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All I have to do is follow my dreams.
They’re the ones who have to prove themselves.
Digging through Evgenia’s treasure trove, I find a spandexy skirt and halter with peekaboo panels, and these butterfly-wing streamers that attach to my arms and flow out when I spin.
I spend the afternoon practicing how not to get tangled in the extra cloth, and when I nail the motions, I soar.
Night finds me fast.
Soon, the auditorium’s filling and other dancers are everywhere, doing their makeup, warming up, and filling backstage with their excited chatter. Alphas’ voices hum behind the curtain, and their pheromones have me sweating.
It’s the first time in my dance career that I’m waiting for my curtain call instead of hiding in the bathroom. I’m nervous as ever but for totally new reasons.
I need offers.
And to get them, I have to show the real Lilah Darling.
No sweat suits, no knives, no hiding.
Just me on the stage, baring my soul.
And a little bit of my ass.
Rachel and the dance team perform right before me. With her hair in a tight ponytail and smoky eyes, Rachel’s scowl is textbook mean girl.
I whirl away to stretch.
No time for stink eye.
I stretch and bounce until a round of roaring applause follows the dance team’s strut off stage.
Evgenia pats my back. “They’re waiting for you.”
I tense. “Who?”
“Everyone.”
“Oh, good. No pressure then.” I take a deep breath and walk between the curtains.
The lights are down, but I don’t have to see the crowd to feel the alphas.
Their scents whirl like a vortex.
My palms sweat. I rub them against my skirt while double-checking the pole on the off chance that Rachel lubed it with butter.
There’s no grease. No sabotage.
I take position, arched back pressed hard to the metal, and listen to my heart beat while I wait for the music to start.
The crowd’s energy is static, feathering my skin, lifting the hairs on my arms.
I can feel the Wyverns in the dark.
Their energy’s that much thicker and more compelling than any other alpha pack’s.
It’s worse than the first night I performed for them, when we hadn’t met, and I didn’t know what they were.
Even if I never accept our connection, I can’t deny it’s there.
