My day is spent hiding away, except for the one hour I spent with Rowan and finalising our plans for tomorrow. Things are looking good. We get nearly three hours tomorrow to cook. The multiple kitchens help.It means everything we make will be made tomorrow. I don't put it past Aurora to plan an attack by making my food terrible. So she won't get a chance as nothing we have stored in the fridge will be used.Fastening my dress for tonight's dinner, I get ready and walk out. Sage walks over and wraps her arm through mine."Everyone is talking about your interview!" She smiles at me."How? They can't see it. No TV, radio or phones."She laughs. "The maids watched it on their break while eating." She nudges me. "They particularly liked Kellan's lots of practice about the kiss."Laughing, I nod. "He wasn't lying." Everyone has said Kellan was a player, leaving a string of women with broken hearts at his back. I'm set to be one of them.Walking into the room, I see Darius and Kellan. So th
After sitting with Kellan and talking, Beta Yori guided me back to my room, and I fell asleep instantly as soon as my head hit the pillow.I'm tired. Having no wolf is a disadvantage; the other contestants don't seem to tire quickly; I do.Waking, I had breakfast like I do every morning with the contestants. Then, I went into the kitchen and began to cook with Rowan. I say with, but the most she has done is mix or measure the ingredients.When she tried making the casings for the mini pies, they were odd and misshaped, and some were inedible because of their size.Still, she is helping; her fashion knowledge has been vital to this event.Sage, Aurora, Astrid, and Selene are with us in the kitchen. We also have guards and maids stationed around the kitchen. I feel that it is more to protect the king.They are watching our every movement, so do they fear one of the contestants might purposely poison him? Then again, the way he's acted kind of makes him deserve it. I push the thought awa
KellanI stand with Darius, but not really paying any attention. So far, the food has been bad or okay. We've only done two tables, so nothing can get worse. I hope.I'm sure Elara should be out by now."Find her." Darius looks at Beta William. "If she isn't here soon, she gets no points. That sabotages Rowan.""I'll help." I go to walk away, and he stops me. "What? I will still taste them all, give me five minutes, and I will be back. Enjoy your conversation." Turning, I rush through, going to her room. It's empty. She's got her dress on.So she got ready to leave? Turning, I walk out and look into the other contestant's rooms. I glance outside to check, but she still isn't there. Darius is still at the same table, talking with the guests.Moving, we go through the corridors."Elara!" Fuck sake, did she honestly get lost? I laugh at the thought. I hear banging and turn. Walking towards it, stopping at the door, I see the key in the lock.Unlocking the door, I opened it and saw her. S
I haven't seen Kellan. Then again, May explained that he is ensuring all traces of nuts have gone. It's clear he cares for Darius, as none of the guests had realised there were nuts on the food.As I go to step into the room, a hand stops me."I need to know what happened." Kellan looks at me."Someone called Beta Nova told me I was late and meant to meet in that room. He pushed me in and locked the door."Nova? Are you sure you heard them right?""Yes, Kellan, he said his name was Nova.""Then how did your dress get ripped and your hair a mess?" I open my mouth to reply, and the producer appears next to us. He smiles and walks around and into the room."I'm confused as to why he is still here?""Better the devil, you know." I glance at him, confused. "He's worked with the family for over twenty years. To replace him now means taking a risk. We have no idea if the person who replaces him will be any better. We can at least control what he releases, or Darius can anyway."That makes se
I consider it and consider the fact that Draven did add me to the deal. That night with Ethan made him agree. Did he only agree because I was made part of the deal?“Hey.” I feel him grip my chin and force me to look at him. “Please breathe.”I laugh slightly. Breathing is about the only thing I have control over in my life.“I can’t leave here without my wolf.” I feel like I’m dead. His words are correct; Draven and Ethan made a deal, which included me. I know about the wolves, and I feel like Draven isn’t alone in it, but Ethan is also.They don’t want me out of the competition. They want me dead before I speak. Telling Darius about my mark that alone could have me killed. I went against Darius' word.I lied to the king. I'm still lying to him. Everything they are doing forces me to hide and lie, which Darius knows I am. If he was like his dad, I would have been killed instantly for lying on the form.Yet I'm stuck. Darius can't save me; he might be able to take down Draven and even
Aurora's scream deafens us all. Darius stands wide-eyed and shocked. William is trying to speak to explain why, but he's silenced by her screams and the chatter of the producer and his crew.They keep zooming in between Aurora and Darius, and now I'm wondering if something happened after we left that room. I'm too busy trying to work this out to notice she turns and lunges for me.I realise the moment I'm thrown to the floor with her on top of me. Sage pulls her back, and I jump up. William continues trying to call everyone's attention but fails.Aurora breaks out of Sage's hold and lunges for me again, and that's when I see the knife. I don't get a chance to move or do anything. All I can do is ready myself for the pain.It happens almost in slow motion, and everything goes silent. One minute, she has the knife inches from my neck, and the next, a wolf is pinning her down and another in front of me. My body barely moves. It just shakes.I was dead. There is no denying it. I was dead.
KellanShe stands, still staring at the picture like she doesn't recognise herself. It's crazy. I open the door and pull her in so she stands before the mirrors."The change since the day you arrived up to today is enormous. It shows how small things can impact a body's appearance," I remember the day she came. Her eyes were dull, and her hair looked like there was no life in it.She was withdrawn and thin, with black under her eyes from tiredness, not to mention the collage of bruises that were across her body.Now, her hair is bright and vibrant. You can actually see the colour, the orange, but with small streaks of natural blond through it, something I've never seen.Her eyes are bright, and her whole complexion has changed."I can't remember ever looking like this." She glances at me. "It almost looks like an entirely different person."She's right. "It's strange. Had you walked in and looked like this, no one would have known you were sold and a slave. People would have seen you
He looks at me, waiting."I was young, maybe like four. It's my first memory, and it's not really strong. I remember the pain and how different and alone I felt after.""Anything you can remember? Were you in a normal room, on a chair?" He looks at me."I was on a chair. Alpha Draven held me down. We weren't at home. It was an unusual place; I've only been there twice. The first time, I remember a woman using magic to take my wolf. I was screaming, but they didn't stop. I passed out eventually, too tired from losing the wolf and woke up back home.""Sorry, no one should experience that, especially not a fucking child with no choice. I know people sell their wolves, but doing it to a child is wrong."I nod at his words."You said you had been twice?" He looks at me confused, wondering why I would go twice."I was about thirteen. Apparently, they needed a cleaner last minute, so it was me. I was older, and I saw things." I shrug slightly."Did you see where it was?""No, I was blindfold