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“Just one more. Do you think Marissa is leading you on, only to reject you on stage?” a reporter asked.
I stopped dead in my tracks. “Why would I think that?”
The dude shrugged. “It would make for some great TV, wouldn’t it?”
“No, it wouldn’t.” I couldn’t hold back this growl. “Viewers ofThe Mating Gamewatch the show because they want to see couples fall in love, despite all the odds against them. No matter how hard Suzanne Marlowe tries, she can’t touch that. That’s the magic of the show. It’s real. And let me tell you another thing—Marissa is not her mother.”
The queens whooped as I turned on my heel, heading inside HQ as the reporter and his cohorts shouted more questions at me. I would probably regret losing my cool because in Suzanne’s world, in which everything on the other side of the concrete barriers around HQ could be considered, anything I said could, and most likely would, be used against me.
But no matter how hard Suzanne tried to destroy our relationship with her made-up stories and lawsuits, she couldn’t take away what Marissa and I had together. How I felt when she looked at me with those big dark eyes. How my heart swelled when she went up on her tiptoes to give me a kiss. How it raced when she gave me a hard time, which I liked way more than I’d ever admit. And how devastated I would have been if things had gone differently that night in the mountains.
I’d always known she was my mate, but now I knew I absolutely could not live without her.
It was actually a relief to hear that the alphas were here. We needed to have a plan in place, and all this three-ring circus bullshit needed to get resolved now.
Marissa had asked Suzanne to drop the lawsuit. She laughed. Her lawyers backed that up, rejecting our lawyers’ motion to dismiss.
Our lawyers assured me this would never go to trial and told me I had the grounds to countersue. The numbers that had been batted around assured that my pack would never worry about anything again.
But would they be proud of me for doing that? I wasn’t so sure.
My bear rumbled,take her money,as I knocked on the door to Bibi’s office. It had been left ajar, but I probably didn’t need to be a shifter to feel that the vibes had changed.
But since I was, my bear immediately went on the defensive. I hated this feeling—with a pack on the move and working in production, I was used to being the new guy. I’d tried to fit in, not cause trouble. But now it had been caused for me, and I didn’t want to make things worse.
As promised, all three alphas were in there, and Beebs, even though she was all dressed up for date night, didn’t have her usual sparkle.
“What’s going on?” I asked. There was a chair open, but I didn’t sit.
Saint raised his cowboy hat and ran his hand through his graying hair. He gave me a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Suzanne’s extorting us to get the Hudaknocker back,” he said.
Leo handed me his phone and showed me the selfie she’d taken with the artifact. That shit-eating grin put my bear on the defensive.
“Could be a knockoff. I wouldn’t put it past her.” I sighed.
“Did you read the message?” Saint asked.
This baby will find its new home with the highest bidder. Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not the only one I’ve made this offer to.
“She said she’d give it to Bibi on stage,” I said.
“Maybe she plans to give it to the highest bidder or the one with the best answer, Mating Game style,” Jackson said. “And she didn’t say what stage.”
I groaned. He wasn’t wrong.
“We have the means to buy the Hudaknocker from her, even if she’s asking a ridiculous price for it,” Saint added. “But there’s no telling who else she’s in contact with. What kind of shifters she’ll bring to town.”
“Or back to town,” Jackson added. “So we have to up security around Wolf Rock andThe Mating GameHQ for the foreseeable future.”
I nodded. It sounded like a plan was already in place. “Maybe it’s not such a good idea to wait until we go on stage to get it back. We’re giving her way too much control.”
“We think you’re a great guy, Bjorn. A great team player and things have run pretty smoothly with the new show up until now.” Saint frowned. “We like Marissa too, but she comes with a lot of baggage.”
“I don’t understand where you’re going with this.” I scanned the room. The tension had become even thicker. “Are you saying the episode is over? That Marissa’s fired?” No. This was bullshit. I didn’t care how important these guys were. I wouldn’t let them cancel my mate. “She shouldn’t be held responsible for her mother’s behavior.”
“No. Your episode will be completed, and no one is getting fired,” Bibi assured.
