The sickened luna’s last chance

Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Ella

The mark certainly looked real.

I turned my head to the side, pulling my hair away to get a better view in the mirror. Lilith had done an excellent job on the makeup. The two crescent-shaped marks on my neck, meant to mimic the impression of Alexander’s upper and lower fangs, looked like they’d been there for

years.

She’d even added a subtle texture to make them appear slightly raised, like real bite marks would be.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was looking at a genuine mating mark.

But the sight made a bitter and hollow feeling curl in my chest.

This was what I should have had five years ago. This was what should have happened on our wedding night, when Alexander took me back to our honeymoon suite and claimed me as his. He should have sunk his teeth into my neck as we made love for the first time, completing the bond that fate had started.

Instead, he had simply walked me to the door of the guest bedroom all the way on the

opposite end of the mansion, muttered a curt “goodnight,” and left me standing alone on my wedding night, confused and humiliated.

Five years later, and here I was with a fake mark, getting ready to fool the world. To pretend, once again, that my marriage wasn’t a complete sham.

I was supposed to be getting dressed for dinner. Alexander had arranged for us to eat at the most visible, public restaurant in town-a place where we were guaranteed to be seen and photographed.

It was the perfect venue to show off my “mark” and quell the rumors.

But I couldn’t stop staring at my reflection. At the mark that wasn’t real. At the symbol of everything I’d been denied.

supposed to be sacred in our world. A fated mate was the ultimate gift from the Moon Goddess. Wolves spent their entire lives searching for their mates, praying to find that one

Alpha who couldn’t

wrong with me? Why was

wasn’t gay; not after what had happened in the alley behind the bar. Not after I’d felt his hardness pressed

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to me, at

very thought of making love to me and marking me was

That

turned away from the mirror. I’d wallowed enough for one evening Alexander

designed to draw attention to my throat. The color made my pale skin look almost luminous, which made

would see exactly what

was just putting the finishing touches on my makeup when

Alexander’s voice called through the wood. “We need to leave soon if we’re

giving myself

looked confident and poised—like a proper Luna with her mate’s mark on her neck No one would know

by contrast. He looked devastatingly handsome, and for a moment, I allowed myself to

eyes immediately went to my neck. Something flashed across his face, but it was

he said calmly. “Lilith did a

“No one will be able to tell it’s not

There was so much I wanted to say, to ask. Why won’t you just mark me for real? Why do you hate me so much? What

it. Instead,

and we walked together to

wasn’t surprised at all to see a crowd gathered outside. Alexander had made certain the our dinner

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driver parked the car out front, and Alexander turned to

there, to be scrutinized and photographed, to have my fake mark on display like another fucking humiliation. But what choice did I have? If Alexander’s campaign