Chapter l449

Chapter 0449

“Nicholas? Who is it?” came a voice from within Nicholas’s room. A female voice. One I recognized.

Bridget.

My stomach shot into my throat so quickly, I thought I might be sick.

Suddenly, before I could even think to react, the door opened, and Bridget was standing there. Nicholas was behind her, hand on the door like he had tried to stop her, but she dipped under his arm.

“Oh. Piper! What a surprise! What are you doing so late?” Bridget’s tone was friendly enough, but there was a sharpness in her eyes that I was learning only appeared when she was particularly irritated. She must have been tired, as well, to let it show through so obviously.

–

“I… uh…” I hadn’t been expecting to run into Bridget or anyone other than Nicholas tonight, so I didn’t have an excuse prepared. I wracked my brain. “I just wanted to… congratulate Nicholas… on his performance tonight.”

–

The lie was weak, and I hated saying it. What did I even need an excuse for? Bridget was the one who needed an excuse!

“Why, uh… Might I ask why you are here so late?” I asked.

“Oh, that’s easy,” Bridget said. “Nicholas and I were just talking about the nuances of our new relationship.”

“Bridget,” Nicholas said, none too gently. There was a growl in his voice.

“She should know,” Bridget told him. “Or did you mean to keep it a secret longer?” Then she looked at me and winked. “You won’t tell anyone about this, right, Piper?”

“I…” I had no idea what to say. To have too big of a reaction would be to give myself away. But I was not a good actress. I didn’t know how to properly hide the horror and heartbreak

from my face.

“Oh, dear, don’t worry,” Bridget said. “The competition will go on as before. No one will know that the end is already fixed.” Another wink.

“That’s enough, Bridget,” Nicholas said, some of his Alpha tone seeped out.

1/2

+15 BONUS

Bridget’s smile never wavered, though she did stop speaking. I doubted it was because of the Alpha command. It was more likely because of the complete one–two punch of her words. What was there left to say that hadn’t been said?

In a few brief sentences, she’d indicated she was going to be the one to become Luna, that Nicholas was on board, and that I would be strung along the rest of the competition and eventually kicked out. 1

And each of those words stabbed into me like a sharp object between my ribs, tearing at my

heart.

I looked to Nicholas, hoping he would deny her declarations. He stared back at me, a hard expression in his eyes. Typically, I could read Nicholas, at least enough to have some base idea what he was thinking. Now, though, he was entirely shut off.

Behind his golden gaze, there was a wall. Even the forest green flecks in his irises seemed grim.

For him to stand there and not deny it meant either it was true, or that he wanted Bridget to

believe it was true. The difference didn’t seem to matter much in the moment.

For my part, there was nothing I could say that would make much difference one way or the other. Bridget seemed sure. And I could break down and ask Nicholas the questions I wanted to in her presence.

Questions like, what about us? What about those things you said? What changed? Why now?

Maybe the answers would have only served to break my heart further.

So I did the only option that I felt was open to me in that moment. I turned. And I ran away before my tears could fall.

I didn’t know where I was going. I hated that I kept finding myself in this situation. Heartbroken as I was, I couldn’t return to my room. I didn’t want to worry Elva, or alarm her that anything was wrong. But I did need a few minutes to pull myself together.