Chapter 56

Kilian

“Elena, wait!”

She did not wait.

She was moving quickly in spite of her shorter legs, but I was soon able to catch up with her. I felt the crowd of photographers follow me with theirs, but a quick intervention from Kana stopped them.

When my fingers reached her outer arm, she flinched and spun to face me before I could get hold of her. Her eyes were red as a cardinal, and even the whites around it seemed slightly pink from her emotional state.

The rest of her face looked calm on the surface but I could see the struggle to keep it that way, her jaw practically shaking with tension underneath.

“Elena, I’m sorry,” I knew better than to reach for her hand, but spoke as close to her as I could get. “Natalie… I didn’t know she was going to do that, it was completely…inappropriate.”

Her right eye twitched.

“Inappropriate?”

“Yes!” My voice piqued and I caught myself. “You have to believe me.”

I shifted my glance around without moving my head, trying to see if we had any observers. Elena noticed and looked as well, having the advantage of facing their direction. She wasn’t as worried about being discreet as I was, though her expression was still set in plaster.

“We shouldn’t do this here,” she finally said, her voice sounding far away.

“Of course,” I exhaled a bit. “These vultures will already make a field day out of this, we don’t need to make it worse.”

She nodded slowly, but her eyes looked sad. “No, we wouldn’t want that.”

I paused, surprised at how her outside facade could hide so well that hurt that I heard in her voice. I was even more surprised to discover how much that broke my heart, knowing I was part of the cause.

I risked a hand on her elbow. “We can go, now,” I told her, not caring about this event or my public image anymore. “Kana can handle the rest of this. Let me take you home.”

Elena looked curiously down at my hand on her arm, like the body part didn’t belong to her. Then she turns her head to look behind her. I recognized the bicycle she had recently claimed as her own, leaning up against a tree.

“I rode here,” she said, turning back to me.

“That’s fine, someone can bring it home for you,” I offered.

“No,” she said, gently letting her arm slip from my grip. “I’ll see you at home.”

Her face morphed into a smile, clearly a display for the press, and she put her hand on my chest for a breath before taking it away. She seemed to float away from me, looking proud and non-plussed, and I knew she knew how many eyes were watching her.

“I love you,” I told her.

A jolt of electricity that only I could detect went through her body, but otherwise she did not react.

She mounted her bike and pedaled off without looking back, and I wondered if she was riding away from me for good.

Elena

By that evening, The Kiss was everywhere.

Kana had done her best to control the story, but all it took was one anonymous post for the news to spread like a disease through the region. For the second time in so many weeks, my marriage was front page news.

“Of course we’ll need statements,” Kana was saying in the conference room, “from the Alpha and Natalie. It was an accident, you two turned at the wrong moment or something, and the sweet moment between old friends was seen as something else. End of story.”

“Right,” Killian agreed, “we can play the sympathy card. Natalie and our whole family has been through a lot.”

He was looking at me, but I kept my eyes on the papers that Kana had laid out on the table.

“Exactly, yes,” Kana said with an enthusiastic point. It was like she gave Killian a gold star and the problem was resolved.

“‘Old friends,’ really?” Natalie scoffed from her side of the table. She had not said a word to me since returning home hours ago. “Do you really think that anyone is going to buy that?”

Kana frowned, something I realized I’d never seen her do before. “They will buy whatever we sell them, and if we all commit to the truth, then we will weather the storm.”

It was a suggestion and a threat, and the room turned cold. I allowed myself to look at Natalie, and noticed how her brown eyes turned black when caught in a certain light.

“The truth?” Natalie claws were coming out. “The truth is that I was kidnapped away from the love of my life, and my slut of a fake sister wasted no time in taking him from me!”

“Natalie, enough!”

Killian was on his feet, his Alpha aura flat-lining the opposition in the room. The roaring words came from his wolf deep inside him, and it was aimed at Natalie. She shrunk in her chair, her proud chest collapsing and a small whimper escaping her lips.

“Elena is my Mate, my Fated Mate,” he said sternly, “and while I cannot dishonor our past, you are not my present or my future, Natalie. If you cannot accept that, then you can remove yourself from this household.”

She was stunned, and it took me a moment to realize that my mouth was trying to smile. I fought the instinct, not wanting to draw attention to myself.

“I know the public will think what they want,” Killian continued, the fight draining out of him, “but that doesn’t mean we don’t uphold our morals and values and integrity.”

“Of course, Alpha,” Natalie said, whining like a child, “I wouldn’t want to upset the integrity of this household.”

I dared to meet her eyes, and saw the promise in them. She would not rest until she was able to get rid of me, just as she did in our past life. But this time, I knew her better than she knew herself.

“Thank you, Natalie,” Killian said, seating himself once more.

I stood. “I’ll see about dinner.”

Not waiting for a response I went into the hallway, hoping no one chose to follow me. I gave the cook a few redundant instructions, knowing that she already had everything under control. She did me a kindness by not commenting on my unnecessary visit to her domain, and let me pretend I had any control over her meal-planning.

With thirty minutes until dinner was to be served, I stayed busy in my room. I gathered the essential items, and packed a small bag of clothing. It still surprised me just how materialistic I had been in my first years as Luna, trying to use a beautiful exterior to attract my Mate while hiding my true self behind designer clothes and accessories.

Nowadays, I find elegance in the simplicity and practicality of my garments. And now I was entering survival mode.

Dinner was awkward and quiet, and I didn’t care to pretend that I wasn’t preoccupied. Natalie at least had the good sense to eat in her room.

I allowed Killian to kiss my cheek at the top of the stairs. My eyes closed on instinct, and for a moment I wanted to give up and surrender into his arms. But I knew better what could lie ahead.

“You know you could—“ he said quietly, nervously. “you are always welcome, to share my bed.”

Always?

“Good night, Killian,” I said with a smile. I would at least send him to bed with that image of me.

When enough time had passed that I knew the lights were out and the mansion was in a nightmare. Then I picked up the bag I had packed, and made my way stealthily through the house and into the kitchen. Entering the small cellar pantry, I found the hatch that led back up into the yard.

The moonlight was bright on my face as I left the house behind.