<b>Chapter </b><b>29 </b>


    E & Liam


    E


    Alexander stared at the pickle on my fork like it might be poisoned.


    “E, why are you feeding me a pickle?”


    Without answering out loud, I nced pointedly toward the photographer across the street. Understanding crossed Alexander’s face. With a barely perceptible sigh, he leaned forward and closed his mouth around my fork, then pulled the bite of food away.


    His ears reddened as he chewed and swallowed, clearly embarrassed by the disy. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of smug satisfaction at seeing the mighty Alpha Alexander so flustered by something as simple as sharing food–something that was normal for any couple to do.


    “Well, would you look at that?”


    I turned to see Lilith standing beside our table with a grocery bag in one hand and an amused smile on her face. I might have said I’d never been so happy to see her in my life, but I was always happy to see her.


    “Lilith,” I said, setting down my fork. “I didn’t know you wereing to town today, otherwise I would have invited you out.”


    “Just picking up a few things for supper. And don’t fret about me; I can see you two are having some time to yourselves.” She smiled at me before <b>turning </b>to the tables around us. “Isn’t it sweet? Five years together and they’re still feeding each other in public.”


    A few nearby diners looked over, beaming at the sight of their Alpha and Luna sharing such an intimate moment. An older woman at the next table sighed dreamily.


    “So romantic<i>,</i><i>” </i>she said to herpanion. “And after all these years…”


    Lilith nodded and patted my shoulder. “Our Luna is always trying to get him to eat healthier. Aren’t you, dear?”


    I yed along, reaching over to straighten Alexander’s cor. “Someone has to look after him. He was going to eat nothing but a gran bar all day.”


    A ripple of giggles and awws spread through the area around us. Even our waiter was smiling as he passed by with a tray of drinks. As for Alexander, his ears were so red now I thought they might pop right off.


    “Can I get you anything else?” the waiter asked. “Maybe share a dessert? The chocte cake is excellent today.”


    “No, thank you-” Alexander said quickly, but I cut in.


    “Actually, that sounds perfect. One slice, two forks, please.”


    The waiter grinned and hurried off. Alexander shot me a look, but I just smiled innocently. Lilith winked at me before walking away.


    Good old Lilith–always knowing exactly what to say and who to say it to. Herments seemed like nothing, but in reality, half the pack would be gushing about how their Alpha and Luna were spotted having a romantic lunch in town by nightfall.


    It was exactly what we needed right now.


    Indeed, all around us, the atmosphere had shifted. Where before there had been curious stares and whispers, now there were smiles and approving nods. People seemed happy to see us together to witness some sign of affection between their Alpha and Luna after years of… well, nothing.


    It was strange to think about. For five years, we’d lived separate lives under the same roof, rarely even seen together except at formal events. The pack certainly noticed; I had heard the whispers, the gossip.


    Very few people, especially within the halls of our mansion, really saw me as their Luna because of it.


    <b>08:37 </b>


    Tue<b>, </b>19 Aug


    People like the staff at this restaurant might have liked me well enough, but that was just because cansé fere often and always tipped unit i kimap knew they were just buttering me up when they were being so nice to me, and I didn’t mind, because I would happily take that over the vinte g’sheas und


    whispers.


    Now, thanks to one kiss and a single pickle, it seemed the tides were shifting. They were beginning to see our rtionship in a numai lent, and 197 extension, were beginning to see me in a new lens.


    If only they knew that it was allke. But at least I could bask in it for a little while.


    A few momentster, the waiter returned with a slice of chocte cake that looked decadent enough to be a meal on its own, topped with a suit of whipped cream and two bright red cherries. He set it between us along with two forks.


    Alexander looked at the cake, then at me. For a moment, I thought he might refuse to participate in this charade any longer. But then, surprisingly, he picked up his fork.


    “We might as well make it convincing,” he said, cutting off a small corner of the cake.


    I nodded and picked up my own fork. “For the pack.”


    “For the pack,” he echoed, and for just a moment, as our eyes met over the chocte cake, I felt that faint tug in my chest that was our mate bend. My heart rate spiked, and suddenly the space between us seemed to shrink.


    It wasn’t real, I reminded myself. None of this was real. It was just an act to save face, to maintain our image, to secure Alexander’s chance at bing Alpha King.


    But as I took a bite of the cake, watching Alexander do the same, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if it was.


    Liam


    The pictures on Liam’s phone screen felt like a mockery.


    E was feeding Alexander a bite of food. Alexander was leaning across the table toward her. The two of them were even sharing a slice of chocte


    cake.


    Liam tossed his phone onto the bed beside him, unable to look anymore. He’d known this wasing, of course. E and Alexander had to put on a show for the public after the contract scandal.


    But seeing it made his heart ache in a way he wasn’t prepared for. It wasn’t just jealousy, although that was a part of it, but there was something else there, too.


    He’d spent ten years thinking about E. Ten years in that miserable camp, enduring his “training,” transforming from the shy, awkward boy E had known into the Alpha he was now,


    And through it all, the memory of her smile had been his onefort.


    When he’d learned he was being sent <i>to </i>evaluate Ashw, that he’d finally see E again after all this time, it had felt like fate. Like a chance <b>to </b><b>reconnect </b>with the one person who had ever truly understood him.


    But she was married. Liam could have lived with that if only she weren’t mated to a man who couldn’t care less about her.


    And what hurt more was that even if her rtionship with Alexander was just a contract, the way she looked at him in those photos<b>… </b><b>There </b><b>was </b>something real there, at least on her side.


    Liam had seen it from the moment he arrived at Ashw. The way E’s eyes followed Alexander across a room. The way she tensed when <b>Sophia </b>approached him. The hurt that shed across her face whenever Alexander treated her poorly.


    Now, with this charade forcing them to act like a loving couple in public, those feelings were bound to intensify. E might think she wanted <b>a </b><b>divorce </b>


    now, but how would she feel after weeks or months of pretending to be in love?


    Would she still want to leave when the time came? Or would she have fallen even deeper for a man who clearly didn’t love her back?


    The thought made Liam sick to his stomach. He’d returned to E’s life hoping to be there for her in the same way he had been as children. <b>And </b>then haf seen how cold and distant Alexander was right away, and it had ignited a protective fury in Liam that he hadn’t stopped feeling since <b>they </b><b>were </b>children.


    For ten long years, Liam had dreamed of returning to her side so he could protect her the way he hadn’t been able to when they were children. And now that he was finally here, he could only watch as she set herself up for even greater heartbreak.


    The thought of seeing E be hurt was more than Liam could bear.


    <b>AD </b>