Nathan waved Elva and I forward, close to the edge of the front stair. “Now introducing,” Nathan said. “Piper and her daughter Elva.” The polite applause abruptly ceased. In its place, whispers and murmurs erupted in the room. “Mommy?” “It’s okay, honey. Just remember, you are a princess.”
Without thought, I placed my hand in Nicholas’s waiting one, and let him tug me away from Julian’s arms and into his own. He was good at leading, even more so than Julian. Watching him, trusting his guidance, I didn’t need to count my steps anymore. I simply followed him as we danced around the ba
No, that was a foolish notion. He was kind to Elva because he was a kind person. At the end of the day, Elva and I were going to be eliminated from the competition. We’d leave the palace, return to our little apartment with Anna, and never hear from Nicholas again. We’d probably see him on televis
My throat went dry. “Your Majesty, I had no intention of –” “Whatever your intention, you have still insulted me,” the Queen said. I straightened at the shortness of her tone. I was terribly confused. What had I done that was offensive? Was it because Julian, Nicholas, and I had broken the ord
The girls around me were freshening up their Merfolk language. Some were fluent. Others, less so. Though most seemed to have a baseline knowledge. My grasp of the Merfolk language was rusty, at least. I vaguely recalled some lessons during my days at the Academy, but that felt like so long ago now
In the werewolf tradition, he wore a tuxedo, though with a blue shirt rather than white. His eyes were deep red as they focused on me. “Ambassador Zale, may I present Piper,” Mark said. Well, it was now or never. Trust Mark, and presumably Nicholas, or take the chance myself. Reaching up, I
Nicholas I had no idea why I decided to help Piper. She had betrayed me in the past. By all accounts, I should have been pleased to see her fail. Yet, when I stood outside the sitting room and heard Lena suggest the traditional punishment for Piper, I couldn’t stand idly by and do nothing. The
Unfortunately, Lena also had the Queen’s favor. I had to be careful here, lest I risk offending my own mother. “I have questions,” I said. Lena dipped her head. “Of course. I live to serve, sir.” Behind me, Mark quietly snorted in disbelief. He quickly covered it with a cough. Lena glared at
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