“What, in the Moon Goddess’s name, are you wearing? Rags?” Sophia scoffed. “As the daughter of an Alpha King, I thought you’d be able to afford nice things. Looks like I was wrong! Ha!” Seriously? Amelia thought, taking a deep breath. Sophia? What is she doing here? Desiree excused herself. “I have nothing to say to you,” Amelia said firmly, throwing daggers at Sophia with her eyes. “I mean, it was bad enough being a useless Luna, purely a decoration, in the Stormfang Pack. Looks like you should have stayed. At least you had nice clothes when you were Luna.” Sophia smirked and then saw that there was only one place setting at the table. “And you’re alone!” She laughed condescendingly. Without anyone there to defend Amelia, it was ‘game on’ as far as Sophia was concerned. “Look at you. Sitting all alone. In crappy clothes. Why, you’re no better than a maid! You may have gained your status back, but what good has it done you? You’re still pathetic!”

“Did he, did he hurt you?” Gabriel asked. fixing his eyes on Amelia. Amelia took a step towards him and he could sense that something wasn’t right. Amelia’s body felt like it was on fire, like every nerve ending was heightened. She shook her head ‘no’ and then reached out to touch his chiseled chest. She knew it was the drug but the drug was stronger than her reasoning. She couldn’t help herself; she wanted him and she wanted him now. She brought her mouth to his and kissed him, deep and slow. He ran his fingers through her hair and sighed. He pulled back and looked into her desire-filled eyes. Without a word, he led her to the bedroom and laid her down gently on the bed. His every touch ignited a spark on her body as he slowly undressed. “My God, you’re so beautiful,” he said. All that was left now were her panties. He looped his thumb into them and pulled them down, off her legs. Suddenly feeling very exposed, Amelia came off the drug a bit. She was

Amelia took Gabriel’s hand and looked him in the eye. “I want to thank you,” she said softly. Her voice was genuine. “For what?” Gabriel asked, confused. “For today,” Amelia sighed. “For taking the time to show me around. I just..I..” Amelia faltered. “Go on. You can tell me,” Gabriel urged. He couldn’t help notice how nice her hand felt in his, warm and comforting. “Being with you today, it’s made up for some of the past pain I felt, when we were together.” Gabriel winced. It was hard for him to hear about how much he’d hurt her. He didn’t want to interrupt Amelia, though. She continued. “I’m so glad we could have this time together. This is how I want to remember us. Like this. Happy.” Gabriel lowered his head and nodded. He understood what she was saying and it hurt. She was right, it was nice to have such a lovely day together, but the way she said it – well – it sounded so final. And he wasn’t willing to

Amelia had barely been back when there was a knock at the door. She was surprised to see Jonathan, his arms full of boxes. “What do you have here?” Amelia asked, her eyes wide as he stumbled into the room. “Oh, you know. Just some clothes and stuff for our meeting tomorrow.” Jonathan set the boxes down on the table and began pulling out beautiful clothes. Amelia eyed the cashmere suit skeptically. “For me? But I have clothes.” Although that suit really is to die for….She couldn’t resist rubbing the fabric between her fingers. There really is nothing quite as exquisite as cashmere. Jonathan seemed to ignore her comment and instead opened a blue velvet box and proceeded to pull out a drop-dead gorgeous string of pearls. “Authentic or synthetic?” Amelia asked, reaching for the pearls. “Authentic,” Jonathan said, handing the pearls to her. Amelia held them up to her neck. Okay, that cashmer

“She doesn’t like me, does she?” Amelia asked. She was on her way back to the resort with Jonathan. She’d been hoping that Sephora would want to talk more about her proposal after the garden, but she hadn’t. Instead, she’d shaken Amelia’s hand and thanked her for coming. “I think she liked you just fine,” Jonathan said. He could see the disappointment in her face and he tried to comfort her. The truth was, though, his mom had no intention of helping Silvermoon and he knew it. Should I tell her? It seems cruel to let her hold onto hope. He turned and looked at her. Concern was etched into her soft features. He wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms and wipe that concern away. “Really? So you think she’ll consider working with us?” Amelia asked, hope flooding her gorgeous eyes. He didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth. It really had nothing to do with Amelia. Not personally, anyway. He thought back to when his father had been k