Realms and Rebels: A Paranormal and Fantasy Reverse Harem Collection

by C. M. Stunich

  Antoine pursed his lips in thought. “You, however, have yet to cause any fighting.” I frowned a bit disappointed in my lack of sexual prowess. “Do not be mistaken. All of us are quite taken by you, Miss Billings.” He paused, and his eyes bored into me as he purred my name. “Piper.”

  That word wiggled through my ears, through my veins, and settled deep between my legs. I pressed them together tightly and forced back my reaction to him and his words.

  “You don’t really want to go now, do you, Piper?” Antoine stood from the couch and moved closer to me. “Not when you have a debt to pay.”

  I knew he was taunting me with the broken vase, but I didn’t take the bait. I stared up at him, my mouth going dry. I shook my head, unable to come up with an answer.

  “I didn’t think so.” Antoine cupped my face with his hand and leaned down until his lips brushed mine. When he pulled back, his face had returned to his usual superior smirk. “Now, take your bag back to your room and clean this place up. It’s a pig sty.”

  Gaping at what had just happened, I didn’t have a chance to argue before Antoine had disappeared to God knew where. As I took my bag back to my room, I thought about why I was staying. Was I really that hung up on these guys that I would risk my life to stay here?

  If I was truthful with myself, that would be a resounding yes. However, I wasn’t that self-aware. I told myself it was to keep an eye on them. If I knew their secret, then they would be held accountable at least by someone.

  I didn’t know what the future held for me if I ever became useless to them. Most likely, I’d be turned into one of their meals. What I did know was that I couldn’t leave them. Not just because of what Antoine said. I did owe them, but I wouldn’t just roll over to save my own ass.

  If I left, they would get a new maid, and that one might not be as smart as me. Also, the thought of another woman being around the guys made my skin crawl. I still hadn’t come to terms with my feelings for them, especially now that I knew what they were.

  I couldn’t let anyone else get hurt. At least, if I were here, I’d be able to keep them in line. Maybe save a few lives and hopefully not lose my own in the process. So much for not being a hero. I was gunning for the spot of the dumbest one of the year.

  The End

  About the Author

  Erin Bedford is a USA TODAY Bestselling fantasy and romance author. She enjoys playing RPG games alongside her husband as well as inventing nonsensical games for her daughter's amusement.

  Creating fantastical worlds have always been a secret passion of hers and she couldn't imagine writing any story without some kind of lovey-dovey or smexy goodness in it.

  Join her newsletter at erinbedford.com/newsletter

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  Moon Academy

  Catherine Banks

  Moon Academy

  Being adopted by a werewolf pack means Sarah’s life is never simple.

  Sarah is just starting sophomore year, and already things are changing. Boys are asking her out, and her best friend is acting weird.

  When she begins hearing a voice in her head and has a vision of a vampire, her pack must find a way to break the mark. If they don’t, he will steal her away and kill her like he’d planned to ten years ago. The Alphas come to help her foster father, but his brother, Alfred, seems to have a separate agenda, one that involves her.

  It’s just one thing after another at Moon Academy!

  1

  “Nick, calm down. He didn’t run into me on purpose,” I said in exasperation as I tugged ineffectively on the arm of the six-foot-tall football player with his chest puffed out as he stood eye to eye with Marcus, the guy who’d run into me.

  Marcus kept eye contact with Nick as he refused to back down. “I said I was sorry to her, Nick. I didn’t mean to bump into her.”

  “I’m not even hurt.” I blushed as more people gathered in hopes of a fight.

  “Don’t let it happen again.” Nick took a step back and grabbed my hand. “Come on.”

  I mouthed “sorry” to Marcus, who only smiled at me as I was dragged away. I yanked my hand from Nick’s grip and smacked his arm. “What is wrong with you? You’re never this protective.”

  Nick stopped walking and gripped his hair as grunted. He stood still a moment and then released the death grip on his hair as he turned to me. “I’m sorry. I’ve been pretty moody lately.”

