
Harper leaned toward Cece, voice low and amused. “Okay, I get it now. I’d marry him too.”
Cecilia didn’t answer, but she didn’t need to. Anyone with eyes could see the appeal.
Alpha Sebastian was ridiculously attractive: sharp jawline, quiet confidence, the kind of beauty that felt too perfect to be real, like something sculpted for a museum.
Cassian, on the other hand, was the polar opposite. Loud, physical, and looked like he’d walked straight off the set of a Fast & Furious movie.
The contrast was almost comical.
Harper leaned in again, her tone wicked. “Cece, if you don’t want either of them, I’ll take both. One for Sunday brunch, the other for breaking the law at midnight.”