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He closed his eyes for a second, holding up a hand. “No, you’re right. I’m not in your head, so I can’t say what you’re thinking. After tonight, I’ve realized I don’t know you as well as I thought I did. Down there in the ballroom, I waspositivethat it was really you. When it ended up being that… thatthing, it got me thinking. We should really get to know each other better. I know I’ve said this before, but it’s true—Iknowthat you and I are a perfect match.” He jabbed a finger into his chest over his heart. “I know it here. Deep down.”
As I listened to him speak, I thought about how my life might have been different if, as he believed, our blood work had been accidentally swapped. Compared to Jayson, Gavin was an amazing guy. A little clingy, maybe, but he had an innate kindness his brother didn’t have, and it appeared he really wanted what was best for me. In another world, he and I may have been happy together.
The flip side of that coin was that Wyatt wouldn’t be in my life. Not the way he was now. That thought alone made my inner wolf whine and shy away in sadness. I couldn’t imagine my life without Wyatt now. A few weeks ago, that thought would have been ludicrous. Gavin had to understand that there was no future for us.
“Listen, Gavin, you’re a great guy. You have no idea how flattered I am. You’re a really decent guy, and a much better and kinder alpha than your brother, but…” I chuckled ruefully. “I think you have this idealized vision of me in your head. If I had to guess, you’ve built me up into something I’m not over the years.”
He shook his head vehemently. “No, that’s not it at all.”
“Let me finish, please.”
He lowered his head, chastened. “Sorry. You’re right. Go on.”
“Thanks. You are desperate for a mate, and I get that. I want one, too, but the mate you’re looking for isn’t me.”
“No, Kira. You and I are both on this show. We both came here to find our fated mate. That has to show you that this is meant to be. Maybe the goddess is trying to fix whatever mistake happened with the bloodwork. It could be that simple. She set us on this trajectory so we could come together here. Once you realize—”
“Gavin.” I kept my voice gentle. “I didn’t come here to find a mate.”
He blinked at me, his face warped into a mask of confusion. “Wait, what?”
“I did not come here to get a fated mate. I came here to restore my pack’s standing and help them survive the war that’s coming.”
His brow furrowed as he stared at me. I could almost hear the gears clicking in his head. When they finally snapped into place, his eyes widened. “You… you want the favor from Heline?”
I blew out a breath of relief. Maybe that would be enough for him to realize that I wasn’t the person he thought I was. Knowing that I was the kind of person who could be cold-hearted enough to reject a mate in favor of a wish from the moon goddess was surely enough to end his attempted courtship.
After considering the revelation for a few seconds, he chuckled to himself. “Well, that’s not something you have to worry about. If you mate with me, then my plan would go into motion. We assimilate the Ninth Pack into yours. It would make the Eleventh Pack one of the strongest packs outside First and Second. Hell, it might make us so strong that they have to rename the packs. We would be allied with the First Pack because we won. We’d be strong enough to face any war that might be coming.” His smile grew wider. “See? This is all working out perfectly. You don’t have to reject anyone if you pick me. Once we overthrow my pack, all the things you came here for will be realized. You won’t have to take the favor.”
He was like a dog with a bone. “Oh, Gavin,” I said, shaking my head sadly.
Chapter12
Wyatt
That jackass kept going on and on. Could he not take a hint? Hell, Kira wasn’t even giving him a hint; she was practically holding up a big, neon, flashing billboard.
His constant pursuit of Kira was to be expected, though. I knew why he’d come on the show, after all. The thing that really surprised me was when he outright admitted that he wanted to take his pack down and let Kira’s pack absorb it. I’d honestly figured he’d be a bootlicker like his older brother, bowing down to the sanctity of the pack system. To hear him talk, he wouldn’t have been upset if his whole pack disappeared. I had to admit, seeing the look on Jayson’s face when his entire world was demolished would have been a nice treat.
My eyes narrowed when I heard him remind Kira that she had more options than she thought.
“We’d be strong enough to face any war that might be coming,” he said, sounding like he had it all figured out. “See? This is all working out perfectly. You don’t have to reject anyone if you pick me. Once we overthrow my pack, all the things you came here for will be realized.”
It struck me then that I wasn’t enough for Kira to succeed. She was so desperate to help her family and pack that her focus was solely on that favor from Heline. Kira would reject any man she ended up with to get that grand favor. For the first time since leaving, I mourned the Second Pack. If I had a higher standing than a lone wolf, Kira might see mating with me as a good solution. Departing and severing my ties to the pack I’d been born into had been the most freeing and happy time in my life. To this day, I considered the pack system a corrupt antique, a bygone system ripe for reform. The entire hierarchy was suffocating and stringent. Though, some things were more important. Part of me wondered if staying in my pack would have afforded me a chance with Kira.
That thought nagged at me while Kira continued to try getting rid of Gavin. I wanted her, deep in my bones and soul. It was an ache that wouldn’t go away. If I did become the final guy, Kira would make sure I made it off the show safely and found my way to this Haven place that one-eyed wolf told her about. That wasn’t what I wanted, though.Shewas what I wanted.
Even if we both managed to survive the show, I’d be stuck on Bloodstone Island for the foreseeable future. Alone. Hiding from anyone and everyone, dodging death every damn day. All while knowing Kira was a thousand miles away, living her life without me. The ache in my stomach became a heavy, painful knot.
“Gavin, I really need to rest,” Kira said. “My brain is too fried to think about overthrowing packs right now. I’ll see you later.”
Gavin muttered something I couldn’t hear, and a moment later, the door clicked shut.
“Sorry about that,” Kira said. “He didn’t want to leave.”
“I heard,” I said, nodding and staring at the door where Gavin had been standing a few minutes before.
Kira sat on a plush chair opposite me and shook her head in disbelief. “Can you believe what he was saying?”
