The sickened luna’s last chance

Alexander & Sophia

Alexander

| adjusted my tie one last time, checking my reflection in the mirror. The black suit I'd chosen for the evening

was impeccable, tailored to perfection because it had to be.

After all, this wasn’t just any party. This was our first tvisiting Stormhollow as a couple since the wedding. |

needed to look my best, especially with all the rumors flying around.

And with Ella in that dress... | tried not to think about it. Tried not to think about how I'd have to keep my arm

around her all night to prevent other males from looking.

Tried not to think about how my wolf bristled with excitement at the very thought of spending the entire evening

glued to my mate's side.

Just then, my phone rang, interrupting my thoughts. | pulled it from my pocket, frowning when | saw John

Oxford's non the screen.

“John,” | answered. “This isn't a good time. I'm about to-

“Alexander, thank the Goddess!” John’s voice was frantic, bordering on hysterical. I'd never heard him like that

before. “It’s Sophia. She's gone completely off the rails!”

My stomach dropped. “What do you mean?”

“She's locked herself in the bathroom. She’s threatening to... Please, Alexander, she’s not listening to reason.

She'll only talk to you.”

“John, I'm about to leave for an important event with Ella. Can't you-"

“She's saying she'll slit her wrists if you don’t cright now.” John’s voice cracked. “Please, Alexander. | know

we've had our differences lately, but this is Sophia we're talking about. Your oldest friend.”

Fuck. This was the last thing | needed tonight. But if Sophia was truly threatening to harm herself...

“I'll be there in ten minutes,” | said, already moving toward the door., “Try to keep her calm until then.”

| hung up and grabbed my car keys from the dresser. There wasn’t tto explain everything to Ella; Gabriel

would have to take her to the party, and I'd meet them there once 1 dealt with Sophia.

John was waiting outside the sprawling Oxford manor when | pulled up, pacing frantically on the front steps. He

practically yankedfrom the car before | even had a chance to pull the key out of the ignition.

“Thank the Goddess you're here, Alex,” he said, pullingtoward the house. “She’s upstairs. Helen's been

trying to talk her down, but she’s not having any of it.”

| followed him through the familiar halls of the Oxford hand up the grand staircase to Sophia’s wing-yes,

she had a whole wing to herself that was practically a separate hin its own right. Helen was standing

outside the bathroom door with tears streaming down her face.

“Sophia, darling, please,” she was saying over the sound of rushing water within. “Alex is here now. Please come

out.”

| approached the door, motioning for Helen to step aside. “Sophia,” | called out. “It's me. Open the door.”

There was a moment of silence, then the click of a lock. The door flew open, and Sophia launched herself into my

arms, soaking wet and sobbing. She slammed intoso hard that | stumbled backward, catching myself on the

doorframe.

“Alex!” she cried, burying her face in my chest. “You came. You actually came.”

08:38 Tue, 19 Aug

Chapter 37

CGAT

Sighing, | wrapped my arms around her. But as | held her, something fell off. | couldn't explain it maybe it was

the perfectly overflowing bathtub in the background, or the sheer white nightgown that was clinging to her skin,

of the pristine black streaks of mascara on her face as if she'd put them there, But | knew...

She was acting, wasn’t she?

| disentangled myself from Sophia’s embrace and held her at arm’s length.

“Sophia, we need to talk. Alone.”

She sniffled, wiping at her eyes. “Yes, of course. Mommy, Daddy, could you give us a minute?”

John and Helen exchanged a glance before nodding and retreating down the hall. Once they were gone, | fixed

Sophia with a hard stare..

“What the hell do you think you're doing?”

Her eyes widened. “What do you mean? | was just-"

“Cut the bullshit,” | snapped. “You're not suicidal. You're fishing for attention like a teenager with a crush, and

you even terrorized your poor parents just to getto chere.”

Sophia's face crumpled. “How can you say that? I've been so distraught since you accusedof all those

horrible things. You've been avoiding me, pushingaway-"

“Because you tried to hurt my mate,” | growled. The word ‘mate’ slipped out before I could stop it. “Because you

fucking endangered innocent people at that bonfire for a ‘prank’, which, for the record, | don’t think was a prank

at all.”

