Page 1 of So I Dared a Dragon (The Mating Game #6)

one

. . .

Bibi

Just after Calista’s bombshell during Hannah’s episode...

When I came out as Bibi le Bonnet, I promised myself I’d never run from another shifter ever again. But as I leaned against my office door with my eyes closed, it was a surprisingly attractive option.

In case you missed the last episode of The Mating Game , let me get you up to speed on the absolute bombshell that just rocked my entire world.

It was our mate claim segment with Hannah and Lars. It should’ve just been an adorable highlight reel of their relationship, culminating with Hannah accepting Lars’s claim. My nerves had been at an all-time high at the start of filming. I chalked it up to my wolf’s intuition and the fact that we had Bigfoot himself on stage. We’d taken care of those tiresome hunters, defeated a zombie shifter hostage situation, and handled a faux pas with a bossy and diabolical dire wolf. But the one thing I wasn’t prepared for was to see Calista, my former best friend, appear on that stage.

A knock on the door startled me, and I was relieved to find Tina on the other side. Not only was she my best friend in Sunset Springs, but she was one of the best producers in the reality game.

“Can I come in?” she asked softly.

“Of course.” I opened the door and took a seat on the couch. “If anyone can make sure we get out of this without someone’s heart getting broken, it’s you.”

Tina settled in the chair. She was perfectly put together—the mate claim segment was always dress to impress. Today she’d chosen a black mock turtleneck and a gorgeous pair of floral wide-leg pants. Her dark skin was glowing, curly hair perfect, and no one would ever know two littles kept her from getting a full night’s sleep.

“How are you feeling?” she asked with a chuckle. “How ironic that I get to ask you the question that’s mostly likely to make our contestants cringe.”

“Now I understand why.” I tipped my head back and sighed. “Are you filming?”

“I wasn’t, but I feel like I should.” She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. “May I?”

“Something tells me we’ll regret it if you don’t.”

My brain spun as she placed the device, checking to make sure she had it at the right angle to catch us both. Producer Me thought we could use this on our website, as fodder for our insatiable fans who wouldn’t rest until they had all the answers about what happened on stage today.

But it was a whole different ballgame when it was my heart on the line.

Tina counted herself in by raising her fingers. “Okay, I’m backstage with Bibi le Bonnet after an absolute shocker on stage. Bibi, tell me what it was like to see Calista after so long?”

“Complicated.” It was a miracle that one word could encompass the emotions that churned through me like a tornado. “Calista was my whole world growing up. My very best friend. We were inseparable, and everyone in the pack expected me to claim her as my mate. But as I realized my life was more than what the pack expected and Calista needed from me, I knew I had to say goodbye to everything I’d ever known to become who I was meant to be.”

“Leave it to you to nail the soundbite when you’re in the middle of a crisis.” Tina grinned. “It sounds like she wasn’t happy that you left.”

My new best friend wasn’t about to let me off easily. Eventually, I’d be able to appreciate that. “Leaving Calista behind was the hardest thing I’d ever done. I wasn’t sure I could ever make her understand how much I needed to change. It wouldn’t have been fair to bring her with me and expect her to be something she wasn’t. Soon, she’ll see I’m not the same wolf who’d left her in Montana all those years ago.”

“Tell us how you’re different from the wolf who left her behind.”

“Well, I hadn’t become Bibi yet. I was still Bronson.” It felt like it had happened in another lifetime. “The role I played in the pack was…suffocating.”

Tina tipped her head. “Because you were Bronson?”

“I’ll always be Bronson, but I feel more comfortable as Bibi.” Bibi wasn’t just a drag persona; she’d become my whole personality. Bronson still existed, dormant inside me. Maybe someday, the time would be right for him to come back. For now, I was having way too much fun as Bibi. “The more time I spend as Bibi, the more Bronson feels like a memory. Like those things didn’t happen to the same person.”

“Can you tell me what it was like to be Bronson?” Tina bit her lip. “You hardly ever talk about it. If you’re not comfortable, I can edit the question out.”

“I’ve been quiet about my background for too long,” I said softly. “There’s nothing for me to hide. I wish I could have left under better circumstances, but maybe if things were better, I would’ve never left. My pack raised me to be a fighter.”

“You have a reputation for being fierce in battle,” she said.

“I never lost a fight. It was the only part of me that seemed to matter to my pack. They kept putting me into increasingly dangerous situations. It wasn’t what I wanted. They never gave me a choice.”

“Is that why it was such a shocker to come face-to-face with Calista?” Tina asked. “Because it meant your old pack still wasn’t respecting your boundaries?”

Oh, she was good. “That, and I don’t think we can just pick up where we left off like nothing’s changed.” “If she was your best friend, why did you leave her behind? The Bibi I know would’ve brought her ride-or-die along every step of the way.”

“Yes, but remember, I wasn’t Bibi yet.” I didn’t know my heart could break into more pieces, but today was full of surprises.

Tina nodded. “What was your first thought when you saw her on stage today?”

“Like an earthquake had hit.” And I was still feeling the aftershocks.

“Some contestants on this show would say that when they’d found their mate.”

“Calista isn’t my mate,” I said quickly. “I always said I’d know when I found them.”

Tina raised a brow. “Does that mean it’s Hugo?”

You can’t keep pushing him away, my wolf reminded me . One of these times he won’t come back.

“He might be.” The image of my heartbroken beau would forever be branded into my mind. He was a strong, protective, proud wolf, and this was the absolute worst time to realize exactly what he meant to me.

“Has he ever made you feel like that?” she asked.

“He makes me feel other things.” And all of them scared me. “Maybe it doesn’t have to be a big bang. Having a mate could be that quiet, knowing confidence, a feeling of home.”

