YENA
As I walked to the bakery from my house, I started getting a funny feeling.
Lily was saying to me that something was wrong.
That she could sense danger.
Adan set up the meeting at the bakery to make it convenient for me. I was glad.
I didn’t want to go to campus. It had become a place full of unpleasant memories for me at this point. Even though school was out right now, there was still plenty of activity there, and I would rather avoid it.
I arrived a couple minutes early, but Adan and his professor friend were already there when I walked in.
Adan stood when he saw me. He pulled a chair out for me and did a small bow as I approached, but then quickly sat back down, before I could tell him to stop with all the theatrics.
The woman seated beside him gave me an anxious look. I assumed she was taken off-guard by Adan bowing to me. She was wearing all black and had chunky, black-frame
EVANPeter was sitting at the dining table, reading a book when Evan came downstairs.“Hey, Dad.”“Hi, son. What are you doing up? Can’t sleep?”Evan sighed and sat down across from his father at the table.“I actually came to talk to you because I need some advice.”“Oh? About what?” Peter closed his book and set it aside.Evan’s heart was pounding. He actually felt kinda shaky, too.“How about I put some coffee on, then we’ll talk?” Peter shuffled off to the kitchen, giving Evan time to collect his thoughts.There was a small fire burning in the fireplace. Evan crouched beside it and opened the grate, then started working some new logs into the fire.“Quite a blaze you got there,” Peter said when he returned with their coffees, carrying the mugs carefully in both hands.Evan looke
EVANYena was pacing in the kitchen. Her lips were moving, like she was reciting something or having an imaginary argument. “Hey,” Evan said, and Yena jumped.“Oh, hey!”“Am I interrupting something?” he asked, smirking.She laughed. “Sorry, just talking to… myself.”Evan looked at the table and smiled. An empty pie tin, a can of whipped cream, and a dirty fork.“Healthy breakfast today, I see.”“Well, it’s no cold pizza.” She came over and suddenly put her arms around Evan’s waist. He hugged her back.“I still can’t sleep, Evan.” Yena’s cheek was flat against his chest, and he could feel the vibration of her voice inside his chest as she spoke. “And I’m so tired.”“Aw. How can I help?”She sighed, then walked away again, resuming her
#Chapter 121: Whatever you needNOLAN “This needs to happen today.” The woman on the video call looked nervous now. Nolan’s tone was very firm. “Absolutely,” she said. “We’ll send Yena’s acceptance letter right away. I’ll have a it delivered to the palace as soon as possible.” Nolan paused. “Actually, I am going to give you an alternate address to send it to. Yena is visiting her family tonight.” The admissions lady nodded. “Of course. Whatever you need.” “And you received the donation this morning by wire transfer?” Now she smiled.“Yes, and thank you so much for your generous gift! We’ve been trying to build this library for years. Your donation will benefit so many students.” Nolan nodded. “It’s the least I can do to thank you for making this possible.” The fact was that he’d wound up needing to give them a big incentive to move faster with Yena’s admission.
“Spooky…”Evan was leading me through the boxing gym. It was bigger than I expected.It was a long, narrow building with a single room that just went on and on, with tons of equipment stations, punching bags, and full-size boxing rings.“Why?” Evan asked. “Cuz it’s empty? You’re the one who wanted privacy.”The sarcastic tone that Evan used kind of stung.We’d talked about why I didn’t want to be in a crowd… It wasn’t that I wantedprivacy. I just had to be careful about my safety, now I was a public figure.
