The sickened luna’s last chance

Chapter 71

Alexander

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I was buried in quarterly financial reports when my phone rang. The pack’s trade contracts needed reviewing, and Gabriel’s recent unauthorized communications had left me double–checking every single agreement we had in place. I couldn’t afford to make mistakes now, even if I was exhausted from working on this paperwork all day.

“Alexander speaking,” I answered the phone, expecting a pack official or my Beta.

“Hey, it’s Liam. Are you busy?”

I sat up at the sound of Liam’s voice and glanced at the stack of papers on my desk. “Always. Did you need

something?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to grab dinner tonight. Talk about some things.”

Surprised, I blinked. Liam had mentioned wanting to go out and talk before, but I didn’t expect him to actually go through with it. I thought it was just one of those things that people say to each other, something in the same vein of “Yeah, we’ll definitely still be best friends after high school!”

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I had to admit, though, I was exhausted after today. My eyes were bleary from looking at paperwork all day and my hand was cramping from writing. Maybe getting out for a bit wouldn’t be the worst thing, even if the company was… interesting.

“Alright,” I sighed. “Where do you want to go?”

“There’s a new place downtown. I’ll send you the address. Meet me in forty–five?”

An hour later, I surprisingly found myself sitting next to Liam at the bar of a new restaurant in town. The place was busy, as it was their grand opening today. I was cutting off a piece of an admittedly delicious steak, my usual glass of bourbon sitting beside me.

We’d ordered our food and drinks and made small talk about pack politics for about twenty minutes, and I had to admit, Liam wasn’t bad company. But I could tell from the look on his face that there was more to say, and finally, he got to the point.

“Alexander, I have to ask you something directly, and I need an honest answer.”

I set down my glass of bourbon. “Go ahead.”

“Do you plan on marking Ella?”

Fantastic. Of all the things I’d expected Liam to ask about, that was definitely one of them, but I’d hoped he would have the intelligence to not bring it up in a public place.

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you want to

his seat. “Because I care about her. And I think you do too, even if you

“It’s complicated.’

huffed, clearly frustrated. “But she’s dying, Alexander. You know that now.

for a long moment, trying to read his expression. Why was he pushing this so hard? What

it

love with Ella since they were kids. He’d made that clear enough over the past months, even if he’d never acted on it while she was

her…

Liam would be right there

My wolf

see,” I said coldly. “So this is about you,

frowned. “What

to know if I’m going to mark her so you can plan accordingly. Make your move after the divorce goes

“That’s not-”

vulture for months, playing the concerned friend. But

your chance, aren’t

went red. “Alexander, you’re being

just because you’ve been caught in the act.” I leaned back in my chair.

hear. No, I’m not marking her. Ella will

them out anyway. Because it was the truth. Ella had made herself perfectly clear when she told me she had no intention of letting me mark her. She just wanted

she ran to her childhood

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11:35 Sat, 23 Aug

Chapter 71

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heard raised

the hell?” Liam muttered, craning his

and

She was stumbling through the restaurant, her silver hair disheveled and blood

She was crying, her face streaked with

My heart stopped.

to my feet with Liam right behind me. We pushed through the

her.

she saw me. “Thank the Goddess you’re

by the shoulders. Up close, I could see

deep, and her hands were shaking. “Where’s

Lilith sobbed. “He

wolf began to roil with fear and fury. If someone had laid a hand on my