Chapter 62

***Alicent*** 

**\[09:37 Logan:** Get my son here tomorrow.**\]**
My head hurts. I rub my face to get the sleep off, but it doesn’t help much. After reading Logan’s loving message, I grab a pen and a piece of paper. This is kind of weird. He never asks to see Az like that. At least I don’t have to get him another damn package like I’m his chore girl.
I sit next to the side table in my room. A week has passed since I had the crazy idea of kissing Ethan in front of everyone. Gosh! What was I thinking? I mocked Vi, yet I now concede her point. That invisible Moon of hers really made me feel... different things. Maybe it’s that celestial energy she mentioned that made me go to Ethan that night. I’ll blame that.
And now that coward has been avoiding me. I don’t even know where we are. And I want to. I haven’t seen him since I fell asleep that night. I found myself wondering this week if it was worth my effort. And I came to the conclusion that it was. I don’t know why, but I know he wants me. I can feel it. But something is stopping him. What could it be?
Vi’s in Summerville, otherwise I would ask her to drive me there. Josh said Ethan would be here today, so I write him a note. Then I walk to his office and after a quick knock to check if he is in, I toss the note under the door. I’m not giving up on him.

🐺 🐺 🐺
***Alpha Ethan***

As evening sets in, I walk to my office almost a week after the last time I saw Alicent. I look at the open windows to my left. The sun sets, changing the sky from orange to indigo. 
It was no wonder that the day after the Black Moon Festival, Vi got a solid lead about a coven of witches. After all, it is considered a powerful time for rituals and spells. The witches also know that the invisible Moon enhances the energy and the intention of their magic and witchcraft. The thing is, they can use the powerful energy for good or evil purposes. In this coven’s case, I don’t believe they spent their night worshiping the Moon and getting drunk.
This time, I can feel it. I feel like I’m close to finding her. I already can feel that fucking witch’s neck being broken by my hands.
As I reach my office door, the first thing I smell is the faint, sweet scent of Little Dove, and when I open it, I spot a piece of paper on the floor. I pick up the folded paper and read it with a smile on my face. An expression I haven’t had in a week.

*Ethan,*
*I need to go to the city, but you’ve been nowhere to be found! Not only are you avoiding me, but you’re also ignoring my messages—rude much?*
*If you could take me tomorrow, I’d be forever grateful... or at least until I need another silly favor. What do you say?*
*Yours always,* 
*Little Dove.*

Yes! Little Dove. My smile widens, and I chuckle.
Goddess, she’s so fucking adorable!
A few days ago, I roped my sister into asking her what she’d been up to in Summerville. After Az’s story about the rogues and that strange package, my suspicion got the better of me. That’s why I listened to everything she told my sister, and it did match her son’s version perfectly. She genuinely seemed clueless about the package’s content or the danger she’d been in.  
I could tell by her bright aura that she was telling the truth, but what really sold me was how she panicked, thinking she’d somehow scratched Vi’s car, and that was the real reason for the questioning. Little Dove always worries too much, blaming herself for things that aren’t remotely her fault—like the day she agonized over her son not having his EpiPen, even though it wasn’t on her to remember it. That day, her love for her son and her sheer desperation to fix everything left me... well, floored. It’s hard not to admire someone like that. Of course, my sister hated me for the whole car-scratch charade, especially since she had to endure a thousand heartfelt apologies and a promise to pay for non-existent damages. The poor woman even said she wasn’t used to fancy things, which, if I’m being honest, made me feel even worse.
I read her words again, hovering my eyes at the end where the pet name I call her is signed. I grin. At first, she hated it, and now she calls herself that.
*Yours always.*
I wish it was true. I think to myself before my Beta mindlinks and takes my grin away.

