Chapter 253

Georgie’s POV

With the head commissioner sentenced to prison, the entire Princess Competition fell apart. It was sad to see, I thought, as it was because of that competition that I had been able to leave my smaller pack and travel the whole of the continent.

My people were meant to roam, and this competition gave me the means and the purpose to do so.

Now, without it, I wasn’t sure what to do next.

Like the Claw Sisters, I decided to stay in BloodyMoon pack for a while after the competitions abrupt end. I lingered hoping to find answers about what to do next, but even after mulling it over for weeks on end, I was no sooner to deciding what the trajectory of my life should be next.

I wasn’t used to being without a destination. In the past, even if I hadn’t been sure where to go, I just picked a direction and went. This time, I almost felt like there was something holding me back.

Indecision, maybe. Or I could be depressed at the loss of the event I trained for every year, after not having even been given a decent chance to win.

The Claw Sisters had found their purpose, finding mates in the Auburn twins Ryan and Aidan. I was happy for them, but I didn’t know if love would have been enough to satisfy me, even if I were to find it.

I was sitting at breakfast again, across from Colin who was a very good listener, even if he didn’t have any answers. He asked the right questions too, always turning things back to me.

“I feel directionless,” I told him.

“If you could go anywhere,” he asked me in return. “Where would it be?”

Frustratingly, in that moment, all I could think was that I wanted to stay right where I was. But that couldn’t be. Panthers were meant to roam!

Seeing I had no satisfactory answer, he continued, “If you could do anything, what would it be?”

“I’d train for the next Princess Competition,” I said, “But that’s impossible now.”

“Is it?” he asked.

He wasn’t a man of small intelligence, so I knew this was a leading question. But where it was leading, I couldn’t quite perceive.

“Out with it, then,” I told him. “If you have a plan, I’d like to hear of it.”

He shrugged. “If the Princess Competition no longer exists, perhaps another can take its place.”

I leaned back in the chair, finally understanding. “I could make my own.”

“You are capable,” Colin said and sipped his coffee.

“That would be no easy task,” I said.

“You like challenges, I think,” Colin said.

He was right. I loved working through plans and seeing things come together. And I was a good judge of character. I would need help, but I wouldn’t let anyone screw me.

“I would make a new competition,” I said. “One that accepts all shifters and non-shifters.”

He nodded, pleased.

“And you will help me,” I said.

He looked up at me. He wasn’t surprised exactly. He was perceptive too, and must have been aware of this thing building between us, just as I have. I wasn’t ready to call it love. I didn’t jump into that kind of thing as quickly as the Claw Sisters did, but it wasn’t nothing either.

In time, if given room to grow, this thing between Colin and I could spark into something more.

I said he would help me as a statement, but it was just as much a question. He was free to say no, though I suspected he wouldn’t. I’d seen the way he looked at me a beat too long. I saw the way his cheeks reddened slightly when I moved closer to him.

“I’ll help you,” he said, and a warmth bloomed within me. “I’ve been searching for my own purpose,” he admitted. “I think I could find it in this… at your side.”

I hummed, non-committal in tone, even as a hint of a smile curled my lips. His mouth quirked too, and quickly we were smiling at each other.

And just like that, I had a new destination in mind.

Mia’s POV

“We need the perfect plan,” I said to Ethan one day at the end of school, when we were waiting for Dad to come pick us up. “We have to get them back together no matter what!”

“I don’t know if we need to do anything,” Ethan said. “They already seem to like each other…”

“That’s not good enough,” I insisted. “We need our Mom and Dad to be our Mom and Dad again.”

“They are already our Mom and Dad…”

“I mean they should be married.”

“Oh…”

Ethan wouldn’t be able to argue with that. So I continued on, speaking with the air of authority here.

“So we need to think of a way to get them married again.”

“What can we do?” Ethan asked.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

Together, we thought for a moment.

“We could just ask them to get married again,” Ethan said.

“That would never work,” I said. “In the movies, they always have to do all kinds of things, like tricking them both into a closet until they make up or something.”

Ethan frowned. “I don’t think they are fighting.”

“Yeah, but…”

“There you are,” Dad said, entering through the door. He signed in at the checkpoint and then waved us over. “Sorry I’m a minute late, I had to stop to get something from the store.”

“What?” I asked, curious.

He shrugged. “Just a ring. It needed resized.”

“A ring?” Ethan asked and gave me a pointed look.

“Yeah. For your Mom.”

We followed Dad to the car. Once we were all buckled up, he put the car into drive and started for home.

“Dad,” I started, then paused. That he had bought a ring for Mom was a good sign, but that didn’t mean it was an engagement ring. No matter how many pointed looks Ethan gave me, it didn’t mean they were going to get married.

I had to do something to be sure.

“What is it, Mia?” Dad asked. At a red light, he glanced at me in the rear-view mirror.

“You love Mom, right?” I said.

“Yes,” he replied easily.

“And you want to be with us forever?”

“Of course.”

“So….” I said, hoping he would fill in the rest.

His gaze turned confused. “So?”

The light turned green and he started forward again.

Frustration, I huffed a breath and crossed my arms. “Forget it.”

I continued to think though, about how Ethan and I could help convince Mom and Dad to finally marry. It distracted me so much, I couldn’t focus when I was supposed to be doing homework in my room.

Maybe Ethan was right and I should just talk to them. Deciding to, I left my room and started down the stairs.

I stopped when I saw Dad slid a diamond ring onto Mom’s ring finger. She was smiling, and they kissed.

Did Dad just propose?!

Joy filled my heart, and I scurried back upstairs before they could see me.

I didn’t want to take all the credit, but I was certain that my talk with Dad in the car helped lead to this. I felt so smug about it that I immediately knocked on Ethan’s door.

When he opened it, I couldn’t stop smiling.

“Guess what?” I asked excitedly. Before he could answer, I told him, “They’re engaged!”