Later, I left Elva to play with her Nanny and her dolls, and joined Tiffany, Veronica, and Julian for a meeting in our sitting room/investigatory office. No one seemed terribly excited today, as we didn’t have any good news to share.“There’s not much progress today, I’m afraid,” Julian said. “In fa
“Veronica’s right,” I chimed in. “We’ll still be able to see each other.”I hoped with all of my heart that would be true. Veronica could visit Tiffany and vice versa. Julian, as prince, would be able to visit whoever he wanted whenever he wanted.But me? If I returned to my life as a commoner, I do
“Julian wants me, Tiffany, and Veronica to escort him to the nearby small town to search for information about the missing princesses. He asked me to invite you too,” I said, although I thought I had been clear the first time.Yet as I said the words once more, Nicholas’s frown grew deeper and his b
Elva held tightly onto her teddy bear. She looked down at it with sad eyes.“I don’t understand, Mommy,” Elva said. “Why do we hate bears now…?”I lowered myself down to her level. Holding her shoulders, I explained, “We don’t hate bears, honey. But… they could be dangerous right now. They’re all pr
Julian, Nicholas, Tiffany, Veronica, and I piled into a pair of inconspicuous looking cars and drove to small town. It took around 45 minutes, during which, Tiffany sat amazed at the many dials and knobs that made up the center console of this older-model sedan.“No touchscreen,” she said for the fo
Things were quiet on the way back to the palace. We’d managed to escape before we saw a bear. Nicholas had seemed confident that none of the people we had run into had been a bear shifter.“I would have known,” Nicholas said. “Their smell would have given them away.”Alphas had sensitive noses, so I
The next morning, I awoke feeling groggy. I hadn’t slept at all the night before, too stressed about what the day might bring, especially with Nicholas’s disappearance after the meeting the day before.He had said that he would talk to me at the elimination ceremony, but I didn’t know that meant I w
We had spent the better part of yesterday, making searches and calls. We’d had a few hits that didn’t pan out. We were a far way from being finished, however.“Maybe Julian will still let us help, even after we are gone,” I said.Veronica gave me a flat look. Tiffany rolled her eyes.“Not this again