Chapter b184 /b

    “Of course it’s impossible,” she said quickly. “We’re not rted, sweetheart. Your wolf was probably just confused from all the excitement.”

    But her voice sounded strained, and she wouldn’t quite meet my eyes. Something was off about her reaction, but before I could ask about it, Alexander appeared at my elbow.

    “Ready to head back to the house?” he asked, offering me his arm.

    I blinked, surprised he had returned so quickly. “I thought you and Gabriel-b” /b

    “All finished,i” /iAlexander cut me off, eyes flickering with something I couldn’t quite read. “Come on. Let’s

    get you back inside. You look exhausted.”

    Truthfully, I was. I let Alexander help me to my feet, ncing over my shoulder to find Lilith gathering our mugs and scurrying away. She didn’t look at me.

    Strange…

    The walk back to the mansion was quiet at first, both of us tired from the long day. The sun had finally setpletely, and the majority of the guests had already gone home.

    “That went well,” I said, breaking the silence. “The whole event, I mean.”

    “Better than I expected,” Alexander agreed. “Gabriel thinks we might have picked up some votes from the

    undecideds.”

    I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the very mention of the Beta’s name. “The election’s in what, three days now?”

    “Monday. Voting opens at dawn and closes at sunset.” Alexander’s jaw tightened slightly. “Then the resultse in by midnight.”

    I nced at him sideways, taking in the tension in his shoulders. “You’re nervous.”

    “Wouldn’t you be?”

    “Probably.i” /iWe walked a few more steps before I worked up the courage to ask the question that had been nagging at me all evening. “What happens to our contract if you win?”

    Alexander’s steps faltered slightly, and I felt him tense beside me. “What do you mean?”

    “I mean, the whole point of our arrangement was to help you get elected. If you actually be Alpha King…” I trailed off, suddenly unsure I wanted to hear the answer.

    “I’ve been thinking about that,” Alexander said carefully. “Like I said that day at the hospital, I was hoping we could extend the contract. Make it include provisions for raising our child together.”

    My stomach dropped. “For how long?”

    “Until they’re eighteen, at least. An adult.”

    Eighteen years. He wanted to stay in a fake marriage with me for eighteen fucking years, all for the sake of our child’s legitimacy.

    “So you want to pretend to be happily married for the next eighteen years?”

    Alexander’s jaw worked like he was struggling with something, but his response was frustratingly vague.

    “It would be best for the child. Stability, legitimacy, a unified front.”

    “Right. For the child.”

    I must not have done a good job hiding my disappointment, because Alexander shot me a sharp look. But

    instead of addressing it, he changed the subject entirely.

    “I was thinking, for when the election resultse in, maybe you’d like to have some friends over? Liam, maybe a few others? We can watch the results on the TV and celebrate if it’s a win.”

    The abrupt topic change left me feeling off–kilter, but I nodded anyway. “Sure. That sounds nice.”

    We’d reached the front door by then, and Alexander held it open for me. But instead of following me inside, he lingered on the threshold.

    “Goodnight, E,” he said quietly, and there was something in the way he said it that made me turn back

    to look at him.

    His eyes were soft again, the way they’d been when he felt the baby kick, and for a moment I thought he might say something more. Something that would exin the mixed signals he’d been sending me all

    evening.

    But then he simply stepped back, letting the door close between us, and I was left standing alone in the

    foyer.

    I made my way upstairs slowly, my mind spinning. Nothing made sense anymore. The lines between what was real and what was performance had gotten so blurred that I couldn’t tell the difference.

    But as I got ready for bed, reying the evening in my mind, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something had fundamentally shifted between Alexander and me.

    Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing… I couldn’t be entirely sure.