Chapter 3

Ella POV

His reaction, the anger in his voice, surprised me even more. He wasn’t laughing or mocking me, nor did he seem upset. Just… mad. Frustrated.

“I don’t understand,” I blurted out. “You hate me, Alexander. If I’m the one to take the blame, thus protecting your reputation from harm, then why wouldn’t you jump at the opportunity?”

There was a long moment of silence. Alexander stared at me, green eyes unreadable. I held his gaze, even though it wasn’t something I was used to.

Then, finally: “Our contract clearly states that only I can initiate a mutual rejection.” He pulled a drawer open from his desk and reached in, pulling out a leather bound folder that I knew all too well. He flipped to a certain page and extended it to me. “Page three, clause B.”

I sighed exasperatedly but took the contract. Indeed, the clause he’d pointed to stated that only Alexander could end our “relationship”. I faintly recalled reading it at the time of signing, but had been under so much pressure and the naive hope that Alexander might eventually grow to love me that I hadn’t paid much attention.

“The only reason I married you,” he went on, rounding his desk and crossing over to the small bar in the corner, “was to give the public a good impression—an Alpha who marries his fated mate is a better candidate for Alpha King, after all. And now, with the election coming up, I can’t risk losing favor.”

Right. So this was all about the upcoming Alpha King election. Alexander had always wanted the position, and now that the current Alpha King’s ten-year term was coming to its end, new candidates would be campaigning soon.

Alexander was one of them.

“Furthermore,” Alexander turned his back to me and poured himself a glass of bourbon, “your father is still benefiting from Ashclaw’s support. Unless you’re planning to leave him high and dry with a debt he can’t repay.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. He was pouring himself a fucking drink, his back turned to me, and speaking in a tone as if we were simply discussing business.

And I supposed, in a way, this was business. Maybe it hadn’t always been that way for me, because I had once stupidly held onto the hope that my fated mate would fall for me, but it had always been a transaction to him.

“I’ll speak to my father. We’ll pay you back the money you gave him and we’ll be even.”

“Go ahead. You’ve wasted enough of my time today. But don’t come crying to me and pretending to be all innocent again when he turns you down.”

I rolled my eyes and abruptly left without another word.

A few minutes later, I found myself in one of the sprawling gardens out behind the mansion. This particular garden, with a gnarled old flowering cherry tree in the center and high hedges, was one of the few places in the mansion where I truly felt at peace.

Here, surrounded by the sickly sweet scent of fallen cherry blossoms, I felt like I could breathe. Hardly anyone but me ever came here—the gardeners rarely tended to it, allowing little flowers and shoots of grass to come up between the pebbled walkways.

It was the one place here that felt like mine.

Not for long, though. Because soon, I would be leaving.

I dialed my father’s number and sat on the stone bench beneath the cherry tree.

“Ella,” my father’s voice answered after the third ring. “I was wondering when you might call. With the upcoming election, I was considering offering Alexander my public endorsement in exchange for more—”

“Dad, I want to divorce Alexander.”

“What? Why?”

“Because my wolf has gone dormant, and I’ll die in a year if he doesn’t mark me or reject me.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve never heard of an illness like that before.”

“Well, it’s true. If you want your daughter to live, you have to help me get out of this marriage. Because Alexander is definitely not going to mark me.”

My father sighed. “Ella… You know how important this union is. Whatever is going on between you two, you need to take the high road and remain diligent. I understand marriage is not easy sometimes—”

“We’re not just fighting, Dad. He hates me.”

“I know it feels that way sometimes, but you have to push through. Stormhollow needs Ashclaw’s support. Don’t cause any trouble that could impact our pack. Think of your mother’s legacy.”

My throat tightened at the mention of my late mother. She had died when I was just a baby, so I had never met her—but Stormhollow had been her pack. She was the only heir to Stormhollow, but when she had married my father, he had taken on the title of Alpha.

Such was the way of things in our world. Men were Alphas. Women were Lunas, props to hold up their male counterparts.

