Alexander’s POV


    I looked up from the quarterly budget reports spread across my desk to find the nanny standing in my office doorway. My eyebrows shot up as she burst into the room and shouted immediately:


    “Don’t take my name off the list!”


    The room fell silent. All eyes turned to where she stood in the doorway, chest heaving, hair disheveled, eyes zing.


    For a moment, as I stared at her, I forgot all about the meeting. All I saw was her.


    Not Ste, no…


    But E.


    Goddess, she reminded me so much of the woman I’d loved in that moment. It wasn’t just that she looked like her, but she acted like her, too. Bursting into my office unannounced, making demands<b>, </b>not caring what others thought…


    It was so much like that fiery, stubborn side of E that finally came out when she first got sick all those months ago. The side of E that I wished I had gotten the chance to see for the five years of our marriage leading up to that.


    And in this moment, it made my heart pound like she really was standing in front of me again. Like I might get another chance to see it, even if only for a moment.


    I wanted to go to her, pull her close, and apologize for everything.


    But of course that wasn’t possible. Ste might have looked and acted like E, but it wasn’t her. It


    couldn’t be.


    I had to admit, though, that part of me was actually impressed. It took guts for an Omega to burst in here like this, especially during a meeting with high–ranking Alphas. Most servants would have waited outside for hours rather than risk my wrath. But not Ste.


    She had the attitude of a Luna in the making. As if she were born for it.


    “Alpha Alexander,” one of the other Alphas finally said, breaking the silence, “are you going to let an Omega interrupt our meeting, or can we continue?”


    I blinked, pulled from my thoughts, and realized that the three Alphas in the room were staring at me expectantly now. They were waiting for me to put the Omega in her ce and not show weakness. <fne5bd> Chapters first released on find(?)ovel</fne5bd>


    Right. I couldn’t let this slide. Not if I wanted to maintain any semnce of authority as Alpha King.


    “Ste,” I said coolly, “You will wait outside until this meeting is finished. And next time, you will show proper respect for your Alpha by requesting an appointment through the appropriate channels.”


    Her face went pale. Something twisted in my chest at the hurt that shed across her features, but I shoved that sensation down. The others were right; a true Alpha King couldn’t let his subordinates walk all over him like this.


    That was a role reserved for my wife and my wife only.


    “Furthermore,” I continued, “if you ever interrupt one of my meetings again without permission, you’ll find yourself looking for new employment. Is that understood?”


    The silence that followed was deafening. Ste stood there for a moment, looking like she was struggling to find words. When she finally spoke, all she said was, “Yes, Alpha. My apologies.”


    With that, she turned on her heel and left.


    The other Alphas burst intoughter the moment she was gone. But all I could do was stare at where she had just been, wondering why my chest suddenly felt so empty now that those silver eyes weren’t burning into me.


    E’s POV


    My heart turned as ck as coal when Alexander spoke to me like that. Even more so when I heard theughter behind the closed door.


    For a few brief moments here and there over the past weeks, I’d started to think that maybe Alexander wasn’t as heartless as I’d believed. When he’d helped tend to my wounds after the hunt, when he’d been gentle with me in the kitchen, I’d caught glimpses of the man I’d fallen in love with.


    But this reminded me exactly who Alexander really was. He was not the type of man I wanted to marry again, that was for sure.


    Still, I’d made up my mind about staying in the Luna Trial for Anya’s sake. And so I waited.


    Finally, an hourter, the office door opened and the three Alphas filed out, barely sparing me a nce as they passed. Alexander appeared in the doorway a momentter with his hands in his pockets.


    “What did you want to discuss?” he asked.


    I lifted my chin. “I want to stay in the Luna Trial. Don’t take my name off the list.”


    Alexander’s eyebrows rose slightly. “I thought you were desperate to get out of the trial. What


    changed?”


    “My friend needs me.”


    “Your friend?”


    “Yes,”


    “I see… And here I thought you were finallying around to the idea of bing my Luna.”


    The suggestion made my stomach turn. “No. This has nothing to do with you or your trial. I’m only staying to help my friend.”


    Alexander’s mouth quirked up into what might have been a smile, but it was gone in a sh. “Well, since you’re so eager topete, there’s something you should know about what you’re signing up for: the winner of this trial will be my Luna in name only. My bed will remain mine alone.”


    For a moment, I just stared at him. He was going to do the same thing to another woman that he’d done to me. He was going to treat them like a prop and not a real person.


    Even if Liam was right, and Alexander was only doing this because an Alpha King needed a Luna, it didn’t change anything. We weren’t people to Alexander. We were tools to be used for his own gain.


    Somehow, the thought of Alexander refusing to go to bed with his new Luna made it so much worse than if he had simply chosen to rece me.


    At least if he’d chosen to rece me, I could have convinced myself that it was out of grief and loneliness. I could have deluded myself into thinking that he just couldn’t bear to be alone after my death and that he wanted a mother figure for Lucien.


    But this… This was worse. This was just a reminder that Alexander was the same man he’d always been. He could momentarily confuse me by showing rare instances of kindness and tenderness, but nothing had really changed about him.


    He was still selfish. A user. And the type of man to scold and make fun of a woman in front of other Alphas simply because she was below him.


    Hell, he didn’t even believe me when I told him I was only doing this to help Anya. He was actually egotistical enough to think that I wanted him!


    “How noble of you,” I managed to bite out.


    Alexander’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”


    But I was already turning away, my face zing with heat and fury. I couldn’t stand there and listen to him talk for another second. I was going to remain in this stupid trial for Anya’s sake, but I wasn’t going to like it.


    In fact, every moment I spent around Alexander felt like an insult.


    Without another word, I stormed off and left him standing there, staring after me.