74

Zoe scrunched up her nose and waved her hands in the air. “Yeah, I know, but that’s not what I mean. Don’t you think it’s time to admit something to yourself?”

I dropped the towel on the floor. “Admit what, Zoe?”

She put her hands on her hips. “Admit that you actually aren’t upset that Wyatt followed you here.” She gestured vaguely to the door. “What Leif is doing for J.D. is the same thing Wyatt’s doing for you. He’s putting his life on the line to make sure you get home safe.”

“Well, yeah, Zoe. What Leif is doing is romantic. What Wyatt is doing is…I don’t know–”

“Romantic?” Her tone dripped with sarcasm.

“There’s not a romantic bone in Wyatt’s body. No.”

“Is that a fact or just what you’re telling yourself?”

Outside, strange squeals, squawks, and screams came from the jungle. They did nothing to improve my mood.

“I’m not sure, okay?” I hissed. “Are you happy? I don’t know. All I know is that I can’t, under any circumstances, let Wyatt get killed here. You know me. You know what that would do to me. I have to find a way to get him home.”

Zoe seemed put at ease by my honesty. She leaned away and crossed her arms, looking out the window with a grave expression. I had no clue what she was thinking. I let her be as she stewed on whatever was bouncing through that fae head of hers.

Finally, she turned back to look at me. “You know, there’s usually one or two chances to send someone home.”

A tiny ember of hope sparked in my chest. “Seriously?”

Her shoulders sagged. “You barely paid any attention when we watched this together.”

“Zoe, focus. What chances?”

“Sorry. Right. Every season, the lead mate—that’s you—gets a few chances to send one of the contestants home. Most lead mates use it to get rid of people they don’t like or aren’t compatible with. But you could, in theory, use it to send Wyatt home safe and sound. The problem is that those types of prizes are very hard to win. It’s usually offered in one of the more dangerous challenges.”

A chance. That was all I needed. If I was given the chance, I would send Wyatt home. Once he was out of harm’s way, I could focus on winning. If I constantly worried about what might happen to him, I’d be worthless here.

“I’ll keep my eye out for that reward,” I said.

Ryan dying was awful, and I didn’t want any more of these alphas to die if I could help it. But most of all, I didn’t want Wyatt to die. The thought of him getting hurt or killed sickened me. It was all I could do to keep the images of his broken, bleeding, or gutted body out of my mind.

“Let’s go to bed. I’m exhausted.”

“I bet you are,” Zoe said with a knowing smirk.

Ignoring her, I glanced at the door. “Did that witch come back again? The one who said you could only stay here one night? I thought you had to go to your own quarters.”

Zoe shrugged. “One of the director’s assistants likes to flirt. I made some sexy eyes at him over lunch, and he pulled some strings. Pretty easy.”

Snorting, I slipped off my robe and slid under the covers. Zoe turned the lights off and tucked herself into her makeshift bed. I was beyond exhausted, but the day’s events weighed on me, making sleep hard to find. The Fight for Survival was tomorrow. It would be difficult, and there was no guarantee that we’d all make it out alive.

I tossed and turned for over an hour. Eventually, Zoe’s soft snores filled the room. Nothing would get me to sleep. Right before I decided to give up and maybe go for another walk around the mansion, I looked across the room at the floor right inside the bathroom. The dress I’d worn to dinner was puddled on the floor.

I hesitated for a split second before I slipped noiselessly out of bed and padded over to scoop it up. I felt like a childish idiot as I hurried back to bed, but I was too tired to care. Once I was back under the covers, I lifted the dress to my nose and inhaled deeply. Wyatt’s scent drifted off the dress and into my lungs. It enveloped me in a warm feeling of contentment. I let out a small, almost imperceptible moan of delight at the smell. I pulled it close to my chest to snuggle it, drifting off to sleep in seconds.

Chapter 24

Wyatt

When I opened my eyes, I knew I hadn’t slept enough. The night before had been…interesting, to say the least. A faint smile crossed my lips as I remembered.

I swung my legs out of bed and sat on the side of my bunk. My stubble rasped as I ran a hand across my face to wake myself up.

The room was already alive with activity. Nathaniel had already showered and was in front of the mirror, doing his hair. Leif’s bed still held a lump, showing I wasn’t the last one up. The rest of the alphas were in various stages of waking, dressing, or making their beds.

My eyes narrowed. We were missing two people. Omar and Tate weren’t in the room. We’d been instructed to remain in here until the show staff or Von himself fetched us. I hadn’t followed those rules at all, and neither had some of the others. Still, I wasn’t a fan of those two, and I didn’t like that they’d gone off on their own. Something about them and Nathaniel sent off alarm bells, and I wouldn’t be able to calm down until I knew exactly what they were up to.