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The guards separated us and ushered us away from the terrace patio.
“Who the hell were you talking about, Von?” I asked before I was pushed through the door.
He ignored me and put his phone to his ear. The security guys kept each of us far enough apart that we couldn’t talk. When J.D. tried to speak, the half-demon shouted him down.
The two fallen angels separated Chelsey and me and escorted us to our rooms. Once I was in, I pressed my ear to the door and could hear the gigantic guard breathing. He was obviously standing guard. Stomping away from the door, I hurried to the window, hopeful. The absence of a messenger bird only enraged me further. What the hell had Von been trying to do? If Chelsey and I’d taken a full swig of that drink, it would have been a disaster. I could still recall the painfully carnal way the drug had worked on me all those weeks ago, causing uncontrollable, agonized desire. Just looking at Wyatt on the roof had sent my mind into a frenzy.
My cheeks burned with embarrassment. A hundred million people would have seen me jump Wyatt. Gods, my own parents might have had to watch me try to devour him on live TV. I almost gagged at the thought. I lashed out, slamming my fist into the wall. The drywall gave way beneath my fist. It felt cathartic, but did nothing to alleviate my anger.
All I could do was hope that my words had gotten through. That people back home were, at this very moment, questioning everything they knew. If one good thing could come out of this awful day, I hoped that was it.
I stared out my window, looking into the jungle and praying to all the gods I knew that I’d done all I could.
Chapter20
Wyatt
The guards shoved us into the alpha den and slammed the door shut behind us. The other alphas all drifted off toward their bunks. Tate looked more disturbed than I thought he would. Either Kira’s words had really gotten to him, or he was pissed he hadn’t gotten more time with Chelsey during dinner.
Abel was staring contemplatively at his feet. Gavin had a distinct look of sadness and depression on his face, almost like he’d lost something important. J.D., on the other hand, was pale with shock, either from what had happened with Kira or from his brazenness in vocally agreeing with her tirade.
As for myself, I was experiencing a schoolboy elation. It was childish and silly, but I couldn’t help it. Kira had said that she loved me. Maybe that was what had Gavin looking like he’d sucked on a lemon. For the first time ever, she admitted her true feelings for me. Not only that, but she’d done it in front of the whole world. There was no taking it back.
The door of the den loomed large. I stared at it for several seconds, my inner wolf urging me to try it. I stood and hurried to the door, grabbing the knob and opening it. It swung out three inches before it stopped dead. The dark face of the demon bodyguard peered in with one dark eye.
“You need something?” he asked.
“Uh, I was going to walk around. Blow off some steam, you know.” I tried to smile.
“Sit your ass down, lover boy. No one leaves right now. Boss ordered it.” He pulled his suit jacket aside to show the pistol in his shoulder holster. Even from where I was, I could smell the acrid stench of silver. “You want to push it, I can push back. Wanna try?”
Silver bullet? They were serious. “I guess not,” I mumbled.
Before I could say anything more, he pulled the door shut. Dejected, I stalked back to my bunk and flopped down. It was ridiculous. All these years, all the waiting and hoping, and now that Kira had finally said the one thing I’d been waiting for, I couldn’t be with her. All I wanted was to be with her, maybe even teasing her about it a bit. A few good-natured laughs about this thing we’d finally figured out. She’d get annoyed and needle me back. Then I could take her in my arms and show her exactly how much I loved her. How much Iwantedher.
One bit of solace I could take was thinking of Von. He’d been half dead, healing from the wound I’d inflicted, but even then, the scene had been obvious. The looks on our faces, the way Kira was standing in front of the camera, the way his own staff had looked gobsmacked. He’d known then that we’d thrown a car-sized wrench into the program. By now, he’d have made contact with the showrunners and seen the replay of Kira’s speech.
Plus, the armed guard at the door had told me all I needed to know. We’d fucked with them.The Reject Projecthad big problems. If only I could get out of here and see it with my own eyes. I craved to see Von look like a struggling worm on a hook. Hell, he was the face of the show, the main authority on the island. If anyone was going to be a fall guy, it would probably end up being him.
“Was it true?”
I spun, finding Abel looking up at me from where he sat on his bed.
“What Kira said. Was all that true? The fated mate connections aren’t accurate anymore? Is it really all a big lie?” The sorrow in his eyes almost broke my heart. He looked miserable.
All I could do was nod. “We think so. It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”
He broke eye contact with me, staring off into space. “So… the girl who rejected me? That means she wasn’t actually supposed to be with me. I took that shit hard, Wyatt.” He looked at me again. Horror and anger had replaced his sorrow. “That’s the whole reason I came on this stupid show. Risked my fucking life.”
“Hang on, man,” Tate said, interjecting himself into our conversation. “There’s no way things have gotten that screwed up.”
“Really? How else do you explain this? Do you know how many rejected mates there have been in the last few decades? Tons of them,” Abel said.
Tate winced in irritation. “Just because a bunch of people have been rejected doesn’t mean the entire system is fucked up. There’s not a problem with the connections. I mean, the moon goddess herself is in charge of that.”
But Tate’s voice didn’t sound as cocksure as usual. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself rather than Abel. It made sense. If you heard something as earth-shattering and world-altering as what we’d just heard, there would be pushback. You’d go through shock, fear, anger, disbelief, and a dozen other feelings.
“Abel’s right.” This time, it was Gavin adding his two cents. “I’ve thought something like this has been going on for a while. It’s how I knew Kira and I were supposed to have been matched up all along.”
