7. What Have I Done?

Valerie

I woke to sunlight streaming through unfamiliar curtains, my head pounding with the kind of hangover that suggested I’d done something monumentally stupid. For a moment, I just lay there, trying to piece together the fragments of last night.

A quiet laugh escaped my lips as I buried my face in the pillow.

“Finally,” I murmured to myself.

After years of watching him stubbornly remain distant, he'd finally warm up to me, and all he took was a public humiliation and rejection from Chelsea.

I stretched, feeling the pleasant ache in muscles I hadn’t used in… well, ever.

My fingers clutched the edge of the duvet as the memory of his intensity flashed through my mind again.

My heart fluttered wildly.

I shifted under the covers and slowly lifted the edge of the duvet. I looked down and found myself in only my underwear, the rest of me deliciously naked beneath the duvet.

“Oh my gosh…”

Heat flooded my cheeks and a shy smile spread across my face as I pulled the duvet over my head and kicked my feet in over excitement.

The soreness in between my legs confirmed what my mind already believed.

“Last night was indeed real.”

I rolled to the other side of the bed and grabbed the cup of water on the bedside table.

“Oh Sebastian,” I blushed as I touched the cup and it was warm.

I sat up, the duvet sliding down my waist as I glanced around the room. The suite was quiet, the early morning light spilling gently through the curtains.

My brows furrowed slightly.

“Sebastian?”

There was no answer.

I reached for the robe neatly folded beside the cup of water. Wrapping it around my body, I tied the belt loosely and grabbed the glass of water.

“Sebastian?” I called again softly, following the rapid, rhythmic tock-tock-tock of a knife meeting a wooden board.

I followed the sound to the suite’s kitchenette, a smile lingering on my face.

Sebastian stood with his back to me, and for a moment I couldn't speak.

He was focused on the cutting board in front of him, but my attention wasn't on what he was doing.

It was on him.

I had seen all shades of Sebastian, but not so exposed.

An apron hung loosely around his neck and tied at his waist, but it did little to hide the broad expanse of his shoulders and the tatto stretched across the upper part of his back. The muscles shifted subtly beneath his skin every time he moved his arm and I felt my wolf giggle.

Was he always built like this?

My mind wandered, and my heart began beating faster as I replayed blurred flashes of the night before.

Just then, the knife stopped.

Get a grip, Valerie.

I inhaled quietly with my eyes closed and shook my head, trying to push the thoughts away.

The moment I opened my eyes to the figure in front of me, my fingers went numb and the cup slipped from my hand.

Shattered pieces scattered across the floor, water spreading across the tiles.

But I barely heard it.

Because the man standing in front of me was not Sebastian.

“Hey, careful,” he cautioned calmly with am arm stretched out.

But I wasn't looking at the shattered glass, I was looking at him.

Still desperately trying to convince myself my eyes were lying.

The man staring back at me had Sebastian’s face. The same sharp jawline, same dark eyes, same tall, powerful, but something was terribly wrong.

His expression held confusion instead of familiarity. His gaze carried none of Sebastian's distant restraint.

And most importantly….

I had never seen this man before in my life.

The air seemed to vanish from my lungs and my lips trembled as a whisper escaped them.

“Who are you?” I asked, my voice shaking now.

He reached for the apron’s rope around his waist and began to untie it.

“I am…”

“I said who the hell are you?” I snapped, cutting him off sharply. “And where is Sebastian?”

The name died off on my lips into a quiet whisper. My eyes darted around the kitchenette, scanning every corner as if he might appear out of one, tell me this is a prank, and laugh over this ridiculous misunderstanding.

But the kitchen was small and bright with nowhere to hide.

A cold dread slowly crawled up my spine.

Please… don't let this be what I think it is.

Across the room, the man finally pulled the apron over his head and dropped it casually on the table.

“My name is Mia…”

I barely heard the rest as the words drowned beneath the pounding of my own heartbeat.

I closed my eyes briefly and took a deep breath, trying to steady myself before the panic completely swallowed me. He was probably some private chef, I mean, this is a suite.

“See, I don't care about whatever your name is,” I said tightly. “Or who you are.”

My eyes snapped back to his.

“What I need right now… is for you to tell me where the fuck Sebastian is.”

For the first time, confusion spread clearly across his face.

“I don't know whoever this Sebastian is that you've been calling for since last night.”

My head jerked back.

“What?”

My voice came out thin.

“Since… last night?”

He looked at me as if I had just asked something ridiculous.

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “You don't remember?”

A strange uneasiness crept into my stomach as I began to replay the scene from the wedding.

“You kissed me first at the bar,” he continued. “And then we…”

My foot slid back without thinking.

The doorframe caught me before I lost my balance completely, my hand gripping it tightly as the room spun around me.

“So… we…” my throat tightened painfully.

He nodded, an almost amused smile tugging at his lips.

“Exactly.”

Something inside my head snapped and my hand flew to my hair, grubbing it tightly as a scream ripped out of my throat.

“Ahhhhhh!”

Before he could react, I turned and ran.

No, no, no, no

Behind me, I heard his footsteps following.

“Hey, wait!”

But I was already tearing through the room, searching frantically for my clothes, shoes, bag, and whatever I came here with.

Because one terrifying thought kept repeating over and over inside my head.

What have I done?