Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

Faye

“Have I mentioned how much I hate Kurt?” Addilyn asks me as she covers my bruises with makeup.

I wince as the makeup pad pats my skin, even though I try not to. My face and throat are just so tender. It’s only been an hour since Kurt attacked me in my room, and my injuries are still fresh and painful. Note to self, don’t get attacked by assholes.

Despite how terrified I was of Kurt, my mind keeps focusing on Ezra instead of Kurt. I feel absolutely fascinated by how little effort it took for him to take down Kurt. The bastard is so much bigger and stronger than me, but he’s a shrimp compared to Ezra. It’s a fact that should scare me about the big alpha, but doesn’t.

Do other alphas use their strength for good? I wonder. As much as I hate my alpha for looking the other way when Miles died, a part of me is starting to be able to recognize that he’s not all bad. Maybe he has done good things for my community, I just never saw those good things.

She closes the makeup and takes a step back from me. “All done?”

I blink, looking in the mirror. The coverup isn’t flawless, but it also doesn’t look like I was recently beaten, so I consider it a win. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

I try to focus on something else. Something better. “How are things going with the two alphas?”

Her face falls. “Both got distracted by other women.” Going to my mirror, she grabs ahold of her breasts and lifts them up so they look like massive melons. “Do you think I should start pushing the girls up more?”

“What?” The word bursts out of me. “No, you look perfect the way you are.”

She frowns and drops her boobs. “It’s just a set of twins came up with knockers as big as my head, and those guys were out of there. They practically left a cloud of smoke behind them.”

I wince. “If those alphas were distracted by some boobs, they weren’t the guys for you.”

“I guess,” she says, but there’s doubt in her voice.

The bell tolls, signaling the next game, and we both jump. Addilyn laughs, and I climb out of the chair, feeling sore all over, but knowing I have to be seen at the next game. We head for the door, then down the hall, wondering what fresh hell they’ve set up for us in the ballroom.

“I’ll stay by your side,” Addilyn whispers to me. “I’ll do whatever I can to keep Kurt away from you.”

I smile. “You’re a good friend.”

When we enter the ballroom, it’s been set up with dozens of little round tables with five chairs at each of them. In the center of each table is a white cake, and there is frosting and different tools spread out around the table.

Omegas and alphas file in and gather near the front, where Lance, the ultima, is standing, patiently waiting with a big smile on his face. When Kurt enters the ballroom, Addilyn moves me to her other side, so she’s standing between me and Kurt, which actually makes me feel a lot better.

Eventually, Ezra and Cayson enter the room. I tense when I see them, even though I don’t know why. Both men look ridiculously good, standing out from the crowd of other alphas that seem to blend in with the background. I almost wish the two men were close enough to smell. Something about their scents seems to put me at ease, even in the worst of situations.

“Okay, welcome,” Lance says, greeting everyone warmly. “We’ll be having this final activity of the day, and then you’ll be enjoying dinner under the stars with the partners of your choosing. Not bad for another day at The Selection, am I right?”

Everyone claps, and then he continues, “Today, one omega will be partnered up with multiple alphas, and you’ll be decorating a cake that will be served for dessert tonight. How does that sound?”

There’s cheering and excitement, but all I can think is, Please don’t pair me up with Kurt.

The omegas are all given numbers that correspond with numbers on the tables, and we settle ourselves into chairs, while numbers are handed out to the alphas. Addilyn is at a table across the room from me, but she gives me a comforting look that eases my tension, if only by a little. Then the alphas are told to go find their tables, and they head out, looking like wolves on the prowl.

“Hi,” a man says, stopping beside my table.

He’s got red hair, a bushy beard, a large chest, and dark blue eyes that watch me carefully, as if evaluating me. Just his presence makes me uneasy. Because he’s big. Because he’s an alpha.

“I’m Robin,” he introduces himself.

“Faye,” I tell him, but my name comes out a whisper.

He seats himself next to me, but he’s only there for a minute before another man arrives. He has dark hair, dark eyes, and the rigid energy of an accountant who has some serious numbers to crunch.

The new man adjusts his glasses, gives me a nervous look, and says, “I’m Phillip. I guess I’ll be decorating a cake with you tonight.”

He takes the seat next to me. “So, do you–?”

His words are cut off by a third man who approaches, one with long black hair and a charming smile. “I’m Jace. You, lovely lady, are?”

I swallow around the lump in my throat. “Faye.”

“Beautiful name.”

“Uh, thank you.”

He puts his hands on the back of Phillip’s chair. “Mind if I take this seat?”

Phillip’s eyes flash with anger, but his gaze runs over the much larger man, and he slides down to the next seat, allowing Jace to take his place.

Feeling gazes on me, I turn and realize that Cayson is at a table next to me, and Ezra is at the table on the other side of me. They both have omegas seated near them, but they’re not looking at the women. They’re looking at me, which is strange.

Why are they looking at me?

“Should we get started?” Robin asks.

I nod, not sure what to say.

“What color should we make it?”

Jace answers Robin. “How about the same lovely shade as her hazel eyes?”

Phillip studies the cake. “I think that color would be pretty hard to get right. I say we either try green or blue.”

