nna'

panic hit me-I was bound, hands a

ing? Who had do

n Jessica's smug voice cut through the air like a knife. "D

me hard. I had been dumped at a train station, the

ven my father and stepmother stood lik

then-they were sacrific

boiling into a scream. "This isn't

nd become the princes' sex slave, not me!

syrupy voice she always used to hide her venom. "The three Lycan princes aren't as b

that escaped me. "If it's such

tered. She glanced toward my f

n the reasonable one, Makenna. Jessica's too young to handle palace life. Deep down,

hattered my

hree princes were infamous for their cruelty. And y

. "Good luck, Makenna. That wedding you planned won't

ddin

heartbreak. Frank and I were supposed to get

intervene, that he'd say something to stop this madness. But

ting out a bitter lau

r him to save me? How cou

sitation, the palace soldiers stepped forwa

he train, tying my hands even

soldiers patrolled, their guns slung across their chests.

reached its destination

y, the minutes bleeding into hours. Bu

y gathered. They looked just as terrified as I felt. It was clear

Was this really my fate? Wa

ldn't. I

every exit was sealed off, soldiers stationed at every door. I

you!" A stern voice snapp

marched in, her eyes sweeping ov

sharp and unfeeling. "You are to strip off your clothes immediately. The princes

Strip? Here? In f

. There was no way I was doing that. The other women se

ldiers. Without hesitation, they grabbed one of the women a

se stop!

them, but it was no use. They pinned her to the floor, ripping

mach churn. I instinctively took a step b

nothing but objects to

a whip. "Hurry up and strip,

ther, silently pleading for reassurance that none of us could offer. Slowly, sobs broke th

d in my ears as I closed my eyes, the weight of my reality pressing down like a suffocating

dn't want to

bare, standing in a line,

. "That's better. Now wait fo

rising in my throat as I imagined being scrutinized like livestock by

king away with agonizing slownes

er face. She turned sharply to a servant, barking an ord

a troubled look on her face. "Miss White, t

ead around just in time to see one of the soldiers crumple to the floor, kicked aside as if he weighed n

couldn't look away from-chiseled, with high cheekbones and brows that looked carved from stone. But it was his eyes, stormy and unforgiving, that

my chest, my throat tightening as I

e man respectfully, her voic

's oldest son who rumored to be the