E & Alexander

    E

    Dr. Evelyn’s examination was thorough, checking everything from my pulse to my reflexes to the fresh mark on my neck. Every test came back better than it had in months.

    “Your wolf’s return haspletely reversed the dormancy effects,” she said, making notes on her clipboard. “Your heart rate is strong, your blood pressure is normal, and even the pregnancy seems to be progressing healthily. The marking worked perfectly.”

    I couldn’t stop smiling. For the first time in months, I felt like myself again.

    Just with… a little bit extra.

    Like that pulse that wasn’t my own, but rather the one steadily thrumming in my mate’s chest.

    “Finally,” my wolf purred, stretching as if waking up from a long nap, which was technically true. “I was starting to think you’d never figure it out.”

    “You disappeared on me for months,” I bit back. Using the mental bond we shared after all this time felt like slipping back into a favorite old pair of shoes. “I thought you were gone forever.”

    “I was protecting us. Better to go dormant than live a life where our mate won’t mark us.” That familiar smugness in her voice hadn’t gone away during her dormancy, it seemed. “But look how well that worked out. Now we’re marked and there’s a pup on the way.”

    “You’re so dramatic.”

    “I prefer the term ‘strategic’.”

    Dr. Evelyn finished her examination and handed me a clean bill of health. “Everything looks perfect, Luna E. You and the baby should be fine now.”

    The baby. Our baby. Alexander’s baby.

    As Lilith drove us home, the euphoria of having my wolf back began to fade slightly, reced by a more sobering reality. Yes, Alexander had marked me. Yes, he’d saved our child’s life and cured my condition. But that didn’t mean he love me.

    I touched the fresh mark on my neck, still tender from Alexander’s bite. He’d done this out of duty, not love. He had made that perfectly clear when he referenced the contract just before marking me.

    I couldn’t let myself forget that. I couldn’t let my heart get broken all over again by reading more into his actions than what was actually there.

    But deep down, I was still happy that he had done it. Even if it wasplicated, at least now I could keep our baby–and I could rest easy knowing that Alexander wanted it.

    When we pulled into the driveway, I could see Gabriel waiting on the front steps, likely waiting for Alexander, who had driven his car behind us. The moment I stepped out of the car, The Beta’s eyes immediately zeroed in on my neck.

    His expression went from confusion to shock to something that looked an awful lot like rage.

    “Well, well,” Gabriel said as we approached the front door. “Looks like someone finally got what they wanted.”

    “Excuse me?” I stopped walking.

    “The mark.” Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “Quite the convenient timing, isn’t it? Right after Alexander starts showing interest in you, suddenly you’re pregnant and marked. Very strategic.”

    “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

    “Come on,

    E. We both know you’ve been ying the long game here. Poor, sick Luna, wasting away because her cruel husband won’t mark her. What Alpha could resist that sob story, especially when his heir is involved?”

    Rage flooded through me at his tone. But this time, instead of feeling weak and helpless, I felt powerful. My wolf snarled in the back of my mind, and suddenly I was moving faster than I ever had before.

    I grabbed Gabriel by the throat and mmed him against the front door of the mansion with enough force to rattle the hinges. His eyes went wide with shock as I held him there, my hand firmly pressed against his windpipe.

    “I didn’t manipte anyone into anything. Alexander marked me because he chose to, not because I somehow tricked him into it.”

    Gabriel tried to struggle, but I was stronger now. My wolf’s strength was flowing through me, making me feel like I could take on anyone who dared to disrespect me. And unlike before the dormancy, I was no longer the meek and mild Luna who would never do anything to cross anyone else.

    T