He was entirely keeping his word when he’d promised to pretend the kiss never happened. I needed to get better at doing the same. I looked back to Nicholas, but a servant interrupted us next. “Please excuse me,” she said. “Nathan is calling everyone out onto the deck for a meeting.” “He’s no
I entered my bedroom with Nicholas right behind me. He placed his hand on the small of my back, helping lead me further inside. I was still blushing fiercely from his words. With the door safely closed behind us, leaving us alone in my room, I turned back to look up at him. What I saw stole my bre
After a few kisses, Nicholas excused himself to change into his own swim trunks. I opted to stay behind, knowing if I went with him, we would be thoroughly distracted for so long that our absence would definitely be noticed. No, it was better that we parted for now. I went into the bathroom and
If the save required her to dive for it, she adamantly refused. Though Nicholas had no obvious outward reaction to her lack of commitment to the game, after her fifth time no making no effort, his muscles clearly tightened, likely in frustration. Jessica, meanwhile, gave the game her best effort
Veronica and I sat on either side of Julian on the couch on the deck. Veronica held the bag of ice I had retrieved from the kitchen to the top of Julian’s head, even though he continually insisted it wasn’t necessary. “Your head could swell,” I said. “We don’t need you growing a bigger head than
We hadn’t been alone since the kiss. While we weren’t exactly alone now, with the others nearby, we were speaking privately. A faint heat began to rise in my cheeks. I didn’t know what to say. Julian blinked. He lifted his head and looked at me more critically. “Piper…” he started but didn’t finis
Around late morning, I headed into the kitchen in search of a cold drink. The servants were more than willing to help me, but as I was perfectly able to find the refrigerator in this house, I thanked them but sought it out on my own. I filled a glass with ice, poured my lemonade, and was about to
Veronica and I waited until cocktails after dinner that evening to enact our plan. The instructions toward each prince’s treasure were handed out only a few minutes before. The instructions were written on notecards, and given discretely to each candidate. Veronica, when given hers, ripped hers up
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