Page 14

F aye

It’s strange to be back at The Selection, to be back in my old room.

I’d slept here last night, after the meeting with the council, because Eli had made it clear that he’d be happy to attend The Selection events, just like everyone else.

At least after I reassured him that I was feeling up to it.

And when he did so, the council made it clear that we’d be following the rules, including having me sleep alone until The Selection events were completed.

Which was agreed upon. As long as there was still a guard stationed at my door. One chosen by Eli from his own staff.

And maybe I imagined how Eli responded to being included in The Selection, but Eli had seemed excited about it.

We’d had dinner in my room, while all the guys told him about the events at The Selection that he’d missed so far.

He’d smiled at me throughout the whole conversation, kissing me on the forehead and telling me that he couldn’t wait for us to play the games together.

But I had missed them more than I thought I would when they’d left me alone in my room again, after they’d had more locks put on my door and made me swear not to undo them until they came back.

My heart skips a beat every time I hear a noise, and I imagine that Kurt is finally able to come after me again. My mind won’t stop replaying the memory of that servant coming to my door, issuing me the fake note. A mistake that nearly led to my death.

But now I won’t foolishly open my door. I’m safe.

According to the council, that servant had no idea what the contents of the letter were—Kurt was listed as one of my potential mates, and so he thought he was just ferrying a love note from an alpha to his omega. I believe him. But it doesn’t undo the harm of what happened to me.

The carriage driver was also under the impression that Kurt was arranging a playful outing for the two of us. Though neither of them was in the wrong, I can’t stand the idea of how easy it was for Kurt to trick me. To trick everyone.

If either the servant or the carriage driver had paid attention a little better, if the carriage driver had stayed to make sure I was okay, maybe none of it would have happened.

Or, maybe, there would also be a dead carriage driver.

Still, I can’t blame them. I only have myself to blame for not being more careful. I knew a deranged man wanted to hurt me.

I take a deep breath and look at my reflection in the mirror.

I’m wearing a simple dress with pretty diamond earrings that Eli gave me from his estate’s personal jewelry collection.

He’s already been showering me with gifts, which has made the others do the same, and now my room is full of too many flowers, chocolates I won’t be able to eat, and enough stuffed animals to take up the entire space of my bed.

When someone knocks on the door just before the bell tolls, I jump, hard, biting my tongue and letting out a little moan of pain. My heart is hammering when I go to the door and prepare to open it, hoping to see Eli’s guard faithfully stationed across the hall from my room.

“Who is it?”

Logically, I know it can’t be Kurt. According to the whispers, he’s still having a hard time walking.

But that doesn’t stop my active imagination from working up all the ways he might hurt me if he corners me in my room.

And it doesn’t change the fact that his father could be ruthless enough to come all this way to cause me problems.

“It’s Addilyn.”

Opening the door, I breathe a sigh of relief when I see my friend. Her dark hair is in a braid down her back, and she’s wearing a pretty purple dress with big sleeves.

“Faye,” Addilyn says, grinning at me when she sees me. “It is so weird to see you back here again.”

“Well,” I laugh, “the council insisted that I finish The Selection. Even though I’ll actually keel over if I have to take one more mate.” I open the door wider so she can see the interior, all the gifts and trinkets.

“Wow,” Addilyn says, her eyes wide as they sweep over my room, “that’s amazing.”

“Amazing?” I laugh. “I can barely walk through my room!”

“Well, that’s not from the gifts, is it?” she asks, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

I smack her arm, but a picture begins to form in my head of me with all five men.

The thought makes me blush. I’ve already slept with four of them.

I have no idea what sleeping with a man as big and powerful as Eli will be like…

Pair that with possibly sleeping with the other four at the same time, and I have no clue what will go where.

“Are you participating in the games, then?” she asks. “I wanted to check before I went down on my own.”

“I am. Weirdly, Eli seems kind of excited about it.” I grab my bag before stepping out into the hallway with her.

The guard nods at me, and I nod back.

“I’m planning on participating in the games. Eli said you’d walk me to them?” I say softly.

The big guard nods, and then becomes our shadow as we head down the stairs.

“An ultima,” Addilyn says, kicking out her leg so her skirt flutters around her. “Seriously, what is that like?”

What is that like? Weird, for sure. I never even imagined myself with alphas, no less an ultima, the rarest kind of wolf there is.

“It was intimidating at first,” I admit, thinking about that moment on the sand when he approached me and every cell in my body had insisted that I get away from him. “But as I spend more time around him, it’s like my body relaxes and sees him like any other wolf.”

“That’s good,” Addilyn murmurs, getting a mischievous look on her face. “But I was asking more specifically about?—”

The guard coughs behind us, and I clamp a hand over her mouth, flushing fiercely.

“Please don’t embarrass me,” I whisper. “People are staring at me enough already.”

Addilyn says something, but it's muffled through my hand. I lift it and quirk an eyebrow at her, wondering if I gave her time to reconsider her gross question.

