The Luna and her Quadruplet Pups by Jane Above Story

Chapter 71 – Outed

Jane

I’ve only just dropped the pups off at pre school and am on my way to the office when my phone rings. Glancing at the touchscreen display in the car’s center console, I see Linda’s name appear, and promptly accept the call over bluetooth.” Hello?”

“Hey,” She greets me, sounding a bit tense. “Have you seen the news?”

“No.” I sigh, already fearing the worst,“ What is it now?”

“You just got outed.” She explains gently, “In a very public way.”

“What do you mean?” I ask nervously, thinking that it’s beyond depressing my life has reached a point where she could

be talking about half a dozen secrets or lies.

“It’s on the front page of the Gazette.” She replied simply, “Elise Carrington exposed – NightFang’s Luna returns from the grave.” Linda pauses,” apparently someone let it slip that your identity is fake and exposed the truth – including the fact that you faked your death.”

I curse under my breath. This is the last thing I needed. “I was worried standing by Ethan’s side at the funeral might draw too much attention to me.” I groan. “I should have known better.”

“I don’t think it was the funeral.” Linda corrects me, “The way this is written, well, let’s just say it’s not a flattering article. There’s a lot of details here that they couldn’t have gotten from the last few days, or even just looking into your

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life in the Dark Moon pack.”

“Great.” I mutter grumpily, “As if this week wasn’t going badly enough already.”

“Sorry babe. Call me if you need anything.” Linda offers.

“Thanks.”

of me. My photo is plastered across the front page, right alongside a snapshot from my funeral. As I begin

the Alpha, just over a year after a mysterious attack

young life has been marked by a heart condition and

sale at Eve Mechant’s exclusive boutique – and citizens couldn’t help notice the striking resemblance the entrepreneur bore to our late Luna. Today we can confirm that the two women are one in the same. Jane Blackwell is very much alive, and has been masquerading as the elusive fragrance magnate ever since – but faking her death and forging a new identity is the least of

Petra filed against me after the attack six years ago, blaming me for Eve’s injuries and noting my sudden disappearance from public life. It then provides a laundry list of the probable crimes I committed to get away, and goes on to speculate about my involvement in Petra’s murder. If Eve was still in the good graces of the media,

given all the details of the

wants to call Ethan, but I know how he’ll respond. He’ll promise to take care of it and tell me not to worry, even

layer of complexity to our situation, so I resist

long as the morning, for when I step out of the atelier to go to lunch, I find

At first I stop in the doorway looking like a deer in the headlights as the cameras flash around me, my mind incapable of deciphering

correspondents

my senses, I fight my way through the crowd, keeping my sunglasses lowered over my eyes, and muttering “No comment” until I’m blue

in the face.

my path, that I finally stop. “Jane, what do you have to say to NightFang customers who are advocating boycotting your

the most prosperous on the continent, which means it has the wealthiest citizens and comprises the largest income revenue for my business. If they boycott me, I could lose an inordinate amount of money and

our politics or enterprises, they wear La louve because it is the height of elegance and prestige. Our competitors cannot come close to matching our exclusive scents, and any woman of taste

dare the woman of the NightFang pack to find a fragrance as enigmatic, luxurious and scintillating as our signature, or as nuanced as some of our other lines. Every woman is unique

we

have no accountability if their products are good?” The

that corporations have

of a personal nature.” I amend, knowing that while the reporter might have a point and our customers would be well within their rights to boycott, high fashion has a long history of trumping morality. “Five years ago I ran away from a bad marriage, and I did what I felt was necessary to protect myself. But I never harmed Petra or Eve Mechant, and anyone who says otherwise is either misinformed or pursuing

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I conclude.

undo the damage this article has done. I can’t stand the thought of losing everything I’ve

after me, insisting I can’t go in. When I open the doors, I find Ethan seated behind his desk and his Beta, Matthew, sitting across from him. One of the pack elders is on Matthew’s left, looking