The Sickened Luna's Last Chance - Chapter 89: Chapter 89

Ella & Sophia
Ella
“Alexander. Ella.” Sophia stopped a respectful distance away and bowed her head. “I know this is awkward, but I wanted to explain why I’m here.”
Alexander’s arm stayed firmly around my waist. The tension in his body took me completely by surprise; I knew he’d had a falling out with her and her family after what had happened, but he looked positively thunderous.
“I told you he cares more than you think,” my wolf hummed, which I quickly silenced with a very crude mental gesture.
“My distant cousin is running in the election,” Sophia said quickly. “I’m here to see him.” She looked directly at me, and the remorse in her eyes surprised me even more than Alexander’s fury. “I’m not here to cause trouble. I promise.”
I studied her face, searching for any sign of deception. She certainly looked sincere enough, but that meant nothing when it came to Sophia.
“Ella,” Sophia continued, “I owe you an apology. For everything. Whatever my parents did to you, I know you didn’t deserve it.”
Right. Place the blame on her parents.
Sophia might be standing here playing the innocent little girl who had nothing to do with her parents’ crimes, but I knew better. She and her family had intentionally orchestrated my kidnapping. They’d tried to kill me. And now she wanted me to believe she was sorry?
Bullshit.
But I wasn’t about to let her see that I knew the truth. Not here, not tonight, with all these people watching and cameras recording our every move.
“Thank you,” I simply said. I wouldn’t accept the apology.
Sophia’s shoulders sagged, although I wasn’t sure if it was relief or disappointment. Her gaze slid over to Alexander’s, but his eyes remained hard as two emeralds.
He said nothing.
It was clearly a silent dismissal, and to her credit, Sophia took the hint. She nodded to both of us and melted back into the crowd, leaving us alone again.
Alexander’s voice slid through the bond. “She and her family have been punished, I assure you.”
“I know.” I looked away, trying to hide the disappointment I felt that the punishment hadn’t been more severe than it apparently was. “I trust your judgment.”
He tilted his head. “Do you?”
Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, I wasn’t going to let Sophia or anyone else spoil this evening. This was my first night out as an expecting mother, my first chance to play the role of Luna at a major political event. I was going to bask in every damn minute of it.
The rest of the night passed without incident. Alexander introduced me to candidate after candidate, their wives and advisors and campaign managers. Everyone wanted to congratulate us on the pregnancy, to comment on our “beautiful love story,” to ask when the baby was due.
I played my part perfectly, smiling and chatting and letting people touch my flat tummy. I told the romantic stories I’d crafted earlier about Alexander’s devotion and I smiled up at him adoringly.
But as the hours wore on, the exhaustion of it all started catching up to me. Playing the part of a doting wife was starting to drag me down, and constantly seeing Sophia in the background everywhere I looked wasn’t helping any, either.
Finally, while Alexander rubbed elbows with a group of Alphas from the northern territory coalition, I slipped away for a moment to myself and found a quiet table to sit at. He didn’t seem to notice my absence.
As I sat down , it seemed the combination of pregnancy hormones and the late hour was hitting me harder than I expected. I tried to fight it, but the comfortable chair and the dim lighting in this corner of the room were working against me.
Before I knew it, I was nodding off.
I drifted in that pleasant space between sleep and waking, dimly aware of the sounds of the party continuing around me. Voices and laughter, the clink of glasses, the soft music from the string quartet in the corner.
Then I felt a warm hand slip into mine, fingers intertwining with my own.
“Hey,” Alexander said softly. “You okay?”
I opened my eyes slowly. Alexander was crouched beside my chair, still devastatingly handsome even after hours of political schmoozing. His tie was loosened slightly, and a few strands of red hair had fallen across his forehead.
But it was the look in his green eyes that made my breath catch. Gentle and concerned and something strikingly tender.
The mate bond surged between us without warning, flooding me with all kinds of dangerous emotions that felt too big for my body. In my half-asleep state, with my defenses down and my heart open, I didn’t think about contracts or politics or fake relationships.
I just acted on instinct.
I reached up and pulled Alexander’s face down to mine, kissing him with all the passion and longing I’d been trying to hide for months. He made a surprised sound against my lips but didn’t pull away. Instead, his free hand came up to cup my face as he kissed me back just as fiercely.
For a moment, the rest of the world disappeared. There was only Alexander and me and the electric current of our bond sparking between us.
Only the taste of him on my tongue and the feeling of taking exactly what I wanted in that moment.
…
Sophia
Sophia watched from across the room as Alex kissed Ella with enough passion to burn the venue down.
The sight made her want to be fucking sick.
They really were in love, weren’t they?
All this time, Sophia had been telling herself that their relationship was just for show. That Alexander was only playing his part for the cameras and the voters. That deep down, he still cared about her the way she cared about him, and the punishment he’d doled out was just a momentary hiccup.
But that kiss… there was nothing fake or temporary about that kiss.
Sophia’s hands clenched into fists at her sides as she watched the disgusting display. She’d lost him. Really, truly lost him.
The realization was a slap to the face, and for a moment Sophia could barely breathe. Alexander was never coming back to her. He was going to be Alpha King with Ella as his Luna Queen, and they were going to have their perfect little family and live happily ever after.
Unless…
Sophia’s eyes narrowed as an idea began to form. A dangerous, desperate idea that could either give her everything she wanted or destroy her completely one last time.
She scanned the room until she spotted Gabriel near the bar, nursing what looked like his third whiskey of the evening. The Beta looked as miserable as she felt, probably for similar reasons.
Perfect.
Sophia straightened her shoulders and made her way across the room, her red dress swishing around her legs. Gabriel looked up as she approached.
“Sophia.”
She slid onto the barstool next to him and signaled the bartender for a drink. “Interesting evening, don’t you think?”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened as he followed her gaze to where Alexander and Ella were still sitting together in the corner. Fucking lovebirds. “Thrilling.”
“You don’t sound happy about your Alpha’s success.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Sophia leaned closer, lowering her voice. “It means I think we want the same thing, Gabriel. And I think we might be able to help each other get it. For good this time.”
Gabriel hesitated for a long moment, and Sophia wondered if he might decline. Perhaps it was too risky for the Beta.
But to her surprise, he set down his glass and turned to face her. “I’m listening.”