With Nathan gone, some of the guilt set upon me. Nathan had been gaslighting me, I knew that. Bridget’s actions were not my responsibility, but his words had given me a measure of discomfort inside of my chest. Even though Bridget’s actions hadn’t been directly caused by me, she was likely acting
Nicholas licked his tongue into my mouth. I moaned as I held onto his shoulders, fingers curling into the tight, slick fabric of his wetsuit. He stepped closer to me, boxing me in against the door. I was pleasantly trapped, with the hard wood at my back, and his firm torso lining my front, pressin
I had been naked for a while, but suddenly, with Bridget here now, seeing us, I felt vulnerable and exposed in a way I had never been with just Nicholas alone. I held up the towel, blocking as much of myself – and Nicholas – as I could. “What the hell, Bridget?” Nicholas snapped. Where my first
Bridget’s words stuck with me more than I wanted them to. As I rested in bed that night, I stared at the ceiling replaying everything that happened – not just last night with Bridget, but every time I had been with Nicholas before. Where had Elva been? Had she noticed any of my behavior? I didn’t
Nicholas and I walked down to the first floor and sought out Selma. We found her in the kitchen, preparing the chefs for the day’s menu. We waited near the door, not wanting to disturb her work. When she was finished, the chefs returned to their duties and we approached her. She was an older woman
Nicholas must have felt the same. He nodded toward the door. I followed him from the kitchen to the sitting room near the front door. We didn’t sit, just stood there, but it was privacy enough to finally speak. “She’s hiding something,” Nicholas said. “She’s never been that cagey before, as long a
Nicholas, Julian, and I walked to the base of the stairs. There, we stood calmly, while peering around, waiting for all the servants in sight to go elsewhere to attend to their duties. Then, with Julian being the boldest and first of us, we sneaked through the servants’ door and into the servants’ q
Fortunately, Selma did not reach for the door once it was open. With it open, it concealed most of Nicholas and me, though if she looked back, and looked closely, she would certainly see our shoes or our sides. The space behind the door was cramped. Nicholas’s arms tightened around me, tugging me
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