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 crisp white

mouth dropped

“Molly?”

Goddess!” She let out a squeal, causing some nearby

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

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08:39 Tue, 19 Aug

Chapter 43

were exactly

doing here?” I

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?

said smoothly. “Old

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 frecalled days spent on the playground together, usually playing some adventurous game or another that Molly had made

did.

and Liam

“We went to the same one for a few years. So

that’s where you went,” I murmured. “You

that… place. But enough about that. Let me get you guys some drinks, and then I’m

my

early. We have so much to catch

on!”

hurried off to get our drinks, I turned to Liam with narrowed eyes. “You saw her at camp

that place… Time passes differently there. It

happened at

mine

next to mine. “So, Luna Ella, huh? Married to

“It’s not

did/when we were kids. “Guess not. You don’t look as

five years,”

up. “Five years? Damn, I really have been out of the loop. Did you get married as soon as you

much. But what about you?” I asked, eager to change the subject. “What have you been doing

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

should have seen the Northern Lights from up there,” she said, sipping her strawberry

in a loveless marriage, Molly had been living. Really living. Experiencing the world, following her des herself. She seemed so free, so authentic–everything I

ing true to

can’t believe all the things you’ve done,” I admitted. “I’ve never

mouth fell open. “Never? Not even