LeahI left the motel early the next morning. I tried not to be disappointed, but Caden hadn’t even texted me to see where I was. I guessed after our argument he assumed I didn’t want to be bothered or that I would be back after he’d already gone to be. At least, I hoped he’d considered me in some capacity.When I got to the room, I realized I didn’t have my room key. “Fuck,” I hissed, searching my bag. It was gone. Where had I left it? Had I even grabbed it when I’d left yesterday? I’d been so upset; it was possible I’d just left it sitting on my nightstand.I knocked, praying that Caden was still in the room. He had a habit of sleeping in, so there was a chance he hadn’t gone downstairs to breakfast yet.The door swung open after a few seconds. “What the fuck happened to your face?” Caden asked when his eyes landed on me.I shrugged. “I fell.”“You fell?” Caden echoed, disbelief coloring his words.“Yep. I fell. Happens to the best of us.” I tried to push past Caden into our rooms,
LeahCaden surprised me with take out later that evening.“I thought you said not to expect you for dinner,” I said, taking the sandwich he offered me. Turkey on wheat; exactly what I liked.He shrugged and sat down at the small table in our room. “I felt bad. You were left alone all day, and you were injured, and I just… felt bad.”“I’m fine, Caden, really,” I sighed. “It’s just a little bruise. It’s going to be fine in a couple of days.”I could tell he didn’t believe me, but there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't force the information out of me, and I sure as hell wasn't going to volunteer it."Did you put your name in to court, Princess Harper?" I asked, trying to keep my voice as level as possible for my plan to work. I needed Caden to keep me in the loop. My_ plan wouldn't work if I couldn't tell Lorenzo exactly where the Princess would be."I did," Caden admitted, his voice guarded, probably waiting for me to blow up at him again.Instead, I forced a smile onto my
ChloeI woke up with a pounding headache. What the hell had happened to me?I opened my eyes and was instantly blinded by flickering fluorescent lights that hurt my head. After a moment of regrouping, I opened my eyes again, waiting for my vision to clear. It took me several seconds after I opened my eyes to process what I was seeing, and I blamed my head for that. I felt like there was cotton stuffed into my head where my brain should be.To my utter confusion, I was tied to a chair in a dirty bathroom. In fact, it looked like a seedy bathroom where someone did drugs. Why the hell was I here? How did I get here?I remembered going into the alley with Leah, but I wasn’t sure what had happened after that. I glanced around, looking for my stepsister. Had she been captured, too? Or had she gotten away? Was she, even now, sounding the alarm that I had been kidnapped?I was tempted to call out, but I wasn't sure that was the best idea. I probably didn't want to draw any extra attention my
Chloe“You’ve ruined my life, Chloe. You are the bane of my existence, and even when I thought I was free of you, I wasn’t. How dare you steal everything from me.”I leaned back, pretending my heart wasn’t racing with fear. An angry wolf was a dangerous wolf. I wanted to make it out of this whole situation alive, and egging Leah on wasn’t going to help.“What about Lorenzo?” I asked, trying to distract her from her hatred of me. “How did you get involved with him?”“Mind your own business, bitch,” Leah growled. Her eyes flashed gold, her wolf trying to make an appearance. Being ripped apart didn’t seem too far away right now.Before I could think of anything else to say that might diffuse the situation, the door to the room opened, and someone entered.“Babe?” Lorenzo called out.Leah turned towards the sound, stepping out of the bathroom to see him. “Yea?”“I got you a burger.”It was interesting watching Leah. She was still bristling with anger, but Lorenzo’s offer seemed to have di
ChloeLeah didn’t stay with me for much longer, and she eventually picked herself up off the ground and went back to the main room, leaving me to my own thoughts.I dozed off at one point from sheer exhaustion and only remembered when I woke up that you aren’t supposed to sleep if you have a concussion. Whoops. I really needed to be seen by a Healer. I would never forgive Leah if I had permanent damage of some kind.Lorenzo was back. I heard him talking to Leah in a low voice. At the very least, he didn’t seem mad anymore, and as far as I could tell, he hadn’t hit Leah again.My stomach turned over at the memory of her injuries. I was beyond sickened by her mate, and I didn’t want him anywhere near me or her. Or anyone, if I was being honest. I wanted him as far away from me as possible.God, how I wished I could shift. I’d rip him apart limb by limb and enjoy every second of it. I wasn’t a bloodthirsty person, but I knew tearing Lorenzo apart would be different.“I want to play a gam
