“Sabotage?” The girls around us burst into loud chatter. “Could it be possible? How would she do it?” “Anything’s possible. She could have done it.” “Someone get the guards! If it’s true, that’s an attempt on the Queen’s life!” At the sound of that accusation, the guards closed in around my
“But in the meantime –” Joseph tried again. Nicholas interrupted him. “I will accept personal responsibility for her. I will keep her by my side and make certain that she does not find herself in any more trouble.” Relief flooded me so quickly, I felt dizzy. I rested one hand on the table in cas
“Love has no place in royalty.” Nicholas tilted his head down and lowered his gaze. “I will be forced to marry the best Luna candidate in the Choosing Game. I can only hope that, at the very least, perhaps a sense of friendship will blossom later.” “And Lilliana is the best?” I asked. He sighed.
“Right.” Nicholas tightened his jaw. “Well, she certainly did in this case,” I said, inserting myself into their conversation. “I would never hurt anyone.” Lilliana looked at me blankly. “I believe that,” Nicholas said. Then Lilliana added, “Yes, me too. Piper would never hurt anyone.” I f
Joseph’s smile was twisted with cruelty. It deeply unnerved me. This man was not a noble himself, simply employed by them. He must have been like Lena, a traditionalist. Someone who wanted to uphold the way things had always been, rather than accepting necessary changes. I hated that such ideals c
Linda took the eggs off the stove too soon. I wondered if they had fully solidified. When she cracked them on a bowl, however, the whites of the eggs, at least, seemed whole. Yet when she cut them in half, to remove the yokes, the yellow yoke was slimy. She didn’t seem to mind and poured them into
As Linda dived at me, knife first, both Julian and Nicholas moved at once. Nicholas ran at me. He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me toward him, shielding me behind his body. Julian, meanwhile, went straight for Linda. He grabbed Linda’s wrist and twisted. The knife clattered down onto th
When we were dismissed for the day, I hurried back to my room. I didn’t feel whole again until I pulled Elva into my arms for a hug. “What’s wrong, Mommy?” Elva asked. She had a way of making me feel like the most important person in the entire world. I was so grateful for that. It gave me the str
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