I threw him a dark glance, not sure if he was mocking me or not.
He cleared his throat. “So…uh…are you sending her home tonight then? If her team doesn’t win, of course.”
There was something in his tone that I didn’t like. Actually,morethan a little something. “Why?” I asked warily.
“No reason.” He gave what was supposed to be a nonchalant shrug, but I wasn’t an idiot. Nothing about vampires was ever casual. They were far too calculating for that.
Arms crossed, I tapped the toe of my boot, waiting for the truth to come.
“She’s really... attractive,” Alexander said. My spine stiffened, and he continued. “If you were planning to send her packing, I thought maybe I’d go over there and say hi. Reintroduce myself.”
My inner wolf roared to life, and I had to clench my fists to keep my fingers from turning into claws.
“Stay away from her,” I growled. At this moment, I didn’t give a shit that the guy was my best friend. He wasn’t going out with Daphne.
“Down, boy,” Alexander said, holding up his hands. “Possessive, much? If you’re not giving her a charm, why do you care? It’s not like I bite on the first date.”
“I mean it,” I said through gritted teeth, trying not to envision my soon-to-be-ex-best-friend sinking more than just his fangs into Daphne. “Stay the fuck away from her.”
“Relax, Travis.” Alexander had one of those beguilingly sweet tones that come naturally to vampires. “I guess that means youaregiving Daphne a charm at the next ceremony.”
“No, I’m not, but?—”
A scream from the arena interrupted our conversation. We turned to see Kiana, an elemental witch from Paris, falling off her horse. She hit the ground at an awkward angle and grabbed her arm. We ducked through the fence and raced through the corral. Well, Alexander did. I hobbled as best as I could. He was in full doctor mode by the time I got there.
“I’m afraid it’s broken,” he told her after a quick examination. “We’ll need to take you to the ER.”
Kiana looked at me, tears in her eyes. “I am so sorry, Travis.”
I was caught off guard at her reaction. Why was she apologizing tome? She was the one who was hurt.
“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about,” I assured her. “Alexander is a doctor and he’ll?—”
“You don’t understand,” she wailed then muttered somethingin French. “I came here, hoping to find love. Now that…that is not going to happen.”
Her hovering teammates tried to console her with gentle hugs and words of encouragement.
I stepped back, shocked at how much this contest meant to her. I wasn’t expecting that reaction. Not at all. To be honest, I hadn’t even thought about what the contest meant to any of them.
A pang of guilt twisted in my gut at that realization. Unlike me, each of these women came here with the genuine hope of finding love. Maybe not forever but certainly beyond the final charm ceremony. And here I was leading them on like a fucking douchebag, making them believe I was into this as much as they were.
Although I played a hero on TV, I was the villain in this story.
“Jada, I need to speak to you. Privately.” Once we were out of earshot on the far side of the corral, I turned to my sister. “I can’t do this.”
I speared a hand through my hair and cast a longing glance toward the edge of the forest, wishing I could shift without risking my knee and go for a run. I needed to clear my head of this bullshit.
Jada frowned. “What do you mean? You want to quit?Now?”
“It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt,” I told her. “And I’m not just talking broken bones. These women are legitimately hoping to fall in love with me, and that I’ll love them back. I can’t lead them on like this, only to drop the winner after the fake mating ceremony at the White Wolf Moon. Sure, I’m an asshole, Jada, but I’m not a total dick.”
Jada leaned against the top rail of the corral. “I was afraid of that.”
I eyed her suspiciously. “Afraid that I would suddenly get a conscience and couldn’t go through with it?”
“You’re a decent guy, so it doesn’t surprise me.” She tapped her lip with a forefinger and studied me with narrowed eyes. “Under what circumstanceswouldyou be okay with it?”
“Leading on a girl and making her believe I loved her?” I turned away from my sister and gazed up at the moon. “Jeez, sis. You really do think I’m a monster.”
