TimeNovelChapter 39
Ella & Alexander
Ella
“Oh! Alpha Alexander!” My father quickly yanked his hand away, the tips of his ears reddening despite the warm
smile that spread across his face. “I didn’t know you were coming tonight.”
Alexander tilted his head. “Were you just about to hit my wife?”
“Oh, that? | was just messing around,” my father laughed. “We were having a discussion, that’s all.”
Alexander's eyes had gone cold. “Didn't seem like ‘messing around’ to me.” He glanced at me. “Ella, were you
joking?”
I quickly shook my head. Alexander turned back to my father and took a step closer. My father, despite being a
large man, backed up against the wall in
fear.
“Ella knows | would never-"
“Maybe you don’t understand,” Alexander cut my father off, “but if anyone-and | do mean anyone-lays a finger
on my Luna, they'll find themselves missing more than just a hand.”
My breath caught. My father’s face paled. “N-Now, Alpha Alexander, there's no need for threats. This is a simple
misunderstanding between a father and daughter.”
Alexander finally took a step back, only to slide his arm possessively around my waist. The sudden contact made
than | expected.
“Now, | think I'd like a moment alone with my mate,” Alexander said before guidingaway.
I let him leadthrough the crowd, grateful for the escape. My pulse was still racing from the confrontation
with my father, although Alexander's sudden and unexpected arrival-combined with the way he jumped to my
defense-made it spike even further.
We ended up in a small room off the main hallway. Alexander closed the door behind us, muffling the sounds of
the party.
“Are you alright?”
| nodded, trying to push down the strange flutter in my chest at his concern. “I'm fine. This isn’t exactly new
behavior from my father.”
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Alexander frowned. “What do you mean?”
“He was always strict when | was growing up,” | explained with a shrug. “When | didn’t meet his expectations,
which was often, he would... lash out. It’s not a big deal. Even if he had slapped me, | would hardly feel it
anymore.”
Something dark flashed across Alexander's face then. He stepped closer, his hand lifting toward my cheek-the
scheek my father would have struck -before he seemed to catch himself. His fingers hovered in the air
between us for a moment before he lowered his hand.
“That's not acceptable,” he said quietly. “No father should ever hit his child.”
| looked away, as if that would do anything to hide the blush that suddenly rose to my face. “What are you doing
here anyway? | thought you weren't coming.”
Alexander sighed, and the sound tookby surprise-there was something in it that sounded almost like
exhaustion. “There was an emergency with the Oxfords. Sophia was...” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. It's
resolved now. | cas quickly as | could.”
“Well, thanks for coming after all,” | said quietly. “Your timing was impeccable.”
Chapter 39
Alexander looked atfor a long moment, and there was a tenderness in his gaze that made my stupid heart
do that little flip agam had to look en before | did something ridiculous like believe that he might actually love
me,
Just then, the door opened, and my father appeared with Margaret in tow. They were both grinning as if nothing
had happened.
“There you are! | was worried you'd left.” My father stepped into the room. “Alexander, fin so glad you could
make it after all. We have so much to catch up on.”
Margaret nodded eagerly. “Yes, and thank goodness you arrived before Ella could ruin the night.”
The words instantly made my blood boil. | opened my mouth to respond, but Alexander beatto it.
“I don’t think it was Ella who nearly ruined the party.” He looked pointedly at my father, whose face turned an
alarming shade of red.
My parents exchanged a glance, clearly thrown off by Alexander coming to my defense once again. | had to
resist the urge to smile triumphantly. Or faint. Perhaps both.
“Well, | suppose we should get back to our guests,” my father said stiffly. “Margaret, shall we?”
Without another word, they turned and left.
Alexander
| watched Ella’s parents retreat, my wolf still howling with rage. The moment I'd seen Richard's hand raised to
strike Ella, something inside ofhad snapped. It had taken every ounce of self-control not to break his wrist.
Now, observing the way they treated her, | couldn't help but wonder if | had spent five years misunderstanding
her.
Clearly, she was like an outsider in her own family. She toldher father had struck her before, and spoke
about it as if it were so routine that she was used to it by now. And then her father and stepmother had blatantly
insulted her in front of me.
It was alarming enough to think that my mate was being treated so poorly by her own family, but it also made
Would Ella really be loyal to a man who treated her with such contempt?
“Where's Gabriel?” | asked then. He should have been by her side tonight. Perhaps this wouldnt have happened
if he had been there.
Ella lifted her chin. “He's probably sulking by the bar. Mute. | used my Luna Voice on him.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Why?”
She shrugged. “He was being a prick, so | told him to be silent.”
| couldn't help but feel a strange, unexpected surge of pride-and humor-at that. Ella rarely used her Luna Voice;
to find out that she’d punished Gabriel with it for being a snarky asshole didn’t makeas frustrated as it
probably should have.
Apparently, there was much more to Ella than met the eye. She had stood up to her father, had silenced Gabriel
with her Luna Voice, and was now calmly straightening her dress after nearly being slapped.
This wasn’t the meek, obedient Luna Id thought | married. This was someone with a spine of steel beneath that
soft exterior.
And | found myself... impressed.
“We should probably head back to the party,” Ella said calmly. “Before people start to talk even more.”
I nodded, offering her my arm. She took it after only a slight hesitation. But as we made our way through the
hallway toward the main ballroom, Ella
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Chapter 39
suddenly stopped, her fingers tightening on my arm.
“Alexander,” she said, “I need you to promisesomething.”
“What is it?”
“Stop giving money to my father.” She looked up at me, and the fierce determination in her eyes lefttaken
aback. “The payments need to end. | don’t care what was in our contract. | don’t want him getting another
penny from you.”
The request tookby surprise. It was the last thing | expected her to ask for, especially given how crucial
those payments had been for Stormfollow- and if she were working for her father, why would she want to end
them?
But | could tell from the fire in her eyes and the hard set to her jaw that she was being serious.
Strangely, | found myself wanting to give her what she wanted.
“I promise,” | said before | could stop myself.
Ella blinked, clearly just as shocked as | was that | had agreed so readily. “Just like that?”
| smiled. “Just like that.”
She stared atfor a moment longer, as if trying to determine if | was sincere. Whatever she saw in my face
must have satisfied her, because she nodded
once,
her shoulders relaxing slightly.
| placed my arm around her again, feeling an odd sense of rightness at the contact, and led her toward the main
hall.
Just before we stepped through the archway, Ella leaned closer to murmur, “They were taking lots of pictures
earlier when | arrived alone, by the way. The media will probably complain aboutcoming without you.”
| glanced down at her, and suddenly an idea formed in my mind. If the press wanted a story, we might as well
give them one-something to overshadow her arrival without me.
As we entered the ballroom, camera flashes immediately erupted around us. Without giving myself tto
second-guess the impulse, | spun Ella around to face me, one hand on her waist, and dipped her low.
Then, I leaned forward and pressed my cheek against hers.
AD
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