Chapter 0454


    Julian and Nichs continued to barrage each other with different attacks. Fur flew. Teeth chomped.


    ws shed, drawing blood.


    At each overly–vicious blow, delivered by each of the two brothers, I flinched forward, wanting to stop


    the fighting. But Mark’s extended arm kept me from impulsively rushing forward, and in those few


    moments of hesitation, I remembered Mark’s warning.


    Stepping between two fighting werewolves, Alphas no less, was a dangerous proposition. The two


    princes could quickly heal from each other’s inflicted wounds, but I wouldn’t be so lucky.


    And, as I watch more closely, I noticed that even the bloody wounds given were not given purposefully


    deep. It was though, even as theyshed out at each other in rage, they held themselves back as well,


    never giving wounds too serious to not immediately heal.


    Beside me, Bridget was calmly sipping her tea. Maybe she had noticed that already, and that was why


    she was so calm. If she knew them both as children and young adults, and if she had borne witness to


    these fights in the past, she would know from experience that, even angry, the two brothers wouldn’t


    seriously harm each other.


    Again, I felt jealousy rise within me. I wished that I had known them when they were young. wished I


    could be as ingrained in their memories as Bridget was.


    Eventually, Julian and Nichs backed away from each other. They were huffing deep breaths from


    their efforts.


    Nichs shifted back to his human form first. His face and clothes were covered in dirt and grass–


    stains and dried blood, but there were no outward bruises or cuts. His face did, however, remain


    contorted in anger. He was still absolutely furious.


    He didn’t say a word, just red at Julian. Then, he turned from all of us and stormed back toward the


    pce.


    Every muscle in my body itched to follow him and set all misunderstandings straight, but I forcibly held


    myself back. I doubted I would be wee.


    Bridget looked at me. “Think about what I said, Piper. You really should be more responsible.” Then


    she followed Nichs, walking as casually as she had when she arrived.


    Mark sighed. He nodded at me, then hurried after his master, giving Bridget a wide berth as he passed


    her.


    –


    Now alone with Julian, I looked over at him. He was still in wolf form until he sat down in the grass.


    Then, abruptly he shifted into human form. Like Nichs, he was covered in dirt and grim, dried blood


    and some grass, but no bruises or cuts.


    Heughed as he rubbed some of the dirt away from his cheek, where early Nichs had struck him


    hard. “I forgot how jarring Nichs’s right hook is.” Heughed. “I guess I deserved it.‘


    Relieved they were both unharmed after such a vicious–looking fight, I flopped down onto my backside


    on the grass beside him.


    I


    +15 BONUS


    “You didn’t deserve it,” I said.


    “I kept you out all night,” Julian said. “Made him worry. Made him think I took your virginity.”


    I looked away, toward the tree line. The rising sun hadn’t yet reached high enough to break through the


    many limbs and leaves of the forest canopy. It was dark as night among the tree trunks.


    “He has no right to be angry about that,” I said.


    “Sure,” Julian snorted. “Forget that the man is in love with you.”


    I slouched my shoulders. “He’s not in love with me.”


    “Piper,” Julian began, but I didn’t want to hear his reasoning. Not now, when it made so little difference.


    “He’s with Bridget,” I said. “He can’t be in love with me.”


    N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content.


    Julian rubbed his jaw next. “Guy doesn’t fight like that if he’s not pissed. And a guy doesn’t get that


    pissed if he’s not jealous as hell. And a guy doesn’t get jealous as hell if he has no feelings for you.”


    I deep, full bodied sigh escaped me. I truly didn’t know what to believe. But I knew for a fact that it


    really didn’t matter. If Nichs had feelings for me, as Julian suggested, then he had to bury them for


    the sake of the crown.


    And if he had to hide his true feelings for a crown, then what use was it to think too much on whether


    his feelings were real or not.


    “By the way,” Julian said. “What did Bridget say to you? I saw her standing there next to you. I saw the


    two of you talking.”


    Oh, no. How could I tell him? But I guessed that I had to. His heart was as tangled in this mess as mine


    was. We had an unspoken pact between us to share what we discovered about Nichs and Bridget


    together when we discovered it, no matter how much it might hurt. I couldn’t go


    back on that now.


    “She gave me a bit of a warning, I’d say,” I told him. “She said… Well…” I inhaled a great breath. It was


    painful even to repeat it. “She said that since she and Nichs are together now, I should just leave


    him alone.”


    “Well, shit,” Julian said, curtly. He turned his head from me. “Guess that’s that then.”


    “T


    guess so.” Bridget’s confirming the rtionship eliminated any remaining sliver of hope that the


    rtionship between her and Nichs had been something in my imagination. At least, that hope was


    cut for Julian. Me, personally? I still wanted to hear it from Nichs.


    Though I knew I was likely kidding myself.


    “What if we just avoided everyone else for the rest of eternity,” Julian said. “Start over with new names,


    new faces. Or hide forever.”


    If it was just me, I might be tempted, but I had Elva to consider. As appealing as it was to run from my


    problems forever, I knew it wasn’t possible. Julian likely did too. Sometimes he did things like this,


    talked just for the sake of it.


    +15 BONUS


    He loved his outrageous ns.


    “Where would we go? Who would we be?” I asked, joining in on the fun. The idea of an escape,


    however impossible, was a fun change of mind. I’d rather talk about silly dreams than about things that


    continued to hurt us.


    Heughed a little, though it sounded a tiny bit sad. “We could be whoever we want to be, Piper.”


    That seemed unlikely. How would we live without money? I tried to picture Julian attempting to work an


    everyday job, and couldn’t quite picture it. A prince as a waiter? Or working in retail, getting hassled by


    costumers?


    The vision made meugh.


    He looked at me. “What?”


    and


    –


    “Nothing,” I said, not wanting to offend him or worse. He might see my vision as a challenge go out to


    attempt to prove me wrong. “Though there are some obvious ws in the n.”


    “I suppose,” he admitted. “It’s nice to think about, though.”


    “It is,” I said.


    There were many reasons to stay where we were. Elva’s health, for one. Less dramatically, we still


    needed to learn the results of the theater event. They’d likely be released soon.


    “I have to stay and see this through,” I said.


    “Yeah,” Julian said, and some bitterness seeped into his voice. “Yeah, me too.”