Page 8

8

Saffron

“What were you thinking, letting him play volleyball?” I barked at Jade on the sidelines. “He could’ve gotten hurt—and he did!”

The first challenge was over. After the fight broke out, Gaius gave the win to Rorik’s team by default, since he had the worst injuries—and because he knew I liked him.

Jade calmly pushed up his glasses. “People normally don’t sustain grave injuries while playing volleyball. What happened to Rorik was an accident.”

“No, it wasn’t. That grizzly guy was totally out to get him,” I ranted. “He kept hitting him in the face!”

“I can disqualify him from the Games, if you wish,” Jade suggested.

“No,” Rorik interjected.

I didn’t realize Rorik was listening to our conversation. I’d dragged Jade aside to complain about his choice of challenge, although as usual, Jade had his reasons. He’d picked volleyball due to Rorik’s physical fitness, thinking it would be a good opportunity for him to shine. Cobalt must’ve told him I was infatuated with Rorik, hence the rigged challenge adjustment.

What neither of them knew, however, was that Rorik had no clue how to play volleyball.

As much as I hated to admit it, Jade had his head on straight. He’d set this up for Rorik to win, for my sake. It wasn’t his fault Rorik got injured, but I was still pissed that it happened.

“Are you sure?” I asked Rorik.

Rorik shrugged. “Bears fight. It’s what we do.”

That didn’t temper my anger. “I have no qualms about kicking that guy off the island. He’s a dick for what he did to you.”

Rorik glanced at Jade for a long beat. I remembered he was meeting my older brother for the first time. Did Jade’s presence make him nervous? At least that was warranted, unlike with Cobalt.

Looking back at me, Rorik said, “No. Don’t bother. Because if Poppy had not intervened, I would’ve crushed that man’s skull.”

Jade sighed, rubbing his temple. He clearly didn’t care about the violence, just the incoming workload. “We’re going to have to scrub that comment in post-production…”

I wanted to tell Rorik not to worry—if he wanted the win, he would easily have had it. I already knew he was special to me. The problem was the emotional wall he’d put up between us. Was it something I said last night? Or did my shifted talons unnerve him?

“You don’t have to crush anyone’s skull,” I told Rorik. “This isn’t life or death. It’s a game show. Don’t take it so seriously, okay?”

Rorik’s jaw tensed. He looked like he wanted to argue, but then he sniffled, gearing up to sneeze. When he did, his sensitive nasal vessels burst again. A few flecks of blood landed on my white shirt.

“Dammit. I’m sorry,” Rorik said. He braced his arm against his face, but it didn’t stop the blood pouring down his nose. “Let me bleach it.”

“I care about you , not some stupid shirt!” I snapped.

Rorik’s eyes widened.

“You’re bleeding too much. Let me take you to the nurse,” I insisted.

Rorik hesitated. “All right. But only if Poppy joins us.”

I only just noticed the white-haired wolf omega standing nearby.

“Poppy? Sure,” I said.

There was a familiarity in Rorik’s voice I didn’t expect. Did Rorik and Poppy know each other? I was in too much of a rush to ask. After rounding them up, I ushered Rorik to the nurse’s office in the hotel.

Cringing inwardly, I remembered when my and Aurum’s antics landed Matteo in the very same nurse’s office a few seasons ago. It felt like forever since that incident. My brother was different now. Aurum had matured after finding his fated mate and starting a family. Mylo made Aurum shine; my twin had evolved into an elevated version of himself.

But what about me? I felt stuck and incomplete. I wanted a mate more than anything, yet I couldn’t even get Rorik to smile.

I felt stalled. I knew there was something between us, yet our relationship wasn’t progressing. Why wouldn’t Rorik open up to me? Was I flawed? Or did Rorik just hate my guts?

The kobold nurse took a quick peek at Rorik’s nose, then thankfully cleared him of any major injuries. Knowing Rorik wasn’t going to die from blood loss, I suggested taking over clean-up duty. I couldn’t sit back and watch anymore. I had to be involved in Rorik’s care.

The nurse agreed and left us alone. Rorik sat on the edge of the bed while Poppy crouched meekly against the wall, as if trying to disappear.

It was just the three of us now. Awkward tension hung in the air.

I poured antiseptic on a cotton pad. “So, uh… volleyball, huh? Throw the ball… hit the ball. Wild stuff.”

Nobody responded.

“Geez, tough crowd,” I mumbled.

I walked over to Rorik. His expression was guarded, and he stared at me like I was a stranger. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach.

I tried not to let it show on my face. Lifting the cotton pad, I said, “Stay still. This might sting.”

Rorik remained stoic as ever, barely reacting as I wiped the crusted blood off his upper lip. He didn’t look into my eyes—he looked right through me, unfocused and uncaring.

Frustration welled inside me. I was so close to him. If I leaned in, I could press our lips together—and fuck, I wanted to.

But Rorik obviously didn’t. It was like he wanted me to disappear. When did he start acting so cold towards me? Did my partial shift last night scare him that much?

