<b>Chapter </b><b>27 </b>


    E


    Yesterday’s kiss may have momentarily distracted the press from the contract scandal, but that didn’t mean I wanted to spend more time wER A than absolutely necessary.


    Especially not afterst night.


    But Alexander was right; the press would be watching us like hawks over theing days, and we had to at least make an attempt to look like the 1300). loving couple we had pretended to be yesterday.


    “Ready?” Alexander asked as I made my way down the stairs. I had changed into a pair of jeans, boots, and a light sweater tobat the spring chil outside.


    I nodded and grabbed my bag off the foyer table before following him out the door.


    The moment we stepped outside, camera shes erupted from the bushes lining the road outside therge fence surrounding the property<b>. </b>Paparaz course. They’d been camping out since the press conference yesterday.


    Alexander’s arm immediately slid around my waist<b>, </b>pulling me against his side. I pasted on a smile, leaning into him as we made our way toward the car


    Alexander opened the door for me. More camera shes. More fake smiles. By the time he slid into the driver’s seat beside me, my cheeks were already aching.


    “Where exactly are we going?” I asked as we pulled away from the mansion, the paparazzi scrambling into their own vehicles to follow us.


    “Border patrol,” Alexander replied, his eyes fixed on the road. “I do it every week. Check the perimeter, make sure there aren’t any weaknesses in cur defenses, look for signs of rogues.”


    Of course. Alpha duties. The kind of thing he’d never invited me to in five years of marriage. But then again, I supposed I had never asked; I had always focused on my Luna duties, which didn’t often involve going out into the wilderness.


    When I was younger, I was always outside. When I wasn’t following around the Stormhollow warriors and training, I was usually in a tree somewhere, <i>or </i>perhaps swimming in the creek out behind my old house.


    But a “good” Luna, or at least the type of Luna my father and stepmother wanted me to be, was typically expected to stay home; manage the household, tend to the children (not that we had any), and perform clerical work like managing expenses.


    So I stopped climbing trees and swimming in creeks, just like I stopped training.


    Because that was what was expected of me.


    After that, we drove in silence for a while. I stared out the window, watching as the mansion grounds gave way to dense forest.


    This early in the morning, there was still a light mist hanging over thendscape. I rolled down the window and leaned my head slightly out, inhaling the cool air. The way the wind blew through my hair soothed me.


    When I leaned back in my seat, I caught a glimpse of Alexander looking at me. But when I turned to return the stare, his gaze was fixed firmly on the road ahead again.


    Finally, we parked along the side of the road at the edge of Ashw territory, right where it met Moonshine territory. The paparazzi parked a little ways down the street and in the bushes as if we wouldn’t notice them, their cameras already out and ready by the time they got out of their cars.


    Like a perfect gentleman, Alexander came around to open my door again, offering his hand to help me out. I took it, forcing another smile as <b>we </b>made a show of intertwining our fingers…


    Just to drive the point home, I swung our hands a little as we walked. I could feel Alexander’s hand tense around mine, but he didn’t resist it.