The sickened luna’s last chance

Alexander went completely still. When he spoke again, his voice was so low and dangerous that it was hardly

more than a growl. He took a step toward Gabriel. “You. Did...” Another step. “What?”

“I flushed it. It's gone.” Gabriel shrank beneath Alexander's shadow. | was angry and | wasn’t thinking clearly

and-"

“Get upstairs,” Alexander snarled, releasing him. “We'll finish this conversation in private.”

Alexander

Twenty minutes later, | found myself in my office watching Gabriel clutch his face where I'd landed a switch

punch the moment we were alone. His lip was split and bleeding, and his eye was already swelling shut.

“You deliberately put my mate and child at risk,” | whispered. “As if it wasn’t already bad enough that you

destroyed something precious to her out of spite. Giveone reason why | shouldn't strip you of your rank right

now.”

“Because | have information you need to see.”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses

“It’s about your parents.” Gabriel reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “I've

been investigating Ella’s pack, just like you asked. And my operative found this.” He held out the paper with a

shaking hand. “Hidden in their territory's archives.”

| snatched the document from him and unfolded it. My blood ran cold as | read the familiar handwriting. It was a

letter from Ella’s father to someone whose nhad been deliberately obscured. But the content was clear

enough.

“The Ashclaw Alphas have bectoo powerful. | think | know of a way to get them out of the picture. And their

son is young and impressionable...”

My hands shook as | read it again. The letter was dated just two months before my parents‘ deaths.

“This doesn’t prove Ella knew anything about it,” I said, looking up at the Beta.

“You shouldn’t be so quick to trust her completely. Her family clearly had plans for you long before your marriage

was arranged. They thought you would be easy to manipulate with your parents out of the picture, so they could

gain influence from Ashclaw without incriminating themselves or causing a war.”

Gabriel was right; the letter explicitly stated that my parents could be taken out in an ”

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accident”, that it would leavein charge and that | was young enough to manipulate,

I'd always had my suspicions of just that, but seeing it written out like this...

And then, of course, there was Ella. This letter implied that they sent her here to manipulate

me.

But Ella was younger than me; it was very possible that she hadn't been aware of her role. And after everything |

had seen her family do to her, the horrible way they treated her, | still wasn’t sure if she would have actually

done their bidding if they had outright ordered her to.

For all | knew, she was just as much of a victim in this as | was.

“Keep investigating,” | said curtly. “I want concrete proof that Ella was knowingly involved in this scheme. And

one more thing.” | fixed him with a stare that made him flinch. “One more slip-up like today and you'll be

permanently demoted to Omega. Are we clear?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Good. Now get out of here and go see the pack doctor.”

Gabriel scurried away, leavingalone with my thoughts and the damning letter hidden in

my

desk. | sat there for several minutes, trying to reconcile the Ella | had cto know recently with the possibility

that she might be exactly what we had always suspected.

But | couldn't think about that right now. Whatever the truth was about her family, Ella was hurting. My wolf

wouldn't letsit here and stew when she and our baby had just nearly been suffocated.

| found her in our bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed with her knees drawn up to her chest. She'd been

crying, judging from the red rings around her eyes and the way she quickly looked away when | entered.

“Hey,” | said softly.

“It's really gone, isn’t it?” She didn’t look at me.

“I'm sorry. Gabriel will be punished for what he did.”

“It doesn’t matter. Nothing's going to bring it back.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “That locket

was precious to Lilith. Precious to me. She’s the mother | never got to have, and | lost the one heirloom she had.”

The hurt in her words made my wolf whine pitifully. Without thinking, | reached over and took her hand. “Come

with me.”

She looked confused but letlead her back down to the vault. | punched in the code and opened the door,

then guided her inside to one of the display cases near the front.

| pulled out my keys and unlocked the case, reaching inside to retrieve a delicate diamond

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necklace. The stones caught the light and threw ny rainbows across the walls as | lifted it out. “This was my

great-grandmother’s,” | said, turning to face Ella. “I think you should wear it.”

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