AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The men kept bickering and haggling back and forth. The whole time, I stood there, rage and panic coursing through my veins. I didn’t know a single person at this table other than Mika’s father, and I’d only met him in passing when I was a kid. Worry snaked through my mind. Was my uncle okay? Bitter regret and shame roiled in my belly. I’d ruined his life by asking him to get me on the show. He’d done a favor for his only nephew, nothing huge. Yes, that favor had broken rules. It was laughable, really, when therulesonThe Reject Projectweren’t worth the paper they were written on.
Along with the panic, rage, and shame was fear. These people were talking about Kira and me like we were nothing but pawns on a chessboard. Playthings to be used and then tossed away. Everyone in the world thought the show was so exciting and luxurious when in reality, it resembled a car crash more than a game. A well-produced and marketed car crash, but a car crash all the same. No one who truly knew how this show worked would ever want to be on it. These people had the whole world fooled.
“What I’m saying,” Garth said, eyes flashing with anger, “is that if we leave them both on the show, there is still a slim chance that they’ll make it to the end.” He slammed his fist on the table. “I am not authorizing honorary membership into the First Pack to a fucking lone wolf. Not happening.”
One man, who didn’t have the scent of a shifter, leaned back in his chair and smiled placatingly at Garth. He had to be the psychic Kira mentioned. He smiled, but the look in his eyes held deadly seriousness. “Garth, you can’t go changing the rules because of your prejudices. The rules clearly state that the winners receive cash prizes, a penthouse apartment in Fangmore,andhonorary membership in the First Pack and all the benefits that come from that membership. If you yank that away, you’ll alienate a lot of wolf-shifter viewers. It’s one of the main draws of the show.”
Garth looked ready to explode, but held his tongue. The men then devolved into another round of arguing about sponsorship rights and other legalese that made no sense to me. It was surreal. These talks should have been happening in a glittering office building, not on a rooftop patio in the middle of a dangerous jungle. The people spouting off at each other seemed to have no clue about the magnitude of what was going on. All they cared about was lining their pockets and getting the most bang for their buck. That, and keeping their precious little show going. It made me wonder how all this had come about in the first place. What had made these men and all those before them want to be connected to this fucking spectacle?
“Black Fang Brewery has been known to invest in troubled IPs before,” a bearded shifter said. “If this goes sideways, we can probably offer them some kind of exclusivity deal for a season or two in exchange for a hefty investment.”
Garth waved that comment away. “Absolutely not. I know the owner. Emilio is a cocksucker. If he invested that much, he’d want a seat on the board. No way. Over my dead body.”
The muscles in my jaw ached. I forced myself to relax and unclench my teeth as their conversation played out. Only one thing mattered: Kira. No matter what the board decided, I had to ensure that she got off this island safe and sound. She’d fight it kicking and screaming if I didn’t go, too, but I was willing to take that risk.
Her pack had always been fairly traditional, and there was no way of knowing how they would react to her if she returned home without winning anything, but that would be better than being dead. I could try to send word to my unofficial pack to have them take her in. My friends would do that for me. I opened my mouth to demand Kira be sent home, but my words were cut off by another loud voice.
“For fuck’s sake,” the psychic said, leaning forward. “Enough! We have to get this figured out now. What do we do with those two?” He pointed at me and Kira. “All this other stuff can be handled back on the mainland. I didn’t come all the way out to this godsforsaken place to talk about commercials and legal fees. Which route do we want to take with them?”
There were a few seconds of contemplative silence before the bearded shifter shrugged his shoulders. “I like your idea. We use them as a secondary storyline. Play it up hard before they get eliminated.”
“Who said we’re getting eliminated?” I said.
“Hush,” Von muttered.
Garth cast a withering glare at Kira and me. “Don’t worry. We’ll be making things very difficult for you. I give it two days tops before you’re both dead.” He waved a dismissive hand at the psychic. “Fuck it, fine. Do what you want. Don’t come crying to me if there’s a disaster, though.”
The others quickly acquiesced, but I could see none of them thought Kira and I would last long. Most probably even relished that idea. Glancing over, I tried to see what Kira thought of the whole situation. She looked confused, like she wasn’t even paying attention to the conversation. Her brow was furrowed, and she stared at the woman in white—the only person who hadn’t said a word.
I nudged Kira’s arm and whispered, “Hey? What’s wrong?”
Kira flinched when I spoke, almost as if some trance had been broken. She shook her head quickly. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
She seemed anything but fine. She watched the woman in white warily, almost fearfully. I was curious to know what the hell was going on, but Von would only chastise me again if I spoke up.
The psychic turned his attention to the vampire host. “Okay, Von. They stay on the show. Push them hard and really see how deep thisconnectionthey have goes. It should make for some rather dramatic television for a while.”
“Very well,” Von said with a placating nod. “I think we’ll put out a poll for the fans to vote on whether teamKwyattcan stay or not. It’s good for the audience to have a say in how things go.” He waved a hand through the air. “Regardless of the final tally, we’ll make sure the vote goes to them staying, obviously. I mean, we’re really in charge, not the fans.” He chuckled.
“Whatever,” Garth growled. “Just turn the heat up on the cast members. Not only these two, but the others as well. If you can keep viewership at an all-time high, we can use it in negotiations with the sponsors and investors for next season.”
This guy was a piece of work. His own son was on the show, and he was telling Von to make things more difficult. He’d more or less sentenced his son to death with nothing more than a wave of the hand. Of course, this was the same asshole who’d been fucking his own son’s fated mate on the sly and then decided to be pissed off when Mika rejected her. My own father hadn’t been the best, but he hadn’t been such a douchebag.
The upper packs had always been power-hungry and immoral. Seeing how the alpha of the strongest pack acted in a situation like this was enough to make me want to tear down the whole system. Not just the show, but the entire pack hierarchy. The whole thing left a bitter taste in my mouth. Not only hadThe Reject Projectshown me exactly how shady it really was, but the men and women running it were even worse.
“I’ll have the media team send the poll out right now,” Von said, pulling out his phone and rapidly typing. “In the meantime, we’ll get some good footage of the other alphas interacting with these two. It’ll get some good playback on the mainland and should help influence people to vote. Fan interaction does wonders to grow viewership.”
Unable to hold my tongue anymore, I finally blew up. “Why the fuck are we even here? Was there a reason Kira and I had to sit here and listen to you talk about us like we’re objects instead of people?”
The bearded man sat forward quickly and leveled a finger at me. “Watch your mouth, son. You’re lucky we didn’t decide to toss your ass off the roof.”
The woman in white let out a soft laugh. It was the first sound I’d heard her make during the meeting. I locked eyes with her, and a shiver ran down my spine as she smiled at me. She said nothing, just laughed softly again, then fell silent as her stare seemed to penetrate deep into my soul.
“Come on now, friends,” Von said, herding me and Kira away like we were kindergarteners.
It wasn’t until we were back inside and heading down the stairs that I could breathe easily again. The men up there didn’t intimidate me, but they’d still basically held my life in their hands. And that strange woman had made the whole thing seem almost dreamlike.
The witch who’d guided us up to the roof was waiting at the bottom of the first flight of stairs.
