I awoke the next morning to the sound of thunder outside my window and pounding on my bedroom door. I’d barely gotten out of bed when the door burst open and a slew of Joseph’s guards flooded in. “Mommy!” Elva shouted as she hid under the covers. “At least let me get dressed,” I said, holding up
Footsteps sounded behind me. I turned to look, but my movements were sluggish. Nicholas was beside me before I ever saw him arrive. Something warm draped over my shoulders. I looked down and found a thick, waterproof coat wrapped around me. “Come on. I’ll help you inside.” He took me by the elbo
My eyes went wide. As poor as I felt, I still pushed myself upright on the bed – until he placed a hand on my shoulder and eased me back down. “I won’t give up,” I told him. “I can’t.” “I wouldn’t ask you to, except for your own safety, Piper. If you truly don’t care about being Luna, like you s
I should have known better. He stood from the bed. “There are many girls here who would make good Lunas. Olivia is perhaps the strongest of the group.” I don’t know what I had been expecting, but my stomach still twisted uncomfortably as he spoke of the other girls. “She’s beautiful and cunnin
“9?” someone gasped. I agreed, that seemed like so many people to be eliminated all at once! “9,” Nathan confirmed. “When you are eliminated, you are to pack your bags and immediately vacate the premises. There will be cars waiting to escort you home. There will be no arguments or reconsideratio
Nicholas did glare harder then, for a moment. When nothing happened, he turned away and made his way to his own seat. Lilliana was still seated beside him, though she didn’t say a word as he sat down. If they didn’t like each other, why hadn’t Nicholas asked someone else to sit there? “Shall we,
That night, my cold had healed enough that I could finally be reunited with Elva. I ran to her, and she ran to me. When she came close, I scooped her up into my arms and held her. Her arms came around my neck and she held me right back. “I missed you, Elva. So much.” “I missed you, Mommy.” Mar
“Mommy, look at Susie!” Further down the line, Susie had become something of a spectacle, engaging with her wolf far better than she ever had with humans. And the wolf seemed to adore her, bouncing playfully. Even other girls’ wolves had come closer to her, curious. I watched her for a while as