<b>Chapter </b><b>89 </b>


    E <b>& </b>Sophia


    E


    “Alexander, E.” Sophia stopped a respectful distance away and bowed her head. “I know this is awkward, but I wanted to exin why I’m here.”


    Alexander’s arm stayed firmly around my waist. The tension in his body took mepletely by surrse; I knew he’d had a falling out with her and her family after what had happened, but he looked positively thunderous.


    “I told you he cares more than you think,” my wolf hummed, which I quickly silenced with a very crude mental gesture.


    “My distant cousin is running in the election,” Sophia said quickly. “I’m here to see him.” She looked directly at me, and the remorse in her eyes surprised me even more than Alexander’s fury. “I’m not here to cause trouble. I promise.”


    I studied her face, searching for any sign of deception. She certainly looked sincere enough, but that meant nothing when it came to Sophia.


    “E,” Sophia continued, “I owe you an apology. For everything. Whatever my parents did to you, I <i>know </i>you didn’t deserve it.”


    Right. ce the me on her parents.


    Sophia might be standing here ying the innocent little girl who had nothing to do with her parents‘ crimes, but I knew better. She and her family had intentionally orchestrated my kidnapping. They’d tried to kill me. And now she wanted me to believe she was sorry?


    Bullshit.


    But I wasn’t about to let her see that I knew the truth. Not here, not tonight, with all these people watching and cameras recording our every


    “Thank you,” I simply said. I wouldn’t ept the apology.


    Sophia’s shoulders sagged, although I wasn’t sure if it was relief or disappointment. Her gaze slid over to Alexander’s, but his eyes remained hard as two


    emeralds.


    He said nothing.


    It was clearly a silent dismissal, and to her credit, Sophia took the hint. She nodded to both of us and melted back into the crowd, leaving us alone again.


    Alexander’s voice slid through the bond. “She and her family have been punished, I assure you.”


    “I know.” Itooked away, trying to hide the disappointment I felt that the punishment hadn’t been more severe than it apparently was. “I trust your judgment.”


    He tilted his head. “Do you?”


    Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, I wasn’t going to let Sophia or anyone else spoil this evening. This was my first night out as an expecting mother, my first chance to y the role of Luna at a major political event. I was going to bask in every damn minute of it.


    The rest of the night passed without incident. Alexander introduced me to candidate after candidate, their wives and advisors and campaign managers. Everyone wanted to congratte us on the pregnancy, toment on our “beautiful love story,” to ask when the baby was due.


    I yed my part perfectly, smiling and chatting and letting people touch my t tummy. I told the romantic stories I’d crafted earlier about Alexander’s devotion and I smiled up at him adoringly.


    But as the hours wore on, the exhaustion of it all started catching up to me. ying the part of a doting wife was starting to drag me down, and constantly seeing Sophia in the background everywhere I looked wasn’t helping any, either.


    Finally, while Alexander rubbed elbows with a group of Alphas from the northern territory coalition, I slipped away for a moment <b>to </b><b>myself </b><b>and </b>found <b>a </b>


    quiet table to sit at. He didn’t seen to notice my absence.


    As I sat down, it seemed thebination of pregnancy hormones and thete hour was hitting me harder than I expected. I tried to fight it<b>, </b><b>but </b>trefortable chair and the dim lighting in this corner of the room were working against me.


    Before I knew it, I was nodding off.


    I drifted in that pleasant space between sleep and waking, dimly aware of the sounds of the party continuing around me. Voices andughter<b>, </b><b>the </b>clink of sses, the soft music from the string quartet in the corner.


    Then I felt a warm hand slip into mine, fingers intertwining with my own.


    “Hey,” Alexander said softly. “You okay?”


    I opened my eyes slowly. Alexander was crouched beside my chair, still devastatingly handsome even after hours of political schmoozing. His tie was loosened slightly, and a few strands of red hair had fallen across his forehead.


    But it was the look in his green eyes that made my breath catch. Gentle and concerned and something strikingly tender.


    The mate bond surged between us without warning, flooding me with all kinds of dangerous emotions that felt too big for my body. In my half–asleep state, with my defenses down and my heart open, I didn’t think about contracts or politics or fake rtionships.


    I just acted on instinct.


    I reached up and pulled Alexander’s face down to mine, kissing him with all the passion and longing I’d been trying to hide for months He made a surprised sound against my lips but didn’t pull away. Instead, his free hand came up to cup my face as he kissed me back just fee


    For a moment, the rest of the world disappeared. There was only Alexander and me and the electric current of our bond sparking between us.


    Only the taste of him on my tongue and the feeling of taking exactly what I wanted in that moment.


    Sophia


    Sophia watched from across the room as Alex kissed E with enough passion to burn the venue down.


    The sight made her want to be fucking sick.


    They really were in love, were they?


    All this time, Sophia had been telling herself that their rtionship was just for show. That Alexander was only ying his part for the cameras and the voters. That deep down, he still cared about her the way she cared about him, and the punishment he’d doled out was just a momentary hup.


    But that kiss… there was nothing fake or temporary about that kiss.


    Sophia’s hands clenched into fists at her sides as she watched the disgusting disy. She’d lost him. Really, truly lost him.


    The realization was a p to the face, and for a moment Sophia could barely breathe. Alexander was nevering back to her. He was going to be Alpha King with E as his Luna Queen, and they were going to have their perfect little family and live happily ever after.


    Unless…


    Sophia’s eyes narrowed as an idea began to form. A dangerous, desperate idea that could either give her everything she wanted or destroy herpletely onest time.


    She scanned the room until she spotted Gabriel near the bar, nursing what looked like his third whiskey of the evening. The Beta looked as miserable as she felt, probably for simr reasons.


    Perfect.


    Sephia straightened her shoulders and made her way across the room, her red dress swishing around her legs. Gabriel looked up as she <b>approached</b>.


    “Sophia.”


    She slid onto the barstool next to him and signaled the bartender for a drink. “Interesting evening, don’t you think?”


    Gabriel’s jaw tightened as he followed her gaze to where Alexander and E were still sitting together in the corner. Fucking lovebirds. “Thrilling”


    “You don’t sound happy about your Alpha’s sess.”


    “What’s that supposed to mean?”


    Sophia leaned closer, lowering her voice. “It means I think we want good this time.”


    came thing, Gabriel. <i>And </i>I think we might be able to help each other get it. For


    Gabriel hesitated for a long moment, and Sophia wondered if he might decline. Perhaps it was too risky for the Beta.


    But to her surprise, he set down his ss and turned to face her. “I’m listening.”


    1