Chapter 431 He liked kissing her

Viola left the pool area and made her way toward Sebastian’s penthouse, believing he would be there, since she hadn’t found him anywhere else. On her way to him, she rehearsed everything she wanted to say, how none of what she’d done had been meant to hurt him in any way.

It was almost funny how, just a few hours ago, she’d been the one furious at him, so much so she’d told herself she didn’t care whether he got angry in return. But now the roles had reversed so quickly that she would give anything to make him feel less wounded by what she’d done.

Though she knew there was nothing she could do to find him another mermaid to sacrifice before tomorrow, she resolved to try everything she could to help him some other way, even if it meant using her own mermaid abilities and powers, something she hated leaning on, since it kept pulling her further into a part of herself she’d already decided not to embrace, the part she’d chosen to set aside in favor of the werewolf life she wanted for herself.

But for Sebastian, she realized she would use it to its full extent, if that’s what it took to fix what she’d broken for him. She only hoped he would listen, that he would give her a chance. And if he didn’t, she would let him cool off before trying again. Viola began running through everything she knew Sebastian liked, so she could use it to soothe him.

There were certain foods he loved that she knew well, though there wasn’t enough time to prepare anything for him tonight, she decided she’d cook for him in the morning instead.

He liked kissing her, liked it when she touched him and stroked his shoulders and neck, no matter how worked up he was; if she started touching him, massaging him, running her fingers through his hair and body, his mood would shift. If it took seduction, gentle and coaxing, to soften the way he’d looked at her earlier, Viola decided she would give him double of it.

Before she brought up the subject at all, before she asked him any real questions, she needed his mood to settle to something at least manageable, so she made a mental note to use every single thing he loved against him tonight.

Still, she was nervous, and found herself wringing her fingers together to keep from biting them as she got closer, something she never did anymore, hadn’t done in a long while now, not since he’d taught her to redirect the urge whenever it crept up on her.

When the elevator opened onto his floor, Viola was met with a wall of her bodyguards, all conscious again, groaning in pain, their faces smeared with blood as though they’d been badly beaten.

The moment they saw her, their expressions shifted, as if they’d seen a ghost, and they bowed to her with visible difficulty.

“Supreme Luna!” They greeted in unison, catching her off guard.

She didn’t need to ask how they’d ended up bruised and bloodied. It was obvious that Sebastian had beaten them back to consciousness after she’d put them to sleep, because she was certain no ordinary werewolf could have beaten trained warriors like them this badly. The sight gave her a small measure of relief, despite feeling sorry for them, because it assured her that Sebastian was still in the penthouse.

The guards themselves had no idea why the Supreme Alpha had attacked them with such fury, as though he might have killed them outright had they not been thoroughly trained since their teenage years beside him. They naturally assumed it was punishment for failing to keep the Luna contained, and so, seeing her now, they kept bowing low.

“Is the Supreme Alpha inside?” She asked, feeling a pang of sympathy for the men, some of whom could barely stand upright from how badly they’d been beaten.

“No, Supreme Luna. He left just a few minutes ago.” One of them replied.

Viola, who had been so certain she’d find him here, frowned. If he’d only left a few minutes ago, she should have crossed paths with him, since she’d used his private elevator to get up here. But as if reading her thoughts, another guard pointed into the penthouse and said, “He left through there.”

Viola hurried forward and found one entire glass wall shattered, the wind blowing freely inward through the wreckage, the break shaped unmistakably like the outline of a large wolf’s body. Her stomach twisted with worry. Without wasting another second, she turned back to the elevator to make sure he hadn’t hurt himself jumping from such a height.

When she reached the street outside High Tower, Viola found a car parked directly beneath the angle of his window, its roof caved inward, as though something heavy had landed on it. There was no blood, no obvious sign of serious injury, but there was also no scent of him anywhere nearby, and she realized, with a sinking feeling, that he had left the premises entirely.

Viola stood outside beneath the flickering streetlamps, her dejected figure illuminated in pieces of light, staring down the empty streets, where not a single soul stirred. The breeze pushed her black hair across her face, but she barely registered it, standing there, hoping he would come back.

Her bodyguards gathered around her protectively, though she was barely aware of their presence. After a while, she decided to go back inside and give him the space he needed. Maybe he needed time alone to cool down. She would give him that.

When Viola returned to her own place, everything suddenly felt pointless and empty. The sister she had done all of this for couldn’t even be reached whenever she wanted, from the look of things, Yasmin intended to keep her away from land entirely from now on.

•••

In the depths of the sea, the mermaid who had been freed reunited with her family, crying in relief as she embraced her mate and child together. Her mate examined her body carefully for any injury, and when he found several of her fins broken, his eyes flashed with murder.

“Now that you’re out of that land, it’s time I flood them and send the sharks in to kill every last one of them! They will pay for this!” her mate gritted out, already preparing to leave and unleash the disaster he had planned for the humans who had taken his mermaid from him.

Yasmin quickly stopped him, grabbing his massive, muscular arm. He turned to look at her, his ember-colored eyes burning with fury as his pink hair swirled around him in the water.

“You don’t have to. I promised I wouldn’t let you hurt them, even though I want nothing more than to kill them all myself. Serena is still there.” She said, and at the mention of her sister’s name, Ivy, who had been gliding quietly in the corner to give the family space to reunite, swam forward and asked,

“How is she? Will she be all right, after helping you like that?” She asked her cousin, who had already told them it was because of Serena that she was free and home again.

No matter how much Yasmin believed Viola lacked the sense the rest of them had, she was still family, still someone Yasmin would look after, the way she had been looking out for Ivy, since their own parents had been twins too.