The sickened luna’s last chance

Chapter 89

Ella & Sophia

Ella

“Alexander, Ella.” Sophia stopped a respectful distance away and bowed her head. “I know this is awkward, but I wanted to explain why I’m here.”

Alexander’s arm stayed firmly around my waist. The tension in his body took me completely by surrse; I knew he’d had a falling out with her and her family after what had happened, but he looked positively thunderous.

“I told you he cares more than you think,” my wolf hummed, which I quickly silenced with a very crude mental gesture.

“My distant cousin is running in the election,” Sophia said quickly. “I’m here to see him.” She looked directly at me, and the remorse in her eyes surprised me even more than Alexander’s fury. “I’m not here to cause trouble. I promise.”

I studied her face, searching for any sign of deception. She certainly looked sincere enough, but that meant nothing when it came to Sophia.

“Ella,” Sophia continued, “I owe you an apology. For everything. Whatever my parents did to you, I know you didn’t deserve it.”

Right. Place the blame on her parents.

Sophia might be standing here playing the innocent little girl who had nothing to do with her parents‘ crimes, but I knew better. She and her family had intentionally orchestrated my kidnapping. They’d tried to kill me. And now she wanted me to believe she was sorry?

Bullshit.

But I wasn’t about to let her see that I knew the truth. Not here, not tonight, with all these people watching and cameras recording our every

“Thank you,” I simply said. I wouldn’t accept the apology.

Sophia’s shoulders sagged, although I wasn’t sure if it was relief or disappointment. Her gaze slid over to Alexander’s, but his eyes remained hard as two

emeralds.

He said nothing.

and to her credit, Sophia took the hint. She nodded to both of us and melted back

and

the punishment hadn’t been more severe than it

his head.

way, I wasn’t going to let Sophia or anyone else spoil this evening. This was my first night out as an expecting mother, my

introduced me to candidate after candidate, their wives and advisors and campaign managers. Everyone wanted to congratulate us on the pregnancy, to comment

people touch my flat tummy. I told the romantic stories I’d crafted earlier about Alexander’s devotion and

a doting wife was starting

group of Alphas from the northern territory coalition, I slipped away for a moment to myself and found

1/3

Chapter 89

to sit at. He didn’t seen to

the late hour was hitting me harder than I expected. I tried to fight it, but tre comfortable

knew it, I

waking, dimly aware of the sounds of the party continuing around me. Voices and laughter, the clink of glasses, the soft music from the string quartet

a warm hand slip into

Alexander said softly.

still devastatingly handsome even after hours of political schmoozing. His tie was loosened slightly, and a few strands of

green eyes that made my breath catch. Gentle and

between us without warning, flooding me with all kinds of dangerous emotions that felt too big for my body. In my half–asleep

acted

months He made a surprised sound against my lips but didn’t pull away. Instead, his

disappeared. There was only Alexander and me and the electric current of

tongue and the feeling of

Sophia

the room as Alex kissed Ella with enough

want to be

were in

for the cameras and the voters. That deep down, he still cared about her the way she cared about him, and the punishment he’d doled out was just

kiss… there was nothing fake or temporary about