People were still watching them, though not as many as before now that it appeared he wasn’t going to be arrested or make a scene.
Sebastian didn’t want to make a scene.
“Yeah, okay,” he said. Alvarez and Vano stepped aside, creating an opening for Sebastian to walk between them.
Letting go of his cart, Sebastian stepped forward and allowed himself to be led out of the store. His head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, the towering presence of the officers on either side of him making him feel trapped and nervous, his heart beating a million beats a minute.
Outside, Alvarez put his hand on Sebastian’s back and guided him into the back seat of a parked police cruiser.
Sebastian had never been in the back of a police car before. The slotted metal partition separating him from the officers made him feel like he’d been stuffed in a cage.
“Are you doing okay back there,” Alvarez asked, looking at him through the rearview mirror as he pulled out of the grocery store parking lot.
“Sure,” Sebastian mumbled, completely overwhelmed. The interior of the cruiser smelled like lemon cleaner and bleach, and Sebastian’s nose itched from the astringent odor.
“You’ll be okay,” Alvarez said, his voice comforting and sure.
Sebastian hoped he was right.
They drove for about twenty minutes, heading into the city center. Sebastian looked out the window, tracking the changes as they moved from the historic downtown and into the heart of the new office district, trying and failing to calm down.
Tall buildings rose up all around them, shiny glass exteriors sparkling in the sun, people in suits milling around the sidewalks like busy ants.
“This is it,” Alvarez said, driving into an underground parking garage and pulling up next to an unmarked entrance. “We’ll escort you up.”
Sebastian unbuckled his seatbelt and reached for the door, his gut clenching when he realized it was locked. He pulled his hand back and waited, the feeling of being trapped growing exponentially. Three seconds later, by which time Sebastian felt like he was going to crawl out of his skin, Vano came around and opened the door. He stood aside so that Sebastian could climb out.
Sebastian hurried out of the cruiser, standing still and breathing in the warm, stale air of the parking garage.
“This way,” Vano said, placing an uncomfortably warm hand on his upper back and nudging him forward.
They walked through a set of double glass doors into a small lobby. A beefy security guard was sitting behind a desk on their left, but after getting a familiar nod from Alvarez, he let them pass without a word.
Walking through the lobby and turning a corner, they reached an elevator. Heart racing even faster, his palms moist with nervous sweat, Sebastian allowed himself to be nudged inside. He took up a position at the very back of the elevator, reaching behind him to hold on to the railing, and took a deep breath to steady himself.
Alvarez and Vano followed him inside, turning around and pushing the button for the fiftieth floor.
They went up, the two cops facing the doors, leaving Sebastian looking right at their broad backs. He let his gaze roam over their uniformed figures, lingering on the forbidding weapons hanging from their thick belts before moving down to their boots.
He wondered if the two men had been chosen to collect him specifically because they were tall and intimidating, or if that was a coincidence.
He hoped it was a coincidence.
The elevator came to a stop, the bell ringing to announce their arrival on the fiftieth floor.
Sebastian couldn’t breathe. He tightened his grip on the railing behind him, leaning back against the wall and waiting for his lungs to start cooperating while the edges of his vision turned black.
This could not be happening!
He needed to snap out of it. Werewolves were intimidating and a little weird, sure, but they didn’t mistreat the humans in their care. Sebastian wasn’t indanger.
“This is you.” Vano held the doors open, giving Sebastian time to collect himself. Sebastian forced his legs to move, flinching in surprise when Vano patted him on the shoulder.
“Sorry,” Vano said, taking his hand away and crossing his arms. He looked like he regretted the awkward attempt at comfort.
Sebastian looked around, taking in the Life Mate reception area, his gaze moving from the modern art sculpture next to the door to the natural landscape pictures hanging on the wall. Everything looked the same as it had the last time he’d visited, back when he’d been desperate enough to sign up with Life Mate.
He glanced over at the seating area by the window, remembering how he’d sat there and waited for over an hour for someone to come walk him through the contract he’d signed in exchange for the money to pay his mother’s medical bills.