My heart sank deeper. I couldn’t help the fact that I was so damn emotional. My talons were an expression of my righteous anger. I just wanted to protect him. How could I make him understand that?

I tossed the used cotton pad and doused a fresh one in antiseptic. Point blank, I asked, “Did I scare you last night?”

Rorik’s gaze snapped back to mine, actually seeing this time.

“No,” he said.

I laughed humorlessly. “C’mon. Don’t lie. It doesn’t suit you.”

Rorik tensed, then exhaled through his bloody nose. “Fine. It did frighten me.”

My heart clenched. Scaring an omega was never something I wanted to do—especially one I cared about so much.

“I’m sorry, Rorik,” I murmured. “The last thing I ever want to do is scare you.”

He was quiet as I wiped red beads of blood away. I was as gentle as possible, not wanting to hurt him more.

“There’s that smell again,” he muttered. “What is it?”

Great. Now he thinks I smell bad, too, I thought miserably.

“It’s just the alcohol,” I replied, trying not to sound dejected.

“No, it’s not.” Rorik’s nostrils twitched. “It smells good.”

I paused for a split second before replacing the cotton pad. “I dunno. Maybe the nurse’s deodorant or something.”

Rorik closed his eyes, sniffing the air—except my hand was an inch away from his nose.

“I scented it last night, too. It’s… nice,” he murmured.

I froze. Was he sniffing me ?

And if he was, did he even realize it?

A ribbon of warmth slithered between my ribs. As much as I liked it, I tried to ignore the feeling. I didn’t have proof that I was the source of the ‘nice’ smell Rorik was currently enjoying.

Don’t get ahead of yourself, I scolded. You’ll just be disappointed.

I wiped the last of the blood away, leaving Rorik’s face clean. My eyes were drawn to the stubble lining his rugged jaw. I wanted to run my fingers over it, but I kept my hands to myself. Rorik already had major issues; touching him without consent was a huge no-no.

“So... do you and Poppy know each other?” I asked.

The tension in the room surged again. Rorik’s gaze met mine sharply. He worked his jaw, about to speak.

Then the door abruptly flew open with a bang.

I whirled around. I saw Poppy yelp in fear, cowering at the sound.

A furious man stood in the doorway, huffing with anger. I recognized the grizzly shifter from the volleyball game—the one who’d hurt Rorik. My blood boiled.

Kaskian’s narrowed eyes glared right through me, piercing Rorik instead.

“There you are, asshole,” Kaskian spat. “Thanks to your big mouth, I heard everything you said. You were gonna crush my skull, huh? We’ll see about that.”

Kaskian didn’t even acknowledge me. I wasn’t arrogant, but damn if that didn’t ignite my draconic pride. I bristled, squaring my shoulders, power sparking in my veins.

Behind me, Rorik tensed, preparing for round two of their fight. “Let’s go,” he growled. “I’ll—”

But his face screwed up as another sneezing fit hit him. As he sneezed into the nook of his arm, the wounds in his sensitive nose opened up again. Blood gushed down the inside of his elbow.

“Shit,” Rorik cursed.

My stomach clenched in concern. He couldn’t lose any more blood—especially not to a stupid, unnecessary fight with this asshole grizzly.

Kaskian roared a battle cry. With a flex of his muscles, he shifted into a massive grizzly bear and charged us.

Time stopped as a sense of indescribable calm fell over me. I didn’t feel calm—I was enraged, so disgustingly livid that it looped back around to total serenity. My dragon’s instincts knew I could disable this threat before it reached Rorik, and that was exactly what I was going to do.

My skin tingled with the incoming shift. My inner dragon wanted to rear his head, but I couldn’t do a full shift. Not here. The nurse’s office wasn’t big enough; I’d break through the ceiling, crushing Rorik and Poppy beneath the rubble. It had to be a partial shift.

But as Rorik’s distant, suspicious expression popped into my mind, I hesitated. He’d seen a small partial shift from me before, and it had pushed him away. The sight of my talons alone put a chasm between us. For some reason, he was afraid of me. Of dragons.

Why?

But I couldn’t worry about that now. There was no time.

Kaskian charged, his thick fangs exposed in a roar. Spittle flew from his lips. If I didn’t do something, he’d sink those fangs into Rorik.

Hot, protective rage burned in my veins. No fucking way would I let that happen.

The partial shift was faster than a bolt of lightning. My nails erupted into knife-like talons; my blunt human teeth sharpened into fangs. Insurmountable power pulsed under my skin, yearning to burst free.

Kicking off with coiled power, I lunged at the bear. He was seven hundred pounds of muscle and fat.

Still not as big as Rorik, I thought smugly.

The partial shift gave me a huge advantage. While my human body was lithe and agile, a dragon’s true power lurked beneath the surface.

I ducked beneath Kaskian. My arm shot up, grabbing the grizzly by the throat. His dense fur was no protection against my talons. His roar cut off abruptly, reduced to a pathetic mewl. He obviously didn’t expect me to intervene in a bear fight.

