The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert

Northern Blood

Kai had seconds to collect himself as his sister reminded him of his place, letting go of the girl in front of him.

He was the King, and he had a role to play. Especially with all the cameras pointed in his direction.

He would be thinking about Savannah Stormhold later. Savannah. F*cking. Stormhold.

It was unbelievable that out of all the people here, he was drawn to her. His guilty pleasure, his little maid, turned out to be the woman he tried to avoid marrying in the first place. Moreover, she was the little sister of the guy whose guts he hated the most.

His head was buzzing with a million questions, so he just waved for the event to start, ignoring Elene’s displeased gaze at him and his earlier promise to deliver a short speech. She would have to figure all of this out on her own since she was the one who started this mess in the

first place. Which she did just perfectly.

Of course, her bestie Penelope was the first, and he didn’t even listen to how she solved an old northern riddle for five-year-olds. Elene could have at least given her something a bit more challenging, so as not to make it too obvious that she was helping her. Penelope wasn’t an idi.ot.

Neither was Princess Savannah. His eyes were searching for her at every opportunity, and each time she averted his gaze. Apparently, everyone and everything in this room was more interesting to her than he was – the lamps, the walls, the floor, the people…

He gritted his teeth, focusing on the women before him. A witch just passed the test. A witch… Elene must have been crazy to invite her. Witches should have been avoided at all costs.

“Salome Gray from the White Tree Coven”, she introduced herself and gave him a seductive glance with her onyx eyes, which he did not return as he was staring at Savannah again. Her delicate shoulders were poking out of her feathery dress, bringing sinful thoughts into his mind.

She looked nothing like the last pictures of her that he had seen. Then again, the last time he was interested to see her was years ago, when she was just a cute teen with freckles. Interested wasn’t even the right word. He wanted to make sure she was nowhere near ready to get married to piss off Gideon with his offer after he humiliated his sister.

That was stupid, and he knew that now. But back then, it seemed like a good idea after he saw Elene crying for hours. Both he and Gideon were young Alphas back then and it was a given that his elders would try to persuade him to accept such a marriage.

Now the joke was on him. Because Savannah grew up. And the woman she had become was… really something.

It all made sense now. Her destroying the bushes, her looking guilty for kissing him back…

She was no maid indeed.’

The next girl was another werecat, Mikaela something. That meant that now there were two werecats in the game. Two too many. This kind was free and not cut for a traditional marriage.

It was almost Savannah’s turn, and he couldn’t wait. As soon as this farce was done, he would drag her away, and they would talk about.. everything

He didn’t know what that ‘everything’ meant precisely, but they had to clear the air. Judging by her reaction, she thought that he had been purposefully messing with her all this time on purpose. And although he was initially guilty of creating this whole situation in the first place, he wanted her to know that he wasn’t playing with her when he kissed her. It was an honest mistake that he would never repeat again.

That thought felt sour to him, but he had to push it deeper into his mind. This had to be the end of them. He would never allow himself anything with her. After all, they weren’t mates, and they were too different. This could never work…

Some girl he didn’t know got’her riddle that for some reason, seemed to be harder than what the other contenders got. She managed to solve it, and when she introduced herself as Astrid, a daughter of some eastern Alpha, it became clear to him that Elene was playing a game of her own, trying to eliminate the ones she disliked the most first. He wanted her to find a way to stop the Trials, but she also had to understand that they had to keep their face in all of this. Showing favouritism was against everything the North believed in.

He grunted at the thought that they would have to have a conversation about all this again. And although he loved his sibling with all his heart, he had had enough of her for the past two days already

It was Savannah’s turn now, and she stepped forward. The defiance and determination on her face was admirable. But then the props arrived and he realised that she wasn’t getting a riddle like everyone else. He felt anger rising at the bottom of his chest.

“There are nine coins on the table,” Elene smirked, “but one of them is fake. The fake coin is slightly lighter than the rest. Our contender can weigh the coins two times and no more. Then, she has to tell us which coin is fake. Good luck!”

their eyes meeting for the first time during this whole

he demanded via the mind-link. “Everyone got a

and stood next to him. “You wanted her out. Here is your chance. She fails miserably and leaves. The

King was so afraid of the little western princess that he

paled. “Well, it‘s too late for that anyway! Just wait and see... Besides, it‘s not that hard. They would be talking badly about us whatever we

her anymore. His eyes were glued to Savannah who was slowly counting the coins in her palm with her delicate fingers. The same fingers that he

his

and standing up. He would give her any other riddle and make up something about his sister pranking the

the moment she turned to him on her heels, it wasn’t an expression of gratitude that she wore on her face. Her brows were knitted on her forehead, and there was a dangerous glint in her eyes warning him that if he took one more step,

it changed to a fake

close. I am humbled by the attention.” She placed all nine coins in a row on the table, and one of the cameramen came closer to avoid missing anything. “I love this test, and these ancient northern coins are exquisite. I have never held one in my hand before, and however this ends, this was already worth it. To touch the history of the North… It really means a lot to me. You see, a long time ago, a member of my family married a northern noble lycaness. It’s a long and beautiful story, but to cut it short, I have northern blood

respect for his culture was unbelievable. She even mentioned having northern blood, which he wasn’t aware of. He gave his Beta a quick order to check this

into her fingers. “If I had to choose by just looking at them, I’d pick this one. It’s scratched just like the others, but the scratches seem… shinier.

white as a sheet of paper and returned her sneer from earlier.

and then demonstrated to everyone the one she already considered fake, placing it a bit further away from the other two in its

them on the scales,

these two groups have the same weight,” she announced with the tone of a teacher. “If the fake coin was in any of the two groups, the scales wouldn’t be even. So, we can forget about these six coins. Now we have only three

the scales and took another two coins from the third

two coins will have the same weight, meaning that the remaining coin is the lighter one. Also known as

cups, and

coin, the one she bet was the fake one from the very beginning. “And here is the one we’ve been

bowed gracefully before

growled, trying to end this fast and hurried to their side. “You were lucky and

so that others couldn’t hear them, “And I wasn’t lucky. I just have a talent for seeing fakes

eyes met, and it was nothing less than a

walked back to the throne, not

a slight problem locating the ties in

freeze, and he felt his breathing getting ragged. Absent-mindedly, he brushed his thumb

they were, he pulled one of the ties and helped her to get rid of the mask, announcing her himself. “Princess Savannah Stormhold of the Western

and gasps erupted through the crowd while Savannah walked to the centre of the line of the contenders. This was where he was supposed to

shot him a concerned glance which he ignored as he stood right next to the Western Princess, trying not to inhale her intoxicating scent

our traditions by fighting for the title of the Luna of The North. I hope

out dry, and he

had a right to this if

she completely shocked him when she slid her arm

at the cameras. “I think it’s time

in confusion. What was she doing?

it off and lead her out of the ceremony hall. But

already told you, I love history, and I am especially fascinated with the history of

as she continued, “During each test, when contenders

You are all a part of this! Up until the

started

she threw something else at him with a curt smile and then gestured for the