A white car pulled to a stop beside him, and Sophia hurriedly stepped out. "Why are you leaving? Didn't I ask you to wait? Get in—I'll take you to the hospital." She reached out to support him.
He avoided her hand. "No need. It's just a minor injury. I can handle it myself."
"Minor?" She couldn't believe it. "How can a stab wound be minor? It could be fatal! You saved me—I can't just abandon you ungratefully." Especially since he had taken that knife for her.
"I said it's not—"
Without waiting for his reply, Sophia pushed him into the car, shut the door, and quickly got into the driver's seat, speeding toward the nearest hospital.
"Pull over."
"The hospital is almost here. Are you okay?" Sophia glanced at him in the rearview mirror. His face was pale—was he losing too much blood? He couldn't die! Otherwise, she'd carry guilt for the rest of her life.
"Pull over," Rocky growled, extremely uncomfortable.
"Okay, sure." She immediately pulled over to the side of the road.
As soon as the car stopped, he rushed out and vomited violently.
Damn it, why did he have to endure all this?
He'd done a good deed, saved someone, right?
And for saving her, he got stabbed—only to end up carsick and vomiting miserably on the roadside!
"Are you alright?" Sophia asked softly, cautiously. She didn't understand why he was vomiting.
"Do I look alright to you?" His handsome face pale, he glared at her.
If he'd known saving her would come at such a cost, he would've stayed out of it. "Alright, from now on, we go our separate ways. No ties whatsoever." Back to square one.
"No," she refused outright. "You were hurt because you saved me—I can't just walk away."
"You..." Why was this woman so stubborn? The stab wound on his body had already healed, leaving only a torn shirt and a large bloodstain. If he really went to the hospital with her, it would only bring a heap of trouble.
"Sophia White," she offered her name.
Who asked? Rocky forced down his irritation. "Let's end it here. You can go. My injury isn't your responsibility."
"Your wound needs a doctor."
"My wound is healed." Unable to overcome her stubbornness, he had to say it.
"Healed?" She stared at him. "A knife wound like that doesn't heal in half a month."
He simply tore open his shirt, revealing his waist where the injury had been. "See?"
Sophia was stunned for a long moment.
The place where the wound should have been was now smooth—not only was there no injury, but not even a scar remained. If not for the bloodstains on his shirt, she would have thought he was never hurt at all—that it was all an illusion.
What was going on? She looked up into his jade-green eyes. "This is... strange."
"Aren't you afraid?" He was slightly surprised. He expected her to be frightened and run away.
"Why should I be afraid? You haven't hurt me. Besides, you just saved my life—I have no reason to fear." She met his gaze calmly. "But I am curious."
People fear what they don't understand.
"If you can keep it to yourself," Rocky said, turning his gaze to the dark night sky.
"Of course, I promise," Sophia vowed, raising her right hand. "Do you have superpowers?"
"I'm a werewolf." As if in response to his words, a fierce light gleamed in his jade-green eyes.
"What's a werewolf?" She heard him but didn't understand.
"They're the second kind of people living on this earth—able to appear in both human and wolf form."
Sophia was still processing his words.
After a long while, she spoke again. "I had no idea you really existed. Why has no one ever known?" Her voice held surprise but no fear or hostility.
"Not many know. We don't reveal our identities easily to avoid causing an uproar." Tonight was an exception.
Sophia nodded in understanding.
"Why did those three want you dead? Do you have some deep grudge against them?" he suddenly remembered.
"I don't know. They just said someone doesn't want me alive anymore..." The thought made her shiver.
If he hadn't saved her, she'd be a cold corpse by now.
"Being cautious is never wrong." Rocky checked his watch. "It's very late. You should head back."
"What about you?" She was the one who drove him here—he had no car. How would he get back?
"I'll hail a taxi." Or call home for someone to pick him up.
"Let me drive you back," she insisted, feeling responsible.
"Fine. Then I'll trouble you." He gave an address.
"It's no trouble at all. By the way, I still don't know your name."
"Rocky."
"What happened? Are you hurt?" Kent asked with concern, pulling up Rocky's bloodstained shirt to examine.
Was it a silver bullet wound?
"It's fine. Why are you all still awake?" Rocky tugged his shirt back down.