ChloeI relaxed and let my wolf take over just enough to calm me. Sinking into her felt like coming home. It only took a few more dunks before Lorenzo was bored with this form of torture. They left me in a heap on the floor, gasping for air.If I’d been healthy, I could have shifted into my wolf and ripped them to pieces. Unfortunately, I was too weak in my current state, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to escape. My wolf was present enough to start healing some of my wounds. My fingertips still ached, but they also itched slightly. I could only assume that they were healing. I had no clue if I’d still have a fingerprint when they were done, but it was a step in the right direction.I coughed up more water, tinged with blood.I felt Lorenzo’s hard gaze on me. For a second, I thought he could sense my wolf healing my wounds, but he only scoffed. “I’m bored of this game. Kill her, Leah.”I turned to Leah with wide eyes. She couldn’t seriously be considering killing me, could she? I mean,
Adrian"Dude!" Bryce said, waving his hand in front of my face."Huh?" I said, my attention diverted from the door I’d been staring at for the last hour. I had casually taken a position by the palace's front door, trying to catch Chloe when she returned from her date. I needed to make sure she hadn’t decided to return to Caden."You're pathetic," Bryce sighed, but his voice had a tinge of humor."I don't know what you're talking about," I sniffed. I refused to acknowledge the obvious; if Bryce was smart, he'd do the same.He wasn't. "You staring at the door isn't going to bring Chloe home any faster."I wanted to bite his head off, but he was right. "I know," I sighed. "I just have a bad feeling."I'd tried to shake off the sense of impending doom, but I couldn't. "Something's not right."Bryce raised an eyebrow. "Could it possibly be because Chloe is on a date with her ex-mate, who still doesn't know she's Harper?""He's got to be a bloody idiot not to realize Harper and Chloe are th
Caden“You what?” Prince Adrian sputtered, staring at me as if I had three heads.I cleared my throat. “I put a tracker on Leah’s phone after Chloe vanished.”Prince Adrian glared at me hard. “If you thought Leah was part of Chloe’s disappearance, why didn’t you say something sooner?”I swallowed. When he put it that way, it seemed silly that I hadn’t. “It’s not that I necessarily suspected Leah of doing anything to Chloe,” I hedged. “But I figured if I ever needed it, it’d be there. And if I never needed it, no harm, no foul, right?”Adrian closed his eyes, and I turned to Bryce. He shook his head slightly. The Prince took a deep breath and opened his eyes. “Can you pull up the tracker now?”I pulled out my phone and opened the app.“I’m going to see if I can track her the old way,” Bryce announced. “Don’t kill each other, please.”I really didn’t understand why Prince Adrian seemed to dislike me so much, but I just nodded in acknowledgment of Bryce’s warning.“I’m talking to you, Ad
CadenI had been giving Chloe space, wanting her to settle back into her old home comfortably. It had been over a week since I last saw her, and our communication was limited to the occasional text message to check in on her.I decided to stop by her house with some takeout on the following Friday, thinking it would be a nice surprise.As I approached her door, I hesitated, briefly wondering if I should have called first. But then I reminded myself that a friendly visit was a good idea. When Chloe answered the door, I was relieved to find she looked surprised but happy to see me.We chatted casually as I followed her inside, catching up on the past week. As we walked into the kitchen, I noticed something on the kitchen counter: a positive pregnancy test. My heart skipped a beat, and for a moment, I stood there, frozen.Chloe, noticing my gaze, immediately turned pale. She bit her lip, looking at me with a mixture of fear and uncertainty.I d
Chloe The car ride was excruciating in its silence. I wasn't sure if Caden knew my heart was shattering into a million tiny pieces, but I appreciated that he didn’t pry. We were almost back to the Blackstone pack territory before I spoke. "What are we going to tell everyone?" The question had been rattling around the entire ride, but I’d been unable to ask before this. Caden shrugged, his eyes never leaving the road. "Don't worry; I've got it handled. No one will say anything to you."I blinked, surprised. "You've already planned out what you're going to say?"He finally glanced in my direction before quickly returning his gaze to the road. "Chloe, I've already had the discussion with the pack. There's nothing left to discuss.Everything is settled. No one is going to bother you."My mouth fell ope
AdrianI knew Chloe was gone the moment she stepped outside of the city borders. Because we hadn’t broken the mate bond, I was still connected to her, although the clarity with which I felt her presence weakened the farther she traveled. I felt like I was losing a piece of myself, and I wondered for the first time if I should break the mate bond. We didn’t have to be together for one of us to do it.My father visited after dinner. I’d refused to go down, instead staying in my rooms. After my conversation with my brothers earlier, I was confused.“You didn’t come to eat,” Father said, joining me on the window seat I’d been sitting in for the last hour.“I know.”“Why?”“I wasn’t hungry,” I said, keeping my eyes fixed out the window at the gardens down belo
