The sickened luna’s last chance

Ella

“What?” I sniffled, wiping at my nose with the back of my hand much to the chagrin of the nearby stylist, who looked like she was about to have a conniption as she rushed over to dab fresh powder on it.

“The camp I was sent to had… methods. Harsh methods, but effective.” Something dark flickered across Liam’s face, and for a moment, I saw a hint of a man who had suffered deeply at the hands of others. “But I did learn a few tricks for speaking under pressure.”

He looked around the room, his gaze landing on Lilith, who was arranging flowers in a vase nearby.

“Lilith!” he called. “Can you help us for a moment?”

Lilith set down her flowers and hurried over. “What is it, dear?”

“I need your help preparing Ella for the press conference,” Liam explained. “We’re going to simulate the chaos she’ll experience out there

Lilith looked confused but nodded anyway. “Alright. What do you need me to do?”

“I want you to be as distracting as possible,” Liam said. “Talk over me, walk around Ella, touch her shoulder, do whatever you can to throw her off Meanwhile, I’ll be hammering her with questions similar to what the journalists might ask.”

Lilith’s eyes widened slightly, but she nodded again. “I see. Alright, I can do that.”

I swallowed hard. “Liam, I don’t think-”

“Trust me,” he said firmly. “This is how they trained me. When I first arrived at camp, I could barely speak to anyone without having a panic attack–you know what I was like. The counselors weren’t gentle with me, and I’ll of course be kinder to you. But some of their methods did help. Obviously.”

Liam was right; when I had last seen him, he was a meek and socially anxious young boy who could hardly string twe words together with anyone except me. He was far different now; charming, outgoing, well–spoken.

The type of Alpha everyone expected him to be, even if his experiences had added a layer of darkness in between the facade and the boy inside.

I sighed. “Okay. I don’t think we have enough time to make a difference at this point, but I’ll give it a try.”

“Luna Ella,” Liam began, “can you tell us why you and Alpha Alexander kept your contract a secret from the public?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but then Lilith started humming loudly, circling around me and occasionally poking my shoulder or arm. The sudden sensory overload made my mind go blank.

“I… um…” My throat closed up. “We didn’t intend to-”

“Is it true that your father received monthly payments as part of this arrangement?” Liam interrupted.

Lilith bumped into me from behind, causing me to stumble forward. “Sorry, dear!” she said, momentarily breaking her character.

“Answer my question, Luna Ella.”

“Yes, but-”

now you’re both suddenly acting as if you love one another?”

now walking in circles around me, her humming growing louder, occasionally brushing against my arms

head. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to laugh or cry. The whole situation

I stopped, shaking my head. “No,

1/4

Chapter 22

suddenly clapped her hands right by

damn it!” I snapped. “How am I supposed to

each other, inlcropéene i shoved in your face.

can’t do this.

breaths. Focus on

Liam fired off more questions. But the more we practiced, the worse I felt. Each question seemed to trip me up more, and Lilith’s distractions were driving me to

that you and Alpha

poked me in the

“1–we–that’s not-”

marriage is a sham and that you never intend to

welling up in my eyes. This was impossible. I was going to make a complete fool of myself in front of the press. I was going to ruin whatever chance Alexander had of becoming

that the room had gone quiet. Looking up, I saw that a small crowd had

burned through me. I couldn’t even handle my own household staff

“Enough.”

voice cut through the room. The

flash of irritation crossed his face as he glanced at Liam. “You’re just making her

“I’m trying to

Alexander cut him off. “But that’s not what Ella needs. I know what she

blinked. “What

me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me against his side. The sudden contact made my breath catch in my throat. He was warm and solid, smelling like that scent I knew

touch.

chest, and I couldn’t help but lean

his arm tightening around

Finally, he turned

But something strange happened. With Alexander’s arm around me, my mind suddenly went quiet. The chaos around me seemed to fade away, and I could focus on

never intended to deceive the public, but some matters are personal, even for public figures

monthly payments to

Chapter 22

of a larger arrangement between Ashclaw and Starmhollow, I answered smoothly: “Our packt have always bewn life,

Was that a silent sign of approval? It was ironic–the

he had done was put his arm around

more minutes, with Liam firing questions and me