“ You’re the one with your head in the gutter,” she says, rolling her eyes and tugging my arm toward the ballroom, where it looks like most of the alphas and omegas are funneling. “I was just going to ask about his dick.”

“Gods, Addilyn.” I laugh when several other omegas turn, their eyes widening when they see who I am. “Shut up .”

What did she think I was worried about her saying? She’s crazy!

“Seriously though,” she says, grabbing my sleeve and stopping me in the hallway just outside the ballroom.

She tugs me around and looks at my face earnestly.

“Are you okay? I mean, I feel like the answer is automatically no, with everything that’s happened to you, but it just feels like you’ve been thrown right back in here. It’s unfair.”

My heart aches a little at her worry. Yes, I’ve been through a lot, but I don’t want to focus on it. I feel like when my brother passed, that’s all I focused on. I just… stopped living. I can’t do that again. I need to keep moving on and having a life.

“It’s okay,” I say quietly. “With my mates, and with Eli here, specifically, it feels different. Safer.”

“So, they are your mates?” she asks, lifting a brow.

I nod, unable to deny it any longer. “They’re my mates, although Cayson, Ezra, and I haven’t had a conversation that we need to have.”

She looks thoughtful for a long minute before asking, “Do you think you’ll miss how your life was before? The cabin, mateless, what you were so desperate to get back to?”

I put my hand to my chin, trying to remember the girl I was when I arrived here on the bus, but it’s like she’s a stranger to me now. Something inside me has shifted, opening up to others. Like the walls I put up after my brother’s death have finally crumbled.

“No,” I admit. “I’m not exactly sure what life is going to look like when The Selection is done, but I definitely won’t be lonely. And Eli will be there to protect me with his influence when the others can’t. I’ll be safe.”

Safe. What would it even feel like to live a life where I feel that way all the time?

At this, I feel a prick of tears in my eyes, and I turn away. Addilyn shields me from the other omegas and the guard, pulling a handkerchief from her pocket and offering it to me. I carefully dab at my eyes so I don’t smudge the makeup I worked so hard on this morning.

“Thank you,” I whisper a moment later when the tears subside. “I don’t want the guys to know I’ve been crying. They’ll get all up in arms about it.”

Addilyn laughs and takes her handkerchief back as we head for the ballroom.

“Well, better to have them up in arms then up in?—”

I jab her with my elbow as we enter the ballroom, and she laughs hysterically while I smile. Throughout the room are pedestals and racks of fabric, sewing machines, and design books.

What the heck are the ultimas planning now?

“Good morning, to those of you who are just joining us for today’s game,” one of the council people says.

“Today’s game is fashion-focused! The men will be designing a dress for their omega to wear at dinner, assembled with the assistance of the designers and seamstresses from the wardrobe division. ”

Oh, gods.

I feel the color drain from my face and look across the room. My men are already holding up swatches of fabric, clearly debating the merits of each with one another. But the thing is, I have a lot of faith in my men in a lot of ways… Making an outfit for me? No way.

This is going to be brutal.

“You have to save me,” I whisper.

There’s mischief in Addilyn’s eyes. “Have fun!” she says, followed by a little cackle, before turning on her heel and moving toward two dark-haired men who have to be the brothers she’s so excited about.

Unable to help myself, I follow her. “Hello,” I greet the alphas.

Both men turn to look at me. They’re big, one with blue eyes, and one with brown. They’re definitely not “pretty” the way my men are, but I know Addilyn loves men that look a little rough, and these two definitely fit the bill.

“Hello,” one of them says, glancing at Addilyn with uncertainty.

“This is my best friend, Faye,” she introduces with a sweep of her hand. “She’s the one that has to ride five cocks. And one of them is an ultima’s, which you shouldn’t even get me started about…”

They both grin at her antics, and already I like them. If they get Addilyn’s sense of humor, they have to be winners. They have to be the kind of guys who will rise to Addilyn’s happy level, always making sure their home will be a good place to live.

“It’s nice to meet you,” the one with blue eyes says. “I’m Orion.”

The brown-eyed one smiles. “And I’m Kai.”

“And you’re Addilyn’s mates.” I grin.

Orion grins back. “We are. And now that we found her, we’re not letting her go.”

“Not that I’d let them,” Addilyn says, followed by a twirl.

They watch her with adoration in their eyes, and I feel like my heart is full of love. Addilyn found her mates. My childhood friend. She won’t be leaving alone, or be left with the betas. She found two wonderful alphas.

“Well,” I say, “I better get back to my men, but it was nice to meet you.”

They bob their heads, and Orion responds. “It was nice to meet you too. The Faye of legend.”

I laugh. “I’m hardly that.”

Kai smiles. “Well, we have to assume half of Addilyn’s stories are exaggerated. An omega left alone in the woods. A girl who fought off an alpha. A girl mated to an ultima. It all sounds like a children’s fable.”

Addilyn and I exchange a look, and I say, “Yeah, Addilyn and her wild tales.”