The Perfect 33_The sickened luna’s last chance

Chapter 33 

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 The tears slipped out before I could stop them.

 I didn’t expect to be so upset over a stupid dress. But this was supposed to be my first date ever–even if it was fake.

 Dammit, I was twenty–two years old and had never experienced a normal date before. The fact that I’d finally worked up the courage to n something only to have it ruined by Gabriel’s “ident“, which definitely wasn’t even an ident at all, made it a hundred times worse.

 What did I do in a past life that prevented me from even having this one thing? This one small, stupid, normal experience that most people had by the time they were sixteen?

 Goddess, how I yearned for a real rtionship. A man who would hold my hand in a dark theater because he wanted to, not because people were watching. A man who would want to be alone with me instead of insisting on bringing his Beta along as a buffer.

 Not whatever this was. This mockery of a marriage where my own husband couldn’t stand to be alone with me for two hours.

 The ruined dress was just the icing on the cake of my humiliation.

 Suddenly, the bathroom door creaked open. I turned, expecting to see some random woman, but instead found Alexander standing awkwardly in the doorway.

 “What are you doing in here?” I sniffled, quickly wiping at my eyes. “This is the women’s bathroom.”

 Sexs

 He hesitated, ncing around to make sure we were alone, then stepped fully inside and let the door close behind him. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

 I let out a humorlessugh and turned away, continuing to dab at the greasy butter stains on the front of my dress. “I’m fine. Just trying to salvage one thing about tonight.”

 To my surprise, Alexander approached me and took the wet paper towels from my hands. “You’re making it worse,” he said. “Here, let me.”

 Before I could protest, he dampened a fresh paper towel and began gently dabbing at the stains on my dress. His touch was careful, methodical, and strangely… tender.

 My breath caught, ears reddening to the brink of giving away my shock. I quickly looked away. “Why are you helping me?”

 “It’s an expensive dress. “It would be a shame to ruin it.”

 “Right,” I murmured, inwardly chiding my ridiculous, fluttering stomach as his fingers brushed against the fabric over my hip. “Wouldn’t want to waste money.”

 Alexander worked silently for a few moments, carefully dabbing at the stains with the damp paper towel. Despite knowing fully well that he was only doing this to save money, I couldn’t help the way my skin heated beneath the thin silk. When his fingers brushed against my waist, I swallowed hard.

 He must have heard my gulp, because his hands suddenly stilled. Slowly, he looked up, and our eyes met in the mirror.

 Just as it had in the theater, the space between us seemed to shrink. He held my gaze and didn’t let go for what felt like an etern**

 For a moment, just a moment, I wondered if he might kiss me. If he might turn me around and press his lips to mine. If I might be able to run my fingers through his red hair and feel him pull me close by my waist.

 Did he want a repeat of the kiss at the press conference after all?

 I recalled the moment in the theater, just before Gabriel spilled popcorn all over me, when I’d identally grabbed Alexander’s hand. He hadn’t pulled away. Instead, he had looked at me with something in his eyes that I had never seen before. Something very close to the way he was looking at me now. 

 08:37 Tue, 19 Aug 

 Chapter 33 

 Maybe I wasn’t a fool after all.

 Maybe he did care for me and just didn’t want to admit it for some ridiculous reason or another.

 But then he cleared his throat and stepped back, breaking whatever spell had momentarily fallen over us.

 “That’s the best I can do,” he said, tossing the paper towel into the trash. “The stains will need proper treatment when we get home.”

 I nodded, unable to bring myself to speak. My skin still tingled where his fingers had been, but I ignored it.

 “We should go,” Alexander continued, already moving toward the door. “Gabriel’s waiting.”

 At the mention of Gabriel, my brief fantasy shattered. Right. Gabriel. The man who had deliberately ruined my dress and my first–ever “date“. The man Alexander insisted on bringing despite my protests.

 We exited the bathroom together, drawing a few curious nces from people in the lobby. Gabriel was waiting near the concession stand, arms folded across his chest, looking bored and impatient rather than contrite.

 “Finally,” he muttered as we approached. “Can we go now? Or does the princess need more time to fuss over her dress?”

 Something inside of me snapped then. After years of taking Gabriel’s snidements and dirty looks, after years of biting my tongue and ying the perfect,pliant Luna, I was done.

 “Excuse me?” I barked. “What did you just call me?”

