Chapter l191

Chapter 0191

“I told you not to,” Nicholas said. “I gave you reasons.

“You don’t understand,” I said.

“What is there to understand? You are endangering yourself

“Her sister is involved,” Julian cut in. He was coming closer to us.

Nicholas’s mouth snapped closed. He furrowed his brow like he didn’t know what to believe. “How do you know?”

I looked to Julian. “Show him what you showed me.”

Julian took out his phone, prepped the surveillance video again and turned the screen toward Nicholas. He watched the entire thing.

“So she bought fabric. What does this prove?” he asked.

“She was at the second ball. Julian matched a feather that I found from her dress to the feathers in the

Then he found this footage. That’s where he’s been the past few days,” I explained.

A muscle ticked in Nicholas’s jaw. “She was at the party?

“She was,” I said. “And she…”

“Piper,” Julian said, and it sounded like a warning. Maybe he didn’t want me to tell Nicholas the whole truth. Maybe he wanted to keep things between us.

But I couldn’t do that. My secret–keeping from before had led to me losing my wolf, and while I didn’t regret doing what I did to save Elva and my sister, now I wondered how things might have been different if I had been more honest with Nicholas from the start.

Maybe he could have thought of another option.

Maybe we could have survived together these past three years.

I didn’t know. But this was so much bigger than me now. Nicholas needed to know how deep my Sister’s involvement was so that he could protect all of us.

She has thy wolf, Nicholas, I don’t know how. But I caw her, and I felt i

frowned. Could it be Iver own wolf?

ing her wen it a wolf ever

+15 BONUS

Nicholas’s arms were still around me. He held me, unwaveringly, like he wasn’t planning on letting go. I

wanted to melt into him for comfort, but I knew it wasn’t my place.

He lowered his head, and spoke softly to me. “This is so dangerous, Piper. If this is real, your sister is likely involved in some nefarious stuff. If you keep on this path, you are going to get hurt.”

“What else can I do?” I said back, matching his low tone. “If she’s a pawn in this, I have to save her. If she’s not…” It hurt me to even think of it, but I had to. I had to face the very real possibility that my

ny sister might now be a threat to me and Elva. “If she comes after Elva…”

Nicholas’s arms tightened around me waist as if on reflex. “That won’t happen.”

“Only if we stop her. Stop them. You see now why I can’t give up. While I can never give up.”

His eyes met mine and I could see the war waging within them. He didn’t want to agree with me, but he couldn’t deny that I was right.

Slowly, he nodded. “I understand now.”

“So you’ll help us?”

He sighed. “I’ll help protect you.”

“That sounds like a yes to me,” Julian said, coming closer. He patted us both on the back. A wide grin split his face. “Guess this makes us some kind of wonder trio.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Nicholas snapped.

I lowered my forehead to Nicholas’s shoulder and allowed myself to finally breathe.

I didn’t want to go back to the celebration, especially after what I’d learned, and after what I’d experienced with Terry. Nicholas offered to walk me back to my room instead.

1 want to talk to Mark and the guards,” he said. “We’ll need to strengthen our security measures” Tm worried about Susie, though, I said. “She’s still in the ballroom, and Terry might target her.”