  I smiled at him. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

  He sat down on the planter wall beside us and I sat beside him, smoothing the skirt of my uniform as I did. I’d hated the uniforms at first, but I didn’t mind them much now. Our school was one of the most prestigious in our state, and the only private school within fifty miles of our home. Since there were so many werewolves in attendance, not that the humans knew that, we called it Moon Academy, or MA.

  “I’ve been having nightmares,” he confessed after a moment. He glanced at me then stared down at his hands. “You keep getting hurt in them, and I can’t stop it.”

  I leaned my head against his shoulder for comfort and patted his hand. “You can’t protect me all the time, Nick. I’m bound to get hurt at some point.” He started to shake his head and I whispered, “We all die.”

  He growled and wrapped his arms around me in a bone crunching hug. “Don’t say that.”

  I inhaled his musky scent and relaxed in the safety of his arms. “Are you getting closer to the big shift?” I asked. “Could that be part of it?”

  He tensed and pulled away from me. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  I dropped the subject. He’d talk to me about it when he wanted to. I wasn’t going to push him. “You should apologize to Marcus,” I said softly.

  He exhaled. “Yeah, I’ll do it later at practice.”

  The bell rang and I stood, brushing off my back and skirt in case any dirt had stuck. “Come on, let’s get to class.”

  He shrugged his backpack up higher and followed me. “What are you doing after school?” he asked as we walked in the horde of kids heading to various classrooms.

  “Cheerleading practice,” I answered. “I’ll be on the sidelines of your practice so don’t fret.”

  He fingered the claw hanging on a leather cord around his neck. It was a gift from his father before he’d died. It was his nervous habit. What could possibly have him nervous?

  “I was thinking, maybe we could—”

  “Sarah!” yelled Tom, the quarterback of our football team and one of the hottest guys at our school. He nodded at Nick in the universal guy greeting and then asked, “What are you doing tonight?”

  “Cheerleading practice,” I answered with a sense of déjà vu.

  “I mean after,” he said with a sexy smirk on his face, a dimple showing on one side.

  I shrugged. “Nothing.”

  “I was hoping you’d go out to dinner with me,” he said with a nervous smile.

  Dinner? With Tom? “Sure. I just have to be home by eight.”

  His smile changed from nervous to elated. “Awesome. See you later.” He jogged away, heading in the opposite direction.

  “You agreed to go to dinner with him?” Nick asked, his brows scrunching.

  I lifted a brow. “Yes. Why shouldn’t I? I know you and Tom are friends, so it’s not like you’re worried he’s going to hurt me. Right, Guardian?”

  Nick’s upper lip lifted as he snarled at me. “Don’t call me that. And I just…never mind. Do what you want.” He turned away from me and headed towards his first period.

  What was it with boys? Nick was protective of me, but he’d never shown romantic intentions towards me. I’d heard him tell the guys on more than one occasion that we were just friends. So why was he sulking?

  I sighed in frustration. I was never going to understand men. I walked into the classroom and took my seat.

  Macy sat beside me, her skirt shorter than regulation and her hair straightened with not a single fly-
away strand as she moved. “Did you remember your pom poms?”

  I smiled. “They’re in my locker.”

  She nodded. “Good. You know that you’re going to be the top at the game, right?”

  I nodded. “I am the smallest.” And it was true. I was short and only weighed ninety-five pounds. I wasn’t skin and bones, but I wasn’t a hog either. I ate a lot, but my body just burned it off faster than it could store it.

  Cherry, the captain of our cheerleading squad, a redhead with the biggest boobs I’d ever seen on a high school girl, plopped down on the other side of me. “Tell me it’s true.”

  I frowned at her. She knew I hated when she started conversations like that. “What?”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “That you and Tom are going on a date tonight?”

  A date? I hadn’t really thought about it. I shrugged. “We’re going to dinner after practice.”

  Cherry and Macy squealed excitedly. “O-M-G!”

