CHARLOTTE Taide was standing much closer than I expected him to be. His breath brushed against the crook of my neck, and I had to suppress the shivers that started in my spine. I'd rather jump down these flights of stairs than let Taide know how affected I was by his presence. I thought he wou
CHARLOTTE The sight of the out-of-place object stunned me. I walked over to the bed, letting the books in my hand drop in a heap next to it as I began to study the box. I ran a hand over the surface, awed. Then, when I read the name written in fine print on the cardboard, I was even more taken aba
CHARLOTTE After the chaotic and confusing events of yesterday, it wasn’t surprising that I found my attention drifting away more often than not. Instead of listening during lectures, I found myself idly tapping my pen against my notebook, lost in thoughts and theories as to what had happened. W
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
24 HOURS BEFORE JUNIOR YEAR GRADUATION CHARLOTTE The sound of Reigh’s door closing softly woke me up. I blinked into the darkness, looking for him. He didn’t come into the house with me yesterday. All he did was drop me off. Initially, I didn’t want to be alone with Caeson, knowing Taide w
He suddenly frowned at me before asking, “How can you be so stupid, Charlotte?” My head reared. “Excuse me?” “What exactly do you think is going to happen between you and these boys? Or you know what, I’ll do you one better. How could you even let things get this far?” I cut him a stern warning.
CHARLOTTE Shopping wasn’t as fun or eventful as I’d hoped. I spent most of my time between clothes racks, barely fascinated by the colors or cuts of the dresses I picked. Instead, I kept wondering where Taide was and tried to understand what had happened with Caeson. Unaware, my hand lifted to my
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