The Sickened Luna's Last Chance novel Chapter 40

Chapter 40

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Chapter 40

Alexander

I followed my Beta into my study, where a man was waiting for us. I recognized the man immediately as one of the photographers from the press conference.

“Alpha,” Gabriel said, gesturing to the man, “this guy says a couple came into his tabloid agency to leak the story. He saw them.”

I narrowed my eyes and folded my arms. “Is that so?”

The man nodded. “I-It’s true, Alpha,” he said, wringing his hands. “They came in and spoke to my boss. Well, I didn’t see them, but I did hear them speak.”

“And? Spit it out.”

The photographer fidgeted with his camera strap “It was an older couple. A man and a woman.”

“An older couple?” I asked, straightening a little “Did they give names?”

“No, sir. They were careful about that. But I remember what they sounded like.”

“Go on.”

The photographer hesitated. “Well, the man had a deep, gravelly voice. Like he used to smoke. And the woman’s voice was high-pitched, but she drew out her ‘s’s, sort of like a snake.”

I tilted my head slightly, exchanging a glance with Gabriel. The description was vague, but it sounded an awful lot like Sophia’s parents, John and Helen Oxford. Alpha and Luna of Moonshine pack.

John once had a smoking problem, and Helen did speak like that.

But it made no sense. The Oxfords and the pack they led, Moonshine, was a close friend of Ashclaw’s. I’d known John and Helen my entire life. They weren’t the type to do something like this, and even if they were, they had no reason for it in this case. Our packs were allies.

Unless…

Sophia allegedly wanted to break up my marriage to Ella. I always knew she had a crush on me, but perhaps it ran deeper than that.

What if her parents wanted us to get together? Moonshine was a distinguished pack, but they had fallen on hard times over the years. A marriage between our packs would benefit them, just as it had benefited Stormhollow.

I would have to do some investigating on my ow

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Chapter 40

“Anything else?” Gabriel asked. “Any identifying features? Accents? Mannerisms?”

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The photographer shook his head. “No, Sir. I didn’t get a chance to talk to them myself. I just heard them talking to my boss, and when they left, my boss told me to post the story online.”

Well, that didn’t feel like enough to go off of for a definitive answer. But it was enough to warrant bringing it up to the Oxfords. All three of them.

“Thank you,” I said. “You can go now.”

The photographer nodded and hurried away.

“Get the car,” I told Gabriel as soon as we were alone. “I want to investigate the site of the bonfire.”

A little while later, I found myself at the clearing in the forest where the Spring Celebration had been. My lips were still burning, just like the scorched ground where the bonfire had sat the other night.

I couldn’t help but absentmindedly run my tongue over my lips as I surveyed the clearing where the bonfire had been held just days ago. The taste of Ella lingered there-cherry blossoms and vanilla, sweet and intoxicating. I couldn’t get it out of my head.

That kiss.

I hadn’t expected it. Hadn’t expected her to grab my tie and pull me down to her like that, hadn’t expected the surge of desire that shot through me when our lips met. For those few seconds, I’d felt complete for the first time in my entire life.

My wolf wanted more. Each step I had taken away from Ella had felt like dragging myself through mud. He was furious with me, even now begging me to return to our mate’s side and pull her close. He wanted me to love her.

But I couldn’t fall in love with Ella. Not when there was still a chance her pack was involved in my parents’ deaths. Besides, even if I did want to fall for her, she still wanted to divorce me. The kiss was just an act for both of us, and we wouldn’t be repeating it.

I paused my thoughts, crouching down near the ground to check for clues. The grass was still trampled where the crowd had gathered, and the remnants of the bonfire sat in the center of the clearing, although it was nothing but a circle of charred wood and wet ash by now. It had rained this morning, so everything had turned soft and soggy.

But somewhere in this mess had to be evidence-evidence that would either exonerate or condemn Sophia and perhaps even her parents.

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