The Luna Choosing Game

By the next morning, the drug had worked its way through my system and I felt like my old self again. I

went down to breakfast, where I was reunited with Elva, who had stayed with Susie the night before by

order of Nicholas.

I was grateful for his foresight. Mortified as I was by my actions and sounds, I was at least spared the

embarrassment of explaining any of this to Mark or the nanny myself. Or worse still, to Elva..

A thought so stomach–churning, I dared not even think of it.

So when I did finally greet her, it was with a tight hug and big smile, the same as always.

Susie and I didn’t always sit together, but we chose to that morning. There were still many empty chairs with the previous elimination, and I was feeling vulnerable from what had happened the night before. I needed my friends.

Around us the girls were chattering about the curiousness of the evening’s events. Terry was to be one of the main judges of the night, but he never came to ballroom.

Also as curious, both Nicholas and Julian disappeared sometime in the night, only to reappear this morning, one with a black eye and the other with an injured hand.

“You don’t suppose the princes got into a fight with each other?” one of the girls asked.

“No,” Lilliana said flatly. “He is too mature to take part in such childish antics.”

“Julian does love to tease,” said someone else.

“Not enough to tempt a prince away from his decorum,” Olivia added. “Prince Nicholas been around Prince Julian for years. He’s surely built up a tolerance.”

“Well, then what happened with Sir Terry?“”

“Maybe he started the fight,” someone said, and another laughed. A third shushed them.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Olivia said, rolling her eyes.

continued to argue, Susie turned in her seat to face me. I had Elva in my lap, but she was busy stuffing her face with all the

okay, Piper? I heard some truly terrible

hungover some, with a cloudy head and tired eyes, but otherwise okay Except for my continued

bile rising in my throat, and left my half

to pick

asked. It took great strength to keep my

some point

with a sense of relief and for the

now, at least,

continued to linger in my mind, even as we broke from eating to amuse

feel Terry’s cold hands on me

breath.

have my wolf. Who was she? Where had she come from? How had she gotten it? And why was

now, somehow, because I would never be able to find the answers. Not since Nicholas had

he was only worried for me and for the kingdom, but it frustrated

was exposed, it would protect people like me from ever being manipulated into giving away their wolves and their abilities.

Terry, or by Nicholas. I had my own heart and my own beliefs.

matter what Nicholas condemned, I wouldn’t let him stop me from protecting my daughter or any of those innumerous other souls out there who just wanted to do the right thing,

seeing Elva safely into the care of her nanny and Mark, I set off on

the empty ballroom. I

to be so

heels on the tile steps, he turned back to look at me.

I asked him. I had questions and demands, but he seemed

his look of vulnerability faded. In its place was the same

mind company if it’s you,” he

rolled my eyes at his flirtatious charms and took a

Julian was also there last night. He had bome witness

both to tell me it wasn’t my

Nicholas moved away.

that Nicholas would have taken advantage. He wouldn’t have. But Julian’s

circumstances of my desire

I was still

to kiss me on the balcony. In time, I might have