  “Quiet down, girls. Class is starting now,” said Mr. Roy. He was completely bald, which he said was the fault of all of the noisy students in his class and had a set of strangely grey eyes. He was supposedly human, but his eyes made me question that.

  Cherry flipped open her notebook and started scribbling notes as fast as she could. Whoever said cheerleaders were dumb have never met straight-A Cherry. She had a five point zero G.P.A. and mostly AP classes.

  I stared at the whiteboard in front of me and pondered over Nick’s new attitude. I knew he was going to start acting differently when it came closer for him to have his big shift, but I was hoping the change wouldn’t alter his personality. I’d known him ten years and I had never seen him so frustrated. Maybe I needed to talk with Dad. He knew what it was like to go through the change.

  The bell rang and I realized I had fallen asleep. Cherry nudged me and I grabbed my bag. “Need to borrow my notes again?” she asked.

  I nodded and rubbed my eyes. “Sorry, I’m just not sleeping well.”

  Cherry and Macy walked on either side of me as we headed for the locker rooms.

  “Are you having those nightmares still?” Macy asked.

  “Yep, I have them every night,” I admitted and then chewed on my lip

  “Hey Sarah,” said Ryan and Anthony, two of the boys from Nick’s pack.

  I waved and smiled. “Hey, Ryan. Hey, Anthony.”

  Cherry sighed. “It’s no fair that the hot boys are all attracted to you. Can’t you push some our way?”

  I rolled my eyes at her. “They all know me, but none of them want to date me. I’ve never even been on a date.”

  “Nuh-uh,” said Cherry and Macy simultaneously.

  “I’m being honest. I may spend a lot of time with the guys, but it’s always in a group or doing guy things. Tonight is the first time that anyone’s asked me to dinner. I didn’t even think about it being a date until Cherry said something.”

  “Wow,” they said in unison as we stepped through the doors to the locker room.

  After an invigorating mile run and a change of clothes, I stood in line for food in the cafeteria. Nick stopped beside me without even saying hello.

  “Hi, Nick.”

  He ignored me, his eyes fixed on something or someone up ahead. I leaned around the guy in front of me and saw Tom walking towards us. Nick’s hand clenched into a fist and he moved a step closer to me. Tom stopped and smiled. “Hey, Sarah.”

  “Hi, Tom.”

  He looked at Nick and frowned. “You need to talk?” he asked Nick.

  Nick glared at Tom a moment and then nodded. “After I eat.”

  Tom nodded and then waved to me. “See you tonight.”

  I watched Tom leave and then turned on Nick. “What is that all about?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he answered.

  I punched him in the arm, knowing it wouldn’t hurt. “Stop being my Guardian and talk to me. What’s going on?”

  “Trouble,” he said softly. “Like I said, don’t worry about it. I’ve got it under control.”

  We grabbed our food and headed outside to eat. Once we were out of hearing distance of other people I asked, “Is Tom human?”

  Nick’s lip twitched as he fought a smile. “Sort of.”

  I sighed. “Why didn’t you just tell me he wasn’t human?”

  “Does it make a difference to you that he’s not completely human?” he asked with anger and bitterness in his voice.

  “You know me better than that. I just would have preferred to know, so that I could be more cautious. Will you tell me what he is?”

  Nick shook his head. “No, I won’t tell you. And I’m sorry I asked you that. I know it doesn’t bother you much.”

  “You’re going to follow us to dinner, aren’t you?” I asked as I took a bite out of my burger.

  He smiled. “Maybe.” He finished his lunch and stood, grabbing my empty tray to put away, too. “I need to go find Tom. Stay out of trouble, please.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You act like I’m a daredevil.”

  He picked up a strand of my hair and inhaled. “Compared to others your size, you are.”

  I watched him walk away with a sense of foreboding. Something was happening in the world of supernaturals, and I was scared that it somehow involved me. I wasn’t being conceited and thinking that everything revolved around me, but I was one of the few who had a supernatural Guardian to protect me from everything that went bump in the night.

