“It’s not a fault to be dependable,” I said. “It is if it makes you immovable. You have to be more willing to be wrong.” I closed my mouth and glared at him. As usual, my sharp looks seemed to bounce right off of him without taking hold. “Come on,” Julian began walking. He didn’t look back, ex
The next morning, as Elva played with her toys, I sat and drank tea with Charlotte and Mark. Per the competition rules, I wasn’t allowed to watch television to keep up to date with current events, but Charlotte and Mark were, and oftentimes, we would sit, just like this, and go over the thoughts a
Things were direr than even Charlotte had made it seem. My stomach twisted into knots. The people’s accusations weren’t limited to singular nouns. They weren’t just talking about Terry and no one else. The use of plural told me they meant the entire royal family, including Nicholas. This meant h
I thought of my twin sister, a child trailing along in my shadow in her pigtails and plaid dress the same as mine, skipping away from me and down a dark alleyway. At the far end, a shadowy figure held out their hand. Jane, willing and happy, accepted that hand and welcomed the shadow around her too.
In the following days, new rules were assigned to the candidates. None were allowed to wander the palace without a personal guard. No one was allowed outside, not even into the gardens. The King and Queen had totally barricaded themselves away. Joyce had too. Only Nicholas and Julian could occasio
With the cameras arranged, I was immediately escorted by Nathan to the other side of the room where Julian was teaching Elva how to hide a card up her sleeve. Behind me, the King and Queen were escorted by guards out of the room. I crossed my arms as I peered down at Julian. He smiled sheepishly u
There was no question who him meant. Nicholas. With Nicholas, I wouldn’t be playing pretend. I looked at Julian. The curves and planes of his face weren’t all that different from Nicholas’s. If I squinted… Better yet, if I closed my eyes entirely. Julian’s fingers were softer than Nicholas
“What the hell is going on in here?” Nicholas asked. “Julian?” I was too stunned to speak, but when I looked over to Julian, I saw that he was smirking. Nicholas turned his rage on the producers. “Why are you filming this?” The producer jumped, then bowed much lower than was necessary. “It was
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