ADANSome weird impulse had Adan wanting to call Yena again right away after she didn’t answer the first time.When had he started feeling like that about Yena? Desperate to talk to her?He tossed the phone down on his bed.Then realized he was just staring at it, waiting for it to ring.He shook his head. Turned to look at the video that was playing on his laptop.It was the interview she gave on TV at the werewolf orphanage. He’d been rewatching it, listening to all three of them talking about Nolan. Studying what they said.If Adan could count on his little brother for anything, it was for him to always be soft. Generous and caring, and going out of his way to do stuff for other people.Nolan would be going back to visit these friends of his at some point.Adan was just trying to figure out the timi
YENA“Right,” Nolan said. “Evan. Your brother is going with you.”“Mm-hmm. We talked about that, right?”“Yes. Of course, I guess I just… forgot.” Nolan’s tone was calm and even.But suddenly I understood that Nolan saw Evan as a rival, even a threat.And he didn’t even know what had been happening between me and my brother since I’d been home.I guess Nolan must have sensed it before. Even when I didn’t
NOLAN“Well?” Gina asked. “Did you give it any more thought – what we talked about?”She had once again dropped by the palace unannounced.“Yes,” Nolan said. “And my only thoughts on the topic are… that I still feel the same as before. I can’t marry you, Gina.”“Do you really have to marry for love?” she asked. “You’re a prince, Nolan. Aren’t your responsibilities more important than… your emotions?”Nolan closed his eyes. Remembered it was no use arg
YENALucy put one last bite of pancake into her mouth.Then Tina appeared at her side and slipped another one, fresh off the griddle, onto the empty plate.“Tina!” Lucy covered her mouth with her hand as she chewed. “Please, if I eat another bite, I’m going to burst.”“Alright, alright,” Tina said. “That was just the last of the batter. Someone needed to eat it.”Evan reached across the table and stabbed the steaming pancake with his fork, removed it from Lucy’s plate, and plopped it down on his own.&ldquo
YENANolan took one look at me, as I stepped out into the surprisingly bright morning light, and placed a hand flat on his chest. His mouth dropped open, releasing a sigh.I watched as his keen eyes roved the entire length of my body, taking in every detail. From the clear glass peep-toe high heels on my feet, to the dress, the earrings, the hair, and… the finishing touch: my golden laurel leaf crown. The one Nolan gave me the first time we married, which marked me as his Luna.I had to stop in my tracks and catch my breath, myself. This, I realized as I took everything in, was the wedding of my dreams.To my surprise, our friend Cindy was standing under the very center of the vine-laced archway – she was clearly all set up to be the officiant for our ceremony. She grinned and winked at me when our eyes met, as if to say, Surprise! The King and Queen stood to one side of the aisle, eyes on me as I walked down with my parents, each with approving expressions and slight smiles. At Nola
Evan smiled broadly at the sight of me and Lucy in our dresses, our hair and makeup all done up. “Whoa,” he said, going wide-eyed. “You girls look incredible.”“Oh my Goddess, back at you!” I cried, making my brother blush. Evan was all cleaned up, had even gotten a haircut, and he was wearing a gorgeous, expensive tuxedo with a boutonniere in the lapel that matched my bouquet. “What is all this?”“Oh. Didn’t you know? I am the Best Man.” He grinned guiltily, cheesing with his teeth clenched.“Oh, that is so…” I felt tears pinging at my eyes, thinking about Nolan making the gesture of asking Evan to stand beside him at our ceremony. That must have been what they were discussing at Tina’s. “That’s sweet, Evan. I’m sure it means a lot to Nolan. Thank you.”He shrugged, starting to look awkward.“Be right back, guys,” Lucy said, heading for the fancy little half-bathroom that was directly across the hall from my studio.“Yena, I’m really happy for you,” Evan said to me quietly once she w
“Can I see it?” Nolan asked. His green eyes lit up with curious excitement.He and I were just finishing dinner together, and I’d told him all about my day with Lucy and how hard we’d worked to finish my wedding dress for tomorrow. I was absolutely thrilled with the end result, but my eyes were also tired from all the focused work and lack of breaks, and my fingers were stiff from so much sewing. It had been a while since I had done this much detail work in such a short period of time. “Hmm.” I thought over Nolan’s request. “Can you wait? I think it’ll be more fun if you see it on me tomorrow for the first time.”He nodded reluctantly. “I can wait. If I must.”“I’m so excited.” I beamed. I didn’t mean just about the dress. “This is going to be really fun. Thank you for doing this with me.”Nolan offered me one of his own big, beautiful smiles in return. “I’m excited, too. And listen, I had an idea…” He pushed his dinner plate away and turned his full body to face me.“Oh? What’s that
