LOGINThe common room was bustling at this hour as students rushed around, getting ready for classes. I made my way to the kitchen and threw a bagel in the toaster, leaning against the counter as I waited.“Callum?”Bianca stepped into view, appearing out of seemingly nowhere. My jaw tightened, wolf insti
Callum’s POVI woke to the feeling of something warm in my chest.For a moment, I almost could have sworn that I had something small and delicate gathered up in my arms. A gentle heart beating against my own. A lock of soft hair fluttering against my cheek.Liora.A smile touched my lips. I tightene
It might have been laughable, had circumstances not been so… sad.“So your parents took it badly, I imagine,” I pointed out.Callum huffed and looked into his bottle. “My dad beat the shit out of me.”I pulled my head back. “He what?”Wordlessly, Callum turned, pulling his shirt up to reveal his bac
Liora’s POVI just barely made it into the parking space before the car let out one final groan, then sputtered to a stop, rocking back and forth on the wheels.“Sorry about that, girl,” I said, patting the steering wheel. “That was a lot more driving in one day than I anticipated.”Shirley almost s
“Twenty lashes,” he said. “We’ll see if you change your mind then.”I grit my teeth. “I don’t have to put up with this anymore.”“Would you rather take it, or would you prefer if that little wolfless whore of yours took it instead?”The moment he said those words, I felt all the blood drain from my
Callum’s POVMy father’s shadow darkened the room.There was a time in my life when my father’s presence seemed enormous and all-consuming, like a black hole filling any space he entered. When I was a child, I remembered thinking that he was big enough to reach the moon, or to blot out the sun.I’d
After all, why would the King himself care whether a wolfless he’d never met before didn’t attend the ball? Why should he care if my dress was stained?Thankfully, though, both Mia and Zane seemed to give up on their interrogation. At least for now, because the second dance ended with more applause,
Liora’s POV“I heard Ella and Adam won the popular vote,” my father said from across the table as he cut his steak with an ornate silver knife. “They asked for a trip to the planetarium. I thought that was nice.”I thought so, too. It was a whole hell of a lot better than Bianca getting her way in t
Liora.“What are you doing here?” I blurted out. I glanced over her shoulder to see that the King’s apartment door was shutting behind her, as if she had just come out.Liora didn’t answer right away. She just stared up at me, lips parted, just like…Dammit.Just like last night.When I had almost
Liora’s POVThe morning after my father returned to the palace, I woke to the sensation of someone shaking my arm. Groaning, I cracked my eyes open to see Mia kneeling on my bed with a grin.“Wake up!” she announced. “School is canceled for the day!”“Hmmm?” I rubbed my eyes and yawned. “Why?”“Look