Jace rolls his eyes and hands me a big tube of blue frosting. “Why don’t you start?”

I take the tube and stare at the cake, having no idea how to do this.

“You look good holding that,” Jace tells me, raising and lowering his brows like he just said something clever.

Unable to help myself, I pull in his scent. It’s something spicy and altogether unpleasant, just like the man in front of me. I’ve never spent a lot of time around men, so I can’t decide if it’s strange that I like Cayson’s and Ezra’s scents or strange that I don’t like the scents of the other men.

“Do you want help?” Robin asks.

Grateful, I hand him the frosting tube. “Have you done this before?”

He nods. “I’ve spent a lot of time baking with my grandmother. She’s an excellent cook and has taught me everything she knows.”

It makes my heart warm a little to actually hear about a happy family.

His gaze finds mine even as he begins to squirt the frosting in a circle around the top edges of the round cake. “What about your family? Anyone you’re particularly close with?”

An ache echoes through my chest. “All my family members are dead, unfortunately.”

He winces. “It’s important to me that the omega I choose has a supportive family like my own.”

I stare at him for a minute. When he doesn’t say more, I manage, “Sorry that the loss of everyone I hold dear makes me a less desirable candidate as your omega.”

Now, his cheeks heat. “I’m sorry. That came out wrong. I’m just a direct person.”

“I understand, although my brother always used to say that people often use ‘being direct’ to be cruel. I always wondered if that was true.”

He opens his mouth to say more, but I glance away from him, feeling angry. My gaze finds its way to Ezra. The omega next to him is an absolutely beautiful brunette. She has her hand on his leg, and she’s talking and laughing like she’s having the time of her life.

I look away and find Cayson. He’s telling a story that has the pretty redhead next to him grinning like a mad woman. All the other alphas at the table look annoyed, but it doesn’t stop whatever story he’s telling. When he sees me looking at him, he winks, and I jerk my gaze away, feeling embarrassed.

“Well,” Jace says, leaning in, “I guess this is a good thing. Robin’s out of the running.”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t still consider her,” Robin stutters out, “just that she wasn’t my ideal match.”

Phillip adjusts his glasses. “Well, to know if she’s an ideal match, we actually need more details. It’s already obvious she’s small and weak, which likely won’t result in strong children, but what pack does she belong to? Is she valued in her pack? Would choosing her create strong allegiances?”

I can’t help myself. I say, “How romantic.”

Phillip looks confused, but Jace just smiles. “She seems big enough for whatever I need her for.”

Feeling uncomfortable, I pick up a bag of icing and just start doing what Robin is doing, but I’m decorating the sides of the cake with pink. The other men grab frosting tubes and then we’re all working together. Having them busy, and not talking to me, calms me down just a little.

Then Jace says, “You look good enough to eat.”

I regard him in confusion.

Then he squirts a little frosting on the tip of my nose.

“Uh…”

Before I can say more, he leans forward and licks the tip of my nose. I’m so… disgusted, that I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do.

He squirts some frosting on his finger and lifts it to my lips. “Lick.”

I sit in stunned silence. He wants me to… lick the frosting off his finger?

“What’s this?” Cayson is suddenly behind me, and a second later Ezra is there too. “You guys sampling the cakes?”

Jace looks annoyed. “ We were.”

“Well,” Cayson says, “why stop there?”

Taking the green frosting in his hands, Cayson squirts it all over Jace’s face. My mouth drops open. The tables around us go utterly silent. I look up at Cayson in absolute horror. There’s a playful smile on his face, but there’s something underneath that smile that I don’t understand.

“What the fuck did you just do?” Jace asks, frosting dripping onto his clothes.

“He’s clearly just making a mess,” Robin says angrily.

“Oh, you look a bit hungry too,” Ezra says. As if I’m in a bad dream, Ezra grabs a handful of our poorly decorated cake and throws it at Robin, hitting him square in the face. “Eat up. You’ve got to get bigger and stronger if you want to capture the perfect omega. One who can tolerate your personality, and give you the big family you so rightfully deserve.”

Without a word, Robin stands and grabs a handful of the cake and throws it at Ezra. But Ezra ducks, and the cake hits an omega just behind him. The table of alphas look between her and Robin, rage in their expressions, and then they’re digging into the cake on their table.

I don’t know how it happened so fast, but within seconds the entire ballroom descends into madness. It’s a food fight that no one can escape from. I get hit by cake from every direction, until Ezra and Cayson pull me under the table, and we all hide out as the war rages.

Looking at them in horror, I ask, “What were you thinking?”

“Those guys were asses,” Cayson tells me nonchalantly.

I look at Ezra, expecting more maturity, but he just shrugs. “Big asses.”

“I just–I–” What am I even supposed to say?

But instead of saying anything, I picture Robin’s and Jace’s faces when they were covered in cake and icing, and I start laughing. And once I start laughing, I can’t stop. Reaching over, I pick cake out of Ezra’s hair, and then some off of Cayson’s face.

“You two are absolutely insane.”

Cayson grins at me. “And you love it.”

Maybe I do. It certainly makes life more interesting.

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