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.

he muttered. “It’s

For a second or so, her expression was unreadable, but then she grinned at him. “Is that a contender? Do you have

please!” He stopped her because she wasn’t the

she giggled, playing with her dark hair. “You

gently brushing her fingers

wear this shirt. You absolutely loathed it when she gave it to you

the first thing I grabbed this morning,” he brushed

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

head snapped in her direction. Some girl dressed like a giant cake was pulling Savannah away. He found himself begging Fenrir for her to at least look at him once, and when his

him anything good. She wasn’t over

Goddess!” Penelope gasped. “Don’t tell me you like the western

are talking about.” He gave her a warning glance and took himself under control. Was it so obvious that he paid attention to

you just stared at her…” The girl insisted, lowering

at her,

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

forgotten that I am the king, and no one decides for me!” He stated firmly. “Now, excuse me. We’ll chat some other

only Savannah before him and ignoring everyone else who tried to talk to him on his way. He would fulfil his duties later, and now he had more important things to

here again,” he tried to sound polite and not rushed, but

she said, every word laced with sarcasm. “Excuse me, I see someone I need

intended to escape him, and he wasn’t having any of this. So, he grasped her delicate arm in his huge palm, shocking everyone here because it was against

to brush his lips over

escaped him as she removed her hand from his grasp and tried to

lifted her in his arms, rapidly

She demanded, grasping his shoulder for balance. She didn’t even trust him to carry her properly, and

look like

arched her brow. “Then again,

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

to get off him, but he held her in place

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

“They can say that I tripped on purpose

deep enough into the garden that no one could see them, and they could

I am talking about she hissed, narrowing her eyes.

for his shenanigans, and everything was merely a repeat of what happened

parted slightly. Those lips he couldn’t get out of his mind for

now?” 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

to thank me.” He placed one hand on a tree behind her, backing her into it. “I want

you don’t trust my brother!” She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I don’t,” Kai agreed with ease. “But he has nothing

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 one of them greedily caressed the bare skin on her back. It slid all the way to her neck, bringing

felt so right that she simply couldn’t do it. It was as if she needed it, his touch, his