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

on like work, and caring for Elva, that I

with him now and seeing what he had become, brought all those feelings crashing back into Tome so

+15 BONUS

so different now that I couldn’t help but wonder if I was misremembering the past. Maybe he’d never been kind. Maybe I

that young,

adding some bite to my own

mistake, and I intend

along my spine. “You are the only woman who ever dared to break up with me. Piper. I’ll

I thought he might slam the door behind him, as enraged as he was, but instead,

Elva continued resting, undisturbed.

hate him.

hadn’t slammed that door. He might be a cruel, insensitive bastard but he liked children. He’d been kind to Elva. He didn’t take any of his

to hate him,

knees beside the couch

together, maybe he would have revealed his secret in time. Maybe the three of

a

it wasn’t reality. My reality was very

go home and look for another job,

I

the cushion. I was so drained, from the trip, from seeing Nicholas again, from…

own eyes slid

Excuse

blinked open my

hovered over me. I beg your pardon, miss, but the King Luna, and princes have arrived, I suggest you hurry to the parlor

uh.“I rubbed the sleep from my eye.

was already disappearing out of the room.

the couch, watching me with curious eyes. “Is it

gave her my softest smile. It is. We have to be quiet though, okay? No one

Luna are talking.”

“Okay”

pulled Elva into my

was standing atop some type of stage The King stood at the

his Luna on one side. The three princes flanked his other

in my purse. He was pale with hollowed

his voice camed far, like he

said, calming the crowd and gaining their attention “Congratulations

your presence

Luna leaned in and whispered something in the