🐺 🐺 🐺
***Alicent***

Az is already sitting in Ethan’s car before he even agrees to drive us to Summerville.
“Thanks for—”
“Fine,” he huffs, appearing upset about something. “It isn’t as if I don’t have much more important things to do.” 
“Thanks again. It’s so kind of you,” I say, unable to suppress a smile. “I know you’re very busy.” But Ethan, for all his supposed busyness and his grumpy reluctance, asks me a thousand questions like if I’ve already got everything I need and if I need anything else before we leave. A slight smile plays on his lips the whole trip as we get to Logan’s house with all the demeanor of a man who would rather be nowhere else in the world.
“Thanks, Ethan,” Az says with a smile on his face before getting out of the car.
Ethan nods at him. “You don’t have to come with me. I’ll be quick,” I say, and he raises an eyebrow at me. “I swear. I talked to him... I’m doing what you said.”
He looks surprised for a moment before one corner of his mouth lifts up. “Good girl.”
I quickly grab my bag and leave because I can feel my pussy getting wet. It’s just words. Ugh!
With a flushed face, I look back when I hear a noise, and then I realize that Ethan is now talking to someone on his phone inside the car.
My gaze shifts to forward again. Az has already gone inside the house, and Logan is standing at the door waiting for me.
“Allie! How have you been?” he asks, looking me up and down. “God! You’ve been getting more and more beautiful every day.”
“Hi, Logan. I’ll pick up Az later.” 
“Uh, I wanted to ask you a favor, Allie.”
“Another package again?”
“No. Not at all! Actually, remember when I said I didn’t need help anymore? Yeah... Something came up, and Chelsea took all my credit cards. I’ll need to keep yours.”
“What?” I ask, looking back for a moment and realizing Ethan is still talking to someone on the phone. “Logan, we talked about this! I’m not going to—”
“Allie, please. Just until next week!” he begs, stepping closer to me. Logan sounds a little desperate in a way I’ve never seen before. “*This* is important.”
I look into his eyes for a moment before exhaling deeply. “Okay.” I reach into my bag, pull out my credit cards, and hand them to him. At least I have some money in my bag. “I want them back next week! I mean it, Logan!”
“I know, Allie. You’re an angel! Best wife ever!”
"*Ex*!" I correct him, with an index finger raised. “Ex-wife!”
“Same time later?”
“Sure.”

