JUNE
SILAS LED ME INTO THE HALL WITH CONFIDENT AND STEADY STEPS. Mine will be too if I knew where the hell I was going and if I was not wearing these ridiculous heels.
I gripped his hand, digging my nails into his skin. "Do you mind going a bit slower?" I asked. "I'm not exactly accomplished when it comes to walking in shoes that are almost the same height as me."
"Not a fan of heels?"
I shook my head. "I would rather walk barefooted. But I guess that would only earn me a death sentence around here." Seeing as forfeiting this ridiculous sham meant forfeiting your life. Crazy huh.
"Your dress on the other hand is nice." His eye raked over my body skimming over my cleavage. "You look good in that dress. What's the word?"
I raised a brow.
"Enticing." He offered after a minute of racking his brain.
"Hmm."
I peeked up at him from beneath my lashes, sniffing his aura for lies – I had abilities like that. sniffing out lies and other stuffs (wink) – but Silas did not appear to be telling anything but the truth which was more bad that good. I did not want to attract too much attention.
Hell, I did not want to attract any attention at all.
Shoving aside the thoughts, I shifted my focus to my surroundings. Most of the girls were already here – all of them – each had a partner like mine.
Astonishingly handsome men whom I would love to run away with. I tried to look for Lily among the crowd. After about two minutes of looking, I gave up. It was like looking for needle in a haystack.
"Do you know that you are beautiful? Gorgeous is the word. You are gorgeous, June. And you have a sense of humor."
I winced. "Try not to say things like that."
"What? Compliments?"
"Yes."
His muscles went taut beneath my fingertips and I had a half mind to yank my arm from his. "Even if it's the truth?" he asked.
"Especially if it is the truth. My escort nearly reported a boy because he bumped into me and I would hate to see you hassled because of something as cheeky as endearment."
He shook his head. "I think it's because you are in a competition to be the Lycan King's wife, so you find it conflicting and uncomfortable to receive compliments from another male because you are committed to him."
I barely held back a laugh. "Wow, Silas. You read me like a book."
"Yes, people tell me that a lot." This time, I could not hold back the laughter. I pressed my teeth together and grinned like an idiot. "But I won't stop giving you a compliment. Really, you are gorgeous."
"Aren't you worried about how much trouble you'd be in if the Council court were to find out you were flirting with the Lycan King's harem?"
Silas leveled me with a cryptic gaze. "They will only mind if you give them reason to."
I tilted my head to the side. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
He brought us to a halt, detangling himself from me. "Another time, Miss June. Ah. And don't forget to misbehave."
Before I could offer him a retort, he opened the door and slipped through it.
One by one, the other men left too till it was just us girls inside. Taking a deep breath in, I lifted my chin and straightened my spine. Here's to failing. But first, I had to make sure I got out of here in one piece.
They were no chairs, so I found a wall and leaned on it. The stone to my back fortified me. that way, no one could sneak up on me from behind and from where I was positioned, I could see everything thing that was going on around me.
The girls were a clash of color, a crush of bodies and dresses. They milled about in small groups, chatting merrily amongst themselves. Three days together and they already found friendship groups.
Each of the girls had the same tattoo as me on their wrists.
All hundred and twenty girls.
I clenched my skirt to keep from rubbing my bare wrist. Then relaxed when the aroma of food wafted through my nose.
I scanned the room, searching for the source. A large table sat off to the side, laden with food and drinks. Next to that was a set of double doors with security guys standing guard.
The crowd went silent all at once as if someone silenced them on cue. Something, no someone was walking through the double doors.
The Council Chairman.
His physical appearance was the opposite of his daughter – maybe she took after her mother – where Adeline had blonde hair and blue eyes, the council chairman had brown hair and dark eyes.
A boy followed behind him with flashy golden robes and hair the color of snow.
I did a double take when I recognized him as the guy who ran into me the other day. What was he doing here? And why was my stomach doing flips and my wolf rising to the surface? Shit!
I took deep breaths to quell my nerves. What was the worst that could happen?
He turned and he was looking directly at me. I stumbled but caught myself only after getting several glares from the girls around me.
"Good day to you all," the council chairman said, his voice booming through the large hall. "We thank you for honoring our invite and attending the thirty third selection event to pick our Luna who will solidify the throne and god' willing, strengthen the ties between the Lycan King's court and the other."
I narrowed my eyes. He meant like how they forced us to be here by threatening our lives.
Everyone smiled and clapped. Well, maybe I was the only girl who did not want to be here. the rest of the girls did not look like they needed to be threatened to attend the Selection. I frowned.
"Today, The Selection begins, but first, I'll go over the rules. We will provide everything to make sure you are comfortable in here, whatever you need that hasn't been provided, you can ask your advisors and they will provide it for you, if it has been signed and approved by the council. You are not allowed to step foot outside of this building except it concerns the games. And you are to be in your rooms after curfew. Anyone in violation of any of the above will be eliminated immediately."
Here's to hoping elimination had nothing to do with death.
"Secondly," the council chairman continued. "Anyone who is caught sabotaging a fellow contestant will be eliminated immediately. The Lycan King will be very happy to have a wife with ambition, but we do not condone petty squabbles or murder."
I blinked. Did I just hear murder?
As in someone willing to take a life just to be Luna? Things like that happened here? I glanced at the girls and their innocent faces – okay, not all of them looked that innocent – but then, they did not look capable of murder either.
"Lastly, having an intimate relationship with the Lycan King is not frowned upon, but note that it won't affect the outcome of The Selection."
I shuddered involuntarily. We didn't even know the guy. But then, Miss Fiona had mentioned that the Lycan King will be making appearances. The guy in the flashy gold clothes – Colt – turned and looked at me. I froze.