“That’s enough,” said a firm low voice through the microphone. Nathan had passed it to Nicholas. “Please discover all the facts before making accusations. Piper proposed her deal last night. The announcement about the blood moon did not come in until this morning.” The second girl relented, loweri

The next morning, blessedly, Elva woke up feeling infinitely better. She bounced around the room without a care in the world. When I told her about her prospective wolf ride, she buzzed with excitement. She wiggled her arms back and forth and jumped up and down on her feet. She pouted when I mad

Crack. The bottom of the bow snapped from the pressure. What kind of weakly made –? The boar jerked its head toward me, alerted now of my presence. I was behind the tree but Silver was mostly exposed. The boar kicked out the ground. It was going to charge! “Silver, run!” I rushed from my c

Sabotage. That was what someone had done to my bow. They had purposefully cut a tiny fracture into the wood so when I attempted to fire, the entire thing would snap. And it had, right at the crucial moment. Because of this, I had nearly been gored. Nicholas gently touched my calf, directing my

“I don’t care what the King thinks of me,” Nicholas said. “I will see justice done.” “That’s incredibly noble of you, brother.” Julian rolled his eyes. “But I have a different scheme. It would provide the same result, with less mess.” Nicholas shook his head like he didn’t even want to hear him

The gathered crowd quieted at Nicholas and Julian’s declaration. The King narrowed his gaze. “You are saying that Piper did this.” “Yes,” Nicholas said without hesitation. Around us, the speculative gazes of the onlookers were more than enough to tell of their disbelief. Yet before they could

I knew this had been part of Julian and Nicholas’s plan to make me untouchable. With the credit of the kill, I became the hero of the hunt. This surely made whatever scheme Lena and Joseph planned backfire spectacularly. Vindicating, truly, but I wasn’t sure how it made me invincible. Nicholas h

The next day, during the barbecue held in the gardens, Elva finally got her wolf ride. Nicholas helped her up onto the massive wolf Night, who then trotted slowly around the field under Nicholas’s watchful eyes. Confined to my wheelchair, I stayed on the patio, not wanting to take my chair into th

I desperately tried to memorize all that I could from this moment. Nicholas being sweet with Elva as he lifted her up off of Night. Night licked at her face and she giggled. Julian had been so kind to me, making me laugh even though I had fully intended on sitting here quietly and alone. Silve

Nicholas I woke up in the morning with a looming sense of dread. Today was the day of the first elimination ceremony. The past few days, I had quietly hated every second of the ticking clock while knowing there was nothing I could do to stop it. Even now, as I dressed and prepared to meet my fam