AdrianI was a block away from the hotel when my anger finally faded enough for me to realize something wasn't adding up. I stopped walking in the middle of the sidewalk, nearly getting run over in the process by other pedestrians.Something wasn't right with Chloe's story, and I hadn't realized it initially because I'd been too shocked by Chloe admitting to having an affair with Caden. Or rekindling their relationship - whatever you wanted to call it. It felt like an affair to me, but I wasn’t about to argue the semantics.I turned on my heel and stormed back to the hotel, breezing past the front desk and back up to Caden's room. I banged on the door repeatedly, and after several moments, Chloe opened the door with a frown, still wearing Caden’s shirt. The sight made my stomach roll in disgust."Adrian?" Her voice was soft, and I could still see the fresh tear tracks stai
ChloeCaden and I spent the few hours between me barging in and Adrian’s arrival to plan out what we were going to do. I hated the idea of deceiving my mate, but I couldn’t think of any other way to make him leave me. He was far too forgiving where I was concerned, and I knew he’d look for any excuse not to leave me and break the bond.Unfortunately, since we’d done the marking ceremony, the only way to break our mate bond was to have one of us desire to break it with all our heart. It didn’t seem like a trick, except for the fact that the very last thing I wanted was to break the mate bond. I loved Adrian and always would. The only way to break the bond was to make him hate me enough to want to. The thought sickened me.Adrian arrived right at three. I didn’t know what his father had told him to get him here, but I had a sinking feeling from the angry banging on the do
ChloeI spent all night tossing and turning, unable to sleep. What I could do, though, was cry, and I cried until I had no tears left, and my pillow was soaked.I knew, deep in my heart, that Adrian deserved someone better than me to be his Queen Luna. I loved him so deeply that I’d ignored the glaringly obvious: we were from two different worlds.The closest I came to being royalty was having a dead stepfather who was a Beta in my old pack. He’d been a kind man, but he’d been unpolished, too. I came from a different life, and I’d be a fool to stick around and destroy everything by being a terrible Queen Luna.Not to mention, if we stayed together Adrian would have to constantly be explaining our relationship to everyone. He was expected to marry a polished woman who knew how to play the game, not a nobody like me.When the dawn broke, I kn
Chloe“You’ll be upstairs today, Chloe,” the head maid said, scanning her list. “The yellow and blue sitting rooms are yours.”I blinked at her in surprise. Since I’d been demoted to maid, I’d stayed out of the more public spaces in case someone recognized me. The yellow and blue sitting rooms were fairly busy spaces. “Alone?” I squeaked.She looked up and gave me a sharp look. “No. Since it’s your first day cleaning these two rooms, Hannah will be with you.”I nearly sighed in relief. Hannah was nice, even if I did think she chattered too much. I got it, though. If I was a talkative person, it’d be so hard to spend the workday alone.Once the head maid had given everyone their assignments, Hannah flounced over to me, a wide smile on her face. “Are you ready?”
ChloeEven though I’d been given a room downstairs with the other maids, I spent every night wrapped in Adrian’s arms in his rooms. He’d gallantly offered to stay a night in my room, but I only had a twin bed, and while I enjoyed cuddling with him, it was a bit too close in my new bed. Luckily, it hadn’t been too hard to convince him that his king-sized bed was superior.I knew Adrian had had some sort of fight with his father because he’d found me afterward. While he’d only muttered about crazy old men, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to put together that he was speaking about the King. I had a feeling the conversation was about me, and I wasn’t looking to find out the details. The King’s rejection still stung, even if I understood it.“How do you feel about completing the marking ceremony?” Adrian asked as casually as one would ask abou
AdrianI wasn't expecting a summons from my Father, and receiving one immediately put me on edge. A summons meant business, and more often than not, it was unpleasant. I couldn't ignore a summons, and he knew that.I entered his office without knocking. He was seated at his desk; however, his chair was turned to the window. I didn't think he was actually looking at anything out there."Sit," Father sighed, turning to me."No, thank you."He raised an eyebrow at this. I ignored him."I had a meeting this morning," Father said.I blinked in surprise. I was usually included in his meetings, especially now that my assentation to the throne was so near."And why wasn't I invited?""Well," Father paused. “I didn't know what he wanted to say, and I feared you might end the discussio