Chapter 13

Ella POV

Alexander’s bright eyes were fixed on me, and a smile was pulling at his lips. He was obviously trying to get a rise out of me, and it was working.

He was also making David angry, which was a bonus.

“I’m not the only one that’s happily in love, though, am I? Congratulations again on your engagement,” Alexander added, looking at David.

David snorted in response and tightened his grip on me.

I could still feel myself blushing as David pulled me away. He must have seen how red my face was and thought it was from anger.

"Don’t listen to him, Ella. No matter what he says, he'll never find a more suitable Luna than you," David said softly. For a moment, I thought he was trying to comfort me, but then he added, "After all, you're the only daughter of one of the most promising packs."

I remembered him making comments like that to me in the past, and I had taken them as compliments. But now I could see just how disgusting his thoughts about me really were. He saw me as nothing but a way to gain power.

I was like a trophy to him, not a person.

I tried to pull away from his grip, but he looped his arm around mine and kept me close. I had to remind myself why I was here. This was supposed to be our big engagement dinner.

I had to play the part of the lovesick fiance.

I was walking towards our table, but David suddenly moved to the right, pulling me with him. I could see why he had changed direction. The Alpha of the Red Oak pack and his Luna were sitting at a table nearby.

I smiled happily as we approached them. This was why I had chosen this restaurant. I wanted to make sure that as many people as possible would see what was going to happen with their own eyes.

“Hello,” the Luna said brightly.

“Hello,” David replied. “It’s been a long time since we’ve met outside of the council.”

I stood there smiling while David chatted with the Alpha. My mind was not on the conversation; I was eager to get back to our table. I couldn’t see from here if Amanda has arrived yet.

If she didn’t show up for some reason, everything would be ruined.

The restaurant must be even more popular than I realized. We spent a long time going from table to table and chatting with the various Alphas and Lunas that were here. Everyone congratulated us on the engagement.

It was hard to keep smiling and pretending that I was happy about it. I managed it though.

“Ella, how are the wedding plans coming along?”

I blinked in confusion. It was the Luna of the Briar Rose pack. I hadn’t expected such a question, but it gave me a good opportunity.

I needed to make David feel confident that he was going to get what he wanted from me. I couldn’t allow anything to get his guard up.

“The plans are going well,” I said happily. “I’m ready for David to begin helping me with managing the pack. After all, I need to start focusing on learning Luna duties.”

“You’ve truly found a wonderful future Luna,” the Alpha of Briar Rose said.

David was looking at me in shock, then a huge smile spread over his face. “I did,” he agreed.

I smiled back at him. “We should join our guests,” I said. “We don’t want to keep them waiting too long.”

David nodded in agreement. “It was nice to see you,” he said to the Alpha.

As we walked away, David looked at me with a wide smile on his face. “What made you come to your senses?” he asked.

“You’re going to be my husband,” I replied. “That’s just how things work, right?”

“That’s right,” he agreed. “I’m glad you finally see that I should be the alpha of our combined packs once we’re married.”

We reached our table to find Amanda sitting with our parents.

There was an empty seat beside her. I quickly took it before David had the chance to. Amanda looked disappointed, but I ignored it. David sat on the other side of me.

“I’m so glad you could make it,” I told Amanda.

“Of course,” she said. “I want to be here to support my best friend.”

The next hour passed in a bit of a blur. It seemed like I was constantly answering wedding questions from one of mine or David’s parents or talking to people that came up to our table to congratulate us.

Our food came, and I ate what I could between small talk and answering questions. It seemed like everyone was having a great time.

Everyone except for Amanda. She kept making rude comments and she was drinking more wine than anyone else. Seeing so many people complimenting me and David must have been driving her crazy.

“It sounds like you’ve really thought through the wedding,” David’s father commented.

I smiled slightly. “I can picture it perfectly,” I said.

I had answered every question based on my memories of our wedding day, so it must have seemed to them like I had planned every detail.

“David, are you okay with Ella making all of the decisions about your big day?” Amanda asked snidely.

“I don’t really care,” David answered. “It saves me the trouble of worrying about it.”

Amanda pouted at that answer.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out discreetly and checked the message. It was from Alexander.

“When will the show begin?”

“When the audience is packed,” I replied. I wanted to wait until the restaurant was as busy as possible.

I put my phone away and looked up to find the waitress approaching us.

“Will there be any desserts tonight?” she asked.

“Yes,” I answered immediately. “Please, bring some sweet wine and tiramisu for the table.”

“Right away,” she said.

“You want cake?” Amanda said in surprise. “After you’ve already eaten so much?”

I ignored her insult and smiled. “We’re celebrating, after all.”

It was nearly 8 p.m. when I saw the waitress approaching with the wine a short time later. I stood up and asked her for the bottle.

She looked at me strangely but handed it to me.

“I want to thank you all for coming out to celebrate with us,” I said as I poured David a glass of wine. “It means the world to both of us that we can share our happiness with you.

I walked around the table slowly, pouring wine for everyone. As I did, each person said a few words of congratulations.

It was the perfect distraction. Amanda was glaring at David as she listened to all of the kind words. He was looking away from her, avoiding her angry look.

I slipped a small paper envelope from my pocket as I approached Amanda to pour her wine. I poured the powdered drug into the bottle and swirled it to mix.

“Amanda,” I said as I stood beside her. “I want to thank you most of all. Without your support and advice, I don’t know if David and I would have made it through the little hiccups in our relationship.”

“Sure,” Amanda said quietly. “Glad I could help.”

I poured the last of the wine in her glass, and she didn’t hesitate to pick it up and take a large gulp.

I returned to my seat and watched as Amanda swirled her cup and drank the wine rapidly. She started to look pale, and I thought that she might be sweating. The drug was supposed to work quickly, but I didn’t expect to see signs so fast.

Suddenly Amanda stood up, and the wine glass dropped from her hand, shattering on the ground. Everyone turned to stare as she slammed her hands on the table, and a growl tore out of her.

I heard people around us gasping and shouting as Amanda shifted. It was shocking to see someone shift into their wolf form in public like this.

Employees rushed towards her, shouting at her to calm down and please leave the restaurant.

I stood up and took a few steps away from the table. It was a good thing that I did, because David leapt towards Amanda as he began to shift as well.

He growled at the employees and put himself between them and Amanda.

In an angry voice, he shouted, “No one touches my fated mate!”