Chapter 88

Alpha Nocturne’s Contracted Mate by A E Randell

Chapter 88 Call Her Mrs. Nocturne

Eva was horrified though and gasped loudly, covering her mouth in horror.

“But… that’s terrible! Ann, you have to do something! You need to…”

Title of the document

“Eva, you have to trust me on this that I know exactly what I’m doing. I just need you to do everything

that I say, when I say it. For now, we remain silent. Not a word to anyone. Do you understand? ” Ann

said, her expression serious.

Eva nodded furiously.

“Of course! I’ll make the copy now and head home Miss Veritas.”

Adam growled suddenly and scowled at Eva, making her jump violently and the color drain from her

face.

“Don’t call her that again. She isn’t Ann Veritas anymore, and she hasn’t been for a long time. She is

my wife and Luna of the Dark Moon Pack, and as such, you will call her Mrs. Nocturne.”

As the day of the trial rapidly approached, Ann found herself fascinated with the daily release of

sensationalist articles designed to tarnish her reputation even further.

She laughed loudly at some of the wild theories that the writers came up with, questioning every little

thing that she had done from as early as her childhood, and making up fanciful and far-reaching

explanations for every misstep she made.

The only articles that really bothered her, were the ones that questioned whether or not she had been

responsible for her mother’s death.

Adam had caught her sobbing when she first read the article and wrenched the phone away from her

before wrapping her in his arms. He had begged her to let him deal with them personally, but she

refused.

Unfortunately for the publication that printed the false story, within a matter of hours their database had

been hacked, and somehow, stories about the Chief editor’s affair with numerous interns complete with

pictures, times, and dates, replaced every news story that they had posted previously.

Ann finally broke a small smile when she found out, and Adam celebrated internally, sending a

message to Allen to thank him for his quick response to his message earlier.

By the time the day of the trial arrived, Ann had become a little numb to the hateful words that were

printed about her as she nurtured her plans to bring Ada down for good.

She had been eating breakfast with Adam when the text from her father arrived. It was nothing fancy,

no words of regret or anything else. It simply read.

‘Trial starts in 2 hours.’

Ann snorted disdainfully as she placed her phone on the table between them.

“Everything okay?” Adam asked her through a mouthful of bacon.

“That was a text from Leopold, I need to be there in two hours.”

“You mean ‘we’ need to be there in two hours. There’s no way that I’m letting you go through this alone,

and besides… I want to be there to see the smug smile fall off her face when she realizes she’s

messed up.” Adam said almost gleefully.

He was clearly anticipating this as much as Ann was.

Although she knew that she could prove her innocence, it didn’t stop Ann from feeling that all too

familiar knot of anxiety in the pit of her stomach.

What if the Council of Elders didn’t take her seriously? What if they didn’t care?

She sighed heavily as she pushed her food away from her, her appet*ite suddenly vanished.

‘The Elder Council has always been fair and just. They don’t like people that make the kingdom weak,

they never have.’ Maeve sighed wearily.

‘I know that, but what if they think that I should have been stronger and dealt with this myself?’

‘It’s not you who called the trial, is it? As far as they’re concerned, you’ve been accused of a terrible

crime against the royal line, and it has to be investigated. Stop worrying that you aren’t strong enough. I

doubt any of those wrinkled old bone bags would have acted much differently.’ Maeve snorted.

Ann chided her for her disrespect towards the elders, but she did have a point.

“I’m going to go and get ready then.” She informed Adam, trying to keep her tone light, but missing the

mark.

Adam frowned slightly at the sadness in her eyes, but didn’t comment on it and simply nodded.

“Do you need me to get you anything?”

Ann shook her head and f0rced a smile onto her face.

“No, it’s okay. I think I can dress myself well enough. How long do you think it will take to get there?”

“Probably around forty-five minutes… less if I drive faster.” He grinned.

Ann nodded and turned to leave the kitchen area.

Seeing her like this broke Adam’s heart, but it was just a matter of time until all of this was resolved and

then they could put it all behind them.

The plan was almost flawless and all they could do now was hope that Ada and Narcissa didn’t catch

wind of what they had planned in the next few hours.

Adam made a few calls to reschedule the meetings that he had planned and sent a quick text to Allen

and Matteus before he followed Ann upstairs to get himself ready. He intended to make sure that he

looked his best and he had a little something that he wanted to give to Ann.

By the time he got upstairs and into the room, Ann was almost ready. She hadn’t wasted any time at all

and as she emerged from the bathroom she was met with Adam’s stunned expression.

She smiled lightly at him as she crossed the room to her dresser, intending to wear the heirlooms that

her mother had left to her just to spite Ada.

“Ann, wait a second…” Adam said, finally recovering from his shock. His eyes raked over her slowly,

and his eyes burned with poorly hidden l*st as he took in her appearance.

She wasn’t overly dressed, but the figure-hugging dress suit that she had chosen, combined with those

back seam stockings and heels, were almost enough to send him over the edge.

He had no idea how he was going to keep himself calm enough to not ravish her on the way, but they

truly didn’t have enough time.

Ann turned to look over her shoulder at him with a questioning gaze and he smiled, pulling the box out

of his pocket and offering it to her gently.

“I should have given you this sooner, it was my grandmother’s. I’d not thought about it too much but

Allen mentioned it yesterday.”

Ann took the box carefully and opened it slowly, gasping slightly as it revealed the stunning locket

within.