\u201cThat means so much,\u201d I breathed, tears burning my eyes. \u201cIt\u2019s all so surreal if I am to be honest. It feels like a dream I\u2019m going to wake up from at any moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
She laughed and patted me on the back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, start believing it, because you are kind of a star now. Every shifter in the world knows your name. It\u2019s pretty incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
I blushed at her words and nibbled on my lower lip nervously. I wasn\u2019t sure what to expect going forward; would things start to change at school? Would people look at me differently? What about my family?<\/p>\n
\u201cThere she is\u2026 the girl who made me surrender,\u201d another voice said and I turned to see Sherry walking towards us.<\/p>\n
She looked a lot better as well, though she walked with a slight limp and had a couple of scratches on her arms. She had a soft smile on her lips as she approached and when she stopped in front of me, she bowed her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cCongratulations. Your win was well deserved,\u201d she murmured, holding out her hand for me to shake.<\/p>\n
I smiled at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were a tough fight,\u201d I admitted, taking her hand and shaking it firmly. \u201cFor a second, I thought you\u2019d win. It would have been an honor to lose to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
She grinned.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou win some, you lose some,\u201d she said with a shrug.<\/p>\n
Most of my conversations with the other competitors were more or less the same. They congratulated me and told me I fought tough and then they moved onto the<\/p>\n
next person.<\/p>\n
As the ceremony commenced, food and drinks were served. There was more mingling, and I was even able to answer some of the questions for the paparazzi. They took a ton of photos of me for headliners, I also took photos with other competitors.<\/p>\n
At one point, Chester arrived with Matt and Matt was excited to be involved in the whole thing. He got some autographs from his favorite competitors.<\/p>\n
For the most part, I managed to avoid Gavin for the night. Though, sometimes I could see his penetrating gaze on me, but I made it a point to acknowledge it. Every time I looked at him, all I saw was him and Daisy. Seeing them together hurt more than anything, seeing her practically naked in his room at night while he was in the shower was driving me insane.<\/p>\n
There was no sign of Daisy yet, but I knew she\u2019d probably make an appearance soon enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look like you\u2019re on edge,\u201d Nan pointed out. \u201cStill thinking about Gavin and Daisy?\u201d<\/p>\n
I nod.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying hard not to, especially in front of Irene, but I can\u2019t help it, nan. Every time I close my eyes I see them together. It\u2019s driving me crazy and making me feel sick to my stomach.\u201d<\/p>\n
She grabbed another champagne flute and handed it to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen, let\u2019s forget about them,\u201d she said, raising her own glass in the air. \u201cAt least for tonight, let\u2019s just forget.\u201d<\/p>\n
She downs the champagne in one go and I take a long and steady sip of mine.<\/p>\n
Then her eyes shifted behind me, and she frowned, corking her head to the side. \u201cIsn\u2019t that Sammy?\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned around and sure enough, I saw Sammy seated at one of the tables alone. She was wearing a pretty dress too, and her hair was done, but it looked like she had been crying, though she was trying to put on a brave face.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it is,\u201d I said as I made my way to the table with Nan behind me. \u201cHey, Sammy.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked up at me and gave me a small smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey,\u201d she said softly, her smile never reaching her eyes.<\/p>\n
I sat down with her.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything okay?\u201d I asked; Nan sat across from her, concern etched in her features as well.<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy boyfriend and I broke up,\u201d she<\/p>\n
told<\/p>\n
don\u2019t really want to get<\/p>\n
max but he\u2019s not who I thought he<\/p>\n
into<\/p>\n
was.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long have you been together?\u201d Nan asked curiously.<\/p>\n
\u201cA year,\u201d she sighed. \u201cI thought he could be the one, but I was wrong. He\u2019s just like every other man.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so sorry, Sammy,\u201d I said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. \u201cYou don\u2019t deserve that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just need to get away for a while and start fresh\u2026\u201d she told me softly. \u201cSo, I went to Gavin Landry\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
My brows shot up and I looked at Nan who was equally surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou what?\u201d I asked her, my voice coming out as a breathy whisper.<\/p>\n
She nodded and nibbled on her lower lip.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe pulled some strings and now I\u2019m attending the Shifter,\u201d she said a shrug. \u201cIt\u2019s a change, butnoveldrama<\/p>\n
I\u2019m ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
My eyes grew wider; that was my academy. She was told to go to the same<\/p>\n
school as me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sara is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
We Built a Kingdom From Ashes That Still Remembered Love by Aila Frost 391 \u201cThat means so much,\u201d I breathed, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shadow-slave-by-author-novelnozi-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21460\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}