Chapter 12: Chapter 12

Chapter 0012 Ella POV In my last life, I had naively believed that opening travel routes to the North would be a good thing and that it would bring opportunity to our pack. But now I had seen enough as a Luna to know that the North couldn’t be trusted.

There was far too much rogue activity to safely open a travel route.

Of course, in this timeline, no one would expect me to know that.

I stood up as I prepared to answer. I could feel my father staring at me, and I wasn’t sure if he was concerned or confident. I didn’t dare to look. I took a deep breath and then began to speak.

“I can see the allure of opening travel with the North,” I said. “But considering the level of rogue activity around the northern border, I think that to make such a thing work we would be forced to open checkpoints and increase patrols at the border. It wouldn’t be cost–efficient, and it would compromise the safety of our people.”

A hush fell over the room as everyone stared at me. I kept my face neutral, though I worried that I had said something wrong.

David and his father were both staring at me as if I had lost my mind.

Did I misunderstand the situation, or had I revealed too much? Would people become suspicious that something strange was going on with me?

My hands started to shake from the nerves, then a voice spoke up.

It was the Alpha King.

“She makes a very good point,” the Alpha King said, “We must consider the safety and well–being of our people above all else, and the risks outweigh the benefits.”

He was smiling approvingly at me, and I felt relief wash over me. He had always been kind to me, but that was when I was only a child.

The Alpha King was a kind man and a devoted father. Everyone knew how much he loved his daughter and made sure that she was as capable and informed as any man in the kingdom. There had even been rumors that he planned to have his daughter inherit their pack when she grew up The Alpha King was very powerful, holding 10% of the voting power in the kingdom, so having him on your side was incredibly important. David had often talked about wanting to win favor with him, but that was easter said than done: The Alpha King was difficult to impress, and my heart thundered as I heard him praise me.

“Thank you, Sir,” I said as I slowly sat back down.

The rest of the meeting passed by relatively quickly. There were a lot of items being discussed that I was able to follow and understand, but I didn’t feel the need to speak up on many of the issues.

The King’s primary concerns had little to do with the Rowanwood pack. Occasionally, my father spoke up, but for the most part, we were there to gather Information about the events going on in the kingdom.

I could feel eyes on me, and I did my best to keep my chin up high and not let too much emotion show on my face Midn’t want to give anyone the impression that I was over nervous or struggling to understand the Conversations 1 had to remind myself that as a 20–year–old, I hardly ever people to be surprised to see me and shocked to hear that howed up to these meetings, so it made sense for ctually understood what was going on +25 BONUS Chapter 9012 When the meeting ended, people began to walk around and socialize again. David hurried to my side and put his ann around me.

I was sure that, after I had impressed the king, he was eager to showcase his connection to me. I kept a friendly. smile plastered on my face, but in reality, my skin was crawling at the feeling of David’s arm around my waist.

I forced myself to pretend that everything was okay and that we were a happy couple deeply in love. That was the role I had to play, no matter how much 1 hated it.

1 could see Alexander across the room. He was watching me with a look of distaste on his face.

As David and I walked around the room, people stopped us to congratulate us on our engagement, and I nodded with a smile stuck to my face. I could tell that David was eating up the attention.

He always loved when people looked at him and heaped praise on him.

“You two are an attractive couple,” one of the older alphas said, reaching to shake David’s hand.

“You must be so excited,” his Luna said to me.

“You have no idea,” I replied.

“I always knew it would be Ella,” David said. He made a show of gripping my waist and pulling me in for a kiss.

As his lips touched mine, my heart turned to ice. I had never been so repulsed by anything.

forced myself to return the kiss, squeezing my eyes shut tightly and imagining that I was somewhere far away. I heard cheers and scattered applause around us before David finally pulled away from me.

“With a Luna like Ella by your side,” the older alpha said, “you’ll have no problem convincing people to support you as king. Her family is very influential.”

I telt my resolve breaking 1 wanted to scrub my face and get the sensation of David’s touch off of “Excuse me,” I said softly, pulling out of his grip. “I need to use the restroom.”

David released me and turned his full attention back to the Alpha and Luna he was chatting with.

my lips.

I quickly made my way out of the large lobby. As I passed by Alexander, our eyes met. Now was the perfect time to away and talk in private.

I wasn’t sure if he would notice the signal, but a few seconds after I’d exited the lobby, I heard footsteps behind me. Sure enough, when I turned around, it was Alexander.

*Please tell me you’ve come up with a suitable plan,” I said I couldn’t stand the idea of letting David kiss me like that again. I wasn’t sure I would be able to keep up the act.

My hatred for his was only growing stronger the more time I spent with him. It was so obvious to me now that he was using me. I felt like such a fool for never suspecting him before.

From the sunas pocket of his jacket, he pulled a folded shee of paper.

*3 kurve what you need.” I said cander quickly lifted it out of my reh. With his other hand, he grabbed my outstretched ted me, and I fell against chest. My heart skipped as I looked up at him. Being snall, and I waned up at him in surprise and confusion at his actions.

Chapter 0012 +25 BONUS “That was quite the display in there,” Alexander said darkly “How am I supposed to trust that you’re serious about this and you’re not just setting me up?”

“That was an act,” I said, frowning deeply as I gazed up at him. “You can’t possibly think I enjoyed that. I’m more determined than ever to bring him down.”

‘If it was an act, prove it,” he replied. “Kiss me with that same level of performance.”