Nolan stepped out of the bedroom while tying his tie around his neck. His secretary was a little way down the hall, waiting for him and looking wildly embarrassed.

Yena had told Nolan to go deal with whatever was waiting for him behind the door. Then she closed herself in the bathroom, saying she was going to take a bath.

The prince’s secretary told him his mother was waiting to speak with him, and that it was quite urgent. Nolan made his way to her quickly.

Luna gave Nolan a serious look when he entered the room. And asked, “Did you smooth things over with Yena?”

Nolan looked at the floor. “I’m working on it.”

“You should be on your way to the hospital now.”

Nolan shook his head. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”

“Yes. You need to look concerned about the girl’s welfare.”

“I’m not sure there’s anything to be concerned about,” Nolan said, taking a seat and letting his head fall into his hands.

“What do you mean?” His mother followed Nolan’s lead and quit pacing to sit down opposite him. There was a bowl of grapes and a single glass of red wine on the small glass table between them.

“She might be faking this… illness or whatever she’s about to say happened.”

“That occurred to me as well,” Luna said. She picked up her wine glass and started swirling the purple liquid around inside it.

“I will do whatever I need to do to improve my image. It doesn’t matter that I don’t want to see Gina. My reason for hesitating is not personal.”

Luna sipped her wine thoughtfully.

“I just don’t know what her end game is,” Nolan continued. “She may have malicious intentions. And I don’t want to keep playing right into her game.”

“Well,” Luna said, putting down her glass. “Even if that’s true, right now you need to be on your way to check on her. To the public, she is a guest at your party who fainted in your arms, and it needs to look like you care about that.”

“Alright.” Nolan stood and adjusted his jacket. “I’ll head over now.”

Luna remained seated.

“Take the full motorcade, though,” she added. “You can’t be too careful. You know your brother will seize any opportunity he finds, if he sees you looking vulnerable.”

Nolan thanked his mother for her advice and gave a small, polite bow.

When he had one foot out the door, she called after him, “Bring Yena as well.”

Nolan paced backward and looked at his mother.

“I’m not sure that will help the situation,” he said.

Luna blinked at him. Like she was waiting for him to understand something that should have been clear.

“You are safest,” she said, “when Yena is with you.”

Deep in his soul, Nolan knew this to be true.

He was not sure how his mother did, too. But he texted Yena as he walked back to their room to pick her up.

I need you to come to the hospital with me, he wrote. We’ll show face and leave quickly.

Yena was cold, but surprisingly collected on the way to the hospital.

Nolan looked at her and found himself admiring her poise. Yena had changed a lot since she became his princess. She was calm in the face of crisis and looked the part of a true royal.

She was the real deal. His future Luna queen. She was sophisticated, regal, and elegant.

And she had a wild wolf inside her that somehow she had already tamed.

Nolan and Yena walked into the hospital lobby hand in hand. When the press and public were out of sight, Yena slipped her hand away and put it in her pocket instead.

“She’s suffered a minor heart attack,” Gina’s doctor told the prince and princess when he came out to meet them. His wire-rimmed glasses slid down to the very end of his long nose when he bent over his clipboard to read a patient form.

Nolan and Yena stole a glance at each other.

Nolan had been suspecting that Gina had faked this whole incident. Now he felt ashamed of himself. And yet still… somehow a little doubtful.

“She’s in stable condition now,” the doctor went on. “And she’s been asking to see you, if you came by.”

He pushed his glasses back on his nose and looked directly at Nolan.

Nolan looked over at Yena.

She shrugged and rolled her eyes. Then she turned around and walked away in the direction of a nearby waiting room.

One of the two Gamma warriors that had been watching the couple split off to follow her.

“Alright,” Nolan said to the doctor. “Take me to her.”

Gina was sitting up in her hospital bed, using a remote to change the channel on a TV.

She dropped it when she saw Nolan enter the room. It bounced off the narrow bed and fell to the floor with a clatter.

“Nolan,” she said. “Thank you for coming to check on me.”

Nolan nodded and took a couple hesitant steps into the room.

“I take it you’re feeling better?”

“Much better.” Gina pulled a blanket up around her waist and leaned back against a pillow. “Especially now that I’ve seen you.”

Nolan kept his face neutral.

“I’m glad you’re doing well,” he said. “I needed to do my duty and check in here, but I’m going to be leaving now that I know you’re alright.”

“This is the reason,” Gina blurted out. “My health, my heart… this is the reason I needed to speak with you all this time. I needed to tell you.”

He paused, not wanting to engage with whatever she was getting started on. She wanted Nolan to ask her questions. He was not going to bite.

Gina did a dramatic sigh.

“When we were young, Nolan, I gave up on you because I found out I had a congenital heart disease. It wasn’t because I didn’t want you. And it wasn’t because I wanted to chase some stupid dream in the human world.”

She started to shiver. Nolan was torn between wanting to continue being suspicious of her and starting to feel sorry for the girl. He didn’t know what to believe.

“I couldn’t forget you though, Nolan,” Gina continued. “I never stopped loving you. And I just needed you to know that because I can’t stand the idea that I might die without ever telling you the truth.”

“You… might die?” Nolan asked. The way she said it sounded very melodramatic. He just could not really buy it.

Gina nodded. “And if you do really love that big blonde girl, then fine. But I had to see you and I had to find out if there was any chance that we could be together again.”

Nolan glared at his ex. The bit of sympathy he had been feeling for her was gone now.

“Yena is your future queen,” he said sternly. “You’d do well to remember that. And be sure to speak more respectfully about her going forward.”

“Right,” Gina said. She frowned, then looked down at her hands.

“And this changes nothing, Gina.” Nolan took a step toward the door. “I’m sorry to hear about your health problems, but I am still not interested in you.”

Gina looked up at him. Her bottom lip quivered.

“Please don’t leave me like this,” she whined.

Nolan shook his head at her and walked out of the room, closing the door gently behind him.