The Luna Choosing Game

“How long did you wait, Piper? A week? Two? It couldn’t have been long.”

He sounds like he’s jealous. Or was that an illusion? He doesn’t care about me and is just mad at me.

Maybe the latter is more logical.

His dark eyes burned into me, leaving my heart in scorched tatters. Never in a thousand years would i

have thought Nicholas would be so vicious to me.

“It wasn’t like that.” I said, to try to defend myself.

He crossed his hands over his chest. He wasn’t going to listen to me,

“Why even come here?” he asked me.

“My application was selected…”

“Why even apply? Were you trying to get to me?”

“No,” I said.

“Maybe you regret your child’s father. Maybe you want me back.” He laughed once, bitterly. “Like you

have a chance.”

The words sliced into me as surely as if he’d been holding a knife. He had changed since I’d known him.

Three w

years ago, he’d been kind and patient. I’d given him my heart and he’d gently cradled it. So many

nights, we’d laid under the stars, trading kisses and stories.

Once, when he’d spent all night looking at me, I had told him, “You’re missing the

starlight.”

He’d replied, “I can see it in your eyes.”

The man before me now was nothing like the one I had known. The man here was arrogant, indifferent. and imposing in how he carried himself.

Breaking up with him had never been something I wanted to do. It hurt me still, thinking upon it, so I had tried to push it to the back of my thoughts

to focus on like work, and caring for Elva, that I could successfully

him now and seeing what he had become, brought all those feelings crashing back into Tome so hard, they stole my breath

+15 BONUS

if I was misremembering the past. Maybe he’d never been kind. Maybe I had

that young,

I said, adding some bite to my

and

my spine. “You are the only woman who ever dared to break up with me. Piper. I’ll never allow the same mistake to happen

sitting room, and then out into the parlor. I thought he might slam the door behind him, as enraged as he was, but instead, he

Elva continued resting, undisturbed.

to hate him. So

liked children. He’d been kind to Elva. He didn’t take any of his misconceptions about me out on

wanted to hate

sunk to my knees beside the couch where

together, maybe he would have revealed his secret in time. Maybe the three of us could have been a happy

a

very far

needed to go

I

my head beside Elva’s on the cushion. I was so

my own eyes

Excuse

open my

official hovered over me. I beg your pardon, miss, but the King Luna, and princes

uh.“I rubbed the sleep from my eye. “Wait, there’s

disappearing

watching me with

It is. We have to be quiet though, okay? No one

Luna are talking.”

“Okay”

pulled Elva into my

the parlor, the royal family was standing atop some type

Luna on one side. The three princes flanked his

in my purse. He was pale with hollowed out cheeks, but

voice camed far, like he was

calming the crowd and gaining their attention “Congratulations

We are very pleased by your presence

and whispered something