The Luna Choosing Game by Jane Above Story novel Chapter 353

Chapter 0353
When I slept that night, it was only because pure exhaustion from staying up the entire night before had finally caught up to me, and sleep pulled me under against my will. Else I would have been shaking with anger and worry.
For a few, brief hours, I had felt peace. But now, I was awake again. Now I remembered everything that had happened, from being caught with Nicholas by the King, to Nichola s’s break up letter, to standing outside of his door as Nicholas refused to answer.
I meant to bottle in my worries as much as I could, but the minute Mark entered the room, I pounced toward him. He sighed, seemingly resigned to his fate.
“Is he alright?” I asked first. One of my lingering fears was that Nicholas had been harmed or was suffering from some terrible infliction – illness or otherwise. It was by far the most pressing question. My own feelings were secondary to Nichola s’s overall wellbeing. “Is he sick, or hurt?”
Mark smiled a little, sadly. “He is healthy.”
I slumped as relief rushed through my body. With the worst out of the way, I could press forward with my questions.
“Is the King responsible for this? Perhaps Nicholas was backed into a corner?”
“I’m sorry, Piper…”
“Please, Mark. He won’t talk to me. If I only understood…” I worried my hands together. I was a nervous wreck. Maybe I shouldn’t want to know the answers. Maybe they would only hurt me worse than I was being hurt right now.
But I was never would who could easily back down from something.
“The King might have suggested it,” Mark said, “But the separation is for the good of the kingdom.”
I blinked, surprised. The good of the kingdom? That felt like a reh ea rsed line. “The kingdom hardly hinges on my secret rendezvous with Nicholas…”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But your very public relationship with Prince Julian is important. If you were to continue to see Prince Nicholas, I fear it would only be a matter of time before the public caught wind. It would undermine your relationship with Prince Julian.”
I frowned. I tried to see it from their perspective. The fate of the kingdom was important but…
“I hate that you have to keep seeing Julian if that’s not what you want to do,” Mark said. ” You shouldn’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. But this is a high risk situation with an angry public. You’ve seen the mobs just outside the gates? It’s growing every day.”
1/4
I had seen them. They had been growing bigger…
“I want to hear all this from Nicholas himself,” I said.
+15 BONUS
Mark lightly shook his head. “Please, stay away from him Piper.” A line creased the center of his brow, and he suddenly looked troubled. Softly, he admitted, “You aren’t the only one struggling…”
Oh. Oh.
Nicholas wasn’t doing this because he wanted to. Of course, he wasn’t. But neither was he doing it because he was coerced.
He genuinely thought this was the right thing to do, for the good of the kingdom. And by thinking otherwise, by chasing him down and demanding answers, I was being selfish.
Nicholas was struggling too. He still cared for me.
But we just couldn’t be together.
“Do you understand now?” Mark asked.
“Yes,” I said. I did understand, even if it shattered my entire heart.
The end of Nicholas and me had come much sooner than I had ever expected. I knew it had to happen eventually but… no, I wouldn’t push anymore.
Some things just weren’t meant to be, no matter how much the two involved cared about
each other.
“I’ll respect Nichola s’s wishes,” I said, and Mark looked infinitely relieved.
Yet when I had agreed to respect Nichola s’s wishes, I had thought I might have a day or two to lick my gaping wounds before I saw him again. Unfortunately, I was immediately summoned by Julian to join a meeting with him, Veronica, and Nicholas to discuss trapping
Jane.
So now, I stood in Julian’s private rooms as far as possible as I could from Nicholas. Julian and Veronica both gazed between us, as Nicholas and I did our very best to ignore the other.
I wasn’t going to as much as glance his way, even if he spoke. It was easier if I pretended he
didn’t exist at all.
That was easier said than done, of course, and when he cleared his throat, I immediately glanced. He glanced too, and our eyes caught. The moment slowed, the world melted around
us.
I wanted to walk closer. I wanted to hold him and bridge this new distance between us.
But that could never be.
+15 BONUS
I looked away first.
“Right,” Julian said, confused. “Okay. Well, I have no idea what awkward thing is going on. here.” He pointed between Nicholas and me. “But, Veronica has come up with a possible plan to trap Jane.”
Thoughts of heartbreak slipped out of my mind. Yes, I could focus on capturing Jane. Bringing down the underground organization. These were achievable goals that had nothing
to do with Nicholas.
“What’s the plan?” I said, probably too eager.
Julian looked at me with surprise.
Veronica less so, though she did pause a moment before speaking.
་་།
“I assume you all remember that collar that diminished Prince Nichola s’s wolf powers,”
Veronica said.
“All too well,” Nicholas grumbled.
“Yes,” I said, not eager to relive those memories either. How close I had come to physically losing Nicholas that day. Whatever we were going through now paled in comparison to him nearly losing his life… or his freedom.
Veronica went to a nearby coffee table and retrieved a small box. Carrying it, she moved to the center of us so we could all see. We each inched closer. Unfortunately this placed Nicholas and I right next to each other.
We glanced at each other again. He looked away first this time. A pain pinged in my heart.
Veronica lifted the top of the box and revealed a simple leather cuff bracelet sitting within.
“After studying the collar, I dismantled it and retooled it into this more subtle bracelet,” Veronica said. “The power remains the same. It will diminish the power of whoever wears it.”
“That’s brilliant,” Julian said, smiling wide.
Veronica dipped her head ever so slightly and a hint of pink touched her cheeks.
“Like this, it will be much easier to get on Jane if she shows up to the event,” Julian said.
“When she shows up,” I said with confidence. My twin would never miss a chance to embarrass and hurt me, not the way she is now. And what better opportunity would she have than on a world-stage during an event meant to celebrate joy and happiness?
Julian hummed thoughtfully. “We only need a volunteer to get close enough –
“}
“I’ll do it,” I said, just as Nicholas said, “It has to be me.”
+15 BONUS
We both stopped. We looked at each other.
Deep in his eyes was the same affection I always saw in him, though now, it seemed to be buried behind a shield of ice. A shield that made him frown deeply.
I frowned too. If he thought I was going to let him win this argument, he was far off.
Jane was my sister. My responsibility.
I would be the one to capture her.
No matter what Nicholas wanted.