It was hopeless. To clear my head, I suggested to Elva that we go for a walk in the gardens. She eagerly agreed. Twenty minutes later, we were hand in hand among the flowers and the fresh air. The world did seem more peaceful out here in nature, and I began to let some of my anxieties slip away.
The guards grabbed me by the arms and yanked me to my feet. Once I was standing, they continued to grip, as if I might try to run away. “I’m not surprised,” Lena said, turning up her nose at me. “It was only a matter of time before this one started some trouble.” I struggled to maintain my calm.
Her fury, which I had caused to heighten for a moment, quickly smoothed out again. Her grin returned, wide and sharp. “I should have known you were the one who made that sad little gift. It was so simple, so… fashion-backwards. I had been ready to apologize for its very existence, before the princ
Nicholas waited for Kirsten to answer, even while she hesitated. Slowly, he lowered his hand that had been displaying the wrist guard down to his side. She shifted nervously from foot to foot. She laced her fingers together. “Well… you see…” As she struggled, Elva moved into the space between
Lena pressed a hand to her face. “Lena, we will speak about your part in this later,” Nicholas said, dismissing her. “Yes, Sir.” Lena, keeping her eyes on the ground, quickly turned and walked back toward the palace. Elva, who had been hiding behind my skirts, peeked her head out. “Is it over?
Nicholas What I said hadn’t been a lie. I did have other wrist guards, made by artisans and leatherworkers from all across the country. Yet none of them had been quite as meaningful as the one handmade for me by Piper. Hers was more comfortable too. I wasn’t sure how she could remember the siz
Piper couldn’t think I was running away from her, despite that being exactly what I was doing. I’d never let her know she had any power over me still. If she knew, she’d likely use it against me. I continued to suspect that she was only here for nefarious purposes. Her presence couldn’t have b
As Nicholas asked out Lilliana, I stood in the back of the crowd of watching girls, my heart down on the floor. I had no right to be upset. I knew that. I had given up the right to be upset a long time ago. Yet I couldn’t deny the feeling. First, Nicholas had returned the handmade gift I made
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