The sickened luna’s last chance

Chapter 181

The shift was pure bliss.

Id forgotten how fucking good it felt to be in my wolf form. Every sense was sharper, every scent and sound

magnified tenfold..

My wolf was a sleek silver-gray, smaller than Alexander's massive black form but built for speed and agility. |

stretched, testing my muscles, and felt nothing but strength and vitality flowing through me.

The gwas everything I'd hoped it would be and more. My team worked together like a well-oiled machine,

using strategy and coordination to outmaneuver Alexander's group at every turn. | found myself falling back into

tactics I'd learned years ago, before my father had forcedto play the role of a perfect Luna.

For a little while, | was a teenager again, running with the Stormhollow warriors. Wild and free and with the wind

in my fur.

It felt so good.

At one point, | managed to sneak right past Alexander himself to snatch their flag from its hiding spot. He caught

sight ofas | was making my escape and gave chase, his massive form crashing through the underbrush

behind me. But | was faster in a straight line, and | managed to cross back into our territory with the flag

clutched in my jaws.

When | looked back, Alexander had shifted back to human form and was standing there in just his jeans, hands

on his hips and an expression of bewildered admiration on his face.

My team won decisively, much to the delight of the spectators who had gathered to watch. Even Gabriel looked

begrudgingly impressed.

I was still in wolf form, savoring the last few moments of freedom before | had to shift back and return to being

the perfectly polite Luna Ella.

Suddenly, | caught a scent that made my wolf go completely still.

It was familiar. Not just familiar, but... family. The kind of scent that my wolf recognized on an instinctual level,

like pack bonds and blood ties all rolled into one.

My first thought was that my father had shown up to the event. | turned, trying to track the scent, expecting to

see his face somewhere in the crowd.

But the scent trail led in the opposite direction, toward the edge of the property where the staff had set up a

small area for the servers and other workers.

It led toward Lilith.

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Chapter 181

+15 BONUS

| blinked, shaking my head, sure | was mistaken. Lilith wasn’t family. She might as well have been, but

we weren't related, no matter how much | wished we were.

But just as quickly as I'd noticed it, the scent disappeared, carried away by the hot summer breeze. | stood there

for a moment longer, confused and unsettled, before deciding | must have been wrong. The

excitement of the gand the unfamiliar sensation of being in wolf form again were probably just

makinghypersensitive to everything.

| shifted back to human form, the transformation leavingslightly dizzy but exhilarated.

Alexander was waiting forwhen | emerged from the woods. He immediately rushed over to me,

lookingover as if checking for injury.

“How do you feel? Any dizziness? Nausea?”

“Relax, Alexander.” His concern for the baby was touching, but a little over the top. “The baby is fine,

seriously. If anything, | think shifting was invigorating.”

“I'm not just worried about the baby. I'm worried about you, too.”

| blinked, taken aback by the calm conviction in Alexander's voice. His green eyes were fixed intently on

me, and the way he looked atwas a little too close for comfort to the way he’d looked atin the

kitchen the other night.

But | had to have been mistaken. He wasn’t... He couldn't...

Could he?

“We're fine,” | finally managed, throat bobbing with the effort of swallowing. “Thank you for your

concern.”

Before he could say anything else, Gabriel appeared at his elbow with that usual sour expression on his

face. He whispered something in Alexander's ear, and Alexander nodded, already turning to leave.

“I'll be right back. Ella, wait here for a few minutes while | handle this, okay? Don’t go wandering off. |

want you to rest after all that exertion.”

| wanted to point out that | was perfectly capable of taking care of myself, especially after I'd just proven my wolf

was back in fighting form. But the concern in his green eyes stoppedfrom arguing.

“Fine.”

Alexander looked like he wanted to say something else, but Gabriel was already tugging him toward the main

house. | watched them go, then turned back toward the festivities.

| was leaning against a lightpost, heavily debating getting a rather large ice cream cone, when the sound of

music started up somewhere behind me.

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Chapter 181

+15 BONUS

Curious, | looked around and spotted a group of women near a fiddle player, all dancing and swishing their skirts,

their laughter carrying across the lawn. They looked carefree and happy, every bit the fantasy of myself that I'd

concocted when | thought | was dying.

When one of them turned and beckoned to me, | couldn't help myself. | grinned and jogged over to join the

dance without a second thought.

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