NOLAN

“I am truly sorry to have to tell you this,” Luna said, in a voice that didn’t sound sorry at all. “But I am not going to wait any longer for you to get on board with my plan.”

Nolan’s face tightened. He held back from responding to her right away.

“I have already started planning a selection party,” she continued.

Nolan unclenched his jaw enough to say, “I told you I don’t have time…”

“You will make time.” Luna took a drink from her glass of red wine.

Nolan sighed, searching for an argument.

“Once Yena leaves,” she continued, “you will have no more excuses to delay. This is happening, whether you like it or not.”

“When?” Nolan asked. “When is this event you have already started planning?”

“I haven’t set a date yet. That’s why I called you here. When will Yena be flying out?”

“I’m not sure yet. I called her, but she needed to confirm with…”

Luna arched an eyebrow. “She needs to confirm her plans with whom?”

“With her adoptive brother. He’s going with her.”

“I see.” Luna paused. “Well, confirm the flight right away. Then send the details to my team.”

“And then?”

“And then I’ll finalize the plans for the selection party. Yena will be officially out of the country. We’ll file the divorce papers, and you’ll find a new princess.”

EVAN

Evan’s suitcase was open on his bed. It was already overflowing with stuff.

Yena told him not to pack a lot of clothes because she could make him new ones when they got to their new place.

But everything was already changing. Evan didn’t really love the idea of having to change his whole wardrobe, too.

He looked at his closet.

It wasn’t really like he had much of a wardrobe to brag about, though.

Maybe it would be good if Yena cleaned him up. Got him started dressing more like a grownup.

Evan grabbed one of his favorite sweatshirts off the top of his dresser. It was very thin, having been worn and washed about a million times since he got it freshman year on the football team.

That was something he needed.

He tossed it into the pile.

Yena said she’d make him whatever kind of clothes he wanted. Evan didn’t even know what he wanted to look like. He’d always just been a jock, both in high school and college, and no one ever expected him to wear anything besides workout clothes and school gear.

But Yena was a sophisticated woman now. And if Evan was going to stand by her side, he needed to look the part.

She might not be the princess, officially, for much longer.

But the person she’d become while she was the princess… that wasn’t going to go away. Yena was a knockout now, and a boss.

Evan needed to step up if he was ever going to make anything happen for real with her.

He went to the bed and started pulling apart the pile of clothes. He picked out the most worn and raggedy ones – including his favorite old football sweatshirt – and moved them back into his closet.

It wasn’t that he was throwing away his clothes, at least. Just setting them aside for a while.

He decided that was enough with the trying to pack tonight. Not that he’d gotten anything done. But Evan was feeling mentally exhausted, drained from all the nerves he was feeling about the trip, and how hard he was working on holding it inside.

He went to brush his teeth and saw that Yena’s bedroom light was still on, giving the upstairs hallway a yellow glow. Coming out a minute later, he could hear the two girls giggling, and smiled.

He was happy when he knew Yena was happy.

Back in his room, though, it was nothing but stress on his mind as Evan held his eyes closed and wished for sleep.

The occasional sound of Yena’s sweet voice seeping through the wall between their bedrooms didn’t help.

He kept imagining what it was going to be like.

Once all this waiting around was over, and he and Yena were finally there in the human world, starting their new life together.

They’d be roomates again. And maybe it would be just like this.

Maybe he’d still lay awake alone, thinking and overthinking. Wanting Yena and wondering if he’d ever have her.

Or maybe he’d finally get to hold her in his arms at night.

And kiss her, and touch her, and call her his own.

ADAN

Kerr opened the passenger door to Adan’s car and jumped inside, slamming it closed fast behind him against the downpour.

“You’re really not gonna tell me where we’re going?” he asked Adan when his friend slid into the driver’s seat.

Adan grinned. “It’s a surprise.”

He turned the engine and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket.

“I hate surprises,” Kerr grumbled. “They’re never good.”

Adan lit a cigarette between his teeth and took in a long, deep inhale.

The car started filling with white smoke. Adan rolled his window down just about an inch to let some of the cloud snake its way outside into the storm. The rain plummeted down through the crack, drenching the interior of the driver’s door.

Adan didn’t care. Nothing about the cold, wet weather here ever bothered him.

Kerr, on the other hand, was in the passenger seat wiping his face dry with a big, fancy handkerchief.

“Alright,” Adan said. He blew smoke out the left side of his mouth and eased the car out of Kerr’s big, round driveway. “I’ll tell you.”

It wasn’t just a rainy night.

It was full dark. No moon. No stars.

“We’re scoping out the location,” Adan said. “The one I told you about a few days ago.”

Kerr snapped to attention and looked Adan in the eye.

“Yes,” Adan said. “That one.”

Kerr shifted in his seat. He finally freed himself from the soaking wet raincoat he was wearing and threw it into the backseat.

Sighing, he leaned back and buckled his seatbelt.

Adan started down the country road that led to the highway. He had a winding and tedious route he liked to travel to and from his buddy’s house. There were no traffic cams on the mountain road, and no other cars around to spot him and know what he was up to.

Except once.

Just one time Adan could’ve sworn that someone was following him on his secret mountain road. But just as soon as he’d spotted the car, it disappeared back down the way it came. Back toward the highway.

Beyond that, Adan’s chosen route was totally private. It just took a while to drive, and he had to go slow enough to keep a lookout for wildlife crossing.

Kerr cleared his throat. If he’d been about to say something, though, he decided against it. And opted for awkward silence instead.

The rain outside was hammering down on every inch of the car, anyway, making a ton of noise. The windshield wipers were going as fast as they could, but visibility was close to zero, either way.

Adan sucked his cigarette down to its filter and threw the nub out the window, then finally rolled the window up.

He coughed once, then said, “Let’s have out with it. What you’re thinking.”

“Ehh,” Kerr groaned. “We’ve already been through this, Adan. I told you what I was worried about, with this place.”

Adan nodded. “Yes,” he said slowly. “You did tell me what you were worried about.”

It had been surprising that Kerr wasn’t more enthusiastic about Adan’s plan, when he told him the idea.

Kerr had seemed just as eager as Adan to get the ball rolling with their move for power.

Adan would reclaim the throne. And Kerr would take over Parliament.

Together, they’d rule the country. And restore the werewolf world back to the status and power over other nations that it deserved.

But Kerr got hung up on something stupid.

“There will be too many civilians,” he’d said.

Adan knew what Kerr really meant by that.

He was worried about possible civilian casualties.

Even with his closest ally, Adan had be careful about the way he responded to things like that…

Because really, Adan couldn’t care less about civilian casualties.

There were a necessary part of war.

He had to pretend to care, though. As King, people needed to think Adan cared about everyone in the country, even commoners.

“All I can tell you, my friend,” he said, “is that you have to trust me on this. It’s going to be our best opportunity.”

Adan got the car off the backroad and started toward the highway.

“We’ll make sure the plan is foolproof. I’ll personally double and triple check all the details. And vet the trigger man.”

Kerr grunted and nodded his head slowly.

“I know what I’m doing,” Adan said, sounding like he was running out of patience. “And you know that. So, can you trust me?”