Nolan shook his head and mumbled “no” between soft little kisses. “I don’t want to do that to you too much, Yena. Not if I don’t need it.”I hummed out a reproving, “Hmmm…” and used a single finger to gently guide Nolan’s face up to mine. “You don’t have to hold back with me, you know.”Suddenly, while he held my gaze, I felt Nolan’s big dick starting to swell, tapping against my thigh.“Bite me. Drink my blood. Please.”My voice took on a silky quality.“I want you to. I think you do need it.” I moved my mouth to his strong neck, planted a soft kiss there and then dragged my lips up to his ear. “And you know that it feels good for me too, right?”I teased his ear with my tongue, and Nolan groaned.I angled my hips up toward his, and soon he was easing himself inside me while I breathed deeply and mumbled lot of little begs for him to keep going.He moved one hand to the back of my head and fisted a sloppy bunch of my hair.My eyes flew open—I didn’t realized they’d fallen closed. His
YENAWatching my adoptive mother embracing my giant husband right now was hilarious.Tina did this to everyone she loved – and who knows why? – tried to show them how much she cared by embracing them in tight, smothering bear hugs. If I hadn’t known it before today, I knew now that she loved Nolan like family, because she appeared to be trying her best to strangle him to death.The look on my Alpha’s face was what was killing me. Nolan didn’t know what to do, how to escape Tina politely and with dignity. So I sacrificed myself to save him, squishing between the two and taking the next big hug from Tina for myself.“Oh, I was so very happy to hear from you, sweetheart! To what do we owe this visit?”Tina released my bear hug and started playing with my hair, fluffing it up and pulling loose curls forward over my shoulders. I could tell she was admiring how long it had gotten.“Well, we have something to invite you to,” I said vaguely. “But I’d rather wait to talk about it till we can a
NOLANThick morning fog rolled through the cemetery in a hurry, kissing the edges of headstones that cluttered its path. It dissolved under the slow footsteps of three black-clad mourners crossing the dewy grounds as they picked their way toward the yawning mouth of an open grave.A lone priest in a long black cassock stood waiting near the casket. In one hand he clutched an old book, a fragile artifact bound in soft purple cloth. The other hand rose in greeting as first Nolan, then Yena and Cindy came into his view, stomping out fog in their wake.Nolan let go of Yena’s hand when they reached the old man’s graveside. He exchanged some words with the priest, with whom he’d earlier spoken on the phone, and then made introductions between the holy man and his wife and good friend.“An honor to meet you all.” The priest bowed his head. “I am very sorry it is under these circumstances.”The man was middle-aged, but his voice sounded weathered, perhaps permanently hoarse from decades of ov
YENAI’m not sure how exactly, but I felt Nolan’s presence as he approached from down the hall. I looked up, expecting to see him in the doorway, but he was not there yet.The sound of his footsteps on the marble floors hit my ears next. Then finally my prince appeared, pausing at the threshold of my studio and raising his hand to knock on the open door. He met my eyes instantly, since I’d been watching for him. “Hey.” He lowered his arm and stepped inside.“Hi. How’s your mom?”“She’s good. She seems to like the idea of the vow renewal ceremony.”I stood as Nolan reached my desk. He bent to kiss me, his arms wrapping around my waist. I circled his neck with my forearms and let him lift me up off my feet for a second.He put me down, pulled away and smiled. “You’re in a good mood.”“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you.”He shrugged. “Maybe I am. Kind of strange.”“Being in a good mood is strange?”Nolan stepped away and started a slow stroll around the room. “Honestl
Nolan teased me with his fingertips till I was writhing, unable to stay still though he had a tight hold on my body and kept me seated in his lap. His mouth was busy on my neck, alternately breathing heavily to take in my scent and giving me hard, sloppy bite-kisses that felt like they’d leave bruises.I ran my fingers through his hair, slid my hands down his neck and all across the broad muscles of his shoulders.And grumbled impatiently, “Oh, fuck me.”“Thought you’d never ask,” he said, then he stood up with one easy step, turned, and threw me down onto the bed.He climbed on top of me. My legs wrapped back around his middle like they belonged there. His mouth went my ear and he licked the edge of it, giving me a chill.Then he whispered, “Any other requests?”“Hmm. Just a question.”He arched one of his dark, thick and lovely eyebrows. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”“Do you want me to be quiet this time?” I asked. “Or do you want everyone on this train to hear what you can do to me?”The
I had not meant to bring up the subject of sexual fidelity. But that’s what I did, by accident.That’s what a wedding ring represents, isn’t it? And here I had gone and asked my husband if he ever took his ring off. Just after we reunited after being separated.“No,” I answered, shaking my head. “I’ve never taken my ring off, not since you gave it to me. When I thought you really wanted to divorce me, I thought about it. But it seemed wrong and sad and I never could do it. And I didn’t mean to imply anything by asking you that…”He arched an eyebrow. Said nothing. And kept watching me, with less and less patient curiosity, as I continued on with my efforts to remove his wedding ring.My little plan was not going super smoothly so far.“Yena. Why are you trying to take that off?”“Hush,” I said, giggling nervously. “I will explain in just a minute. I only want to take it off for a second, okay?”“Okay.” An amused smile tugged at his lips, but his eyebrows still looked stern.“Why didn’