I realized then, what I couldn’t see before when I had been drowning under my own feelings. Nicholas had almost lost me. I had so very nearly died. If he had arrived a second later, if Jane had been quicker with the knife… There were so many what ifs. Being near Nicholas was affirming for me, but

I ran and ran, letting my wolf guide me. Nicholas, in his wolf form, stayed close beside me, just a few inches behind. If I turned left, he followed in a flash. If I moved right, he was there. He was letting me lead, but staying close enough that he could catch me from falling if I lost myself. I

Nicholas and I traded lazy kiss after lazy kiss until our backs ached and the sun crept above the tree line. We’d chased passion all night long, again and again. Despite my continuous begging, Nicholas never took me in the dirt. Though he’d given me pleasure in nearly every other way. My body was

Susie arrived around lunchtime, carrying a basket full of sandwiches for us all to share. Julian, strangely, arrived ten minutes later with a bottle of wine. He seemed surprised to see so many others. “Thought you might fancy a drink,” he said, holding the bottle high. “I know I do.” I welcomed

My fierce blush gave me away, but still I hushed Susie. I leaned closer to her to admit, “We’ve fooled around but I wouldn’t say we’ve had sex…” “Oh?” “In the woods, I think was ready to, but he’s such a gentleman. He wanted to wait until we could do so more comfortably.” Susie nodded. “I’m no

“Piper,” Nicholas said against my lips as I kissed him and then kissed him again. I felt ravenous again, but this time, instead of food, I wanted this man. I wanted him around me and inside of me. I wanted to claim Nicholas as mine so there could be no more confusion. No more games. The competitio

Nicholas, for his part, only looked more concerned. He wasn’t alarmed. He wasn’t even startled. He just watched me closely. “Talk to me, Piper,” he said. “I can’t understand your growls yet.” I tried to bite back my growl, but I couldn’t manage. It erupted, curling around my words even as I atte

“I’m sorry,” I said. My voice felt raw from disuse. “I’m so sorry.” “Save it for Elva and Nick, yeah?” Julian’s easy smile was back. Truly, he seemed relieved. “Just a second, alright?” He stepped backwards from me and suddenly shifted into his wolf. Then, he threw his head back and howled. An

The next day, Elva and I spent some time with Veronica in the library. Veronica was nose deep in her books. Elva had begun their time together by flittering through the stacks pretending to be a dragon. Now, she was dozing on a big, comfortable, high-back chair. Watching her sleep so soundly helpe

An announcement went out for all the candidates to head to the foyer to receive the results of the most recent event, the ball where we were supposed to look happy. At that same ball, everything sort of fell apart. Joyce declared erroneously that he and I were having an affair. Jane tried to kill