The sickened luna’s last chance

Chapter 7

Ella POV

The sudden touch of Alexander’s hands on my back, exposed from the courageous dip of my dressline, made my skin feel

like it was on fire.

“Why would I do that, darling?” he laughed. “She keeps making these jokes lately, all because I forgot to rub her feet last night.”

Rub my feet?

I couldn’t decide if the laugh or the embrace or the imaginary foot-rubbing was more unsettling. All three of those things. were so out of character for him that it briefly made me wonder if he had been replaced with a lookalike in the past thirty seconds.

“You never rub my feet,” I hissed, pushing my palms into his chest. “You’re a liar.”

Alexander held fast and chuckled. “Women,” he joked, eliciting some laughs from the people around us. The only people who weren’t laughing were Sophia and Gabriel. My father, for appearances, managed a faint chuckle.

“Alexander, what are you talking about?” I whispered, suddenly turning angry. “And let me go-”

But then I saw the faint glimmer in his green eyes and movement over his shoulder, and I understood.

The Alpha Council Supervisory Board had arrived-six Alphas in expensive suits were moving through the crowd, which was parting around them like the sea. And they were headed straight for us.

Now I understood why Alexander was suddenly acting as if we were just a playful couple having a good-natured spat. Why he was lying about our intimate life like that.

He was playing up our “relationship” because the Board had just walked in.

The whole reason why Alexander had thrown this banquet tonight was to curry their favor for the upcoming election. And he couldn’t accomplish that if his perfect little wife was misbehaving, could he?

mouth to say something, not really caring what the Board thought of him at

Meanwhile, Sophia and Gabriel had lowered their gazes completely. “It’s

all nodded in response, but they were looking at us. I felt my face heat slightly under their scrutinizing gazes. These Alphas were some of the best of the

in particular, who stood at the front, caught my

excruciatingly at me and Alexander. His brown eyes kept flitting down to where my palms were pressed into Alexander’s chest, then

his face.

something almost familiar about him, but I couldn’t quite

and slender but in a masculine way, with his dirty blond hair neatly combed back. He wore a midnight blue suit with a matching tie

keeping one arm firmly wrapped around my waist. I touched his hand, testing it to see if I could pry his fingers away, but he just dug them deeper into my skin as

Chapter

anything. “I’m so glad you were

Alexander.” The handsome man at the front extended his hand, and Alexander

must be Luna Ella.”

hand and kissed it. I felt Alexander’s arm tighten even further around me,

around us. “This is a lovely party.

nodded toward Gabriel. “Not this banquet, no. Beta Gabriel planned it himself. I’m taking on less of a party-planning

because I knew the Board might look

entire goal right now was to make Alexander look bad,

I didn’t get the reaction I’d expected from

are taking on administrative roles rather than party planning, which we believe to be a good thing.” He looked around at his comrades, who all nodded

one Alpha chimed in. “Truly,

it had so much to

hors d’oeuvres in their hands, Alexander led them around the banquet hall, showing off the various portraits,

breathe-let alone slip away. Every time I opened my mouth to say something that might harm him, he would smoothly talk over

strangely familiar young Alpha kept