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.

had Elva in my lap,

okay, Piper? I heard

a cloudy head and tired eyes, but otherwise okay Except for my continued embarrassment over my body’s reaction to Nicholas

swallowed down the bile rising in my throat, and left my half of

pick

I asked. It took great strength to keep

“Word is, Terry left at some point last night and returned to

a sense of relief and for the first time that day, I took in and exhaled a

at least,

night continued to linger in my mind, even as we

for the day. I couldn’t help but feel Terry’s cold hands on me or smell

breath.

about that girl in the black dress who seemed to have my wolf. Who was she?

be able to find the answers. Not

heart he was only worried for me and for the kingdom, but

the underground organization was exposed, it would protect people like me from ever being manipulated into giving away their wolves

I wouldn’t be cowed by Terry, or by Nicholas. I

matter what Nicholas condemned, I wouldn’t let him stop me from protecting my daughter or any of those innumerous other souls out

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

check the empty ballroom. I found him sitting alone

him to be so isolated or

my heels on the tile steps, he turned back

him. I had

its place

if

and took a seat on the same step he was

also there last night. He had bome witness to the full extent

he had the decency both to tell me it wasn’t my fault, as well as to make

Nicholas moved away.

have taken advantage. He wouldn’t have. But

the circumstances of my desire much

I was still

about it. I did have desire for Nicholas. I had wanted him to kiss me on the balcony. In time, I might have wanted