<b>Chapter </b><b>42 </b>


    E <b>& </b>Alexander


    E


    I screamed and lunged for the nearest nket, yanking it off the bed and wrapping it around myself. But it was toote–Gabriel had already seen everything. Every inch of ckce. Every exposed bit of skin. And there was a lot of that.


    “Get out!” I shrieked, clutching the nket to my chest. “What the hell are you doing in here?”


    But Gabriel didn’t leave. Instead, he took a step into the room.


    “I should be the one asking you what you’re doing,” he growled.


    “What’s that supposed to mean?”


    Gabriel sneered. “Don’t y innocent, E. You’re trying to seduce him, aren’t you? Trying to get knocked up so he’s forever bound to you? Or are you just hoping he’ll be stupid enough to mark you?”


    I blinked, my shock and humiliation momentarily reced with confusion. Was that what he thought? That I had ordered fancy lingerie to seduce Alexander and get pregnant? And more importantly, why did Gabriel even care?


    “So what if I am?” I shot back, lifting my chin defiantly. “He’s my husband. My mate. What business is it of yours what happens in our bedroom<b>?</b><b>” </b>


    Gabriel’s face nched. Clearly, he hadn’t expected me to own up to it. Of course, I hadn’t actually ordered the lingerie, but that didn’t matter. Seeing him so disturbed by the thought filled me with a sense of satisfaction.


    “You think he’ll fall for it?” Gabriel scoffed after a moment, regaining hisposure. “Alexander’s smarter than that. He knows exactly what you are.”


    “And what am I, exactly?”


    “A maniptor who’s using her body to get what she wants. A whore.”


    “You’re disgusting,” I growled. “And frankly, I don’t care what you think of me. Get. Out.”


    I didn’t even mean to use my Luna Voice that time–it just slipped out, as if it became more natural to me each time I used it. Gabriel’s spine straightened, and he immediately turned to leave.


    But before he could get far, the door swung open again, the sunlight in the hallway illuminating an all–too–familiar figure.


    Alexander.


    He froze, staring at the scene. Green eyes first flicked to me, wrapped in a nket with my face as red as a cherry, then to the box overflowing with lingerie sitting by my feet, and finally at his Beta, who had clearly seen.., everything.


    I opened my mouth to exin what had happened, but Alexander began to speak first. He nodded toward the box, and his voice was eerily calm. “I hope you’re not nning to wear those around the house<i>.</i>”


    The mortification was almost too much to bear. <b>I </b>couldn’t take it anymore.


    “Both of you, out!” I shouted, storming toward them with the nket clutched around me. “Now!”


    I shoved them both into the hallway with one hand, using the other to keep the nket in ce. Before either could protest<b>, </b><b>I </b>mmed <b>the </b>door and locked it.


    <b>08:39 </b>Tue, 19 <b>Aug </b>


    Alexander


    <b>“</b>She was wearing lingerie,” Gabriel whispered as we moved away from the bedroom door. “Trying it on. ckce.”


    I didn’t need the reminder. The image of E’s red face, her bare shoulders visible over the top of that nket, the box ofce and silk sitting <b>beside </b><b>her </b>it was already burned into my brain.


    “In private,” I growled, pushing Gabriel toward my study. “Not here.”


    Once we were safely behind closed doors, Gabriel continued, “She’s trying to seduce you, Alpha. I found her trying on lingerie–expensive stuff<b>, too</b><b>. </b><b>You </b>need to be careful. She might even try to get pregnant.”


    The thought of E wearing something like that made my wolf surge with excitement. It took everything I had to keep my feet rooted to the spot so wouldn’t run to her and see for myself.


    But mixed with that desire was something else–a hot, dark, dangerous fury that Gabriel had seen her that way. That he had witnessed something meant only for me.


    Before I could think better of it, I lunged forward, mming Gabriel against the wall with my forearm pressed against his throat.


    “You were spying on my mate?” I snarled, my fangs dropping dangerously. “You walked into our bedroom without knocking and saw her in her underwear?”


    Gabriel’s eyes widened. “N–No, it wasn’t like that. I was looking <b>for </b>you, and the door was-<b>‘ </b>


    “Shut,” I finished for him. “The door was shut, and you opened it without permission.”


    Gabriel swallowed hard against my arm. “Alexander, I was just-”


    “You’re lucky I have an ounce of self–control in my body,” I cut him off. “Because if I didn’t, you’d be bleeding on the floor right now. No one sees my mate like that. No one.”


    Gabriel blinked, clearly surprised by my vehemence. And truthfully, I was a bit surprised myself. But my wolf wasn’t–he was howling for blood, enraged that another male had seen what was his.


    But E wasn’t mine. Not really. She wasn’t marked.


    “Yet,” my wolf added.


    Right. Yet. She wasn’t marked yet.


    “I know the truth, Gabriel,” I went on. “E is a beautiful woman. Very beautiful. And even you aren’t immune to that, are you? How long have you been sneaking looks at her?”


    “What?” Gabriel sputtered. “No, that’s not–I would never-


    “Don’t bother denying it. You, the eternal yboy with a different woman in your bed every week, suddenly concerned about my wife’s undergarments?<b>” </b>I scoffed. “You’re barking up the wrong tree.”


    Gabriel shook his head frantically. “Alexander, I swear, it’s not like that. I was just concerned that she’s trying to manipte you.”


    I stared at him for a long moment, searching his face for any sign of deception. All I saw was fear and confusion–and perhaps a hint


    With a disgusted sigh, I released him and stepped back. My wolf growled, urging me to rip the insubordinate male’s throat out <b>then </b><b>run </b><b>to </b><b>E</b><b>, </b><b>mark </b><b>her </b>and fuck her in that lingerie… But I shoved him down. This was insanity. I was actually thinking of marking her, of making her <b>mine </b><b>for the </b>first <b>time </b><b>in </b>five years.


    What was happening to me?


    “I’m sorry,” Gabriel said immediately, smoothing down his shirt. “I should have knocked. You’re right


    “Yes, you should have.”


    “But,” Gabriel added cautiously, “I still stand by what I said earlier. You and E have been spending more time together than usual <btely</b><b>. </b><b>And </b>you‘ fated mates, which makes it even more difficult to keep your head straight around her.”


    I turned away, not wanting him to see the conflict I knew was written clearly across my face. Because he wasn’t wrong, Lately, it was bing harder <b>to </b>maintain my distance from E. To remember all the reasons why I shouldn’t let myself fall for her.


    The press conference kiss. The movie theater. The way she had defended herself at her parents‘ house. Her fire, her determination, her beauty<b>… </b>


    “I can tell you’re starting to have feelings for her,” Gabriel said. “And if she seduces <i>you</i>, it could be detrimental. She could still be a spy for her <b>family</b>. manipting you for information or something else.”


    I didn’t respond. What could I say? That I had already promised to stop sending money to her father at her request? That I had carried her to <b>bed </b><bst </b>night and spent far too long looking at her sleeping face? That the thought of her in ckce lingerie was making it hard to think straight right <b>now</b><b><i>? </i></b>


    Gabriel studied me for a moment, then sighed. “You know what you need? A distraction. Something to get her off your mind before you do something you’ll regret.”


    I shot him a withering re. “What are you suggesting?” I snapped.”


    to


    My Beta didn’t flinch at my tone. Instead, a small smirk stretched across his face. “How about I take you out to the bar tonight?” he asked.