All Chapters of Too Late to Mark Me, Alpha: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The styling team arrived just after sunrise.My mother sat nearby while someone arranged my hair. As she watched, her eyes slowly reddened.“You look beautiful.”I met her gaze in the mirror and reached for her hand.“It’s not as though I’m never coming home again.”“I know.”She wiped the corner of one eye.“I’m happy.”Once the pearl hairpieces were secured, Brooke arrived with two of my college roommates.They had brought a bracelet they made themselves.Three little beads represented the three of them.Brooke fastened it around my wrist, stepped back, and drew in an exaggerated breath.“Audrey, Mason Cole must be completely blind—”I caught her eye in the mirror.“Happy things today.”She immediately raised both hands.“Right. Not another word.”Then she crouched to straighten my skirt and lowered her voice.“There’s quite a bit of alliance media outside. They’re all in the outer area, though. No one’s coming in without permission.”I nodded.A ceremony involving the Sterling famil

The reception was held at the Sterling estate.White tents stood across the lawn. Roses and candlelight ran along the long tables, and a band played below the terrace.Everything looked beautiful.For once, I could enjoy that beauty without calculating what it had cost or wondering what discussion I would have to manage next.The mutual-protection agreement between our families would continue through the established procedures of both councils.That work still existed.So did the responsibilities that came with it.But no one brought a folder to our table that evening.No one asked me to smile for a photograph while quietly reminding me what our union needed to accomplish.Tonight was allowed to belong to us.Alexander held my hand as we went from table to table, accepting congratulations.I recognized relatives, old family friends, and people I had known through territorial affairs.There were many conversations, but I never felt abandoned inside them.Whenever someone kept Alexander’

One evening, we sat on the terrace beneath a sky full of stars.For a while, neither of us spoke.Then Alexander turned toward me.“I started liking you earlier than you think.”I looked at him.“The chocolate?”“That was the beginning.”He took my hand.“Afterward, I asked about you. When I heard you’d gone to Chicago, I thought about contacting you. I just didn’t know how to begin.”I studied his profile.The story felt different here, away from the preparations and formalities that had first brought us together.“Then I saw you at the museum last year,” he continued. “I realized how clearly I still remembered you.”“Why didn’t you come find me?”He was quiet for a moment.“I heard you had a boyfriend.”The breeze lifted the edge of my wrap.He drew it more securely around my shoulders before continuing.“I didn’t want my feelings to become a burden you had to manage.”I looked down at our joined hands.“Then my parents mentioned the arrangement between our families. When they showed

That evening, we had dinner at my mother’s house.The table held food I loved and could comfortably eat.Halfway through the meal, she mentioned my grandfather’s birthday.“We’re going to the country house for a couple of days next month. Come with us. He keeps asking about you.”“Of course.”I turned to Alexander.“Will you have time?”“Yes.”He smiled.“I promised him we’d go fishing. I haven’t kept that promise yet.”On my grandfather’s birthday, we drove out together.He seemed even happier to see Alexander than to see me.Before we had been there long, he was asking about the fund, the recently repaired roads, and half a dozen other things.Then he took Alexander straight down to the lake.My mother and I stayed in the garden, gathering vegetables for dinner.She glanced toward the water.“When your grandfather first suggested the arrangement, he worried about it too.”I looked up.“He was afraid you’d agree for the family’s sake and end up unhappy.”By the lake, Alexander bent ov

The next morning, I sent the woman’s contact information to the alliance’s child assistance office, along with an account of what she had told me.The staff didn’t immediately decide who was telling the truth.They confirmed the baby’s circumstances first, then contacted both parents to establish how he was being cared for and who would take responsibility.A few days later, I received an update.Mason had taken the child home and agreed to follow-up visits.At the very least, the baby now had a stable place to live, and someone would be checking that he received proper care.I finally felt able to stop worrying.I no longer loved Mason.I had no wish to enter his life again.But a child shouldn’t have to pay for decisions made by the adults around him.A few months later, our daughter was born.She had Alexander’s eyes and my nose.The first time I held her, I was so nervous that I barely dared to breathe.Alexander sat beside the bed, one hand supporting her and the other holding min