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
We entered the woods but didn’t go directly toward the source of the scent.We charged at each other playfully, trying to act as if we didn't know another werewolf was nearby.But as we got closer to their position, we could hear them in the underbrush, moving away from us.“Don’t run,” Victor ordered. “If we run after him now, he’s far enough away to escape.”“The intruder is a male and a Beta,” Diana said.“And he is young,” Adam added.“Yes, he smells like a new wolf,” Victor agreed.“Let’s just find out who it is.” Who would dare trespass on my father’s territory? It was disrespectful.Alex sometimes allowed others to hunt and run on his land if they asked his permission first. He hadn’t mentioned anything about granting his permission to anyone lately.I didn’t want the intruder harmed, but they must be warned not to trespass again.We picked up the pace as we strolled through the trees, trying to act as if we had no particular destination in mind.But our quarry was on the move
Victor picked me up the next day after school.Neither of us mentioned swimming the night before, and I try not to think about the feel of his body against mine.“Alex told me it’s time for you to get more familiar with his business and the Wilson Foundation charities.” Victor smiled as he closed the car door.“Is that we’re going now?”“Yes,” Victor replied and walked around the car to get behind the steering wheel. “You’ve never been to his offices before, right?”I shook my head. “But I’ve been looking forward to it.”Victor handled the car just as well driving in the city as he did on the country roads, and before long, we were driving down a concrete ramp into a parking garage.“Is this Alex’s building?” I asked as we walked toward a bank of elevators.“Yes, it’s one of several buildings your father owns. Alex uses the top four floors of this one for his offices, and the penthouse is used when he occasionally wants to stay in the city.”“What about the rest of the building?” I di
As I entered the massive building on Victor’s arm, I discovered the library was as delightful to visit as the museum.Like the museum, it was near the city’s college campus, and I hardly ever came this far into the city's center.The library was one of the oldest buildings in the city and was built by true craftsmen. Everywhere there was detailed woodwork that delighted the eye, and the entire building smelled like books.Behind the librarian’s station, I spotted a painting secured in a glass case that drew my eye. I’d never seen the painting before, but the colors and style seemed familiar.Then I noticed the signature in the bottom corner. “Look, Victor,” I pointed at the painting. “It’s signed by Delacroix. The same artist must have painted it as the one at the Phillips mansion.”“You’re right,” he said. “My mother will be proud when I tell her you recognized his work.”“I have been constantly learning since I started my new life, which makes me feel lucky. So many new doors have o
To my surprise, Victor was right. Family dinners at the Klein’s home were not always formal affairs.Lana and Harry wore nice, but casual clothes, and Victor told me Lana had helped prepare the meal.“Cooking is a hobby of mine,” she explained as she removed an apron covering her skirt and blouse.“Do you like to cook, Daisy?” she asked as she took her seat at the table.“Sometimes,” I said. “I like to cook better than doing the dishes.”I wasn’t as uncomfortable as I thought I would be despite Victor and his father being lost in talk about business.Lana occasionally joined in. She seemed as knowledgeable as the men. She was an excellent role model.Best of all, my fears of ruining the dinner by doing something clumsy were laid to rest in the first ten minutes of the meal when Harry accidentally spilled his wine.Lana raised her eyebrows when he continued to discuss a new client of Victor’s as the wine spread across the linen tablecloth.Saunders appeared at his elbow with a dry clot