The Sickened Luna's Last Chance novel Chapter 331

Chapter 331

Ella’s POV

As soon as the words left my lips and I saw the look of shock and hurt in my friend’s eyes, I regretted them.

Goddess, what had I just done? What had I just allowed my wolf to make me do? What I had almost done to Anya’s dress?

“Stella, you… You love him?” Anya whispered, clasping her hand to her chest. “Are you talking about-”

“Liam,” I blurted out, my checks burning with embarrassment. “I was talking about Liam. I’m just upset about his illness and it’s been getting to me. I love him so much and I don’t want him to die.

Anya’s face crumpled. “Oh, Stella. I’m so sorry–I didn’t realize you two were that close.”

Technically, it wasn’t a lie. Not completely. Of course I loved Liam and his illness was constantly burning at my heart like acid, but it wasn’t really him who I had been referring to when I’d said those words.

It was Alexander.

My Alexander.

The man who I had only had the chance to love briefly before fate tore us apart. And now he was marrying another woman, and we were both hurting, and there was no way I could tell him that I was right here–that I was alive, that I loved him, that I forgave him for everything. That I was never a spy and all I wanted was to be with him.

Because of this fucking curse.

I hadn’t realized it, but my eyes had pooled with tears again as all those bitter thoughts swirled around my head. I didn’t notice until Anya stepped down from the platform and brushed one from my cheek.

“You should go see him,” she said softly. “Right now.”

I blinked. “I would, but I have to take care of Lucien.”

“I’ll watch Lucien,” Anya said firmly, grabbing my shoulders and wheeling me toward the door. “Go. Go see Liam. I’m sure he misses you just as much as you miss him.”

Before I could protest, she was practically shoving me out of the room.

Twenty minutes later, I found myself pulling into the hospital parking lot. The full moon was starting to rise in the darkening sky, and each inch it climbed only served to make my wolf even more insatiable than before. But I had hope that some time spent with Liam would help me feel better.

The hospital lobby was quieter than usual. I made my way to the elevator and pressed the button for Liam’s floor. However, when I reached the nurses‘ station and asked to see him, the woman behind the desk shook her head.

“I’m sorry, but Alpha Liam can’t see visitors today,” she said gently. “His condition is worsening and the doctor has requested that he rest.”

My stomach dropped. “Worsening how?” I asked, although of course I already knew the answer.

The woman’s grim expression was all the answer I needed.

Liam was dying. He was fucking dying, and I was no closer to finding those artifacts–artifacts that might not even exist anymore, if they ever even did–to cure the curse that was destroying us both.

I left after that, too heartbroken to even say thank you to the nurse. Somehow, I made it back out to the car and began to drive. Somehow, a few minutes later, I found myself pulling into the parking lot of a club with a sign that said something about discounted drinks. And somehow, I wound up sitting at the bar while the music thumped behind me.

1/3

I barely noticed any of it, though. I barely noticed the bodies moving on the dance floor, barely heard the sounds of their voices mixing with the beat, barely smelled the cloying scent of perfume and sweat.

I just… drank.

One drink turned into three. Then four. Soon, my head wasn’t just fuzzy from my grief, but from the alcohol. Everything turned warm and blurry and amber–colored around the edges, and the world felt a little less significant, even if only for a little while.

I had just ordered my fifth vodka cranberry–something sweet to cover up the taste, as if that mattered so long as it made me forget everything–when I finally turned to look at the dance floor.