Nina I woke up the next morning with another wave of morning sickness. It took almost all of my strength to stumble to the bathroom before the contents of my stomach emptied, and when I was finished, I sank down onto the floor with a heavy sigh. “Stupid morning sickness,” I muttered as I rubbed
Nina After spending the afternoon reading and laying in the sun, Lori, Jessica and I made our way inside to get ready for the party. The servants were still bustling about making final preparations, and as we stepped inside, my mother just happened to be rushing past and stopped to talk to us. “
“You really are a princess,” she teased, touching the shimmery red fabric. “You’ve got the dress and everything.” I blushed as I held the gown up to myself. It was perfect, really: simple and elegant, a dark red color that was somehow the perfect shade to match my lips. I had expected a gaudy ball
Nina The moment I stepped into the bustling party, I was utterly shocked. The transformation of the banquet hall was nothing short of magical. The ceiling, now an enchanting night sky, was illuminated by the shimmering lights of the aurora borealis. It painted the room with shades of green, pink
Nina Enzo and I slowly pulled apart from our lingering kiss, our lips parting with a soft, shared breathlessness. It felt like the world had faded away in that moment, leaving just the two of us, lost in each other’s eyes. He placed me back on my feet, and I let out a soft breath, meeting his ga
Nina The music kept pulsing through the air, eventually switching from an upbeat pop tempo to a slower tempo, but I still felt as if I was on edge. I kept glancing at the corner as though I expected the shadow entity to be standing there, but it never was. The corner remained devoid of anything
Enzo “Enzo! Come here, my boy!” I was just passing by the array of tables when I heard Aldric’s voice boom across the space between us, causing me to perk my head up. He was sitting at a long wooden table with Nina’s mother and a few other Alphas that I recognized from the Alpha Council, and he
Nina The last thing I remembered was standing in the gardens out behind my father’s house. The party raged on behind me; I could still hear the sounds of the music and the lively chatter of the guests. But I was alone where I stood. Or maybe… Maybe I wasn’t alone. I could see it up ahead—the
Nina The warm summer breeze brushed across my skin as I stood on the patio, clutching my robe tightly around my body. Laughter and splashes echoed up from the pool below, where our friends were already gathered for our big end-of-summer party. I should have been down there too, soaking up the ve
“What... what do you mean?” He braced his hands on the doorframe, leaning in closer with a heavy sigh. “I mean, by the time I caught up to them this morning, I only saw them long enough to get that photo before they were boarding a speedboat and taking off. Hell, I’m still not even totally sure wh
Nina My breath caught in my throat as I pulled open the front door expecting to see excited party guests, only to be immediately met with the sight of Luke’s grim expression. His brow was furrowed in a deep frown, his lips pressed into a tight line—clear signs that something was very wrong. “Luk
Nina I huffed out a breath as I hoisted the oversized cardboard box higher in my arms, carefully navigating my way through the living room. Strings of fairy lights poked out haphazardly from the top, and I could feel the weight of glass jars and other assorted decor inside shifting precariously wi
Then, at the last possible second, the scout seemed to find an extra burst of speed. He surged forward, hurtling between two towering oak trees and vanishing into the cover of the forest beyond. “Dammit!” I slammed my palms against the rough bark of the nearest trunk, powerless to do anything but
Enzo The crunch of leaves and snap of twigs echoed through the trees as Matt and I tore after the Schreiber scout. Our breaths came in ragged gasps, the hot summer air burning our lungs. Overhead, a little red bird chirped and flitted through the green canopy of trees; Daphne. But even she wasn’
Shaking my head, I turned without another word and stormed out of the fitting room. I took the two strides across the hall to Jessica’s fitting room and knocked on the door, folding my arms across my chest. “Jess? You in there?” There was a muffled thump in the fitting room, followed by the soun
Nina “How’s it looking in there?” I called out, rapping lightly on the wooden door of Jessica’s fitting room. “Um… decent, I guess?” her muffled voice floated back a moment later, although I could sense the uncertainty in her tone. “Decent? That’s it? Come on, Jess, this is your wedding gown w
Had I really known him at all, I wondered? Or had I merely been too self-absorbed and naive to see past the facade of unshakable command he projected? After a long silence, I found my voice. “Why didn’t he ever tell me that?” “He didn’t want you to see his weakness, I suppose,” Angelica replied