bChapter 197 /b

    Alexander & E

    Alexander

    E looked like hell.

    Her dress was torn. Hair windswept. Feet bare. And she smelled like… was that… car oil?

    Before I could even process what was happening, she turned around and walked right out of the

    cathedral, leaving me with only one question swirling through my mind: what the fuck?

    The High Priest was still holding the crown above my head, frozen in ce. The entire cathedral was so

    silent you could hear a pin drop. Everyone had seen her. Everyone was staring at the doors she’d just

    disappeared through.

    “Your Majestyb?/bb” /bthe High Priest whispered. “Shall we continue?”

    I looked at Gabriel, who was standing to my right with his face twisted in a scowl. He gave me a sharp

    shake of his head. A silent warning. I shouldn’t go after her. Not when the coronation was already

    underway.

    But E had looked… broken. Humiliated. And she was my mate, pregnant with my child. She’d obviously been through something terrible to show up looking like that. I couldn’t just let her walk off without checking on her.

    “Hold off on the ceremony,” I said to the priest, stepping away. I then turned to Gabriel. “Keep everyone

    upied. I’ll be right back.”

    Gabriel’s eyes went wide. “Alexander, you can’t seriously-b” /b

    “bI /bcan, and I will.”

    I didn’t give Gabriel a chance to protest further before I stepped down from the altar. Crown be damned. The ceremony could wait five minutes.

    The cathedral erupted into shocked murmurs as I turned and walked down the aisle toward the doors E had fled through, ceremonial cape of fur and velvet billowing behind me. I could hear Gabriel calling my name behind me, but I ignored him and followed the distinct scent bof /bcherries and vani.

    I found her in the women’s bathroom just off the main foyer. Judging from the pool of silk and brocade spilling out from beneath thest stall door and the sound of muffled sniffling, she was crying bon /bthe

    floorb. /b

    Indeed, when I carefully pushed the door open, I found her with her knees pulled up to her chest and her

    face buried in her hands.

    “E?b” /b

    She looked up when I said her name, and I could see she’d been crying. Her makeup was smudged, and

    there were tracks down her cheeks.

    “I ruined it,” she sniffled. “I ruined your entire coronation.”

    I sat down on the floor beside her. “You didn’t ruin anything.”

    “Alexander, everyone saw me. Everyone was staring at me like I was some kind of…” She gestured

    helplessly at her torn dress. “Look at me. I look like I crawled out of a ditch.”

    “You look like you’ve had an adventure.” I reached over and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “What

    happened?”

    “The car broke down. The engine sprayed oil everywhere. I had to shift and run ten miles through the

    forest.” Sheughed, but it sounded more like a sob. “And then security wouldn’t let me in because they

    thought I was a vagrant.”

    “Goddess, E.”

    “I just wanted to be there for you. I wanted to support you on your big day, and instead I made aplete fool of myself in front of every important person in the territory. As if it wasn’t bad enough already that I took too long to get ready this morning and you had to leave without me.”

    That made me furrow my brow. I recalled leaving a little early for the ceremony when I’d received word

    that E would take longer–the staff attendant told me that E asked her to let me know that she would

    meet me there.

    “E, I never-“I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head. Now wasn’t the time to figure out misunderstandings. E was still crying and I could hear the voices in the cathedral even from here.”

    Hey. Look at me.”

    X