Chapter 49: The Offer

​Alexander moved with a grace that was entirely different from Damien’s predatory prowl. He didn’t stop until he was standing just outside her personal bubble, his height shielding her from the biting wind.

​”I shouldn’t be here,” Sofia whispered, her voice trembling as she clutched the edges of her maid uniform. “If he finds out… if he sees me with you, he’ll kill us both. You saw what he did last night. He gambled my life on a hand of cards just to prove a point.”

​Alexander’s expression softened, his eyes full of a pity that made Sofia want to both scream and hide. “That is exactly why I sent the note. A woman like you shouldn’t be a bargaining chip for a man who has forgotten his humanity.”

​He reached out, his hand hovering near her cheek before he thought better of it and pulled back. “I’ve spent the morning looking into your history, Sofia. You were accused of pushing your sister… CCTV showed you did it, but why don’t I believe it? I feel it’s fabricated.”

​Sofia felt the breath leave her lungs. “How do you know that?”

​”I have resources,” Alexander said gently. “And I have a proposition. My pack, the Silver Moon, does not recognize the ’Slave Laws’ of the Southern territories. If you can get to the hotel lobby by midnight tonight, I have a transport team ready to take you across the border. You would be a citizen. You would be free.”

​Sofia stared at him, her mind a whirlwind of terror and hope. Freedom. The word tasted like oxygen to a drowning person. But then she thought of Damien—the way he had looked at her in the mirror, the way he had claimed her with a ferocity that felt more like obsession than hate.

​”He will hunt me,” Sofia murmured, looking down at her scuffed shoes. “He’ll hunt you too. You don’t know him, Alexander. He doesn’t lose things. He certainly doesn’t let them be stolen.”

​”Let him try,” Alexander said, his voice gaining a hard, Alpha edge. “If he crosses into my territory to reclaim a ’slave’ who has claimed asylum, it’s war. And I have plenty of allies who are tired of his arrogance.”

​Before Sofia could answer, a faint, rhythmic clicking sound echoed from the rooftop door—the sound of someone’s boots hitting the metal stairs. ​

Sofia’s blood turned to ice. “Someone’s coming.”

​Panic flared in Sofia’s chest, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. If it was Damien, she was dead. If it was one of his guards, she was as good as dead.

​Alexander’s eyes sharpened, his Alpha instincts calculating the distance to the door in a split second. He knew there was no time to hide her—the rooftop was too open, the air too clear.

​”Trust me,” he whispered, his voice a low, commanding rumble.

​Before she could protest, he stepped into her space, his large hands coming up to frame her face. He spun her around, shielding her curvy, trembling frame with his broad shoulders and expensive wool coat. Just as the heavy metal door creaked open, Alexander leaned down and captured her lips with his.

​Sofia’s eyes went wide, her hands flying up to rest against his chest. The kiss was firm and warm, different from the bruising, possessive assault Damien had subjected her to hours prior. Alexander wasn’t claiming her; he was kissing her passionately.

​A guard in the Crystal Pack’s dark livery stepped onto the roof, his hand resting on his holster. He stopped dead, his eyes landing on the tall, imposing figure of Alpha Alexander pinned against a woman. From the guard’s angle, Sofia was completely obscured, her face buried against Alexander’s and her full hips hidden behind the flare of his coat.

​”Oh! My apologies, Alpha Alexander,” the guard stammered, his face flushing a deep crimson. He quickly averted his gaze, looking at the floor. “I was just doing a perimeter sweep. I didn’t realize… I’ll leave you to your privacy.”

​The guard didn’t wait for a response. He turned on his heel and beat a hasty retreat, the heavy door clanging shut behind him.

​Alexander held the kiss for three more seconds, making sure the footsteps receded down the stairs, before he gently pulled away.

​Sofia was breathless, her lips tingling and her head spinning. She leaned back against the rooftop railing, her ample chest heaving as she tried to find her voice. “That… that was…”

​”Necessary,” Alexander finished for her, his eyes searching hers with a hint of desire to do it again. “I apologize for the liberty, Sofia. It was the only way to ensure he didn’t see your face.”

​He took a step back, giving her space, though the air between them was now charged with a new, complicated tension. “You have to decide. Midnight, the lobby. I will have a woman there in a red coat. Follow her, and you never have to see Damien or be a slave again.”

​Sofia looked at him, the weight of the choice pressing down on her. “Why are you doing this? Why risk a war for a girl you don’t even know?”

​Alexander looked out at the horizon, his jaw set. “Because I believe you didn’t push your sister, Sofia.”

​”I… I’ll think about it,” Sofia whispered, her voice barely audible over the wind. She looked at Alexander one last time and murmured a soft, “Thank you.”

​She didn’t wait for him to respond. Heart hammering against her ribs, she scrambled back toward the service door. She flew down the steps, her breath coming in jagged hitches, praying the guard hadn’t reported her disappearance yet.

​She slipped through the hidden closet door and into the suite, trying to calm her frantic pulse. But the moment she stepped into the main bedroom, the air left her lungs.

​Damien was there. He was pacing the length of the room like a caged tiger, his suit jacket discarded and his shirtsleeves rolled up to reveal the tensed muscles of his forearms. Two guards stood by the door, their heads bowed as Damien snarled into his phone.

​”I don’t care if you have to tear this hotel apart stone by stone!” Damien roared, his green eyes flashing with a lethal, golden light. “If she isn’t back in this room in five minutes, I will start taking heads!”

​He spun around, sensing a shift in the air. His gaze locked onto Sofia standing frozen by the closet. The silence that followed was more terrifying than his shouting. He hung up the phone without looking at it, his eyes raking over her—taking in her disheveled blonde hair, her flushed cheeks, and the way her ample chest was heaving with exertion.

​”Where,” Damien said, his voice dropping to a whisper that vibrated with pure, unadulterated rage, “have you been?”

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