“I would never-

“Enough.” | held up a hand, silencing her. “I don’t want to hear it. | chere tonight because, despite

everything, you're still my friend and | didn’t want to see you hurt. But this stops now.”

Sophia's lower lip trembled. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that | won't take this anymore. Either you get your emotions in check and start behaving like the adult

you're supposed to be, or we're no longer friends.”

She gasped. “You don’t mean that.”

“I'do.” | checked my watch. If | left now, | might still make it to the party in tto join Ella. Hopefully my suit

would dry on the way there. “And if you ever pull a stunt like this again, I'll have you institutionalized for your

own safety. Understood?”

Sophia stared atin shock. For once, she seemed to have no words. Maybe that was for the best.

“I'm leaving now,” | said, turning on my heel. “I have an event to attend with my wife.”

| didn’t wait for her response, nor did | pause to think about how satisfying it felt to refer to Ella as my mate and

wife in the sbreath.

Sophia

Sophia could hear the front door slamming, then the sound of Alex's car starting up outside.

He was leaving. Actually leaving. To go to that party with her.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Alex was supposed to stay, to comfort her, to realize how much she

needed him. Instead, he'd seen right through her act and threatened to end their friendship.

08:38 Tue, 19 Aug

Chapter 37

Friendship. As if that was all she wanted from him.

The bedroom door opened a moment later, and her parents slipped inside. There was a moment of silence.

Sophia sank down onto the edge of her bed and dragged her hands through her damp hair..

“He’s gone,” John said with a grunt of disapproval. “That ungrateful pup...”

Sophia looked up at her parents. “What do we do now? If that didn’t work, what else will?”

Hér parents exchanged a look. Finally, Helen stepped forward and took a seat beside Sophia. Sophia rested her

head on her mother’s shoulder as her mother rubbed soothing circles on her back.

“We're concerned,” Helen said slowly, “that Alexander might be developing... feelings for this girl.”

“No.” Sophia shook her head violently. “No, that’s not possible. She's just a contract to him. A mate that he

never really wanted.”

“Perhaps,” John sighed. “But the way he rushed out of here to get to her certainly suggests otherwise, doesn’t

it?”

Sophia felt sick. The thought of Alex actually falling for that Stormhollow bitch was unbearable. After everything

Sophia had done to get rid of her, Ella was still there, still a thorn in her side.

But no matter how much it hurt, Sophia knew her parents were right. Even if Alex never really loved Ella, she

was still his mate, and lately, he had been forced to spend more twith her because of the media storm-a

storm that should have broken them up already, but for sreason, they insisted on holding onto each other.

Mates could rarely deny their biological pull toward one another, especially when they were spending so much

ttogether, acting like the perfect, loving couple in public. It was only a matter of tbefore Alex and Ella

bectoo close to be separated.

No, Sophia and her parents would have to figure something else out. But what?

“I think,” Helen said carefully, as if reading her daughter's mind, “that we've had enough of messing around.

These small attempts at breaking them up clearly aren't working.”

John nodded. “We need something bigger. Something that will drive a permanent wedge between them.”

Sophia looked between her parents. “What do you have in mind?”

“Don’t worry about that now,” her father said, standing and moving to the window to watch Alex’s car disappear

down the driveway. “We'll contact the media right away with an even bigger story than before. One that they

won't be able to smooth over with fake kisses and movie dates.”

“By the twe're done,” Helen added, a cold smile playing at her lips, “that girl will be so thoroughly disgraced

that Alexander wouldn't dare keep her as his tuna, campaign or no campaign.”

Sophia couldn't help but smile. Her parents had always taken care of her, had always given her everything she

wanted.

And what she wanted more than anything was Alex.

She crossed the room to join her father at the window, watching the taillights of Alex's car fade into the distance.

Then she turned and kissed her father’s cheek.

“Thank you, Daddy.”

John Oxford smiled and put his arm around her shoulders. “Anything for my little girl.”

Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Ella

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