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She nodded, her smile widening. “You heard me. You can call your family, friends, whoever you’d like. But you only have a few minutes. This is quite unusual, truth be told.”
For a moment, I wondered if Holden had done this for me since I hadn’t even had a chance to tell my sister goodbye. I dismissed the idea immediately, though. Why would he bother doing something just for me? He’d been the one to bring me here against my will in the first place—and hadn’t let me see Jenna before leaving.
“Here’s a phone.” Faye set the device down on the table. “I’ll give you some privacy, but I’ll be back in ten minutes to help you select a dress.”
I was too excited about calling Jenna to even protest how unnecessary a dress was tonight. “Thank you so much.” I picked the phone up and dialed Jenna’s number before Faye had made it out the door.
“Hello?” came my sister’s familiar voice after a few rings. My heart swelled with emotion, and I couldn’t speak for a moment as tears tightened my throat.
“Jenna,” I finally managed, “it’s me.”
“Kayden? Oh my god. Are you okay? I can’t believe you’re calling me. I mean, someone contacted me and told me you would, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up.” She sniffed, and I knew my sister well enough to know she was crying. “What’s going on there? Are you okay?” she repeated.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I assured her, though I wasn’t sure how true that was. “Did someone tell you what happened? With the Contention, I mean.”
“One of Branson’s goons came to let me know.” Her voice cracked. “They told me to keep my mouth shut, or they’d ship me off as well.” Rage welled in my chest that Jenna had been threatened. “I’ve been so worried, Kayden. How in the world did this happen?”
As quickly as possible, I gave her a rundown of what happened that morning outside Branson’s office, followed by an abbreviated overview of how things were going with the Contention.
“I can’t believe this,” she said quietly. “Can they really force you to be there against your will? How are you holding up?”
“Well, I suppose it really isn’t against my will since I chose to be here when Holden gave me the option.”
“The other option was exile. That’s no choice,” she insisted.
I’d felt the same, but none of that mattered now. I relayed what Holden had said about earning a spot on the council. “Look, I’m going to do my best to make it to the top ten. Jenna, if I can do that, then I can find a way to get you out of there, too. We can make new lives for ourselves. That’s what matters now.”
“Just be careful, Kayden,” she whispered. “You never know how cutthroat those women could be.”
I did, but I wasn’t going to tell her I’d already been challenged. What use would that do other than worrying her even more.
“How are you doing?” I asked, changing the subject.
“I’m lonely.” Her tone was sad, and guilt washed over me. Jenna was the last remaining member of our family on our pack lands. She had some friends, but it wasn’t the same.
“It won’t be long, Jenna. You can hang in there. Just stay away from Branson as much as possible. I don’t want him retaliating against you for the things I said to the pack. Promise me you’ll keep your distance and stay safe.” I simply didn’t trust him not to make an example of my family by showing what happened to those who spoke out against him.
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” She bit out a bitter laugh. “Are you making any friends?”
“Yeah, one or two girls have seemed genuine. I might have made a few enemies too.”
“Why am I not surprised? Let me guess, you’re speaking your mind and calling it like you see it, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am. Would you expect anything else?” I laughed, and we talked a few minutes longer before Faye came back in. I regretted telling my sister goodbye but hearing her voice had me feeling better than I had all week.
Faye helped me dress in a short nude and black dress that was sophisticated without being too frilly; then, I made my way to the dining room. Jessica and Brooklyn were already sitting together when I walked through the doors, so I made a beeline to join them. Fortunately, Sydnee was seated at the opposite end of the long table. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop her from speaking loudly enough to ensure we all heard her.
“I had just gone out for a run,” she told Madison, though I was sure her words were directed to everyone else. “Right before I shifted, I saw Holden standing there. He said hello, and before I knew it, we were deep in conversation. He was just so sweet and romantic,” she gushed, a dreamy look on her face. But I swore that when she looked my way, there was smugness in her smile. “He wanted to know all about me, and we discussed the future we could have together if I were to become his mate.”
I glanced around the table, not surprised to see that about half the women were glaring daggers at her while the other half were hanging on her every word, eating it all up like it was the juiciest gossip they’d ever heard.
I rolled my eyes and turned to Jessica. “I like your dress.”
She’d chosen a flowing pale pink maxi dress with tiny white flowers, and I thought it suited her perfectly. Sweet, feminine, and classic.
Her cheeks turned pink, but her smile was pleased. “Thanks, Kayden. That’s kind of you to say. You look beautiful, of course. As always.”
I didn’t know about that, but before I could say anything else, Willow came into the dining room to discuss what the next few days would look like. Two more days of PT and classes, and on the third day would be our first competition.