Poor guy. He had no clue he was dealing with the most dangerous creature of all: an alpha dragon with a major crush.

Seizing my chance, I flipped Kaskian onto his back. He seemed to fall in slow motion. His heavy body landed with a booming thud that shook the floor. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt—Jade would’ve killed me if I genuinely harmed a contestant—but hopefully I’d knocked some sense into him.

The stupefied grizzly bear resembled a turtle stuck on his back. He blinked, stunned. He clearly didn’t expect the fight to go in this direction.

“Phew,” I said, dusting off my hands. “Hope I didn’t put a dent in the floor.”

Kaskian came to his senses. He glared at me as he shifted and got to his feet. “What was that for?”

This dude seriously didn’t get it, did he? I almost felt bad for him.

“Uh, you were about to attack Rorik,” I said, crossing my arms. “Did you think I’d sit back and let that happen?”

Kaskian curled his lip, revealing far-less intimidating human teeth. “Why do you care about that stupid oaf? Can’t you see there’s better omegas right in front of you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Like you? The only omega worth my time in this room is Rorik. Oh, and Poppy, in a platonic way.”

As the words left my mouth, I realized the implications.

Shit. Did I just accidentally reveal how I feel about Rorik?

Kaskian scowled. “You’re fucking crazy, Saffron.”

A low growl came from behind me.

“Watch yourself, grizzly,” Rorik said in a serious voice.

My heart skipped a beat. Rorik’s threat sounded like a chorus of angels.

He just stood up for me. But why? Didn’t he hate me? Or was that all in my head?

Ugh, what is even happening right now? Did all my brothers have this much trouble on the Games?

Kaskian scoffed loudly, turning to leave. “Screw this. If you’re already smitten with that fatass, then I’m going home.”

I reacted faster to that ugly word than I could think. My talons hovered in front of Kaskian.

“Watch your tongue before I remove it,” I warned.

Kaskian’s eyes widened. Realizing I was dead serious, he backed off. “Whatever. I’m out of here.”

I wanted to force him to apologize, but I knew it wasn’t worth it. Let the door hit his ass on the way out.

After Kaskian slammed the door, I sighed. Jade was definitely going to chew me out for my behavior. But the alternative—standing back and letting Rorik get hurt—simply wasn’t acceptable.

“Sorry about that,” I said, turning around to face Rorik. “I didn’t think he’d—”

Rorik’s face was suddenly an inch from mine.

“Why did you do that?” he snarled.

It was the closest he’d ever been. Close enough to kiss. Close enough to smell the sweetness of his breath past the copper tang of blood.

I didn’t move.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He panted hard, clutching at his chest as if it ached. “It was my fight. Why did you put yourself at risk?”

My brow furrowed. “Rorik. I wasn’t going to let that guy hurt you again.”

“It was his right.”

“He could’ve killed you!”

Rorik scoffed. “I doubt it. I’m the strongest fighter in my clan. I’m the only one strong enough to—”

He halted suddenly, as if silenced by a higher being. His dark eyes wavered with something that looked like desperation. He glanced at Poppy for a long beat.

“Strong enough to what?” I prompted.

Rorik struggled to catch his breath. His broad chest rose and fell rapidly, and he gripped his shirt tighter.

“Nothing,” he muttered. “It’s too hot in here…”

The room was air conditioned. Was he okay? I was seriously worried now.

“Rorik, are you—”

I couldn’t finish my question. Rorik flew off the cot, stumbling past me. He bolted out the door like his life depended on it.

My instinct was to tail him. I needed to get to the bottom of his mystery issues. But when I saw Poppy’s horrified expression, it struck me. He seemed genuinely afraid.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” I asked the frail wolf omega.

Poppy sank to the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. “Yes,” he whispered, clearly not okay at all.

Frustration clawed at me. “Can one of you tell me what’s going on?” I demanded.

When Poppy winced, I immediately regretted raising my voice.

I kneeled in front of him. “Sorry, Poppy. Please, I just want to know how to get through to Rorik.”

Poppy lifted terrified brown eyes. “You can’t.”

His despondent aura filled me with dread—but my defiant inner fire burned brighter than that. Dragons didn’t like being told ‘no’.

“What do you mean I can’t ?” I asked.

Poppy inhaled a shaky breath. “Don’t… don’t fall in love with Rorik,” he murmured, sinking into his bunched shoulders. “It won’t end well.”

“Why?”

“I… I know him. He’s too far gone,” Poppy whispered. “He won’t stop until he accomplishes his goal.”

My head spun. So Rorik and Poppy did know each other. But for a single question answered, it raised a million more. Why did Rorik flip out? Why was Poppy so shaken?

“What is Rorik’s goal?” I asked.

Poppy held his tongue for a minute, as if gathering the courage to speak. Then he met my gaze sadly.

“You should ask him yourself.”