Stay? They wanted me to stay? I stared up at the royal family for a long moment, unsure. I didn’t fit the standards for the selection at all. I didn’t come from a noble background. I didn’t have a wolf. I already had a child. How could I possibly participate? But, whatever my doubts, I could
He explained that each of us would have a private room and be attended by two maids. Next, Nathan brought us to a large staircase that separated the east and west wings. In the west wing, he pointed us to the elaborate, gem-embossed doors of the royal family. The King’s door was the largest, with
Holding Elva, I walked further into my assigned room, bringing the man into focus. It wasn’t Nicholas, but his brother. “Julian.” I knew Julian from my days at the Royal Academy, though we hadn’t been friends. Since Julian and Nicholas were arch-enemies, and I was Nicholas’s girlfriend, I avoi
But Julian would know, because he was there. In another life, being near Nicholas would have given me enough reason to want to stay. But he’d made his feelings about me clear. And I had other priorities. My gaze slid to Elva, playing with her dolls at the foot of the bed. “I don’t want to pl
You and Nicholas have a special bond, and I can’t wait to see how far I can bend it. I didn’t understand Julian at first. Nicholas and I hadn’t been a couple in three years. Whatever bond we had was assuredly broken by now. The plans Julian had for us would make no difference anymore. But then I
I took another step. “I don’t want anyone to get in trouble.” Mark’s eyes went wide again. He looked to Nicholas. Nicholas’s jaw was clenched, a hard line. He stared at me like he wanted me to take back my words. When I didn’t, he said, “No one will get in trouble.” “Thank you,” I said. He s
When Nicholas said my name, I stopped where I stood and internally cursed. I was so close to my door. As far as I could tell, I had two options: apologize for having overheard or deny, deny, deny. I swiveled on my heel, facing him. “Your Royal Highness! I was looking for you.” His brow lowered
“That’s Linda,” Susie said. “I knew her at the Academy. She’s always trying to form cliques. Anything to get ahead. Watch out for her… Oh, shoot, here she comes.” Susie immediately wrapped her arms around her waist, as Linda made her way over to us. Linda didn’t look at me once, keeping her gaze
Instead, the Queen pulled me into a hug. It was uncomfortable and brief, but a hug none the less. From the Queen, this was a tremendous breach of decorum, and I froze, unsure how to react. Even Nathan, standing dutifully as his King’s side seemed shocked.“I have misjudged you dearly,” the Queen sai
I wasn’t sure what to expect when our car delivered us from the train station to the palace, but even in my wildest dreams, I wouldn’t have guessed what actually awaited us.Cheering crowds lined the outer walls of the palace. Balloons and streamers of various colors were abundant. A stage had been
At once, my heart leapt up into my throat, while simultaneously crashing down into my stomach.I pulled away from Nicholas enough to push myself up onto my hands and stare down at him.The thought of breaking the engagement had never crossed my mind! Nicholas proposing had been one of the best momen
In a war between the wolves and the bears, only the lost bear princess will be able to stop this fighting. Else, the bears will continue to fight themselves to exhaustion or to death.“It’s up to you,” Nicholas said. “I believe in you. You can do this.”I closed my eyes. Miracle was still exhausted,
Slowly, my grief subsided for now, enough for me to look up at Nicholas and feel the relief of being reunited with my fiancé.My… mate.“I love you,” Nicholas said. “I’m sorry it took so long for me to reach you.”“How are you even here? It’s impossible for you to have found me this quickly?”Nichol
Joyce, despite his best efforts, was not a fighter. He was not bred for war and battle like Hawke was, so even calling on the power of his Alpha wolf, Hawk tossed Joyce aside like he was a sack of potatoes.However, Joyce did show amazing tenacity, and stood back up time and time again. Roaring, he
Nicholas was here. I didn’t know how. I didn’t know why. But he was here, and that gave me the strength I needed to act.I ripped my arm away from Joyce’s hold and rushed into the room where Hawk was choking my sister on the ground. Using all of my strength, I plowed into Hawk.My surprise more than
We slipped into the hallway easily enough. The lights were off, so we stuck to the shadows. We didn’t go far when we started to hear raised voices.“I want to know if Piper was telling the truth.” It was Jane.“You cannot mean to trust her more than me,” that was Hawk. His cold voice sent shivers ru
A mating bond…?Yes. Even though Nicholas and I had never talked about the love between us, I had still felt it grow over these months together. Nicholas had never made a bonding bite on my neck, yet inside of me, that bond had cultivated. Our hearts were bound together, mating bite or now.There wa