Susan, sharp-eyed, noticed the beautiful and elegant lady who'd driven him back and warmly stepped forward. "Rocky, aren't you going to introduce us to this lady?"
Leonard said calmly, "You have some explaining to do."
"Should we call the second young master back?" a servant added.
The chatter made Rocky's head spin. "Let me catch my breath first."
"He got hurt saving me," Sophia explained apologetically to everyone.
Saving her? Susan's eyes lit up. "Miss, please come in for some tea. We'd like to hear what happened."
"Susan, it's three in the morning. Who invites someone for tea at this hour?" Rocky rolled his eyes.
"It's fine," Sophia said with an unbothered smile.
Susan, beaming, linked arms with her and led her inside. "I'm Susan, Rocky's sister-in-law." Then she introduced everyone else one by one.
"I'm Sophia," she reciprocated politely.
A servant quickly brought tea and snacks.
"What happened when Rocky saved you?" Susan handed her a cup of hot tea.
Holding the tea, Sophia gathered her scattered thoughts and relayed the events to Susan.
After listening, Susan seriously speculated, "If their target is really you, they'll likely act again. What do you plan to do?"
"Honestly, I don't know," Sophia admitted, her dark eyes filled with helpless confusion.
Rocky, who had gone upstairs to change out of his bloodied shirt, came down looking fresh.
Kent flashed a mischievous grin. "Susan, if we don't help her, she might be dead by tomorrow."
His words hit the mark for Susan. "True. Sophia, why don't you stay here for now? Leonard, what do you think?"
"Seems you've already made up your mind." Leonard smiled faintly. "Sounds good to me." He and his dear wife were on the same page—though he usually ended up handling the messes she stirred up.
Rocky shot Kent a glare. Why was he egging Susan on? Didn't he have anything better to do?
"This isn't appropriate!" she protested. She was a trouble magnet—associating with her would only bring danger.
"Nonsense. It's settled," Susan declared firmly.
"But I'll bring you trouble," Sophia insisted, not wanting to implicate others, especially the family of her savior.
Susan smiled. "Don't worry. This isn't a place just anyone can approach..." Suddenly, she looked at Sophia with keen interest. "You witnessed Rocky's rapid healing firsthand. Don't you have questions?"
"I already asked."
"What did he say?"
"He said he's a werewolf." Without a doubt, his family must be werewolves too.
So this was the werewolves' headquarters!
"Indeed," Susan said, pleased that Rocky had told her. It solidified her resolve to matchmake Rocky and Sophia. She smiled warmly. "Most people here are werewolves. You might have noticed—members of the werewolf clan all have jade-green eyes."
Sophia nodded.
"Though I'm not one, even though I have green eyes too," Susan added.
A smile touched Leonard's lips, his green eyes full of love. He knew his wife's intention was to show that werewolves weren't fearsome—humans and werewolves could coexist peacefully.
Sophia could tell Susan was a happy woman, with a joyful family and a husband who adored her. It was enviable.
"I'm not afraid of werewolves," she said. She hadn't forgotten that it was humans who wanted to kill her, and a werewolf who saved her.
Maybe werewolves and humans were very different, but as long as they had good hearts, that was what mattered.
Susan smiled appreciatively. "By the way, you should call home and explain the situation to your parents—let them know you're staying here temporarily, so they don't worry."
"They're no longer alive," she said, a faint trace of sorrow in her tone.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Susan said softly. Losing family was the hardest.
"It's alright," Sophia replied, forcing a smile. "It happened three years ago—a car accident."
"Dawn's almost here, and everyone's tired. We can talk more tomorrow," Leonard interjected.
Susan agreed. "Right." Then a spark lit in her green eyes. "Since Sophia was saved by Rocky, let's have her stay in the guest room on your floor. How about that?" She looked at Rocky.
Did he have a choice?
He had no issue with Susan offering Sophia shelter and help. But with so many guest rooms in the house, why did it have to be on his floor? This was just...
Look at the trouble he'd brought upon himself. Really!
"Come on, I'll show you to the guest room," Rocky said resignedly, heading toward the stairs.
Sophia followed. "I'm sorry. I seem to have caused you trouble again. I'll leave as soon as possible."
He stopped midway on the stairs and turned to face her. "It's not your fault. Don't worry about it."
Seeing she didn't respond, he added, "If you don't survive, wouldn't that stab wound have been for nothing?"