  “Hey, Sarah. Where’s your Guardian?” asked a voice beside me.

  I turned and smiled at Gary, Nick’s nemesis in the pack. “He’s away for the rest of lunch.”

  Gary was handsome, strong and when Nick wasn’t around, fun to be around. “He left you on your own? Isn’t he worried you might trip on a tuft of grass and scrape your knee?” he asked with mock horror as he sat down beside me.

  I pushed his shoulder playfully. “You’d be the same way if you were in his shoes.”

  He shook his head and looked at me with sinfully blue eyes. “No, I’d treat you a lot differently than he does.”

  I felt heat rush to my cheeks and pretended to tie my shoes. “Don’t tease me, Gary.”

  “He loves you,” he said after a moment.

  “Of course, he does. You can’t be a good Guardian if you don’t care about your human.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “Sarah, you’re being naïve. He loves you. Hasn’t he told you?”

  Every cell in my body stopped moving. He couldn’t be right. He’d never shown any interest in me. “You’re wrong. He doesn’t view me romantically.”

  Gary leaned back, and I couldn’t help noticing his muscular arms. All of the werewolf boys were muscular. Some of them worked out extra hard, like Gary, to be even bigger. “Are you afraid of what he’ll become?”

  I sighed and leaned back against the wall. “I’m afraid he’ll become different, but if you’re asking if I’m afraid of him being an alpha, you should know the answer. I’ve played with your pack enough for you to know that the wolf side of you all doesn’t frighten me.”

  He nodded his head. “I know, but sometimes people need to hear it said.”

  “You think he’s afraid that I’ll be scared of him?” I asked, blinking in shock.

  Gary smiled. “We’re all afraid that you’ll change your view of us once we change. The shift leads to other changes.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Has he talked to you about the decision?”

  I shook my head and then let it drop forward. “He refuses to discuss it with me until next year. He said now is not the appropriate time.”

  Gary nodded. “He’s right. That’s also why he’s trying to date you now, too.”

  “Gary you’re speaking nonsense. You say he loves me and that he’s trying to date me, but he hasn’t asked me out and he doesn’t even touch me more than is friendly when we’re together.”

  “So, if I asked you out on a date, would you say yes?”

  Th
at got my attention. I sat up straighter and looked at Gary. He looked serious, but… “Why would you want to date me? I’m not your type.”

  Gary laughed. “You’re right. Beautiful, sexy, and accepting of my race is not my type. No, I prefer ugly, fat, and fearful.”

  I stared at him intently a moment and then asked, “What’s going on, Gary?” He was one of the few who were always honest with me. He told me everything that he could, even when I asked the tough questions about their race.

  He smiled. “For the past four years Nick has been telling everyone that you’re not his girl, besides to guard of course, and that he’s not romantically interested in you. So, now that I’ve gotten to know you better and we’re older, I’ve decided it’s time to ask. Will you go out with me Saturday night?”

  This was crazy. Fifteen years of no dates and now I had two guys asking me out plus another who may or may not be in love with me. What the hell was going on? “Why do you want to go out with me?”

  He leaned towards me and whispered, “I believe I already answered that question when I told you that you are beautiful and sexy. Plus, you’re the only girl within two hundred miles who likes playing with wolves at night.” This was too overwhelming. “Dinner and a movie, Sarah, that’s all I’m asking.”

  Gary was nice and sometimes just as protective as Nick. He was also handsome and quite the charmer. If Nick and he didn’t despise each other so much, I would have spent more time with him. “Okay, but if you’re doing this to hurt Nick, I’ll never forgive you.”

  He kissed my cheek and whispered, “Nick is the last thing on my mind.”

  I watched him walk away and knew my world was changing. I only hoped it was for the better.

  I sat in silence as I absorbed all that had happened. Was Gary right? Did Nick love me as more than a friend? Or was he just trying to push my buttons?