The sickened luna’s last chance

Chapter 86

Ella & Alexander

Ella

“Gabriel!” ! shouted, pounding my fists against the metal. “Gabriel, letout!”

Bot there was no response; just the ominous hum of the vault’s security systems kicking into overdrive. The

timer on the wall continued its countdown, and | could already feel the air growing thinner.

My chest tightened as | struggled to draw in a full breath. The oxygen was slowly being sucked out of the room,

just like Gabriel had warnedabout. | pressed my palms against the door and threw my full weight against it,

but it didn’t budge.

“Help!” | screamed. “Somebody help me!”

Who would heardown here? The vault was likely soundproof, and Alexander was probably still out and about

dealing with pack business. Gabriel was the only one who knew where | was, and he had likely deliberately

lockedin here.

That bastard. He'd probably planned this from the moment | used my Luna Voice on him.

As the seconds ticked by, my breathing becmore labored. Each inhale felt shallow, like trying to breathe

through a straw.

“The baby,” | whispered, eyes widening as the realization struck me. Goddess, what was this doing to the baby?

As if on cue, sharp cramps suddenly shot through my lower abdomen, makingdouble over with a gasp. My

hands flew to my stomach as another wave of pain hit me. The lack of oxygen was affecting both of us.

“No, no, no,” | whispered, sliding down the door until | was sitting on the cold floor. “Please don’t let anything

happen to the baby.”

The cramps intensified, and | found myself rocking back and forth as tears streamed down my face. After

everything we'd been through, | couldn't lose this baby now. Not like this.

The timer showed thirty seconds left.

My vision started to blur around the edges, dark spots dancing in front of my eyes. This was it. | was going to die

down here, suffocated in Alexander's precious vault, and my baby was going to die with me.

All because of a locket.

Twenty seconds.

| closed my eyes and pressed both hands against my stomach, trying to send every ounce of love and protection

| could to the tiny life growing in my belly. My wolf howled, but even her strength was waning. She couldn't

protect us.

Ten seconds.

Suddenly, the machinery whirred to a stop. | heard the lock disengaging, the heavy wheel turning, and then the

door swung open so hard and fast that it crashed against the wall behind it like it didn’t weight two hundred

pounds.

Alexander was standing in the doorway, face twisted with fury. Behind him, Gabriel looked pale and shaken.

“Ella!” Alexander raced over toand dropped to a crouch, his hands immediately going to my face. “Are you

hurt? Is the baby-"

“I'm okay,” | gasped, still struggling to catch my breath. “I think I'm okay.”

Alexander's green eyes blazed as he helpedto my feet, one arm wrapped tightly around my waist. When he

turned to face Gabriel, the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

Mon, 25 AUTODO

Chapter 86

“Explain.”

Gabriel swallowed hard. “The security measures turned on unexpectedly, Alpha. | couldn’t get the door open.

Trust me, | tried

Alexander looked at me. | was still too breathless to speak. Frankly, | didn’t entirely believe Gabriel; but I also

doubted he would do something as heinous as lock his Luna in the vault. He knew damn well he would be caught

and severely punished if he had.

“Why was she in here in the first place?” Alexander finally demanded.

| found my voice before Gabriel could answer. “I was looking for my locket. He toldyou'd had it repaired and

added to the collection.”

Alexander whipped around to stare at me. “What?”

“Gabriel said you realized it was valuable and wanted to keep it for yourself. That you'd already had him put it in

the vault.” My throat felt raw from shouting, but | forced the words out. “I just wanted to get it back.”

“Ella, no.” Alexander's expression shifted from fury to something that looked almost like pain. “That's not what

happened at all.”

He turned back to Gabriel, and I'd never seen him look so dangerous. “Tell her the truth. All of it.”

Gabriel's face went ashen. “Alpha, please-"

“Now.”

The Beta’s whole body trembled as he fought against the compulsion, but Alexander's authority was absolute. “I

lied,” Gabriel whispered. Alexander never wanted to keep the locket. He had it repaired for you. As a gift.”

My heart stuttered. “What?”

“He wanted to surprise you.”

I slowly turned to stare at Alexander, who was watchingwith an unreadable expression on his face. He'd

wanted to giveback the locket. Not take it away, but return it to me.

“Where is it now?” Alexander asked Gabriel. “I told you to pick it up from the jeweler today.”

