60

“Thank you for helping me get Leif back here, Wyatt. I don’t know how I could have done it without you.” I tried to make my voice as gracious and sweet as I could. The fact that it was true—I would never have saved Leif without Wyatt—stuck in my craw, but there wasn’t much to be done.

Wyatt knelt in front of me and checked the wound on my leg as the cameras took in his every move. His body language and facial expression told me he was desperate to give me one of his legendary ass-chewings. He tended to give me those after I did something particularly dangerous. But he blessedly had to keep his mouth shut due to the cameras.

Instead, he whispered, “I’m glad you made it back.”

He sounded totally genuine, which surprised me. All I could do was nod at him. “Yeah. You too.”

“Looks like you’re already healing up,” Wyatt said, running his fingers along my thigh, trailing over the thin fabric of my torn leggings.

I glanced around. We were still alone.

“Were we the first ones back?”

Von smiled languidly. “Indeed you were, Kira.”

A fae healer was crouched down next to Leif. He’d roused himself and managed to sit up. His wounds were fairly severe, but the healer was removing any infection that might be setting in. Gods only knew what those feral shifters ate out there in the jungle.

Leif pushed himself to his feet and limped over to us. He kept his eyes downcast, probably embarrassed about having to be rescued on his first challenge.

“Thank you,” he said with a grimace.

His hand was clamped to his side, blood still seeping from the wound. It looked like the feral had not only tried to rip his throat out but his guts as well.

“Are you gonna be okay?” I asked.

The fae healer took Leif by the arm. “He will be, but even with his advanced healing, he’ll need a couple days to get back in order.”

She led him up the steps to the mansion to finish treating him. More screams and shouts rang out from the jungle. A moment later, J.D. and Tate came tumbling out of the forest. A massive, slithering, snakelike creature with the head of an eagle pressed up against the magical barrier, turning and sliding back into the trees when it couldn’t pass.

J.D. was on his back, heaving air into his lungs. “Holy shit.”

Wyatt remained by my side as more and more of the alphas returned. Some came stumbling in, slow and exhausted, while others sprinted in with dangerous creatures hot on their tails. Not one of them was without a mark or bruise, though none looked as rough as Leif had.

At last, Von raised his hands. “Welcome back, gentlemen. Such a wonderful job, and I’m sure a great way to get the blood going in the morning, is it not?” His smile faded, and the fakest frown I’d ever seen replaced it. “Unfortunately, Mister Ryan will not be joining us again. He ran afoul of a dangerous beast in the jungle and has been eliminated from The Reject Project. Very unfortunate. I was really getting to like that one.”

A sick, hollow spot opened in my stomach. Ryan was dead? He’d been so sweet the night before. There’d been nothing nasty or mean about him. In my mind’s eye, I saw Ryan screaming as some awful creature clawed at his body and tore him to shreds in the dark of the jungle.

I buried my face in his hand and refused to look at Wyatt. If I did, he’d see me crying again. And it had been a very long time since he’d seen that happen.

Chapter 20

Wyatt

Von sent Kira off to get cleaned up, and the males were escorted to a sitting room inside the mansion. Like all the other rooms, it was luxurious beyond belief. My hands were still shaking after what had happened in the forest, and I was happy when servers came to take our cocktail orders. I ordered a vodka cranberry to help calm my nerves.

The others were in various states of shock and anger. Some were pissed that the first challenge had been so difficult. Others were trying to deal with the fact that one of our own had died. Everyone had liked Ryan, and his death was jarring, to say the least.

J.D. was pacing back and forth across the room, running his hands through his hair. He was taking Ryan’s death the worst.

“He’s dead. Killed. I can’t believe this.” He kept muttering those and similar words to himself as he paced.

I doubted any of these guys had ever been through something this dangerous. Sure, they’d likely seen tons of death, but I doubted many of them had ever been this close to danger. J.D. was from the Third Pack, which meant his upbringing had been as privileged as mine. When you’d always been insulated from the dangers of the world, it was hard to come to terms with the fact that the universe wasn’t a perfect place.

Abel and Mika had taken seats beside me. Abel was nursing a beer, and Mika was staring blankly into the ashes of the cold fireplace. They also seemed to be taking Ryan’s death hard, but they were dealing with it better than some.

My own thoughts were with Kira. She’d been devastated to learn of Ryan’s death and had struggled to keep herself composed. She couldn’t be a blubbering mess for the cameras, but as tough-as-nails as she always tried to be, she had a kind heart. The whole reason she’d pursued a career as a Tranquility operative was so she could protect and save people.

Before I could dwell on Kira’s state of mind, a conversation between Omar and Nathaniel pulled me away from my thoughts.

“You got it, bro. Called it big time,” Nathaniel said.

“I know. When I put those hundred bucks down, I had no doubt that fucker was gonna be the first to die.”