Gina either didn’t notice me until I was right in front of her, blocking her path, or she was pretending like she didn’t.

“Excuse me,” I said loudly when she tried to side-step me.

Finally, she stopped in her tracks.

“Oh, my!” Gina said when she finally met my eyes. “I’m so sorry, Yena, I didn’t recognize you.”

I raised an eyebrow at her.

It was a strangely informal way to greet me. Calling me by my first name.

“We haven’t actually met,” I said.

“Right, right,” Gina responded. “I just meant, you know, your face is everywhere in the news and such. I thought I’d recognize you when I saw you tonight, but you look so different, with all the makeup.”

I had nothing to say to that.

“Do you care to introduce yourself to me?” I said to her in the most royal way I could manage.

“Oh,” Gina said breathily. “Sorry, it just seems like you know who I am already! I’m sure Nolan must have told you I was coming tonight.”

My stomach did a somersault.

She read my face and asked quietly, “He didn’t?”

I just continued to give her an icy stare.

“Yena, please forgive me,” Gina continued. Finally she offered me a very lazy bow, hardly even approaching the floor. “I’ve been so rude.”

That was true.

“All I wanted was to come here and give Nolan this gift.” She produced a slim, rectangular box and held it up for me to look at.

“I can pass it along to him if you’d like,” I told her.

The girl dared to give me a wild, defiant look. Like what I had just said was completely crazy.

“Nolan is expecting me, though,” she said, shaking her head like I was missing her point. “He really didn’t say anything to you about it? He told me last night that you were fine with me coming here to the party, so I just thought you knew.”

A devious smile kept trying to break out across Gina’s mousy face. She was trying to suppress it. But she was clearly enjoying messing with me.

I couldn’t help that I had to wonder if any of what she was saying was true.

It just didn’t make any sense that Nolan would invite her here. Or would be telling her lies about me.

But it didn’t make any sense, either, that he would have a bunch of text messages from her in his phone. That he would hide from me, and not explain.

Gina wasn’t even looking around for Nolan. Her big, round eyes were fixed right on me, hyper focused.

“I don’t believe you,” I finally told her. “And I think that you should leave now.”

Gina recoiled dramatically.

“Why?” she asked. “What did I do?”

“You were not invited,” I said through clenched teeth.

I really hoped that was true.

Gina pretended to be confused and scandalized.

“Just talk to Nolan,” she said. “He’ll clear this all up.”

Then her eyes darted over my shoulder.

I turned my head and saw that she was looking at Nolan, who was walking over to us quickly. He had his eyes fixed firmly on Gina.

I knew Nolan well by now. I knew what it meant when his eyes changed.

The way he was looking at Gina… it looked like he wanted to kill her.

But I could not be sure.

NOLAN

The pack of werewolves that Luna had brought to meet with Nolan were old military buddies of his father, the King.

The four men offered very little information about themselves.

Three of them were old. His father’s age. They were still strong, intimidating guys, though.

The fourth was a bit younger. Or maybe he was just someone who had aged a lot more gracefully than his friends.

One of the older men was gaunt and pale, and had three huge scars that stretched across the length of his face, all the way down his throat. Slash marks that started on his left cheekbone and ran down over his mouth and ended somewhere under his collar.

Only one of the men spoke to Nolan. He did not introduce himself by name.

None of had risen to bow when Luna had brought him over to their table, either.

The leader of the group told Nolan that they had spoken earlier with Luna, and understood what was vaguely described as the situation.

The man’s brown face was cracked and leathery. His voice was all rasp. An aging smoker.

“We will await your instruction,” the leader said, reaching his hand out toward Nolan.

The prince opened his own hand and the man deposited a thin, disposable cell phone into it. Nolan palmed it and discreetly slipped it the inner breast pocket of his jacket.

He felt the damp, silky handkerchief that was in there. And had to rally all his mental energy to remain attentive to the present moment.

After shaking all the men’s hands and bidding them goodbye, Nolan and his mother left them to disappear into the shadows, and returned to the party.

Nolan noticed that Yena was not where he had left her.

He glanced around. Sure that she would be close by.

A flash of emerald green caught his eye and he smiled, recognizing her dress.

But then he saw who his beautiful wife was standing opposite and talking to.

So did Luna.

“What is she doing here?” Nolan’s mother asked him, her tone unhappy but even.

“Looking to cause trouble,” he replied. “How did she get in?”

Luna gave him a stern look that said, That does not really matter, now, does it?

“Get rid of her,” she said. “Without bringing security into it.”

And then he was striding over in the direction of the two girls.

Gina caught sight of Nolan in her peripheral vision before Yena did. She turned to him and gave a big smile.

Nolan was furious. But tonight was not a night that he could show anything like that in his face, his speech, or his actions.

Yena turned to face the prince as he made his way to toward the girls through the crowd.

She stared daggers at him.

Nolan had never seen such a look of anger in Yena’s eyes.

The princess turned back to face Gina, who was still beaming at Nolan, feigning innocence.

“What are you doing here, Gina?” Nolan asked when he was close enough to speak to her without shouting over the background noise.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “We talked about this yesterday!”

Nolan looked into her eyes. She started right back at him bravely, unflinching. Smiling.

He felt his hand go to his mouth, wiping it dry.

Nolan turned his attention to his wife. He put his body between the two girls, turning his back to Gina and putting his hands around Yena’s waist.

Heat was thrumming off her. He could tell Yena was doing everything in her power to maintain composure.

“She is lying,” Nolan said quietly. “I’m so sorry. I’ll get rid of her.”

Yena said nothing.

“Is everything okay?” Gina called out from behind Nolan’s back.

She stepped to the side, out of Nolan’s shadow.

“Ooh,” she said, “I feel like I’ve gotten in the middle of something here. Nolan, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset her.”