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“Come on.” I gave her a knowing look. “You can’t convince me the control freak in you didn’t already know that.”
“Maybe.” She laughed lightly, but I could see something was bothering her. “It doesn’t matter. We need to get to breakfast.”
She started to stand, but I kept my hand on hers. “Look at me. Can I ask you something?”
She jerked her gaze to mine, and for a moment, I felt the heaviness of our situation pass between us, unspoken but there nonetheless. “Do you truly think I should take this deal with Reagan?”
She bit her lip then nodded slowly, her eyes sad. “Yes. I do.”
I pulled her into my arms, cradling her against my chest. “It’s the perfect arrangement, Jess. Reagan and I would on the same page, would have the same expectations about what this is—and what it isn’t. We wouldn’t have to stay together forever. Just long enough to appease the alphas.”
She nodded silently, but then pulled away from me, clearing her throat. “You have a date tonight with Reagan and Stephanie since they did the best in yesterday’s competition. You’ll be going on a hike to the waterfall in the north woods. You know the one?”
“I do, but that’s not what I’m interested in right now.” I pulled her close once more, nuzzling her neck. “We should skip breakfast so I can show you what I’d really like to be doing instead.”
Jessica’s breath caught, but then she pulled back again. “We can’t, Garrett. You know that. I need to get downstairs. I have to make an announcement about what will happen when we get to the final three. Those will be the women who will serve on the council, making a difference. They need to know what positions are up for grabs and how they can be an asset to the packs.”
I sighed, knowing she was right, even if I didn’t like it.
Jessica left, and I took a shower then hurried down to one of the smaller dining halls that we typically used for meals when there wasn’t a large event taking place. We didn’t need as much space now that there were only four women remaining. Everyone was there this morning, it seemed. Holden, Kayden, our closest enforcers, and quite a few of the new soldiers who’d recently come to work for us.
Jessica was at the front of the room, making a speech about what positions were open on the council—her excuse for coming to my room this morning. I wondered what had really brought her there, hoping she’d just wanted to see me as much as I wanted to see her.
I joined the four contestants at their table, sitting front and center, but Jessica carefully avoided looking at me.
“If you have any questions…” she concluded, looking at each of the women “… be sure to write them down. We’ll be talking about this in greater detail in class today, so come prepared. Once you have all the information you need, you will each fill out a formal request for which position you’re most interested in, including why you think you’d be an asset in that role.”
Jessica told the girls she’d see them in class before taking a seat at one of the other tables with Kayden, Holden, and a couple of soldiers.
“Good morning,” I heard her say, her voice cheerful as she sat down with the group. I turned my chair slightly so I could see what was going on at her table. She was sitting between Kayden and one of the new guys.
“Can I pour you a cup of coffee?” It was the tall, beefy guy with dark, close-cut hair that I’d seen around—Ryker, I thought his name was, but I hadn’t really gotten to know him since Holden kicked me off the job.
“Yes, please. Thank you, Ryker.” She smiled at him, and a sharp spear of jealousy cut through me.
“… So excited for our date, Garrett… waterfall… sounds romantic…”
I felt a jab to my ribs, turning to find Reagan giving me a pointed look, angling her head slightly at Stephanie. Oh shit. She’d been talking to me.
“Sorry, what was that?”
Stephanie’s smile faltered, but she repeated herself. “I was just saying how I’m looking forward to our hike.”
“Oh, right. Yeah… me, too.”
Reagan gave me a wide smile. “Yep, sounds like fun. So, Melissa, tell me about what you do back home?”
I tuned out again as the girls talked about their life on their pack lands, my gaze drifting back toward Jessica.
She was smiling awfully big at Ryker.
“Yeah, I haven’t seen much of the area except for the estate grounds,” he was saying. “I heard there’s a town nearby?”
“Oh, yeah. Where we had dinner the other night. There’s a lot more than just the restaurant, but we don’t go out there much.”
I frowned at that, vaguely remembering that everyone had gone out without me while I’d been on a group date with a bunch of women.
“Maybe you could show me around sometime,” Ryker continued, and I ground my teeth together. Was he serious? The need to go over there and tell him to stay away from Jessica was so strong that I had to force myself to remain seated.
