Claimed by the Alpha, Betrayed by His Lies

Ysabel’s POV

The storm outside raged on. The wind whipped against the cabin walls, sending a flurry of rain against the windows. I was in the middle of preparing a cup of tea, trying to shake off the remnants of the terrible meeting earlier that evening. The storm seemed to match my mood—angry, unsettled, but inevitable.

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed from the front of the house, making me jump. Startled, I rushed toward the window, my heart pounding in my chest. The shutters on one side had blown open, letting in the rain. I quickly reached out to close it but froze when I noticed something—or rather, someone—on my front porch.

Through the storm’s chaos, I saw a figure, barely moving, lying in a heap on the wooden steps. My mind raced with disbelief. No one ever came here. I lived alone at the edge of the forest for a reason. No one was supposed to be on that trail, especially not in the middle of the night, during a storm like this.

Fear gripped me for a brief second, but it quickly morphed into concern. The person on my porch was hurt badly. I could see the outline of his body, soaked from the rain, his chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. He needed help.

I grabbed my coat, threw it on, and rushed out the door, bracing myself against the wind and rain. The moment I got closer, I could see the extent of his injuries. His clothes were soaked with blood. And his breathing was faint, labored.

“Hey! Are you okay?” I knelt beside him, gently shaking his shoulder, but he didn’t respond.

He was barely alive.

Without thinking twice, I hooked my arms under his and dragged him inside. It wasn’t easy since he was heavy. And the rain had made everything slick. I was gasping for breath by the time I laid him down on my couch. His clothes soaked my cushions. But I didn’t care.

I rushed to my first-aid kit and quickly began tending to his wounds. The gashes across his body were deep, like he had been mauled by something. I couldn’t imagine what had happened to him out there in the storm. He groaned as I pressed a cloth to his side. Then his eyes fluttered open.

“Who did this to you?” I asked, not expecting an answer, but to my surprise, he managed to whisper something.

“I’m Sebastian… Gregory.”

The name sent a chill down my spine. I’d heard that name before, though I couldn’t place where. I hesitated, the cloth still pressed against his wound. Sebastian Gregory… It echoed in my mind, but no matter how hard I tried to remember, the connection was lost in the fog of my thoughts.

He passed out again. I let out a shaky breath. I finished cleaning his wounds. My hands moved mechanically as my mind raced. I should call for help. I should take him to the hospital. But before I could reach for the phone, his voice, weak and hoarse, cut through the silence.

“Don’t… please,” he rasped, eyes barely open. “Whoever attacked me… They’ll find me again. They’ll finish the job.”

I froze as I was hovering over the phone. His words made me pause. Something about his voice, the fear in it, made me believe him.

Against my better judgement, I pulled my hand back from the phone and returned to his side. The idea of sending him out there, vulnerable and half-dead, seemed impossible. My instincts told me to help, even if something about this situation felt off.

Days passed, and I nursed him back to health. His wounds began to heal under my care. And despite the strangeness of it all, I found myself drawn to him. Sebastian was reserved, yet there was a certain charm in his quiet strength. The man, with his piercing gaze and commanding presence, slowly started infiltrating my once peaceful, solitary life. I could feel myself being pulled into his orbit, unable to resist.

He refused to leave, claiming it was too dangerous. And I, against my own sense of reason, let him stay. His presence filled the quiet of my cabin. And soon, I found myself looking forward to our conversations, to the way he watched me when he thought I wasn’t looking. There was something magnetic about him, something I couldn’t quite explain.

I didn’t know who he really was, not until one afternoon when Emma, one of my only friends, dropped by for a surprise visit. Her reaction when she saw Sebastian told me everything I needed to know. Her eyes widened in shock. And her mouth dropped open as she whispered, "Sebastian Gregory? The Alpha?"

My heart sank. All the stories I’d heard rushed back to me. Stories about the world’s strongest Alpha, the one with a dangerous reputation.