Chapter 9

～Grace～

Alex moved his face close to mine, and I instinctively leaned away. What was he doing?

I felt blood rush to my face, and my ears burned.

“I-I-” I was at a loss for words. For once, I couldn’t hide the fact that he flustered me.

Alex cracked a smile, and I scowled, pulling my face away from his hand.

He had done it again! Just another cruel joke!

I crossed my arms, turning away from him. How dare he tease me like that? He had a mean sense of humor, that’s for sure.

I was less mad at him and more mad at myself for getting worked up over the things he did. Alex was a mystery to me. Handsome, ruthless, and kind all at the same time.

“The auction will begin in a few minutes,” a voice announced over a speaker.

I looked up at Alex. “You go ahead, I’m going to touch up my makeup in the restroom.”

~Third Person~

Liam picked angrily at his cufflink as he sat in the auction hall, fuming. Sophia’s arm was around his shoulder, trying to talk to him, but he couldn’t hear her, too involved in his own rage.

‘Alexander Black, that bastard! How dare he try to steal my Luna! Right under my nose! It wasn’t enough for him to try to make himself appear better than me, he had to take my mate, too!’ Liam thought, tapping his heel hard against the floor.

A motion in the doorway caught his eye–most people had already sat down and were waiting for the auction to start.

Grace! And she was alone!

Liam sighed, feeling a pang of relief. ‘Alex must have ditched her already. Of course he would. Who would want an infertile woman anyway? She’d never leave me, look at her, coming towards me, now-’

Grace walked down the aisle, and Liam quickly turned away, so she didn’t catch him staring.

‘She’ll come to me and beg for my forgiveness, right here in front of everyone-’

In disbelief, he watched Grace’s back pass him as she continued without him. She hadn’t even given him a single glance! Where did she think she was going?

~Grace~

I noticed Liam’s jealous, burning gaze as soon as I entered the room. It was painfully obvious to everyone that he was handling Alex’s taunting very poorly.

I spotted an empty seat beside him. Had he purposefully kept it open for me? He was a fool if he thought I’d ever choose to sit next to him again.

Just in front of him sat Alex, an empty seat next to him, as well.

I sauntered down the aisle, keeping my head held high. I wanted Liam to know I didn’t think he was worth the time to even look at.

Passing Liam’s row, I felt someone grab onto my arm, pulling me back.

“What are you doing? There’s a seat right here,” I heard Liam hiss to me. Of course it was him.

Pretending not to hear him, I looked at Alex, who was watching me.

“Take your filthy hands off of my date,” Alex commanded, voice cutting above the noise in the room, and the crowd fell silent. Everyone’s eyes were on us.

Liam locked eyes with Alex, and I could practically see smoke coming out of his ears from how angry he was.

He wouldn’t dare make a bigger fool of himself than Alex was already making him out to be.

Liam slowly released his grip, and I pulled my arm away from him.

Sitting down next to Alex, I flashed him a grateful smile. He simply looked at me, seemingly indifferent.

I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, so I kept quiet.

Soon enough, an auctioneer stood at the front of the room and started the auction.

There were beautiful antiques, furniture, and jewelry. Nothing here caught my eye, it just wasn’t my taste.

Behind me, I heard Liam whisper to Sophia, “Have you seen anything you’ve liked?”

It seems that he’d turned his attention back to Sophia, since she was happy to fawn all over him.

The next item was brought up, and I quietly gasped as a pair of shining, beautiful earrings were presented. They were made out of moonstone, and would match the necklace Alex gave to me perfectly!

Just as I had begun to move my hand to call out a bid, I heard Sophia loudly exclaim that she wanted these earrings.

That wench. Of course she would. She must have noticed my dazzling necklace–although, who wouldn’t have? It was stunning. Liam certainly never treated me to gifts such as these, and likewise Sophia had nothing like it, either.

If she got Liam to buy these earrings for her, then he would have treated her better than he ever did me. She knew that, and just wanted to rub it in my face.

Liam placed an extremely high bid, predictably. He wanted to quickly secure the earrings, so he could make it clear to everyone here that he could easily afford them.

The bastard. The room was silent. Of course, who would challenge the Alpha King?

A deep voice called out a higher bid. I looked at Alex beside me in surprise. He was single-handedly challenging Liam.

Was this just to further humiliate him, or did he actually want to purchase the earrings?

There was a moment before Liam bid again. It seemed that he didn’t really want to spend that much money, after all. But, how much was his pride worth?

Alex raised Liam’s bid every single time, until the price got so high that Alex stayed quiet.

I couldn’t let Liam win this, my pride was on the line, too.

I raised my hand and outbid Liam.

“Are you crazy?” Liam snapped as he shot up from his seat, grabbing me by the shoulders. “Those earrings aren’t worth that much, I’m not spending a cent on them. Recall your bid!”

Uncomfortable whispers started around the room, shocked faces watching us. No one ever dared to show disrespect toward their Luna in public, but here Liam was, making a fool out of himself.

I didn’t care. Let them see. This is who he’s become–this is your Alpha King.

I, however, knew how to behave myself in public. I would show him, since he seemed to have forgotten.

I smiled politely, looking back at him. “I never asked you to buy them for me. Part of the Nightshade Pack’s assets come from my parent’s estate, remember?”

Liam couldn’t respond, but let his hands slowly slide off of my shoulders. He had no comeback, what could he say?

“Why not give something nice to your Luna, Alpha King?” Alex spoke up, and Liam glared at him. “Oh, or do you not have the money? Perhaps you’ve spent it all on your new partner these past few days?”

Red flushed to Liam’s face and he sat down. So he had! He couldn’t deny Alex’s accusation.

Alex raised an eyebrow in confirmation of Liam’s response.

Looking my way, Alex’s cold gaze caught mine, and he grinned wickedly. “Allow me to do the Alpha King a small favor, then.”