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.

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 delicious

Piper? I heard some truly terrible rumors.”

hungover some, with a cloudy head and tired

the bile rising in my throat, and left my half of the breakfast uneaten

to pick at.

asked. It took great strength to keep

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

of relief and for the first time that day, I

at least, I

last night continued to linger in my mind, even as we

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

breath.

thoughts about that girl in the black dress who seemed to have my wolf. Who was she? Where had she come from? How had she gotten it?

I would never be able to find

for me and for the kingdom, but it frustrated me that he could not

ever being manipulated into giving away their wolves and their abilities. It

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

him stop me from protecting my daughter or any of those innumerous other souls out there who just wanted to do the right thing, and lost their wolves for

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

searched through most of the palace before I thought to check the empty ballroom. I found him sitting

be so isolated or so

tile steps, he turned back to look at

I asked him. I had questions and demands, but

vulnerability faded. In its place was the same sort of cocky expression I’d

company if

my eyes at his flirtatious charms and took a seat on the same

forgotten that Julian was also there last night. He had bome witness to

he had the decency both to tell me it wasn’t my

Nicholas moved away.

Nicholas would have taken advantage. He wouldn’t

of my desire much

I was still

kiss me on the balcony.