The Luna Choosing Game by Jane Above Story

It had been three days since Boss made his proposition: either I sleep with him or I get fired.

I needed one more day’s pay to cover Elva’s most recent bill. Once I had that, I could resign and hopefully find something else.

Boss trailed his eyes down the length of my body. Staring openly at my breasts, he licked his lips. “Don’t think I won’t, Piper. I’ll be waiting for you.”

In the restaurant, all of the female patrons talked excitedly about the selection. To cater to them, Boss turned all of the televisions on the walls to the royal consort ceremony broadcast.

“Which one do you think is the most handsome?” asked one patron to her friends.

They’d ordered a plate of loaded nachos to share. I carefully placed it in the center of their table.

Another girl spoke quickly. “Are you kidding? The others are cute, sure, but Nicholas is obviously the hottest.”

The other girls quickly agreed.

Startled, I hovered at their table. They were right, of course. Nicholas was the most objectively attractive, but to hear people talk about him so casually still surprised me.

For three days, I’d tried to reconcile in my mind that the Nicholas I had known was also the eldest prince of the kingdom. But I still couldn’t quite manage it.

Nicholas had always been proper. But a prince?

“Piper, is it?” one of the girls at the table asked me. I jumped, realizing I was still standing there. Yet before I could apologize, she asked me, “Which one do you think is the most handsome?”

“Nicholas,” came my automatic answer. “Excuse me.”

Embarrassed at having been caught daydreaming, I forced myself to focus on work. And I succeeded – until I heard Nicholas’ voice come from the speakers.

“The kind of woman I’d prefer?” Nicholas said. “Someone loyal. Strong. Even tempered. And she has to like to children.”

“Check, check, and check,” came a voice from the table of girls. “He’s describing me! It’s meant to be.”

“Dream on. He’s clearly describing me.”

“You don’t even like kids!”

see which of us make it through

hm? Does that mean we can

“It’s my

squealed in delight. “He’d make such a good

it seemed as if he

My heart ached.

the interviewer, and immediately, I felt foolish. Of course, he couldn’t

me at all since the

heart, hoping to soothe away the touch of

wrong with me? We hadn’t seen each other in three years. I couldn’t still be hung up on him. Sure, I hadn’t dated anyone else since, but that didn’t

and I had Anna. I didn’t need romance to

When I returned

the utmost seriousness. This illegal trade of wolves

plate of food

silenced at once, all eyes

of any one wolf, weakens

hissed

it. As I did, I cursed myself so loudly in my thoughts, I couldn’t hear any more of Nicholas’

down and exhausted. After my accident, I pushed myself as hard as I could, focusing solely on

not once lift my eyes to the television again, not even when the table of

applied. I wouldn’t be on

in the sink. After washing away a particularly stubborn clump of food from a plate, I

stove, or prep for tomorrow. Almost always, he was the last to leave at night. But he was nowhere to

said they would clean the dining room. The lights in the

I was alone.

of my exposed

swung around, ready to knock Boss

too late. Boss had been expecting

the plate onto the floor, where

he pressed his hips hard to mine, wedging me against

I was trapped.

open the buttons of my shirt, revealing my lacey white bra.

struggled against him. He only held tighter, rougher, fingers

wolf, I didn’t have the

be shy, wolf-less.” Boss pressed his nose to my cheek. I felt him smile against my jaw. “You have a