And right now… my life was less important than what two men wanted.

“Besides,” my father went on, “I just purchased a new diamond ring for Margaret for our wedding anniversary. I can’t lose our biggest stream of income now. Surely you understand…”

I almost laughed out loud at that. Margaret, my stepmother and mother to my half-brother, Brian… She always loved lavish things. My father would gladly spend all of our family’s savings on gifts for her.

Not me. Never me.

I was just the daughter to be used up, even if it killed me.

When it killed me.

“You really don’t care about me, do you?” I bit out, hurt and angry. “I’m telling you that I’m going to die, and you just care about the money.”

“You’re not going to die, sweetheart. You’re just being dramatic—”

Too frustrated to hear more, I abruptly hung up before he could finish. I hung my head in my hands and breathed deeply through my nose, trying not to cry.

There had to be something I could do. Anything.

Suddenly, I felt a warm hand touch my shoulder. I didn’t need to look up to know it was Lilith, and I leaned into her, letting her wrap her arms around me.

“I don’t want to die,” I whispered, my voice strained from the effort of holding back tears. “I want to live.”

Lilith sniffled, and when I looked up, her eyes were red and puffy. The sight made me want to cry even more. “Is there anything I can do?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Alexander won’t mark me or divorce me, and I was stupid enough to sign a contract that disallows me from rejecting him myself. And my father just cares about the money. So right now, I’m royally screwed.”

Lilith made a little sound of distress.

“All I’ve ever done is give,” I whispered. “I give and give and give and never ask for anything in return. And now, the one time I don’t just want help but need it… I just get blamed, rejected, and pushed away by my own father and mate—the two people who should have my back no matter what.”

And now I was supposed to die for them, when they would never sacrifice a single thing for me.

I laughed bitterly. “I’ve been so perfect, and yet neither of them will help me.”

“So stop being perfect.”

I looked up at Lilith, finding her staring down at me with a new intensity in her gaze. It took me by surprise. “What?” I asked, sitting up straighter.

Lilith shrugged. “Do something crazy, something that will push Alexander away,” she mused. “If all you’ve ever done is be perfect, then no wonder he doesn’t want to reject you. So… make him want it.”

I blinked as Lilith’s words sank in. It had never crossed my mind to be the exact opposite of what Alexander wanted—rather than being the sweet, gentle Luna who got walked all over and used, I could be a constant thorn in his side, make his life so miserable he would have no choice but to divorce me.

“I’d be… free,” I whispered, standing. “And my wolf would return…”

Lilith nodded and rose alongside me, taking my hands into hers. “I’ll help in any way I can. I won’t let you die, Ella. Not on my watch.”

At that, a tear finally slipped out—but it was a happy one. I laughed thickly and pulled Lilith into my embrace. “Thank you, Lilith. Thank you.”

Lilith leaned into me and held me tight, tighter than anyone had before.

“Sorry to interrupt this little moment, but you’ve got work to do, Ella.”

The sound of Gabriel’s voice instantly made me bristle. I pulled away from Lilith and turned to see both the Beta and Sophia walking toward us. Sophia wrinkled her nose and covered it delicately with a little white handkerchief as if the scent of cherry blossoms sickened her.

“Have you forgotten the banquet is tonight?” Gabriel tilted his head. “There will be plenty of high-profile guests in attendance. You have a lot of work to do if it’s going to impress them.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Right. The banquet—more like an excuse for Sophia to get drunk and hang off Alexander’s arm like his desperate mistress.

“I wrote a list of some foods I’d like prepared,” Sophia said, handing me a slip of paper with increasingly-decadent meals written down: fresh clams with butter, quail eggs, some kind of pastry I’d never even heard of before. “And you know my stomach is sensitive, so see to it that everything is prepared just right.”

I clenched my jaw. Lilith subtly nudged me with her elbow.

“You do it,” I said, looking into Gabriel's eyes. “I’m going to take a nap.”