<b>Chapter </b><b>45 </b>


    Alexander


    <b>81</b><b>% </b>


    (+28)


    I never went to bars. Even before my parents died, I had been focused on my future as Alpha, on learning everything I needed to know to lead the pack. There was never time for drinking or partying or anything else that might distract me from my duties, and besides, it wasn’t bing for an Alpha to be in a ce like this.


    But after E had gone out with Liam, I had decided to take up Gabriel on his offer. Why should she go out whenever or with whomever she wanted while I was sitting at home, alone?


    “One drink,” I told Gabriel as we pulled up to The Howling Moon. “That’s it.”


    Gabriel smirked, turning off the engine. “Sure, Alpha. Just one.”


    Thad been to this ce once before, years ago, when I’d first taken my ce as Alpha and had to deal with a huge bar fight that had broken out because of one of my warriors. It hadn’t changed much–still smelled like stale beer and cheap cologne, still had that tacky neon sign out front.


    Gabriel pushed open the door, and I followed him inside, immediately hit by a wall of noise. Some song was sting through speakers, and the ce was packed with wolves from our pack and a few others, drinking andughing and-


    I froze as my gazended on the small stage at the back of the bar.


    E.


    My mate was dancing and singing with a blue–haired woman I’d never seen before. Her hips were swaying to the beat, her hair was wild around her face, and her cheeks were flushed pink as if she’d had about five drinks or more.


    And her voice. Goddess, her voice was beautiful. She was hitting every note perfectly as she belted out the lyrics to some old pop song. I’d never heard her sing before. I never even knew she could.


    For a moment, I just stood there, unable to move, unable to look away. She looked so different from the quiet,posed Luna I’d married. So free. So


    alive.


    Then her eyes met mine across the bar, and her smile vanished. She turned away quickly, focusing back on the song, but her bodynguage had changed. Stiffened. Like she didn’t want me to see her like this.


    Or maybe she just didn’t want to see me at all.


    “Alpha?” Gabriel’s handnded on my shoulder. “Youing?”


    I tore my gaze away from E and nodded, following Gabriel to the bar. My wolf was bristling inside of me, angry and jealous. What the hell was E doing here? And who was that woman with her?


    “Two whiskeys,” Gabriel told the bartender, then leaned toward me. “Surprised to see the Luna here, huh?”


    I simply grunted in response. The anger I was feeling was irrational, and I knew it. E had every right to go out. To have friends. To enjoy herself.


    But seeing her here, without me, dressed like that, dancing and singing like a fucking goddess, when I hadn’t even known where she was going…


    “I told you she’s up to no good,” Gabriel muttered as the bartender set our drinks in front of us. <b>“</b><b>First </b>that lingerie, now this.” He gestured toward the stage, where E and the blue–haired woman had just finished their song, causing the crowd to cheer.


    I tore my gaze away from the scene and took <i>a </i>long swig of my whiskey.“She’s allowed <b>to </b>have a life, Gabriel.”


    <b>“</b><b>Of </b>course she is. But you have to admit, it’s suspicious. The sudden interest in going out, in dressing differently…” Gabriel lowered his <b>voice</b><b>. </b><b>“</b><b>She </b><b>could </b>still be working with her father, you know, Gathering information about you, about the pack. Trying <b>to </b>seduce you, or perhaps make you <b>jealous </b><b>enough </b>to do something regrettable.”


    <b>1/3 </b>


    <b>My </b>wolf growled at the insinuation, but I pushed him down. I had the same suspicions, didn’t I? It was why I’d kept my distance for five years. Why <b>I’d </b>never marked her.


    Buttely…


    <b>“</b>I don’t think that’s what this is,” I said.


    Gabriel snorted. “So she’s suddenly decided to spread her wings after five years of being the perfect Luna?” He shook his head. “People don’t change that fast, Alexander. Not without a reason. If she’s not trying to get in your head, then maybe she’s seeing someone else. Maybe even that woman.”


    That woman…


    Was I wrong for thinking E had feelings for Liam? Was it a woman all along?


    Without meaning to, my eyes flickered over to E again. She and the blue–haired woman had found a table on the other side of the bar. Their heads were bent close together as they talked. My fingers tightened around my ss.


    “Maybe what you need is a distraction,” Gabriel suggested, signaling the bartender for another round even though I’d told him I would only have one. “Find a willing she–wolf and take her home. Get E out of your system.”


    The suggestion made my upper lip pull back in a snarl. The mere thought of touching another woman when my mate was right there, unmarked but still mine-


    “I kid, of course. You’ve got a reputation to uphold for your campaign. But you should let it go, Alexander,” Gabriel said quietly. “Whatever feelings you’re developing for her, they’re not good for you. You need to focus on the election, on finding out who really killed your parents. Not on a mate who clearly doesn’t care about you.”


    The words stung more than they should have. I knocked back my second whiskey, letting the alcohol dull my thoughts.


    But Gabriel was right about one thing: I needed to focus.


    And yet, my eyes kept drifting back to E.


    “Another round?” Gabriel asked.


    I nodded, needing the distraction. Before I knew it, one drink had turned into three, then four, and my head was starting to feel fuzzy.


    As the night wore on, Gabriel shifted the conversation to other topics: sports, his most recent hookups, pack gossip. I nodded along as he spoke, but I wasn’t really listening. I kept looking at her.


    She hadn’t looked my way once since our eyes met when I first arrived. It was like she was deliberately ignoring me, and that bothered me more than it should have.


    Why did I care? She could do whatever she wanted. Go wherever she wanted. Be with whoever she wanted.


    Except that wasn’t true, was it? She was my mate. Mine.


    But I’d never imed her…


    Suddenly, I looked over my shoulder to see that E and the woman had stood up. They were both a little unsteady on their feet<b>, </b>clearly drunk. <b>The </b>woman said something that made Eugh, then–to my shock–she reached out and took E’s hand in hers<b>. </b>


    My wolf surged forward with a jealous growl as I watched the woman lead E out of the bar, and this time I couldn’t push him back down. <b>The </b><b>sight </b>of another person touching my mate like that, so casual, <i>so </i>familiar<b>… </b>


    Without thinking, I stood up.


    <b>“</b>Alexander?” Gabriel frowned. “What are you doing?”


    <b>2/3 </b>


    <b>08:07 </b><b>In </b>21 Aud


    “Need some air,” I muttered, already moving toward the door.


    Outside, the night air was cool on my face, clearing some of the alcohol–induced fog from my mind. I looked around, but E and her friend weren’t on


    the main street.


    Then I heardughter from the alley beside the bar.


    Moving silently, I approached the corner and peered around it. What I saw made my blood run cold.


    E was pressed against the brick wall, the blue–haired woman standing close to her. Too close, in fact, caging E against the wall with both hands. They were talking softly, their faces just inches apart. Then the woman leaned in and pressed her lips to E’s.


    My mate’s lips.


    For <b>a </b>moment, I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. Could only stare as the woman kissed my mate.


    And then my wolf exploded with jealous rage. “Mine,” he howled. “Mine. Mine. MINE!”