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“Very tragic indeed,” Von said. “Mika will be missed.” Von left us and moved back to address one of the cameras. “Now that we are down to only five alphas, we are getting to a more intense portion of the season. Many times, this is when the alphas begin to grow more desperate and pull out all the stops to impress the prize mate. I, and of course our fans out there, are excited to see how these remaining studs try to win over Chelsey and Kira.
“To that point, we want to dial up the drama a bit. Tonight, the entire cast will be participating in a group date. As always, there’ll be a twist. Make sure you tune in to find out the surprise.”
A twist? I did not like the sound of that. At this point, though, I would have been surprised if Vondidn’tthrow in a twist to make things more dangerous, dramatic, or terrifying.
“Tune in tonight, and remember, everyone loves an underdog,” Von signed off from the broadcast.
The camera floated away, and he slipped his sunglasses back on. “Whew, it’s bright out here, isn’t it?” He pulled out a tube of sunscreen and began to slather it on his skin. “You know, that was a decent challenge, but not quite as fun as it could have been.”
Abel sneered. “I’m sorry we weren’t more entertaining.”
Von, either ignoring or not noticing the sarcasm, waved Abel away jovially. “Oh, it’s not your fault, Abel. Tomorrow is a new day. Now, go rest up. I’ve been in contact with the showrunners and producers. We’ve worked with the writers and techs to make something really special happen tomorrow. Something totally new and exciting to test the remaining contestants. I think it’ll really spice things up.”
How much spice did this fucker want? But I could read between the lines. He was basically saying they’d found a new way to try to eliminate me and Wyatt. They were probably starting to get worried we’d survive the whole show. The last few challenges had been set up for us to fail.
Wyatt let me go when Von strolled back to the mansion, his head down as he tapped away at his phone. The first thing I did was console J.D. He looked devastated and heartsick. It hurt my own heart to see him like that. Sitting down next to him, I wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
“I can’t believe he’s dead,” J.D. muttered. He didn’t look as upset as when he thought Leif had died, but he was obviously hurting.
“I know.” I felt like shit for lying. “But like Wyatt said, he’s in a better place now. Up with the gods. He’s probably drinking some beers with the whole pantheon right now, laughing about how scared we all are.”
J.D.’s chuckle held no humor; it was hollow and sad. “Yeah. Maybe.”
“Come on. Let’s head up,” I said.
“Okay.”
J.D. went inside, leaving the rest of us behind. Wyatt came up in the rear of the group, and I fell in with Chelsey. The two of us made eye contact and smiled but didn’t talk. Even though I was sure Mika had made it out, the sadness and tension was palpable among the others.
As we stepped through the mansion doors, Tate hurried to slide between us. He didn’t push me, just nudged me aside with his shoulder. It was enough to piss me off, but I concealed my irritation.
“Hey, can you give me and Chelsey a minute to talk?” Tate asked, though it sounded more like a demand.
“Is that okay?” I asked Chelsey.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” she said with a nod.
It seemed odd, but I left the two of them alone and headed up to my room. I was coated in mud. It was caked in my hair, and if I didn’t take a shower soon, I would scream. I didn’t even want to know what I looked like. If Wyatt’s appearance was any clue, it was bad. Gray mud smeared his face, and flakes of dirt fell off him as we walked. When I glanced down, I noticed the same thing. Every step taken left behind dirty footprints.
Wyatt gave me a nod of assurance, then veered off to the alpha den. I went straight up the stairs to my room. The spell on the zipper must have broken when the challenge was over because I easily peeled myself out of my outfit. I tossed the filthy thing into the trashcan and jumped in the shower.
As I soaped, scrubbed, and shampooed myself multiple times, I let my mind drift. It was lonely in my room without Zoe here. I missed her more than I could say. It would have been nice to sit and gossip about everything going on. To talk, blow off steam, and try to work through what I should do next. Over the years, I’d grown accustomed to bouncing ideas off her. What I wanted most was to talk to her about the revelation I’d had.
I was in love with Wyatt.
That realization alone was one of the biggest things I’d ever discovered in my life. Maybethebiggest, yet I couldn’t talk to my best friend about it. I also couldn’t do anything about it. We were stuck on this stupid island, fighting tooth and claw to stay alive, with no chance to explore our feelings. I wanted to explode with frustration.
Turning off the water, I stepped out of the shower and dried off. My mind turned to darker matters. The showrunners were using me as a toy, and that infuriated the fuck out of me. All I was to them was some pretty little thing to be dangled in front of the fans and pushed into deadly situations for nothing more than ratings. Yes, we’d managed to save Mika without them knowing, but I needed more. I wanted to lash out and hitThe Reject Projectright where it hurt, and soon.
Wyatt was dead-set on targeting Von and the rest of the staff in some way. It might work, but as much sway as the staff held, the fans had the true power. They determined whether this show succeeded or failed. In the big scheme of things, everything revolved around eyes on screens. Could I use that in some way? Maybe. The votes on certain challenges and tasks could be swayed if I did it right, as long as the people running the show didn’t decide to intercede like they had in the past. Of course, there was no guarantee that the audience would even want to be generous or benevolent with their votes. Many of the fans enjoyed the brutal, tragic traditions of the show.
I paused while brushing my hair, staring into my eyes in the mirror. Maybe we could appeal to the softer, romantic side of the fans. Could one of us get through to them and make them see how fucked up the show truly was? If that was possible, I didn’t know if I was the one to do that. Hell, I’d been on board with rejecting someone just to benefit myself and my pack. Others would benefit, too, but deep down, I had to admit it was mostly for my own people. Did that make me any better than the sadistic fans drooling over us as we got ripped to shreds by monsters? In hindsight, this entire thing had been a terrible decision on my part. Now, I was stuck here.
“Well, well, well,” I muttered to my reflection. “If it isn’t the consequences of my own actions. Shit.”
I finished getting ready, and a deep restlessness made me pace my room. Every few minutes, I checked my window, hoping for one of those parrots with ridiculous names to come flying back with a message from Zoe. I had a soul-deep need to know whether or not Mika was in Haven. I was ninety-nine percent sure of what I’d seen on the replay, but until I had confirmation from Zoe, the nagging worry would eat away at me.
After an hour cooped up in my room, I finally decided I needed to get my mind off things. Wyatt would most likely be in the alpha den, so I wouldn’t be able to talk to him in private. Chelsey, however, was probably alone in her room. I wasn’t as close to her as I was to Zoe, so baring my soul to her was more than likely out of the question. But I could at least check in with her, see how she was doing, and maybe talk about something—anything—to keep my mind occupied.
