CHARLOTTE I said goodbye to Vance after a few more minutes of conversation, then I headed back to the house. The house was silent as usual, and after sending a quick text to Madeline, I headed upstairs, eager to rest a little before the party. All thoughts of respite left my mind when I climbed u
CHARLOTTE I wasn’t sure who looked more surprised.Emma, Avaria or Sarah.But I was sure as hell enjoying the stunned look on their faces, I wondered if I’d be able to get away with taking a picture of them like this. “You’re lying,” Emma said, breaking out of her state of shock, her tone became m
CHARLOTTE When Vance pulled away, I was left extremely out of breath, and just as confused. I could feel every single pair of eyes of every single person person present on me at that moment, but my shock outweighed my ability to be uneasy about the attention. My skin felt hot, and as much as I tr
“Come on Charlotte,” Avaria giggled. “You know, maybe you’ll be more willing to join if there was something in it for you? Like a sweet little challenge” Sounds of interest started going through the room, with a few people even suggesting challenges. They mostly involved nudity and I absolutely did
CHARLOTTEIt felt as though everyone sucked in a breath at the same time. All eyes were now firmly fixed on Caeson and me. But even with the intensity of the crowd’s collective gaze, and Caeson’s intense stare locked on my every move, I didn’t falter. And I wouldn’t. The silence brok
CHARLOTTEEmbarrassed was a mild word to describe what I was feeling. I wanted to throw up, I wanted to run, I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, but most of all, I wanted to wipe that self-satisfied smile off Taide Soloh’s face. People were staring, and unlike when that first dare had been pa
CHARLOTTEFor a moment, I was in an alternate version of the world I lived in. In that world, my mother didn’t die, my father wasn’t abusive, I didn’t have to attend Lupin prep on a scholarship, and the triplets didn’t hate me. No.They didn’t exist.For that moment, I was in that world, and every
On the inside, the place wasn’t as basic and mysterious, and carried a much greater note of hope and comfort. The faint smell of antiseptic clung to the air, but the beautiful plants and flowers meticulously placed all over the waiting area took away from the assault on my senses.Some elderly resi
I reached up to loosen his grip, my vision growing watery, but he just pressed down harder. “I’ll never let you forget who you are, harlot,” he spat, venom dripping from his tone. The words hit me with such hatred that I was taken back to the moments when I was nothing more than a victim of his and
72 HOURS BEFORE JUNIOR YEAR GRADUATIONCHARLOTTEI leaned against the railings of the balcony and stared at my phone, trying to summon the courage to hit the little icon that would dial Caeson’s number.I had been up for a good four hours now—it was 9 a.m.—but the boys weren’t back yet. Neither Taid
CHARLOTTETo say I was bored would be an understatement.Since the boys left that morning for the palace, I’d been all alone in the house with nothing but my thoughts to keep me company.And my thoughts weren’t doing anything to dispel the anxiety I was feeling.I spent most of the afternoon chewing
But then, I wasn’t half as exhausted as I expected to be—or as I probably should have been—given this was only my second time making the change. Maybe it was different for me because now I was older than he was when he started shifting. Maybe my body could adjust more easily because I was more mat
CHARLOTTE Taide, still looking up at my wolf, backed away slowly, lifting his hands as he spoke. “I think we all need to calm down.” His gaze briefly drifted from me to Caeson. “What happened?” Before Caeson could respond, Reigh cut in. “I don’t know what you think this is, but Char’s wolf attacke
I felt my blood go cold when I saw the blue in his eyes fade away. He was giving full control to his wolf to handle mine.Caeson’s wolf was terrifying. Maybe it was the color or the size, but it had this menace that surrounded it.I expected my wolf to do the right thing and back away from the chall
She growled, and Emma’s scream became even shriller as she stared at me in horror.“Charlotte!” Caeson yelled.I wanted to reply. I wanted to yank my wolf back. I attempted to shift back into my human form, but nothing was working. I felt like I was locked in a room in the dark somewhere, just watch
CHARLOTTEI was stunned.At first, I was sure I was mistaken. So I proceeded to move, tilting my head this way and that, and to my absolute shock, the wolf moved its large, white head right along with me.It was nothing like the wolf I shifted into last time, and not just because of the color.She w
CHARLOTTEFor a moment, Reigh was still and silent.Then, like something had sunk into him, he blinked—once, twice, three times—rapidly and looked away, his jaw clenched.I already knew what that meant, and I’d expected his resistance, but that didn’t mean I was going to give up.“Just think about i