The Luna Queen's Rebirth (Ellie and Dominic) novel Chapter 416

Chapter 416

Dominic’s POV

I had left Goldenveil a little before midnight and driven straight through the mountain pass. Bad weather slowed us down, snow and black ice coating the winding roads, lengthening our trip by nearly double. Night passed all too slowly, stopping only along the side of the road for a quick breakfast that the hotel concierge had graciously packed for me when I left, and then I was behind the wheel again.

Morning turned to afternoon. Then the pale sun faded into evening.

By the time the gas light came on around what should have been dinnertime, I had stopped thinking about anything but Vivian, so much so that I nearly missed the gas station sign along the side of the highway.

I couldn’t stop wondering where she had gone, or if anyone may have been fool enough to take her in. What would a woman like that do once she had nothing left to lose? Who else would she manipulate? Who would she hurt? I felt like an idiot for ever letting her go, for not listening to Ellie when it mattered the most. I could have prevented so much pain. I could have prevented the end of our marriage.

At the time, I thought Ellie was just being paranoid. I’d grown up with her and Vivian; I didn’t see the red flags right in front of me because I thought for certain that Vivian, the girl I’d known since childhood, couldn’t be capable of what Ellie claimed.

But then Ellie had told me what her sister was capable of. All of it-a past life I didn’t remember, the pain, the poison working through its veins until it took everything and sent her hurtling back in time.

And now that I had seen that look in her eyes as she told me everything, I believed her. Goddess, I did. Even if it felt insane. Even if it felt impossible.

What had happened to her… it was real. And I was tired of thinking it wasn’t.

And now, I needed to find Vivian. I needed to find answers. Before it was too late this time.

The gas station sat alone just off the highway, just one buzzing neon sign flickering overhead and an empty parking lot. The sky had just turned dark, the sun dipping the last few inches behind the trees, when I finally stopped. The van containing my entourage pulled in behind me, and while they filled the tanks, I headed inside to grab some coffee and something to eat, only planning to stop just long enough to fill my tank and use the bathroom, before I headed out again.

My eyes were drooping dangerously as I filled one of those cardboard takeout cups with coffee and loaded up on bad-for-you donuts and snacks, but there was no time to stop for the night or to have a real meal.

Not when Vivian might still be out there, plotting to kill Ellie.

Again.

It wasn’t until I was back in the car that I checked my phone, just briefly, to make sure I hadn’t missed anything important.

1/3

+15 Bonus

Now that I was off the mountain, I finally had service. My phone went off in my hand for ten seconds straight, a day’s worth of messages coming in all at once. Most of it was campaign noise, which I could handle when I got home, but an email flagged urgent from my Beta piqued my interest.

I opened it, read it twice, and cursed under my breath, scrubbing one hand over my face.

Apparently, in the span of a single day, the Alpha Council had pushed a policy change-effective immediately, no Alpha could run for Alpha King without a Luna at his side. A King needed a queen, they had decided. Stability. A united front. The packs wanted a family in the seat, not a bachelor.

Underneath, the Council had attached a list of eligible bachelorette from the right bloodlines. I would have scrolled away ignoring it entirely, had my Beta not tacked a final message onto the end:

“Two weeks to register a Luna or you’re off the ballot. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but what other choice do you have? You don’t have to love the woman; just pick one off the list and make it work.”

I shook my head and tossed my phone face-down on the passenger seat.

Another contract wife. That was what my Beta was suggesting; that I find some suitable female with the right last name, shake hands, put her in a crown for the cameras, and call the whole arrangement a

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify