Chapter l392

Chapter 0392

Tiffany stepped in front of me, blocking Jessica from getting too closely.

“Her name is clear, Jessica,” Tiffany said.

“I don’t care if they didn’t fuck,” Jessica growled. “At the very least, she tricked him somehow. He’s a decent guy. He never would have behaved this way on his

own.”

“Back off, Jessica,” Veronica said. Her voice was terrifyingly calm for the amount of anger that burned in her own eyes. Veronica, I knew, was the only person in the room to truly be afraid of. She might be away from the underground now, but she still had magic.

“I didn’t sleep with him. I didn’t trick him.” I wished she would believe me, but she shook her head at my words, as if shaking them away from herself before they could sink in.

If I was free to talk, I would tell her that Nicholas was the one I wanted. That the night Joyce claimed we were together, I was likely with his eldest brother instead. But that would endanger Nicholas and his run for the crown.

So I had to keep my mouth shut and take the brunt of her rage without much of a defense.

“You slept with all of the princes,” Jessica said, and the words irked straight through me, pushing back all my sense of calm. Of forgiveness. Instead my wolf reared its head, its own anger stoked.

“Admit it,” Jessica said. “You came here just for bragging rights. You wanted to fuck all three princes so you could go home to your little hick town and feel important to all your hick friends!”

Heartbreak made people act irrationally. I knew that.

I didn’t want to hurt Jessica. She was already hurt. She was just taking it out on

But the wolf was raging, and my energy had to

had to go somewhere.

“I. Am. Not. A. Whore,” I growled very slowly, trying to keep myself under control.

“Then why do you act like one?”

“That’s enough!” bellowed a male voice from the entryway. Everyone turned in

1/2

+15 BONOS

time to see Nicholas stalk forward. Tiffany sidestepped away as Nicholas took up place between Jessica and I. He kept his back to me, facing her. His shoulders were taunt as a bowstring.

Yet tense as he was, his closeness gave comfort to my raging wolf. Slowly, my rage began to seep away, as if it had never been there at all.

Thank God. I could barely control my strength. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt someone, especially someone like Jessica, who acted only out of her own grief and heartbreak.

Veronica came closer to me. She glanced me over.

“I’m okay now,” I whispered and she nodded.

Susie hooked her arm around mine. I gave her a reassuring squeeze.

Nicholas was a stone wall between me and Jessica’s rage.

“I’m only saying what we all know!” Jessica shouted.

Into the microphone, Nathan scolded, “If you cannot control yourself from making such accusations, Jessica, you will be removed from the competition.”

“What does it matter?” Jessica shot back. “Prince Joyce only wants Piper.”

“He was mistaken about what happened that night,” Nicholas said. He was using his authoritative voice. It claimed the attention of the room. “Joyce was taken advantage of by a yet–unknown adversary. Do not consider yourself out of the running, unless you lack compassion.”

Jessica’s face went pale. I felt as her own anger sl*pped away, replaced by a devastating kind of upset. “Someone hurt him?”

Nicholas nodded.

She brought her hands to her face. “Oh, Prince Joyce… How terrible…” She slumped a little.

Nicholas looked to Nathan.

“If there are no other complaints?” Nathan asked.

With Nicholas present, the rest of the girls kept their mouths shut.

Though with my heightened senses, I could tell when Lilliana and Olivia looked at me with suspicion.