Greymoor Academy: I Accidentally Bonded With Four Lycan Royals! novel Chapter 203

Chapter 203: 203. A Wild Toss In The Dark

Maisie

I had a plan.

And maybe that was why I succeeded in fooling everyone into believing I was truly ’getting better’. Planning helped me compartmentalize and took my mind completely off the panic.

I went on my morning runs with Soren and Mercer. I laughed and pushed them into tree trunks and ran when they chased after me. I ate well. I took the remedies without fail. I answered the doctor’s questions whenever she came over for the check ups. I made sure I fucked them hard enough to distract them. I even made them dinner, sometimes.

They still watched me with worry, but it turned out I was good at hiding things if I was desperate to.

I hung out with my friends. Laughed with them. I spent ’quality’ time with Jericho in the staff room. When Quinlan dropped by for my classes, I sat in his lap with his hands under my shirt while I wrote my notes dutifully.

And when I was all alone, when they all couldn’t be with me at once and were summoned to court, when they were asleep at night after I had tired them out, I let myself map it all out.

I had to leave.

I had turned over every possibility in my head until I wanted to scream. There was no way to break the bond without risking my life. And if there was, I couldn’t find it. Which meant there was no way to stop the rift. No way to protect them from what was coming.

The only thing I could do was buy time.

If I couldn’t be found during Halloween, if I wasn’t in Ashbourne, then a major part in Margaret’s plan would be missing.

It was a wild toss in the dark.

Because I knew so long as the bond existed, it didn’t matter where I ran, they would hunt me down eventually. Across seas and continents. They would find me and drag me back here.

But I would hide. I would run. I would tear the world apart looking for answers until I found a way to stop this without getting them—all of us—killed.

And there was the little bit of needing to warn the Queen beforehand of her possible assassination, to ensure the crown remained firmly on her head and didn’t follow me all the way to—maybe I could hide out at the North Pole?

Sweet Goddess.

Even that was tricky because warning the Queen meant potentially throwing my mates under the bus and exposing their temporary truce with Margaret. I could almost see the Queen taking advantage of the situation and screaming, "Treason," as she exiled them.

But, in truth, that seemed like the lesser evil here.

And options were a luxury I couldn’t afford.

***

"It’s such a relief, really,"Luna Kaida sighed dramatically as she circled Lana again. "After everything that happened... the embarrassment with that whole situation... it’s good to see the pack finally moving forward with something proper. A real Luna. A real wedding."

Her eyes flicked briefly toward me and she didn’t hide her sneer.

My status may have changed enough that I could have told her to shut her damned mouth and get out, but Luna Kaida, unlike the rest of Ashbourne didn’t try to suck up to me.

She still resented me.

And it was fine because I still couldn’t stand her, either.

I didn’t want to attend the dress fitting. But between my lies and pretense starting to choke me, and the guards Soren had following me everywhere like they had been since my mates found me walking in the woods, I needed to get some air.

Alone.

And figure out just how I was ever going to leave with my mates watching my every move.

"Turn a little more to the left, dear," Mrs. Braxton said, her voice smooth but sharp at the edges. "The train is dragging slightly on the right. We can’t have that when you walk down the aisle."

Lana obeyed, pivoting gracefully. The other Lunas made soft sounds of approval.

Luna Kaida stepped closer to Lana, smoothing down the fabric at her hips. "You’ve lost a bit of weight since the last fitting. That’s good. We want you looking delicate on your wedding day. Fragile, almost. Cole would love that."

Lana preened at the ’compliment’, and I tried to keep my eyes from rolling. She’d been talking about Cole all afternoon, like this wasn’t Lana’s wedding as well.

But Regina didn’t bother trying to keep her thoughts to herself. "Yes, yes. I’m sure Cole would absolutely love her looking like a pair of chopsticks. Why don’t you tell your precious, perfect son to alter his appearance for the wedding, too? With the amount of booze he’s been drinking, it’s no surprise he looks six months along—"

"Regina!" Mrs. Braxton snapped and my best friend clamped her mouth shut, scowling as she returned to eating all of the biscuits.

Lana’s smile dimmed and her blue eyes shot to me. "What do you think, May?"

The wedding dress was exquisite. Layers after layers of ivory silk and delicate lace clung to her waist before spilling into a dramatic train. The strapless, heart shaped bodice was covered in bearings and pearls that sparkled with every movement.

It was blindingly beautiful.

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