The sickened luna’s last chance

Chapter 76

Ella & Alexander

Ella

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The longer | lay there in that empty bed, the more bitter | became.

What had | expected? That Alexander would stay beside me, maybe stroke my hair while | slept? That he'd

wakewith gentle kisses and promises?

Goddess, | was such a naive little fool.

Eventually, | dragged myself out of bed and pulled on a robe, wrapping it tightly around myself. | wasn’t going to

hide away in shame. And besides, | needed coffee.

But when | reached the main staircase, | heard voices coming from Alexander's office. The door was partially

open, and | could make out several people inside. Curious despite myself, | crept closer.

“-why your car was used for the kidnapping...” That was Alexander's voice.

| pressed myself against the wall beside the door, straining to listen.

“Alex, | swear to you, my car was stolen!” Sophia’s voice was desperate. “I reported it to the police yesterday

morning when | discovered it was missing from my driveway.”

“Convenient timing,” Alexander replied coldly. “Your car gets stolen the sday my wife is kidnapped.”

My wife. The way he said it... But | hardly dared to let myself wonder if | was wrong about him.

“I know how it looks, but I would never-"

“You pushed her out of a barn. You released a rogue at a public event. You destroyed her locket at the charity

auction. If you want to hurt her, then just say that.”

“I never did any of that!”

“Alexander.” This was a new voice-Richard, Sophia’s father. “Perhaps we should discuss this more calmly.”

“It wasn’t Sophia,” Margaret, Sophia’s mother, suddenly chimed in. “It was us.”

The office went silent. My heart pounded as | inched closer to the door, pricking my ears to hear Alexander's

response.

“What?” Alexander was deadly quiet now.

“Your father and | hired the man,” Margaret said. “We've been the ones who have been interfering in your

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Chapter 76

marriage. The rumors, even having someone steal Sophia’s car to frher. We did it all.”

“We thought if we could create enough problems, you would finally be able to get out of this loveless marriage.

We all know you love Sophia more than Ella.”

My pulse suddenly went still.

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They intended to break us up. They spoke as if Alexander had been hoping to get out of our marriage all along...

And he loved Sophia.

A small, traitorous little sliver of my heart didn’t want that to be true. But right now, | couldn't be certain.

| heard a floorboard creaking and saw Margaret's slender frcinto view, clutching that pearl

necklace she always wore. Her eyes flicked in my direction, but I inched back into the shadows before she

could see me.

“If you want to end this marriage,” she went on, “you should do it now. Before you fall any deeper into this

situation. If you wait much longer, you might becunwilling to reject her when the tcomes.”

| pressed my fingers over my mouth, hot tears pricking the backs of my eyes.

They were talking about Alexander rejecting me. Like it was a given. Like it was always the plan.

“Alex, you must be logical,” Richard said. “You'll need a strong Luna for your political career. Someone like

Sophia, with connections and proper breeding. Not ssick girl who'll be dead within the year anyway.”

“Whatever mistakes you made with her, they won't matter,” Margaret added. “Sophia will forgive you if you

slept with Ella, won't you, darling?”

Sophia sniffled. “Of course. It's natural for mates to be physically attracted to one another-it’s not your

fault...”

| couldn’t listen anymore. Without hesitating, | turned and fled back up the stairs as quietly as | could.

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Alexander

“You don’t need to wait until the end of your campaign to reject her,” Margaret said. “Everyone knows you love

Sophia more than Ella anyway; the starcrossed lovers story will generate even more interest in your campaign.”

She gestured to Liam. “Isn't that right, Liam?”

Liam, for his part, didn’t answer. Just continued to stand there in shock, just as he had been throughout this

entire pathetic conversation.

“I don’t want to reject her.”

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Chapter 76

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The words sounded like a gunshot in the quiet room, surprising even me. Liam snapped his head toward me.

Gabriel's eyes widened. Sophia's face crumpled, and her parents just stared, mouths hanging open.

My confession tookby surprise just as much as it did the others, but it felt right. I didn’t want to reject Ella.

After last night... | wanted her to be mine. All of her.

“Alex, please,” Sophia whispered, rising to her feet. “You can’t mean that. We've loved each other since we were

teenagers. We're supposed to be together.”

“No, Sophia. We're not.” | looked at her directly, making sure she understood every word. “You never had a real

chance with me. It’s tyou accepted that and moved on.”

Sophia's sobs filled the room, but | felt no sympathy for her. Not after what she and her family had put Ella

through.

“You all need to pay for what you've done,” | said, turning to Richard and Margaret. “All else aside, hiring

someone to kidnap my wife goes far beyond simple meddling.”

Margaret scoffed. “She was never in any real danger. That rogue was just going to rough her, up, scare her-"

“You had her drugged, tied up, taken to a barn in the middle of nowhere, and nearly raped.” My voice was hardly

more than a growl. “And he intended to take pictures of the entire thing like skind of

humiliation.”

“Alexander, please be reasonable,” Richard said desperately. “Our pack needs this alliance. We've invested

everything in maintaining good relations with your territory. And ultimately, no real harm was done. Ella

wasn’t actually hurt.”

“But she was,” | hissed, feeling my wolf rise to the surface of my skin. “That was an incident that she’ll never

forget for as long as she lives.”

Margaret and Richard exchanged frantic looks while Sophia whimpered in the background. My wolf raged, urging