The Fake Luna: Marked By The Alpha King

Chapter 257: Chapter 257 Julian Cross

The meeting finally wrapped up, and I felt the tension drain from my shoulders like water.

My phone sat heavy in my blazer pocket. I pulled it out, staring at Ethan’s contact for a long moment before my thumbs started moving.

[Sophie called me. What happened last night?]

I hit send.

Then immediately unsent it.

What am I doing?

He’s not going to die. He never does.

I shoved the phone back in my pocket and headed for my private office, heels clicking sharp against the marble floor.

The door swung open before I could reach for the handle.

Julian Cross stood inside, leaning casually against my desk like he owned the place.

Thirty-something, built like he spent half his life in the gym, with that sun-kissed tan that made his wolf heritage impossible to miss.

But where most Alphas carried themselves with that aggressive, in-your-face dominance, Julian had this whole refined gentleman thing going on. Soft-spoken. No posturing. Which honestly made him more dangerous, not less.

I liked him immediately when we first met, and not just because he’d fought tooth and nail to get me into Sentinel Energy on my terms.

No—it was because we’d met before. Six months ago, at that gallery opening back in New York.

We’d both reached for the same painting at the exact same time.

It was this wild, chaotic piece—foster kids rendered in these explosive, almost violent colors.

The kind of art that punched you in the chest and didn’t apologize. I’d been drawn to the technique, the way the artist used color to scream what words couldn’t say.

But Julian?

Julian had stood there staring at it for a full minute before he spoke.

"I have a sister I’ve never met," he’d said quietly, hands in his pockets. "My mother gave her up to a human orphanage before she died. Left me instructions in her will—find her, bring her home."

He’d paused, jaw working.

"I’ve been searching New York for months. Every lead goes nowhere. It’s like trying to find a ghost." His eyes had stayed locked on the painting.

"Saw this piece tonight and thought... maybe she grew up looking at the world like this. Alone. Angry. Wondering why no one came for her."

He’d wanted to buy it. Take it back to Capital as a reminder.

I’d given it to him without hesitation.

Never expected to see him again.

Definitely never expected to find out he was Julian Cross—VP of Sentinel Energy, son of Alpha Nathaniel Cross of Shadowveil Pack, the diplomatic powerhouse that handled all foreign relations for the Blackwood Kingdom.