It was time to go back to school the next day.I had been looking forward to seeing Amy, but she seemed different. Whenever I was around her, she constantly checked her phone for messages, and she seemed distracted when we talked.All the other students noticed I looked different than before my ball. They stared and whispered as I passed them or while we sat in classrooms together.I had been expecting it since I was wearing my contacts, a little makeup, and had my long, wavy hair styled in a loose ponytail. The expensive jeans Lana made me buy caught their attention too.It was surprising that Amy didn’t say a word about it. It wasn’t like her to ignore me like this, and I decided to talk to her at lunch and see what was on her mind.I realized I hadn’t seen William yet, as I was walking to werewolf history class. Was he still out of town?I forgot about him as I stopped at a water cooler surrounded by my classmates. They either didn’t notice or didn’t care that I was within earshot.
I hurried to the car and gave Victor a big smile as he held the door for me while I climbed into the Lamborghini.Diana felt Adam nearby, and she was like a wolf hurling herself against the walls of a cage. Her excitement was contagious. It was making me jittery.“You need to calm down, Diana.” I laughed. “You and Adam don’t want to distract Victor and get us into an accident, do you?”“Of course not,” Diana said. “It’s just difficult not to be able to greet Adam properly.”Both of the wolves calmed down, and they seemed content to be close together as they let Victor and I speak.“Are you going to tell me why you looked sad as you were walking away from the school?” Victor asked.I was impressed that he noticed. He seemed to care about me more than my best friend did today. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted to talk about it.“It’s more than one thing,” I said as the Lamborghini pulled away from the curb. “I’m sure these things never happened to you, so I doubt you’d understand.”“Please,
I took Victor's advice. The following day when I got to school and found Amy outside waiting for me, I asked her not to text for a few minutes.She looked more grown up than ever with her light blonde hair styled in a twisted bun at the back of her neck, and she was wearing mascara and eyeliner that made her chocolate brown eyes look even prettier.“What’s up?” she asked.“I don’t want to sound like a jerk,” I began. “But I feel like you don’t want me around anymore because of Justin. Doesn’t he want you to have friends?”I knew from watching talk shows that a guy isolating his girlfriend is one of the signs of an abusive mate.“We never talk about our friends much,” Amy replied. “I’ve mentioned you. He knows you’re an Alpha and that I went to your ball. But we don’t talk about you much.”“What do you talk about?” I asked.Amy shrugged. “I don’t know. What we want to do with our lives and stuff.”“Please try to understand, Amy. I want you to be happy. I want you to be with a guy that
“I don’t know if I can wear this gown, Jennifer,” I said as I studied my image in the full-length mirror.I was wearing my mother’s ball gown, but I hadn’t realized that the Queen Anne neckline of the dress would show a hint of my cleavage.“It looks fantastic on you, Miss,” Jennifer said. “The seamstress did a wonderful job tailoring it to your figure.”“It looks terrific on you,” Diana said. “Why don’t you like it?”I put my hand over my chest, covering the area at the top of my breasts. I’m not sure I’ll be comfortable wearing this one around people for a few years. It will be more suitable for me when I’m older.”“You can hardly see anything,” Diana argued.“It would still make me more nervous than I already am,” I told her. “I don’t like feeling like I’m on display at functions like this.”“You have other gowns suitable for this ball.” Jennifer pulled another gown out of my closet. “This one has a neckline that will show nothing of your breasts.”The gown Jennifer held out for my
I pulled the pearl and gold wire wreath from a clump of hair tangled on my shoulder. I felt proud of the way my hair looked. I couldn’t believe it was ruined.“I can’t skip this ball,” Victor said. “Are you sure you can’t comb it or something?”“No.” My lower lip quivered. “Look at me! I …I can’t be seen like this. Don’t you …you realize how buh …bad people will talk about me and laugh if they see me like this?”I lost the fight to hold back my tears. “I’ll nuh …never live it down. Please, Victor, just take me home. You can come back by yourself.”“Daisy, try to calm down. It’s just one ball,” Diana said.“No one has seen you.”Victor put the Lamborghini into gear and backed out of the Phillips’ driveway. But instead of turning right to take me home, he turned left.“Where are we going?” My voice was shrill, but I couldn’t help it. “I need to go home. If people at school heard about my hair looking like this, I wouldn’t be able to show my face again.”Panic raced through me. How could
Dancing with Victor was so much fun. Diana and Adam enjoyed it too. They quietly whispered to each other as we moved across the dance floor.My next dance was with Harry. He danced as well as his son, and he had a wonderful sense of humor like his wife.After the dance was over, Harry went to speak to some of the other men while I looked for Victor.But before I could leave the dance floor, someone grabbed my arm, and there was a familiar, smug face closed in on mine.“I believe this is our dance,” Noah said.I hadn’t seen him since my ball when he tried to drag me outside.I didn’t want to dance with Noah, so I strained my neck, looking for Victor.“It’s just a dance, Daisy,” Noah said. He put an arm on my waist, and I had no choice but to dance with him. And one dance wasn’t worth making a scene over.“Don’t trust this one, Daisy,” Diana said. “I feel bad vibrations coming from him.”“I don’t trust him, and I feel the same vibrations. But I should be safe. We are in a room full of p
“I think you’re lying about your engagement to Victor,” Noah said as he placed each of his hands on my shoulders and pushed me against the wall.“I don’t lie,” I insisted.Noah leaned forward, putting his face close to mine. His breath was stale and reeked of alcohol. “I heard that you claim to feel the mate bond with both Victor and William James.”I nodded. “That’s true. But my wolf and I chose Victor.”“Liar! There is no such thing as a double-mate bond. I think you don’t really want Victor, and you made it up to get him to dump you. Or maybe you want both of them for your mates.”His accusation was shocking.“No! It …it’s the …the truth,” I stammered.Why wouldn’t Noah leave me alone? I never showed any interest in him at all.He gave me a sideways look. “I don’t believe you, but it doesn’t matter. You will be mine.”I didn’t understand why Noah wouldn’t stop pursuing me. He had to know I didn’t like him.“Wha …what do y …you want from me?” I asked. I was beginning to think he was
Victor and I walked out of the bathroom together after he checked to make sure Noah wasn’t lurking outside the door.“I think I’d like to go home now,” I said. “Unless you need to stay.”“We can leave soon if you want to, but let’s not go yet. We don’t want Noah to think he can chase us away from anywhere we want to be.”He wrapped his arm around my shoulders even tighter. “Don’t worry; I would never allow anyone to hurt you.”I leaned into the warmth of his body and let him lead me onto the dance floor. As we danced, I began to feel better.“Noah claims it’s his mother who wants me for his wife,” I said. “But I think they just want my inheritance.”Victor nodded. “His father passed away last year and left them deep in debt.”Victor pulled me closer. “Not that you don’t have other charms that would attract a mate.”I looked up and smiled into his eyes. Victor could make me feel great about myself.After the dance, we found Victor’s parents standing alone near the bar.Humbly, I approa