Chapter 19

SYDNEY'S POV I angrily patted Alexander on his cheek. "Wake up! I'm Sydney, not Bella." I grunted loudly as I pushed at his shoulders, trying again to get him off me. My shoulders slumped as I let out a resigned sigh. How in the Moon Goddess’ name did he get himself this drunk?! After he had scared the life out of me and drunkenly slurred, "Luna," with a dazed smile, he had slumped and fallen on my chest. And I must say, he is?heavy. It was hard to breathe with his head on my chest like that. And the snores that rumbled from his throat were even more irritating. "Alexander! Goddess damn it!" I screamed, exasperated. I was too tired for all of this. I just wanted to come home, lock myself in my room, and get enough rest to recharge for the next day. But here I was, stressing my brain as I kept thinking of how to get him off me while also pushing at his taut shoulders. "Who knows which wild she-wolf's den he crawled out of, drunk as a skunk. Let's just leave him be," Aria snapped, her voice dripping with disdain. I let out a heavy sigh. My eyes scanned the dim room, hoping one of those eerie shadows would turn out to be one of the pack members, but no, the shadows remained still. I dropped my phone on the sofa beside me, summoning all my strength. I clenched my stomach and pushed at his shoulders. He fell to the floor with a loud thump. I leaped from the chair, gasping for air. Damn. How can someone be so heavy? Finally, I picked up my phone and flashed the torch on him. He was on the floor, curled up, low painful groans escaping his lips. He looked so vulnerable, like a newborn pup. My heart went out to him, and I decided to tuck him into bed. I squatted beside him and lightly tapped on his arm. "Alexander," I called softly. "Alexander." I softly called his name a dozen times, and he still didn’t respond. I was already losing my patience. Gritting my teeth, I smacked him on the back, and he leapt up with a loud gasp, as if he had been drowning. Then he groggily turned to me. "Sydney." I drew back. It was surprising that in his drunken state, he recognized me. "Yes, Alexander? It's me, Sydney. Now tell me, what do you have to say for yourself? Getting yourself drunk like some heartbroken pup," I blabbered as I put one of his arms around my shoulders. With a grunt, I got both of us on our feet. We wobbled for a while before we both steadied ourselves. "Good," I murmured. "Now, let's get you to bed," I said, as if speaking to a three-year-old. Slowly but thankfully, steadily, we made our way to his room. I looked around the room for a moment as we staggered through the doorway. The only words fit to describe his room were?bland?and?orderly. We reached his bed, and I managed to properly lay him down. "Now I can go get my sleep!" I said and turned to get up from the bed. I let out a yelp as his hands closed around my wrist. I whirled my head around, some strands of my hair getting in my face. I instinctively pulled at my arm, but his voice stopped me. "Don’t go." I would say this was the softest and lowest I had ever heard him speak. "Don’t leave me." Then his other hand came up and rubbed my hand. I abruptly pulled away, hating that his actions were tugging at my heartstrings. "Alexander…" A nervous laugh bubbled up my throat. "Relax, I’m not leaving. I’ll just go pour you a glass of water." I eased his hands off me and got to my feet. "At least that will help you sober up quickly, and then I can go to bed myself." By the time I finished speaking, he was already snoring again. Immediately after I left the room, I furiously scrolled through my contacts and searched for her number. Pushing our differences aside, I dialed the number. I wasn’t about to tend to a drunk Alpha for a whole night. It took a while, but she picked up eventually. I barely let her finish her cold "hi" before I started speaking. "I don’t know how, but Alexander is heavily drunk. He needs someone by his side to take care of him. You should come over." I heard rustling in the background before her response came. "I’ll be right over." Then she hung up. I made a coffee for myself and walked back to Alexander’s room. I took a seat and sipped my coffee as I waited for her. About ten minutes later, I heard an impatient knock at the main door. Then, a few seconds later, the room door was pushed open to reveal a flustered Bella. I frowned at her appearance. She looked slightly disheveled, definitely from rushing here, but what really caught my attention was the lingerie visible under her flimsy coat. Okay. Had she misunderstood my words? Because why would you come to care for a drunk Alpha in lingerie? I whistled, nodding. She definitely had a plan. But I didn’t care. She rolled her eyes and swept past me to check on Alexander. Since the coffee had already kept me awake, I decided to just stay and watch. I remained seated and sipped my coffee as I watched in amusement while she went back and forth from the kitchen to the room and back to the kitchen again. She boiled water, and I scrunched my brows, wondering what it was for, until I was left gaping as she soaked his socks in it. Then she made coffee. He only took a little before falling into another mindless slumber. She did all of this while totally ignoring my presence. Fine by me. Then she rushed out of the room and came back with a simmering plate of soup. Hmm, I moaned inwardly and briefly closed my eyes. It smelled heavenly, but when I peeked in, I recoiled. Whatever she had mixed together looked like vomit. I watched, drawn to the edge of my seat in disgust, as she fed it to him like a proper Luna would. So sweet. At first, he spat it out and complained groggily that he didn’t like it. But she pleaded with him. "Please, Alexander. Just one more spoon." 'One more spoon,' she kept saying. It was over a dozen spoons she had fed him now. Finally, she cleaned his mouth and eased him onto his back. Then Alexander settled into sleep, his snores soft and less irritating. Wow, I exclaimed to myself. She was good at this. Then she went out of the room and came back with a towel in her hands. She finally eyed me as she moved to sit beside Alexander on the bed, placing the towel on his forehead. She turned to me, her gaze cold as it shot daggers at me. "What will it take for you to break the mating bond with Alexander?!" I raised my brows, amused. "That was specific." "Just answer the damn question." I mused on her question for a while. "What will it take for me to break the bond with Alexander?" I repeated to myself as I pondered my response. Then my face broke into a big grin. Her glare deepened. I set the cup of coffee down as I gave her my response. "How about," I paused, smirking, "you give me 5 million dollars." Perfect response for a perfect question asked at the right time. Just as Alexander had said, the title of being his Luna was worth far more than a million dollars. I might as well make a little fortune with the title. "Are you serious?" Her face smoothed as her eyes widened. "I am." She smiled. "Just 5 million, and you’d leave?" "Definitely." As she opened her mouth to speak again, a sudden roar interrupted her, causing both of us to flinch. Alexander sprang up. "No! Bella! Don’t give it to her!"