My heart fluttered. The thought of that one day being true, maybe even in a few months made me keep quiet.“What can I get you two to drink?”“Water,” Candido said. “Red wine for me, a sweet, white for her. And we’ll start with stuffed mushrooms and the petite fillet mignons.”“Excellent choices!” The waiter scurried away, and I stared at Candido in shock, but he didn’t look up at me as he scanned the menu.Why hadn’t he said anything? We both knew that Sibyl was his betrothed. I didn’t know why exactly they were betrothed, why Candido would agree in any way to marry such a mean woman, but everyone knew. They didn’t seem intimate at all, but he hadn’t ended their engagement.What was he thinking? Why wasn’t he saying anything about who I actually was? I dropped my gaze to my menu. Maybe he liked the sound of it just as much as I did, or maybe he was glad to escape his reputation as the Alpha King. The waiter was incredibly young and bright. He’d probably never even seen Candido on tel
I walked down the hall, considering my options. It was the best option for my path forward, but it wasn’t one I really wanted to take. Living on campus seemed a bit like a hassle. There would be a lot more eyes to avoid and fewer elements I could control about who saw me coming in and out of my room and when. If my goal was to investigate the campus freely, I’d also have to deal with leaving my room without the security unit following me and Claire, who lived on campus.Here at the estate, I knew the schedules of the staff and Candido more often than not. When I had to slip out in the middle of the night, I knew how to get around security. Evading the members of the pack was easy, but the dorm housed at least a thousand people with all different schedules and habits. I didn’t know any of them or what they were like and might accidentally reveal something that I didn’t mean to. Still, I stood in front of Candido’s office door and knocked.It would be hard acclimating to living on campu
“For what purpose?” Candido asked, his voice completely flat.The woman ducked her head and trembled a little. “S-She stated that her car broke down near the Estate and is hoping to stay the night.”That sly, sneaky woman really thought everyone spent their lives trying to look pretty without thinking. Did she really think that would persuade anyone? She could have at least come up with a more convincing excuse than that. I held back my need to roll my eyes as Candido let out a deep breath and murmured something I didn’t quite catch, but it sounded irritated.I hoped he found her as annoying as she was. He might not know her true colors, but there was no way he was blinded to all of her flaws.Sibyl and Candido were betrothed. At least, that’s what I understood of the situation, but she’d never stayed the night at the estate, not even before I arrived. Because of that, I always figured that their marriage arrangement had more to do with some deal between their parents rather than anyt
I grit my teeth as the sight of her made me burn with envy. No one could deny that she was an attractive woman and the fact that she had known Candido for so much longer than I irritated me deeply. More than all that, I knew she was all wrong for Candido, the Full Moon Pack, and werewolf society.She would be a terrible queen, trading petty favors for her ego, sneering at people that needed help if she even imagined that they were a threat to her position, and sometimes just out of spite. I shuddered. It would be like Lilian and Bella had ascended to the throne.Even if it wasn’t me at his side, he deserved an truly kind woman who cared about him personally, not just as a path to prestige and wealth. Sibyl wasn’t it. It was obvious in the way she’d shown up here and how Candido interacted with her.Something was strange about their arrangement. Maybe it had been arranged by their parents, but I couldn’t believe that the former Alpha King hadn’t seen the truth of Sibyl’s personality. I
I followed him to his office and smiled a little. Seeing Sibyl have to leave and being caught in her lie made me happy, but it was also amusing that I was still following Candido like this. I claimed to be an adult, or at least almost an adult, but I still went to bed when he told me to and woke up at the same time.Sure, I was often not asleep as I had things to do for Moon Shadow, but my schedule had been created by Candido years ago and I saw no reason to break it now.After he helped me with my homework, he sent me back to my room. A few minutes later he appeared with the same glass of milk. I sipped slowly and Candido eyed me suspiciously.“Is something wrong?”I shook my head. “It’s just… Are you okay?”“Why would I not be?”I laughed. How often had I asked that? Candido really has rubbed off on me.“You seem upset about Sibyl…” I glanced up at him shyly. “If you made her leave because of me…”“Sibyl had other motives coming here tonight,” he said. “It’s nothing for you to worry
Most of the day was filled with gossip about Linda leaving. It seemed there was almost no one in any grade-level who wasn’t glad that she was gone.“She was the meanest girl I’ve ever met.”“A total disgrace to the word nobility.”“She was so arrogant though she wasn’t that pretty and her family just isn’t that important. I mean, it’s not like she’s the Alpha King’s niece or something.”I shook my head as the gossip continued to roll around the school. The school forum was filled with it. People were planning parties in the dorms to celebrate her being gone. Claire laughed.“Well, I can’t say she made dorm life easy either,” Claire said. “She would get her little followers to block off the communal bathroom and use all the hot water… And when she wasn’t doing that, she tended to bring her favorites in to have sex in the showers.”My eyes widened at her. “In… the shower?”Claire rolled her eyes. “Obnoxiously loud. You couldn’t even wash your hair in peace and—”She stopped, and her eye
“What are you doing here?” I asked, happy to see him but still surprised.I was almost certain that he had a million things to do for the pack and the territory. He always did. He glanced around the field.“What else does one do on a field?” Candido asked and eyed me. “In athletic clothing?”I pouted at him. “You know that’s not what I meant!”Candido grinned. His eyes twinkled with mischief, making him seem so young and carefree. It was rare to see him like this, but it filled me with joy and hope. Maybe I was just a little girl in his eyes, but he was comfortable with me, and that was a better start than being a beautiful woman whom he couldn’t trust.“My little girl wants to be on the rugby team,” Candido said. “Of course, I’m here to help.”I dropped my gaze. “Losing weight—”“You’re a werewolf, Hedy,” Candido said gently. “Do you even know why you gained weight in the first place?”I rolled my eyes. “Eating all that rich food you’ve been serving at the Estate!”Candido shook his
I scrambled off Candido and turned away, trying to hide my flushed face. By the Moon Goddess, why did Allen have to talk right then? Why couldn’t it have been earlier or much later after I had gotten the kiss I wanted. I huffed, scowling at Allen across the field, though he didn’t seem to notice.Candido rose slowly from the ground and placed a hand on my head. “Let’s take a bit of a break before getting back to it. You did well.”I nodded and stood, following him to where Allen and a staff member had set up a small picnic area. I flopped down beside the basket as my stomach rumbled. I frowned and Candido handed me a sandwich that was stacked high with meat. It looked delicious, but there was no way that eating this sandwich was going to help me lose weight.“Eat it,” Candido said. “Or you’ll pass out.”I took it warily and took a bite. It tasted even better than I imagined and I hardly remembered eating the rest of it.“That must have been the first time you’ve been so close to a man