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The other alpha glared at her for a moment, but the prospect of having his mouth literally sewn shut made him relent. We moved past him. Gavin glared at Wyatt, but gave me a reassuring nod. He reached out as though he wanted to take my hand, but I pretended not to see the gesture.
We headed up a final set of stairs to the outdoor patio on the roof. The witch opened the door and gestured for us to go first. “Good luck. You’ll need it,” she said before closing the door behind us.
On the patio, a table had been set up and multiple people sat around it. They all carried themselves with power and authority. Almost as one, the group turned to look at us as we walked forward.
Hoping that Wyatt recognized his uncle among the crowd, I looked at his face. Wyatt’s tight jaw and confused face told me all I needed to know—his uncle was not in attendance.
As we drew nearer, I realized that I recognized two of the six people at the table. One was the wealthy media mogul Garth Sheen—Mika’s father. The other was the strange and enigmatic man who’d been at the auditions. The psychic who, if I had to bet money, was the one who’d pulled the strings to help get me on the show in the first place.
“One’s a psychic,” I whispered to Wyatt, hiding my lips by pretending to scratch my nose. “Guard your mind.”
“Got it.”
The others all appeared to be generic rich business people—all but one. A woman sat at the middle of the table, striking in her beauty. She held herself in an aloof manner, almost as though the people around her were of no consequence. Her white dress stood out like snow among the men’s charcoal and black suits.
I tried to scent her, but came away with no clue if she was human, shifter, fae, or something else entirely. She made me uneasy, even more so than the others.
Von stood nearby and circled the table to meet us. He wore sunglasses and a ridiculous wide-brimmed hat to block out the sun. “Kira, Wyatt, welcome. I present to you the board of directors forThe Reject Project. If you would, please tell them your story. Say your piece. If they like what they hear, they may use it to spin things on the show and do some damage control.”
“Where’s Robert Rivers?” Wyatt asked. “He should be here. He’s on the board.”
Garth Sheen scoffed. “Rob? He’s been expelled from the board. No longer with us.”
“What?” Wyatt looked shocked and confused. “Why? Shouldn’t there have been some word? A report on the news or—”
“Enough,” Garth barked at him. “We ask the questions, not you, son. Your uncle can’t pull the strings anymore. Understand?” He jammed his fingertip onto the table. “Speak. You have thirty seconds each to tell us why we shouldn’t toss your asses out in the jungle to die right now.”
He really was an alpha asshole. No wonder Mika didn’t want to go home. If he’d been my father, I’d have taken my chances on this island, too.
“Explain your connection,” Garth prodded.
So, Wyatt’s uncle had kept almost everything hidden from the rest of the board. That must have been part of why they were mad—they’d been blindsided by Wyatt’s and my relationship as well. Could that be why good old Uncle Rob had been kicked off? I bet it was. Fantastic.
Wyatt gritted his teeth, and that muscle in his jaw ticked like it always did when he was annoyed. Sighing, he told them that we’d known each other for years, that he and my brother were best friends, and we were co-workers in the TO.
“Why aren’t you interrogating Von, too?” I asked, unable to hold my tongue.
Von raised his eyebrows and put his hand to his chest demurely. “Me?”
“Yes, you, dammit,” I snarled, scanning the other board members’ faces. “He’s the one who told the whole fucking world. Why isn’t he out here getting crucified with us?”
Garth glanced across the table at Von, a dark expression clouding his face. “She’s right, Von. What the absolute fuck were you thinking? You could have kept this all under wraps and made our lives a lot less difficult.”
Von shrugged, and I was upset to see that he didn’t look the least bit chastened at being singled out. “Ratings, darling. That’s the name of the game. I was shooting for the stars to try and land on the moon.” Von gave Wyatt and me a sidelong glance. “Let’s be honest, these two haven’t been the best team players. I thought it was a good play to make.” He rolled his eyes. “I had no idea so many people would lose their collective minds about this. My apologies, of course.”
Garth and the others grumbled a bit, then the bearded man addressed Von. “You’re damn lucky that you’re so popular. Otherwise, you’d have a lot to answer for.”
Von raised a finger and winked. “But I am popular. You just admitted it.”
To my disgust, the board members shared a subdued chuckle and turned their attention back to us. You had to be fucking kidding me. That was all Von got for doing this?
“Speak up, you two,” Garth went on. “This connection you two have, where did it start?”
Defeated, I gritted my teeth and shrugged. “Um, his pack also lives in my pack’s territories.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” a man sitting to the left of the woman in white asked.
Wyatt gave a resigned sigh, and I explained. “Um, I’m part of the Eleventh Pack. Wyatt is in an unofficial pack.”