Gabriel looked like he wanted to vomit. “I... | was angry. About Luna, Ella constantly using her Luna Voice on me,

bossingaround. So I...” He swallowed hard and stared at his feet. “I flushed it down the toilet.”/

The words madestagger backwards a step. Gone. Lilith’s locket was gone forever.

Alexander went completely still. When he spoke again, his voice was so low and dangerous that it was hardly

more than a growl. He took a step toward Gabriel. “You. Did...” Another step. “What?”

“I flushed it. It's gone.” Gabriel shrank beneath Alexander's shadow. | was angry and | wasn’t thinking clearly

and-"

“Get upstairs,” Alexander snarled, releasing him. “We'll finish this conversation in private.”

Alexander

Twenty minutes later, | found myself in my office watching Gabriel clutch his face where I'd landed a switch

punch the moment we were alone. His lip was split and bleeding, and his eye was already swelling shut.

“You deliberately put my mate and child at risk,” | whispered. “As if it wasn’t already bad enough that you

destroyed something precious to her out of spite. Giveone reason why | shouldn't strip you of your rank right

now.”

“Because | have information you need to see.”

Chapter 86.

“I don’t want to hear your excuses

“It’s about your parents.” Gabriel reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “I've

been investigating Ella’s pack, just like your asked. And my operative found this.” He held out the paper with a

shaking hand. “Hidden in their territory's archives.”

| snatched the document from him and unfolded it. My blood ran cold as | read the familiar handwriting. It was a

letter from Ella’s father to someone whose nhad been deliberately obscured. But the content was clear

enough.

“The Ashclaw Alphas have bectoo powerful. | think | know of a way to get them out of the picture. And their

son is young and impressionable...

My hands shook as | read it again. The letter was dated just two months before my parents‘ deaths.

“This doesn’t prove Ella knew anything about it,” I said, looking up at the Beta.

“You shouldn’t be so quick to trust her completely. Her family clearly had plans for you long before your marriage

was arranged. They thought you would be easy to manipulate with your parents out of the picture, so they could

gain influence from Ashclaw without incriminating themselves or causing a

war.”

Gabriel was right; the letter explicitly stated that my parents could be taken out in an “accident”, that it would

leavein charge and that | was young enough to manipulate.

I'd always had my suspicions of just that, but seeing it written out like this....

And then, of course, there was Ella. This letter implied that they sent her here to manipulate me.

But Ella was younger than me; it was very possible that she hadn't been aware of her role. And after everything |

had seen her family do her, the horrible way they treated her, | still wasn't sure if she would have actually done

their bidding if they had outright ordered her to.

For all 1 knew, she was just as much of a victim in this as | was.

“Keep investigating,” | said curtly. “I want concrete proof that Ella was knowingly involved in this scheme. And

one more thing.” | fixed him with a stare that made him flinch. “One more slip-up like today and you'll be

permanently demoted to Omega. Are we clear?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Good. Now get out of here and go see the pack doctor.”

Gabriel scurried away, leavingalone with my thoughts and the damning letter hidden in my desk. | sat there

for several minutes, trying to reconcile the Ella | had cto know recently with the possibility that she might

be exactly what we had always suspected.

But | couldn't think about that right now. Whatever the truth was about her family, Ella was hurting. My wolf

wouldn't letsit here and stew when she and our baby had just nearly been suffocated.

| found her in our bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed with her knees drawn up to her chest. She'd been

crying, judging from the red rings around her eyes and the way she quickly looked away when | entered.

“Hey,” | said softly.

“It's really gone, isn’t it?” She didn’t look at me.

“I'm sorry. Gabriel will be punished for what he did.”

“It doesn’t matter. Nothing's going to bring it back.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “That locket

was precious to Lilith. Precious to me. She’s the mother | never got to have, and | lost the one heirloom she had.”

The hurt in her words made my wolf whine pitifully. Without thinking, | reached over and took her hand. “Come

with me.”

She looked confused but letlead her back down to the vault. | punched in the code and opened the door,

then guided her inside to one of the display cases near the front.

13:28 Mon, 25 Aug ‘UDO

Chapter 86

tpulled out my keys and unlocked the case, reaching inside to retrieve a delicate diamond necklace. The stones

caught the light and threw tiny rainhours across the walls as | lifted it out.

“This was my great-grandmother’s,” | said, turning to face Ella. “I think you should wear it.”

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