“Is that what he gives you?”

I nodded.

Tina leaned forward. “Calista is still here, but I’m not sure how long Marissa will be able to keep her at bay. She’s one strong willed she-wolf, which usually I admire, but I have a feeling she’ll make our lives difficult until she gets what she wants. Which is you. Are you willing to talk to her? A Bibi heart-to-heart could go a long way to clearing up some misunderstandings.”

“Of course I’ll talk to her.” I rose from the couch. “I hate to admit it terrifies me.”

Tina stood and put her hand on my arm. “It means you care about her, and everyone else involved in this situation. Just know it’s okay if you can’t fix this. It doesn’t make what you’ve built any less valid.”

“I want Calista to be happy.” I threw my shoulders back, preparing myself for this conversation like I was about to go into battle. Which was ridiculous. A part of me wanted to think that once we got past the misunderstandings, everything would be like old times. But the rest of me knew we could never go back. “I just don’t think I’m the person to give her what she wants.”

“Promise me something.” Tina pressed her lips together.

“Anything.”

“Don’t put her happiness before yours. The fairy dragmother deserves a happily ever after too.” Before I had a chance to protest that making other people happy was how I filled my cup, she turned and left the office.

The door was open, and Calista was at the other end of that hallway.

It was just a conversation. With my best friend. I’d thought about this moment so many times but it had never been like this.

I took a deep breath and reminded myself who I was. Bibi le Bonnet didn’t let anything hold her back. And I didn’t plan on starting now.

The cacophony of chaos grew louder as I walked down the hallway. I assumed Calista was being held in one of the contestant trailers, and I planned to ask the first production assistant I found where I should go to find her.

Instead, I ran into Hugo, my gorgeous beau. I waited for that feeling of electricity running rampant through my body when I saw him, but it didn’t come. Instead I had that sense of calm, and a feeling that everything would work out.

“Boy, am I glad to see you.” I would’ve normally hugged him, but the wolf had a forcefield around him. “What’s happening?’

“Chaos, that’s what.” He rubbed his hand over the back of his bald head in frustration. “There’s no way Calista should’ve gotten past security. I’m sorry, Bibi.”

“Don’t be. This episode has been a challenge for all of us.”

“I wanted her to be escorted out,” he said. “But Tina and Marissa insisted that you have a chance to talk to her before she left.”

“But you didn’t want that.”

He pursed his lips together. “There’s a reason you ran from your old pack. It’s my duty to protect you.”

I didn’t need anyone to protect me, but a girl could still appreciate the sentiment.

“It’s probably best that I do talk to her.” I gave him the brightest smile I could muster, but he’d practically turned to stone. This was something more than jealousy. Bigger than pride. “Does she have anything to do with all that noise?”

His answer was somewhere between a harrumph and a growl and told me everything I needed to know.

Bodies choked the entrance to the stage, and Marissa paced behind them, her vibration frantic, like she was on the verge of a shift.

Her eyes widened when she saw me, a look I became all too familiar with during her episode.

“What is going on?” I asked.

“I tried to stop her,” Marissa said. “I even tried to pull the plug on the mic, but it didn’t work. That was when Bjorn reminded me everything will run on remote backups in case a contestant ever gets dramatic.”

“Calista, can you tell us how you made it past security to The Mating Game stage?” A reporter’s voice boomed from the studio.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said under my breath. She was holding a press conference.

“I wish I was.” Marissa rolled her eyes, but she didn’t have a chance to say anything else before Calista’s signature throaty chuckle echoed from the stage.

“It wasn’t easy. The show has been notorious for its security breaches, and because of the whole Bigfoot situation, things were tighter than ever. It took a lot of patience, talking to people until they said just the right thing, and waiting for the perfect moment. Other than that, a girl can’t reveal her secrets.”

“Why are you here?” another reporter asked. “It seems like a desperate measure to get Bibi’s attention.”

“Maybe, but have you ever been so in love with someone you’ll do whatever it takes to be close to them?” The room fell silent, hanging on her every word. “It’s possible that I’ve been in love with Bibi, gosh, possibly before she learned how to love herself. She ran before I had a chance to get to know her like this. And when I tell you I went to literal hell and back to find her…I know for certain, Bibi le Bonnet is my mate.”

Gasps erupted in the room as Calista doubled down on her claim.

“But I’ve been here, in Sunset Springs, for years.” While everyone’s attention had been fixed on Calista, I had Marissa give me a microphone and alerted the lighting technician that I was about to make my entrance.

Calista might be captivating on stage, but it was time to remind everyone who they were dealing with.

Every head in the room turned to watch me make my way down the aisle. They shouted questions, too many to understand. Others jockeyed for position to get the best shot with their cameras.

Calista’s mouth hung open as I took the stage. I winked at her, and she stepped out of the way, letting me take her place at the podium.

“Bibi, did you know this was going to happen?” a reporter asked.

In that moment, I realized I could make it look like we’d planned this all along. Not that I wanted anyone to think The Mating Game was scripted, but also I didn’t want them to know I’d lost control of my show.

“Nothing happens here without me knowing.” I smiled at the crowd, and everything felt like business as usual. Almost. “Does anyone have questions about Hannah and Lars?”

“Why wouldn’t you talk to Calista until now? Surely crashing this episode wasn’t her first attempt to get your attention,” another reporter asked.

I had to choose my words carefully. I’d just told them I’d been fully aware that she’d make an appearance.

This time, my gaze was on Calista. Damn that electricity, it was back in full force.

“Because this is what she wanted,” I said. “She’s a star in her own right. But don’t worry, as soon as this press conference is over, we’ll have a talk.”