The Sickened Luna's Last Chance - Chapter 43: Chapter 43

Ella & Alexander
Ella
I sulked alone beneath the cherry tree, watching the pink petals turn brown on the gravel pathway. The slow death of my favorite season, spring, seemed awfully fitting for the way I felt inside after that mortifying interaction.
“There you are!”
I looked up to find Liam walking toward me with his hands tucked into his pockets. When he reached me, his smile faltered.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, sitting beside me. “You look like someone just told you the Tooth Fairy isn’t real.”
“It’s nothing.”
Liam raised an eyebrow. “I’ve known you since you were five years old, Ella. I can tell when something’s bothering you, even if we spent a decade apart.”
“It’s just…” I sighed, picking at a loose thread on my sleeve. “Something embarrassing happened earlier. I’d rather not talk about it.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Worse.”
Liam tilted his head. “So are you planning on sitting here sulking all day because of it?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. Feels cathartic.”
“Come on.” He stood up suddenly and held out his hand. “Let’s go out. Dinner. My treat.”
The question made me smile despite myself. After spending the last few hours hiding in the garden, too mortified to face either Alexander or Gabriel, the thought of escaping the mansion sounded heavenly.
An hour later, Liam pulled his car up to a small restaurant I’d never seen before. It was tucked away on a side street in town, with a glowing neon sign in the window that simply read “24Hrs Diner” in bright blue and red.
Inside, the smell of french fries and milkshakes made my mouth water. The hostess led us to a small booth near the back where the bright red leather was faintly cracked and the enamel tabletop was slightly sticky.
“How did you find this place?” I asked, looking around at the other patrons—mainly manual laborers and truck drivers, from the looks of it, and none of them spared us so much as a glance. “I didn’t even know it existed.”
Liam shrugged. “I like exploring. Finding hidden gems.”
I bit my lip, thinking about how I’d spent so many years eating by myself in that big, lonely mansion that I hadn’t done much exploring myself in the very pack I was supposed to be running with my husband. This diner seemed like a staple amongst the pack members, and I had never patronized it.
A few minutes later, a server in a baby blue dress with a crisp white apron approached our table. “Can I get you anything to drink?”
I looked up, and before I could get the words out, my mouth dropped open. Standing there, notepad in hand, was a face I hadn’t seen in years.
“Molly?”
The woman’s eyes widened. “Ella? Oh my Goddess!” She let out a squeal, causing some nearby patrons to look up. “It’s really you! I can’t believe it!”
Molly Henderson. Our one other childhood friend who had disappeared from Stormhollow just before Liam did, leaving without so much as a goodbye. Her blonde hair was now dyed blue and cropped close to her head, and her once-round face had matured into sharper angles. But those mischievous green eyes were exactly the same.
“What are you doing here?” I gasped, standing to hug her.
Molly laughed, returning my embrace without hesitation. She smelled like coffee and diner food. “I work here, obviously. The real question is what are you two doing here? Together?”
“Just catching up,” Liam said smoothly. “Old friends reunion.”
“Speaking of reunions,” I said as I pulled back from the hug, “you two don’t seem terribly surprised to see each other.” My heart ached faintly as I recalled days spent on the playground together, usually playing some adventurous game or another that Molly had made up. Liam missed her just as much as I did.
Molly and Liam exchanged a look.
“Camp,” Liam finally said. “We went to the same one for a few years. So it hasn’t been that long since we saw each other.”
“So that’s where you went,” I murmured. “You disappeared when we were nine.”
Molly’s eyes guttered. “Yeah, my parents shipped me off to that… place. But enough about that. Let me get you guys some drinks, and then I’m taking my break early. We have so much to catch up on!”
As Molly hurried off to get our drinks, I turned to Liam with narrowed eyes. “You saw her at camp and didn’t tell me?”