 Gabriel’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. He clearly hadn’t expected me to challenge him, as if the one time I had used my Luna Voice on him had just been a fluke. “Well, it’s a bit dramatic to cut the movie short over a butter stain, don’t you think?”

 That was it. The final straw.

 “How dare you?” I said, stepping toward him. “You deliberately spilled that popcorn on me. And don’t try to deny it–I saw the look on your face when you did it.”

 People around us had begun to stare, but I didn’t care anymore.

 “You’ve disrespected me from day one.” I jabbed my finger into his chest. “You’ve undermined me, belittled me, and treated me like I’m nothing. But I am the Luna of this pack, whether you like it or not. And Imand your respect.”

 Gabriel’s face had gone red. He nced around frantically at the small crowd that had gathered around us. Some of the onlookers were murmuring amongst themselves.

 “She’s right,” someone said. “The Beta shouldn’t speak to the Luna that way.”

 “It’s disrespectful!”

 I looked at Alexander, expecting to see anger or embarrassment on his face. After all, I’d just caused a scene in public, the avoidtely.

 very thing he’d been trying to

 But to my surprise, Alexander looked calm. More than calm, actually–there was a storm simmering behind those green eyes that I didn’t expect to see,

 “Gabriel,” hemanded, “apologize to my mate.

 Gabriel’s eyes widened. “What?”

 “You heard me. Apologize to Luna E for your behavior.”

 Gabriel looked between us, clearly trying to gauge if Alexander was serious. When he realized that he was, his face hardened.

 “Alpha, I don’t think-”

 08:37 TU, 19 Aug.

 “That wasn’t a request,” Alexander cut him off. “Consider this a formal warning, Insult my Luna again, and you’ll be facing dematise, teh krog

 At thatst word–apologize the lobby wentpletely silent. He used the Alpha Voice, forcing Gabriel’s spine to trap straight, the B’s Rock Hirund slightly to expose his throat. A clear sign of submission.

 I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Alexander wasn’t standing up for me, but also using his Alpha Voice? Against Gabriel, his along friend and weed

 Beta?

 Gabriel and Alexander seemed to be having some sort of silent showdown, their gazes locked in a battle of wills. After what felt like an eterity, Gabriel’s. shoulders slumped slightly in defeat. Not even he could deny the Alpha Voice.

 “I apologize, Luna E,” he said stiffly, lowering his head. “My behavior was inappropriate.”

 For a moment I just stood there, too stunned to react. The space around me was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Everyone, Alexander included, was waiting for my response–waiting to see if their Luna would ept the apology or tear into Gabriel for insubordination.

 But I didn’t respond. Just turned on my heel and left him standing there with his proverbial tail between his legs.

 The ride home was silent. Gabriel and Alexander spoke in hushed tones by the car while I waited in the passenger seat, and to my surprise, Gabriel turned and began to walk down the street rather than getting in.

 When Alexander got into the car, he said that Gabriel “opted” to walk home, but I suspected that Alexander forced him to as punishment. I tried not to let that thought take root too deeply, though, and kept telling myself that Alexander had only sided with me for appearances and nothing more.

 Still, by the time we pulled through therge front gates of the estate, I couldn’t help but smile faintly.

 “Thank you,” I said softly, wringing my hands. “For standing up for me back there”

 “You don’t need to thank me.”

 “Still, I appreciate it.”

 He nced at me briefly before pulling the key out of the ignition. “Gabriel was out of line. It’s a bad look for a Beta to be insulting the Luna, especially in public, right in front of the Alpha. I had to intervene, otherwise it would reflect badly on my campaign.”

 My heart sank. Of course. This wasn’t about me at all. It was about appearances, about his precious campaign. The brief hope I’d felt that he might actually care about me, even a little, was immediately reced by my usual bitterness.

 But that was my own damn fault, wasn’t it? When would I finally learn that there was no chance he would ever mark me?

 As we entered the house, I forced images of dancing and swimming in the ocean and drinking cocktails into my mind. A smile had almost returned to my face when Lilith suddenly appeared in front of me, holding an envelope.

 “This came for you while you were gone,” she said, holding it out. Her eyes searched my face, no doubt noting the faint streaks of mascara from crying, but Alexander was standing right next to us so she didn’tment.

 I took the envelope and opened it. Inside was an invitation to a party–at my parents‘ house in Stormhollow.

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The Perfect 33