The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert

Frustrated and annoyed, Kai found himself in the foulest of moods. After spending the night in the woods hunting for Bjorn, he hadn’t gotten much sleep. There was no trace of the enemy. vet a million scents of all kinds of creatures, which shouldn’t be present in the first place, lingered all around him. It was as if the rotten bear was mocking him. Was this why he touched Savannah but left her alive? To let him know that he touched one of the contenders for the Luna of The North? That he had touched something that was his?

Before that, anyone who crossed him in the woods was later found dead. Mostly in pieces

There was, of course, the option of Savannah working with Bjorn. The more he considered that notion, the more he realised it was unlikely Gideon would ever let him close to his sister. He scratched that thought from the depth of his mind.

Savvy didn’t know. She had no idea who she had met and how dangerous he was.

Thinking of her, he remembered how her bare flesh felt against him, how intoxicating her scent was … and how angry she got with him the previous night. He didn’t like her being unhappy with him. Somehow, the more he attempted to create goodwill between them, the worse the

situation became.

Whatever the results, here he was now, unable to remove thoughts of her out of his head while he was attending to an entirely different task altogether.

“Kai, don’t just stand there!” Elene jabbed him gently with her elbow. “Go talk to the girls. The deal was that you would get better acquainted with each of them!”

He didn’t want to be rude, so he said nothing to his sister, who he blamed for his current predicament.

It could have been different. If there were no Luna Trials, he would be engaged to Savvy at this moment.

She probably wouldn’t be thrilled, but he would have pursued her, made her see him from a different angle, a different perspective.

He couldn’t believe that his mind had gone there. Again. He had to snap out of it and get back to the responsibilities at hand.

Scanning the garden, he couldn’t locate her, and wondered if she did get sick after all. She was trembling when they returned to the castle, and although he ordered his chef to make her a hot soup in the middle of the night, he did not follow up on that.

“Oh, look!” Elene said in a tone that he knew far too well. The tone that meant she was acting again. “It’s Penelope! Hi, Pen! How are you doing?”

“Elene! Kai!” The girl went up to them with a happy expression on her face. Her violet dress was a replica of what his mother had worn in one of her earlier portraits, and he recognised it at once.

“You look gorgeous! What a stunning dress!” Elene praised her best friend, although she was probably the one who suggested she wear this outfit. “Doesn’t she look gorgeous, Kai?”

“She absolutely does,” he nodded, looking for Savvy with his eyes. “Will you excuse me?”

“Of course not!” his sister stepped in his way. “You are not going anywhere, Kai Fionnlagh! You know very well that you have to talk to every contestant. You can start with Penelope, since you are both here. I expect at least fifteen minutes of quality conversation!”

“Fine,” he groaned and watched his sibling walk away, happy with herself.

“We can just stand and pretend that we talk.” Penelope winked at him the way she used to do since their childhood. “You just do nothing, and I will move my lips. She will never spot the difference!”

“Sounds good,” he agreed, looking for Savvy again “Gee, Kai!” Penelope snorted. “Way to make a woman feel special!” He shot her an apologetic glance. They had been friends since childhood, after all.

Well, she was Elene’s friend, but it meant that she was in the house a lot. And when their parents died, he thought that he would lose his sister to grief as well. Penelope was the one to step in and help them both. So, he owed it to her.

muttered.

someone?” she asked, studying his face, and he nodded. For a second or so, her expression was unreadable, but then she grinned at him. “Is that a contender?

He stopped her because she wasn’t the one he would

she giggled, playing with her dark hair. “You

gently brushing her fingers over

she smirked. “I remember that Elene couldn’t make you wear this shirt. You absolutely loathed it when she gave it to you for

first thing I grabbed this morning,” he brushed

course. Kai spent at least an hour staring at his wardrobe, realising that all his shirts looked the same to him. Then he noticed this and remembered how Elene told him he should wear it when he wanted to impress a girl. It was a joke, and he knew

direction. Some girl dressed like a giant cake was pulling Savannah away. He found himself begging

promise him anything good. She wasn’t over what happened

Penelope gasped. “Don’t tell me you

a warning glance and took himself

stared at her…” The girl insisted, lowering her voice so no one

at her,

whispered even quieter. “Out of all girls here, she and the werebear are definitely not the options for you. People would rather go with the witch or the cats than either of them! Trust me

the king, and no one decides for me!” He stated firmly. “Now, excuse me. We’ll chat

left his friend, seeing only Savannah before him and ignoring everyone else who tried to talk to him on

again,” he tried to sound polite and not

she said, every word laced with sarcasm. “Excuse me,

knew it, but she intended to escape him, and he wasn’t having any of this. So, he grasped her delicate arm in his huge

lowered his head, wishing nothing more than to brush his lips over her skin,

sneered, and a growl escaped him as she removed her hand

with her and, to her surprise, lifted her in his arms, rapidly

balance. She didn’t even trust him to carry her properly, and this

look like I am

She arched her

“You tripped, and I am ensuring your safety!” She only

show it tomorrow?” The princess tried to get off him, but he held her in place and added

like the news to show it?” Kai asked, not understanding why

story! Let’s stick to that!” Savvy rolled her eyes. “They can say that I tripped on purpose and hung on you while you just had to, absolutely

got them deep enough into the garden that no one could

talking about she hissed, narrowing her

in the mood for his shenanigans, and everything was merely a repeat of what happened just yesterday. When his goal was the exact

and she froze. Then she blinked her long lashes, and her lips parted slightly. Those lips he couldn’t get out of

She averted his gaze. There was no point in all of this. “You already said you didn’t know about the Trials, but you are not giving me my alliance so that

one hand on a tree behind her, backing her

“I don’t,” Kai agreed with ease. “But he has nothing to do

to finish her sentence because he crushed his lips into hers, crumpling them mercifully and making them part as his tongue effortlessly slid between her sweet lips. The king’s strong hands wrapped around her slim waist, but

have pushed him away, but it felt so right that she simply couldn’t do it. It was as if