“It was years ago.” Liam’s gaze dropped to his lap, the tips of his ears reddening faintly. “Ella, that place… Time passes differently there. It feels like I was there for thirty years. I saw so many faces and went through so much—”
“It’s alright.” I reached across the table and squeezed his hand. He still hadn’t told me exactly what happened at that camp, but I was beginning to piece it together. “I’m sure it was all a blur.”
Liam nodded, his hand tightening around mine for a moment before he pulled away.
Molly returned a few minutes later with our drinks and three menus. “I’m officially on break now,” she announced, sliding into the chair next to mine. “So, Luna Ella, huh? Married to the Alpha of Ashclaw. That’s quite the step up from the shy girl I used to know.”
I felt my cheeks heat. “It’s not as glamorous as it sounds.”
“No?” Molly tilted her head, studying me in that way she always did when we were kids. “Guess not. You don’t look as happy as I’d expect a newly married Luna to be.”
“We’ve been married for five years,” I corrected her.
Molly’s eyebrows shot up. “Five years? Damn, I really have been out of the loop. Did you get married as soon as you turned eighteen?”
“Pretty much. But what about you?” I asked, eager to change the subject. “What have you been doing all this time?”
Molly’s stories kept us enthralled throughout dinner. After that summer camp, she’d traveled across the country, working odd jobs and living in different packs. She’d been a bartender, a tour guide, and had even spent six months living with a nomadic pack in the far north.
“You should have seen the Northern Lights from up there,” she said, sipping her strawberry milkshake. “Like magic dancing in the sky.”
Damn. While I’d been trapped in a loveless marriage, Molly had been living. Really living. Experiencing the world, following her desires, being true to herself. She seemed so free, so authentic—everything I wasn’t.
“I can’t believe all the things you’ve done,” I admitted. “I’ve never even been to a bar.”
Molly’s mouth fell open. “Never? Not even once?”
I shook my head, embarrassed. “My father was strict. And then I got married young, and…”
“And your husband keeps you on a short leash?” Molly guessed.
“No, it’s not that.” I twisted my napkin in my lap. “It’s just… I never really had the chance to experience those things. I was always trying to be what everyone else wanted me to be.”
“Well, fuck that,” Molly said bluntly. “Life’s too short to live it for someone else.”
She had no fucking idea how on the nose that statement was. Life was too short—especially mine. I only had months left to live unless Alexander marked me or rejected me, and sometimes I really doubted that he would keep his promise.
“You’re right,” I whispered.
“Of course I am.” Molly grinned. “Listen, we should hang out sometime. I could show you what you’ve been missing.” She grabbed a napkin and scribbled her number on it. “Text me. We’ll have a girls’ night out.”
“I’d like that,” I said, tucking the napkin into my purse. And I meant it.
By the time we left the restaurant, my earlier embarrassment had faded completely. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed so much or felt so… normal. Just a woman having dinner with friends, not the Luna of Ashclaw with all the expectations that came with it.
Once home, I slipped into the bedroom quietly. The room was dark, and I could make out Alexander’s form beneath the covers. He was already asleep, thankfully.
As I changed and climbed into bed, I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. Seeing Molly again, hearing about her adventures, being offered her friendship—it felt like a door had opened in my life.
Maybe I would take her up on that girls’ night out.
…
Alexander
My eyes opened the moment Ella slipped into the room, but I quickly snapped them shut. I heard her moving around, changing, and was she… giggling softly to herself?
Cracking my eyes back open just enough to see, my suspicions were confirmed. Ella was grinning from ear to ear.
Was that smile because of Liam? Because of her night out with him?
My wolf growled angrily. My mate was spending time with another male—smiling for him, laughing with him, while I had sat here alone all night.
Suddenly, I regretted turning down Gabriel’s offer to go out. I’d initially said no, but… why? Because it felt wrong to go out without my mate? Because I felt obligated to Ella, the woman who had happily gone out with Liam?
What was I doing? Lying here, letting her go out with another man while I sat at home by myself?