Julian started by placing down a queen of hearts. To his left, Veronica immediately lowered four cards. I watched her face closely, but she revealed nothing. Her emotionless façade seemed like it could even rival Nicholas’s. I decided not to call her a liar. If I did so, and I was incorrect, all
“Piper?” Julian was waiting for my question. “Okay.” I prepared myself with a deep inhale. Then I asked, “Why did you and Prince Nicholas never seem to get along?” Julian’s smile didn’t as much as twitch, yet I still felt a tension seep into the room. Maybe it was my fault. I knew I was aski
Did I know about Nicholas’s past? I thought I did. A tiny voice whispered in my head, Maybe not as well as you think. No, I couldn’t let Julian sow doubt inside of me. No matter what he thought, there had to be a logical explanation for whatever happened. Nicholas wasn’t the type to just ste
“If we just ask Julian, is what you mean to say,” Julian cut in. He sauntered closer and cast Nicholas a dagger-sharp glare. “Since I’m the only one with an evil-enough brain required for truly investigating the underground.” “You aren’t evil,” I said at once. Julian’s gaze softened somewhat
“Since our only lead right now is Terry, then I propose this idea,” Julian said. “We need to snoop around his mansion.” “You want us to walk straight into the lion’s den.” Nicholas crossed his arms over his chest. “Not walk,” Julian said. “Creep. It’s not snooping if they know you are there.
I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t exactly offended. They both had good points, and I would feel more comfortable if I had more lessons. Still, I wanted to have my voice heard. “What were you going to say, Piper?” Nicholas asked, after a moment. I sighed. I wanted to rush things, to find out the tru
Nicholas I stood before the King in his chambers. He was angrily pacing the length of the room. Back and forth, back and forth. Occasionally he would stop to shout at me, but he’d always break himself off, unfinished, and continue pacing. “How could you think –?” “You deliberately disobe
But I was my father’s first born son. I had responsibilities to the throne and to the kingdom over myself. The expectations on me made it impossible to lash out in the rebellious way Julian, as the second son, was allowed to. So I gritted my teeth, and I agreed. When I arrived at the meeting
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