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.

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

here I was, mated to an Alpha who couldn’t even bring himself to

me? Why was

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

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me, at least

distance? Why act like the very thought of making love to me and marking me was the

that repulsive to him? That unworthy? Was

a heavy sigh, I turned away from the mirror. I’d wallowed enough for one evening Alexander would be waiting, and we had a show

the dress I’d chosen for tonight; it was a deep burgundy number with a low neckline specifically designed to draw attention to my throat. The color made my pale skin look almost luminous,

what Alexander wanted them

was just putting the finishing touches on my

Alexander’s voice called through the wood. “We

grabbing my clutch and giving myself one final look in the

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

He looked devastatingly handsome, and for a moment, I

Something flashed across his face, but it was so fast I couldn’t

calmly. “Lilith did

be

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

said none of it. Instead,

nodded, and we walked together to the car

later, I wasn’t surprised at all to see a crowd gathered outside. Alexander had made certain the our dinner plans were leaked. We needed maximum visibility for our little

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parked the car out front, and Alexander turned

ready. I didn’t want to go out 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 didn’t go well, he might not divorce me. And he certainly wasn’t