CHARLOTTEAfter a few attempts at getting me to talk, Madeline carefully bundled up my sobbing form and gently led me inside.Thankfully, we didn’t run into anyone as she took me up to her room. She lowered me onto the bed, shut the door and slowly tried to calm me down so she could understand what
CHARLOTTETaide cursed, immediately letting go of me.I stumbled back a little, a bit stunned by the force of my head slamming against his nose. Taide’s grip on me was gone, his hands now on his nose that was rapidly gushing out blood.I watched with intense satisfaction as crimson trailed from his
He was standing in nothing but a pair of loose jeans that barely hung onto his hips. My gaze shifted to the left of him, and something in me soured further at the sight of Emmalaine peeking out from Caeson’s doorway at the end of the hall. She was wearing one of his shirts, which left little to the
CHARLOTTETaide rolled off his back, pushing up to his hands and knees as he stared at the ground.He shook his head back and forth in a repetitive motion before another bloodied grin took over his features. “I gotta say, I’ve missed you, man.”I was puzzled by what he meant, but Mads just scoffed a
CHARLOTTE I anxiously tapped my finger against the side of my phone, my eyes fixed on the little word written under my text. ‘Read.’ I’d sent him this message just after we’d concluded our sham of a meeting. Madeline had wanted to talk to me, but she gave me the space I needed. The triple
CHARLOTTE I sat in the library, my notes spread out in front of me, but my mind was somewhere else. I had been trying to study for midterms, but something felt off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it was everything that was going on with Vance, or maybe I just missed my sister even mor
CHARLOTTE After my conversation with Vance, I gave up on studying. I’m becoming one of those girls who let their men problems rule their lives. It’s pathetic. My mind was too busy running through itself multiple times to actually focus on my textbooks. So, I returned whatever books I had to, an
CHARLOTTEMadeline wasn’t home… again.My fingers flew over the screen of my phone idly. The sun was barely out, the scent of coffee brewing hung in the air, and the house was silent. These were moments of the day I usually enjoyed, but lately, with Madeline’s new schedule of sneaking out in the ear
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