The sickened luna’s last chance

Chapter 87

Ella

The diamond necklace was admittedly beautiful. It hung delicately from Alexander’s hands, tiny stones catching the light and throwing rainbows across the vault walls.

But it could never replace Lilith’s locket. Nothing could.

Still, the gesture itself was touching. Alexander was trying to give me his great–grandmother’s necklace in an attempt to make up for what had happened to Lilith’s locket.

“You don’t have to,” I said quietly. “It’s a family heirloom-”

“I want to.” Alexander stepped closer and twirled one finger. “Turn around.”

I did as he asked, lifting my hair out of the way. His fingers were warm against the back of my neck as he clasped the necklace, and I shivered at the contact. The diamonds settled against my collarbone, heavier than Lilith’s delicate silver chain had been but just as warm.

“There.” Alexander’s hands rested on my shoulders for a moment, warm and broad, before he took a step back. “Perfect.”

I turned back to face him, one hand automatically going to the necklace. “It’s gorgeous. But Alexander, I can’t help but wonder… are there string attached?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, are you expecting me to wear this to the banquet? To show it off like some kind of token of your…” I bit my lower lip as i struggled to find the right words. “Your fake affection?”

“Ella, no.” Alexander stepped closer, close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. “I’m not giving this to you for political reasons. I’m giving it to you because you lost something important today, and I wanted to give you something beautiful to take its place.”

The sincerity in his green eyes made my breath lodge in my throat. “You mean that?”

“I do.”

One thrum down the bond was all it took. One single pulse of promise, like a soft whisper caressing my mind, and I knew he was telling the truth.

My shoulders deflated with a soft sigh, and for a moment, neither of us spoke. I couldn’t seem to find the right words, not when we were surrounded by all of these artifacts and he was looking at me like I was the most valuable thing in the room.

“I’m sorry about the locket,” he said. “I know how much it meant to you.”

your fault. Gabriel

I wanted to surprise you with it,

face, and suddenly we were standing so close I could feel the warmth from his body enveloping me like a cocoon. His eyes dropped to my lips, and mine dropped to his.

cramp shot through my lower abdomen. I gasped and doubled

instantly, although he hardly touched me, as if he were afraid I might shatter.

I managed through gritted teeth. “I think the stress from

went pale. “We need to get you upstairs.

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Chapter 87

me out of the vault and up the stairs, one arm wrapped securely around my waist. By the time we reached our bedroom, the cramping had mostly subsided, but Alexander insisted

call Dr. Evelyn?” he asked

the panic from being trapped in

didn’t look convinced, but didn’t argue. Before I knew it, I found myself drifting off to sleep. And Alexander stayed

glass of water and some crackers on the nightstand beside me. I sat up slowly, relieved when no more cramping followed, and reached for the

I drank. It just… given it

what confused me most about all of

clearly worth

he’d looked at me in the vault, the way his hands had lingered on my skin when

asked about children, when he’d immediately fallen back on the contract like it

he really felt about me. Did he care about me as his mate, or was I still just a

I wished my mother were here. I wished I could

that kind of guidance growing up, things would have turned out differently. Maybe I would have known how to recognize lo he saw it,

then my father and stepmother had treated me like an inconvenience

them, I was just a

made my chest hurt in a hollow, throbbing sort of way, and I realized I was crying again. Not for the locket this time, but for everything I’d never had. The mother who should have been

then I thought about Lilith, and the ache in my

to me. She’d been the one to comfort me when I was sick,

it was Lilith’s precious locket that Gabriel had destroyed. While I was sitting here moping about my own feelings and touching Alexander’s expensive gift, she was probably downstairs missing her family heirloom

stop feeling sorry for myself and

It was late–past nine o’clock by that point–but I knew she would still be up. Lilith wasn’t there, but