🐺 🐺 🐺

Time ticks by, and the sun sets.
Ethan said he had something urgent to take care of and couldn’t spend the afternoon with me, so I stayed at his empty nightclub until it was time to pick up Az again. After a few hours, Shawn arrived and handed me a check for a much higher amount than my car was worth. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Pleased with Shawn’s excellent deal, I called a taxi to Logan’s house since Ethan didn’t show up at the time we agreed to pick up Az.
Could something have happened?
“Thanks,” I say to the driver when he arrives at my destination. “Have a good one.”
I make my way to the door and after knocking and waiting a few minutes, to my displeasure, it’s Chelsea who appears.
“Chelsea, hi... Uh, is Az ready yet?”
She gives me a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “He and Lolo are coming.” She looks behind me. “Is that hottie with you?”
My hands tighten into fists. 
“I should visit you sometime. Az said you guys live together. In a huge-master mansion. You could introduce us properly, Allie, so I can get to know him better.” 
“What for?” I ask, unable to hold my tongue. “So you can steal him too? You’re engaged to Logan, Chelsea,” I point out, narrowing my eyes. “I’m pretty sure Ethan isn’t interested.” 
She sneers me up and down like I’m dirt under her shoes. “You don’t think that Greek god is interested in you, do you? Oh, poor thing! Please, just look at you,” she waves at my body. “You might have changed your hair and got some curves, but—” She tilts her head in my direction, leans in slightly, and takes an exaggerated sniff, her nose scrunching up in mock disgust “—you still reek of poverty, Alicent. It’s in your soul. From what I’ve heard, you’ve been living with him for months. Don’t you think that if that hottie was interested in a lowlife like you, you wouldn’t be together by now?” Chelsea says, voicing my deepest fear with a cruel laugh. “Of course, he wouldn’t do that! Someone of that caliber is too good to have something with someone who stinks like you.” 
I stand there for a split second, paralyzed, staring at her in disbelief at the harsh words I’ve just heard. Until she waves to someone behind me. “Lolo! I’m glad you guys arrived!” Chelsea says. “Allie was waiting for Az. We were catching up, right?” She gives me a smirk, one that says she knows she’s poked a sore spot.
I blink several times, trying to hold back the tears that are threatening to fall. I turn to my son, not really looking down at him. And at the same moment, as if sent from heaven, Ethan’s car stops in front of Logan’s house.
“Come on, Az!” I say, but Az runs straight to Ethan’s car without even saying goodbye to his father. Well, that’s strange.
“Allie, are you okay?” Logan tries to talk to me, but Chelsea pulls him toward their house. I make my way to the car.
As soon as I open the door and sit down, I look at Ethan. “Hi, I—”
“You should have waited for me,” he says sternly. Gosh, he doesn’t know how he’s right. Perhaps if I had waited for him, I wouldn’t have heard what Chelsea said.
Logan tries to get closer to the car but Ethan starts driving. I look back to double-check if Az is wearing his seatbelt. “What’s wrong?” I ask when I see his sad face. However, he crosses his arms and looks out the window. “Az, what happened?”
“Dad said he won’t be able to spend the next few weekends with me.”
“What? Why?” I ask, confused.
“He said that now that he got a job, he won’t have as much time for me.” He looks at me, and his eyes fill with tears. “Dad said that if you were still helping him, he would have more time for me.”
Ethan lets out a string of curses, and I spot him tightening his grip on the steering wheel.
“I’ll talk to him,” I say, desperate to take away my son’s sadness. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll fix it, okay, buddy?”
“Are you okay, Az?” Ethan asks, looking at him in the mirror.
Something seems to pass in their eyes for a moment. “Yes.”
I grab Az’s hand. “I’m sorry about that, buddy. But I promise you, you’ll see your dad. Everything is going to be fine, okay?” 
Az looks around my head for a moment and squeezes my hand. “Okay, Mom.”
I cry silently all the way back. Tears fall from my eyes as I try to avoid my sobs. Ethan looks my way a few times before he asks if I’m okay. I could only nod. When we get to his mansion, Az gets out of the car less downcast than when he came in. 
“Go to your room, Az, I need to talk to your mom,” Ethan says. 
*Az*? Since when does he call my son like that?
Az looks at me for a second. “Okay.” 
A few minutes after my son enters the mansion, Ethan asks me, “What happened?” 
He reaches the tip of my chin and holds it, forcing me to look at him. Darn it! I saw my reflection in the window earlier, and my eyes were red and puffy. “It’s nothing,” I reply. 
“Don’t lie to me.” 
“It’s that Logan thing, but I’ll fix that,” I say, at least it isn’t a lie. 
Yet, he presses. “Your eyes were already red when you got in the car.” 
My eyes widen, aching a little at the sides with the expression. “I—” 
“Who made you cry?” I feel a shiver run through me at the severity of his deep voice. But I don’t answer him. 
“Was it your ex? Or that woman?” 
I swallow the lump in my throat when he mentions Chelsea. 
“What did she do?” Ethan says through clenched teeth. 
Unable to lie to him, I find myself confessing, “It was what she said... It wasn’t anything that wasn’t true though,” I answer, trying to lower my head but he doesn’t let me. 
The muscle in his jaw pops. “What did she say?” 
“She said you’d never be with me because I’m poor and ugly,” I admit with embarrassment, releasing his hand from my chin, and this time he lets me. “Maybe she’s right. That’s probably why you’ve been avoiding me since the festival.” I turn my back to him so he doesn’t see me crying. But Ethan turns me back around after cursing under his breath.
Even though his dark eyes look empty, I can feel the warmth of his words as he says them to me, holding my hand between us. “You’re perfect, Little Dove.” Ethan pauses for a moment, flicking his eyes between mine. After swallowing hard, he continues, “I’ve never met anyone as beautiful, sweet, or pure as you.” 
His words feel like a balm on my wounded soul. However, I can’t help but say, “And yet, I’m not enough for you.” 
Even though he didn’t say it, I can see it in his eyes. So, this time, I don’t attempt to kiss him on the lips—especially after being turned down the last time I tried it in his car. Instead, I place a hand over his chest, and I hop on my tippy toes to kiss the base of his warm throat, where his neck meets his shoulder and the highest place I can get without him leaning down. “Thanks for the ride,” I say before turning and heading towards the door. 
But Ethan abruptly pulls me back, catching me by surprise as he turns me around to face him again. “No. I can’t anymore,” he says, sounding more like he’s talking to himself than to me. “There’s so much I can take.” 
Then, suddenly, Ethan is leaning down. And his mouth takes mine.

🐺 🐺 🐺
*Author’s note:*
*Hello, my little wolves!*
*How’s everyone doing?*
*First off, sorry for the radio silence last week—my laptop decided it was time for an early retirement, and let’s just say writing without it was...challenging.*
*But guess what? My shiny new one has finally arrived, and we’re back in business!*  
*And I know, I left you all hanging right after* ***that*** *festival—don’t think I didn’t feel the collective groans through the internet. I promise to make it up to you with more frequent chapter updates starting next week. Thanks for your patience and for sticking with me! You’re the best.*
*xo,*
*Sadie*