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!”

make it through the preliminary selection. Then

mean we can expect you

Nicholas. He gave a small smile, but his eyes were guarded. “It’s my duty as a prince to continue the lineage. But, yes, I’d like to have a

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

and for a moment, it seemed as if he was staring straight through it. I froze

My heart ached.

the interviewer, and immediately, I felt

me at all since

over my heart, hoping to soothe

three years. I couldn’t still be hung up on him. Sure, I hadn’t dated anyone else since, but that didn’t mean anything. I’d been too busy

I had Anna. I didn’t need romance

went back to retrieve it. When I

investigating with the utmost seriousness. This illegal trade of wolves and their gifts is dangerous for

dropped the plate of food

silenced at once,

any one wolf, weakens the whole

hissed at me, waking me from

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

exhausted. After my accident, I pushed myself as hard as I could,

television again, not even when the table of girls bemoaned

hadn’t applied. I wouldn’t be on

sink. After washing away a particularly stubborn clump of food from

he was the last to leave at night.

clean the dining room. The lights in the dining room were

I was alone.

brushed the back of my exposed neck. The stench of alcohol

the plate I’d been cleaning, I immediately swung around, ready to knock Boss over the head with it. Anything to

was a moment too late. Boss had been

the

my waist, he pressed his hips hard

I was trapped.

hand ripped open the buttons of my shirt, revealing my lacey white bra. He pressed his palm against

him. He only held tighter, rougher,

I didn’t have the strength to break

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