The Luna Choosing Game

It had been three days since Boss made his proposition: either I sleep with him or I get fired.

I needed one more day’s pay to cover Elva’s most recent bill. Once I had that, I could resign and hopefully find something else.

Boss trailed his eyes down the length of my body. Staring openly at my breasts, he licked his lips. “Don’t think I won’t, Piper. I’ll be waiting for you.”

In the restaurant, all of the female patrons talked excitedly about the selection. To cater to them, Boss turned all of the televisions on the walls to the royal consort ceremony broadcast.

“Which one do you think is the most handsome?” asked one patron to her friends.

They’d ordered a plate of loaded nachos to share. I carefully placed it in the center of their table.

Another girl spoke quickly. “Are you kidding? The others are cute, sure, but Nicholas is obviously the hottest.”

The other girls quickly agreed.

Startled, I hovered at their table. They were right, of course. Nicholas was the most objectively attractive, but to hear people talk about him so casually still surprised me.

For three days, I’d tried to reconcile in my mind that the Nicholas I had known was also the eldest prince of the kingdom. But I still couldn’t quite manage it.

Nicholas had always been proper. But a prince?

“Piper, is it?” one of the girls at the table asked me. I jumped, realizing I was still standing there. Yet before I could apologize, she asked me, “Which one do you think is the most handsome?”

“Nicholas,” came my automatic answer. “Excuse me.”

Embarrassed at having been caught daydreaming, I forced myself to focus on work. And I succeeded – until I heard Nicholas’ voice come from the speakers.

“The kind of woman I’d prefer?” Nicholas said. “Someone loyal. Strong. Even tempered. And she has to like to children.”

“Check, check, and check,” came a voice from the table of girls. “He’s describing me! It’s meant to be.”

“Dream on. He’s clearly describing me.”

“You don’t even like kids!”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see which of us make it through the preliminary selection. Then you’ll see!”

hm? Does that mean we can expect you to have a

panned back to Nicholas. He gave a small smile, but his eyes were guarded. “It’s my duty as

“He’d

and for a moment, it seemed as if he was staring straight through it. I froze in place, like he could

My heart ached.

glanced off to the side again, looking at the interviewer, and immediately,

thought of me at all since the

heart, hoping to soothe away

I couldn’t still be hung up on him. Sure, I hadn’t dated anyone else since,

lonely. I had Elva, and I had Anna. I didn’t need romance to be

I went back to retrieve it. When I returned to the dining room, Nicholas was still on the screen, but speaking on

with the utmost seriousness. This illegal trade of wolves and their gifts is dangerous

of food in my

once, all eyes

wolf, weakens the whole pack. We cannot let that go

of the other waitresses hissed at me, waking me from my

stood among ceramic shards and ruined food. “I’m sorry.” I quickly set to cleaning it. As I did,

accident, I pushed myself

eyes to the television again, not even when the table of girls

on the list.

sink. After washing away a particularly stubborn clump of food from a plate,

Almost always, he

other waitresses, who had said they would clean the dining room. The lights in

I was alone.

brushed the back of my exposed neck. The stench of alcohol permeated the

ready to knock Boss over the

a moment too late. Boss had been expecting

plate onto the floor, where it

arm circling around my waist, he pressed his hips hard to mine, wedging me against the lip

I was trapped.

free hand ripped open the buttons of my shirt, revealing my

He only held tighter, rougher,

my wolf, I didn’t have the strength to