7. Chapter 7
Ash
We’d barely been here a few days and it was already a disaster.
My team mate Cassie - a very pretty, though highly agitated omega - already had beef with one of the alphas.
I almost felt bad for him. It was clear to me that he really liked her, although she seemed to think he was the devil incarnate.
Even worse, our trust fall exercise, which should have been a disaster for Jace and Cassie, ended up a disaster for me.
The alpha who caught me went a little overboard, not realizing his strength.
Rys tried to save us from falling, but ended up entangling us with the sound guy, resulting in all of them on the ground.
Leo somehow managed to keep me up in the air, using a single arm to hold me above the fray.
Now, I can’t say it wasn’t attractive, even if he didn’t realize his own overzealous strength.
In fact, all of the alphas they’d put on our team were exactly my type.
If I wasn’t here for the money, I might actually consider getting to know them.
But now, knowing how fiery Cassie was toward our teammate, and how ridiculous our challenge went, I felt like we wouldn’t make it past the first round of voting.
And that’s exactly where we were tonight, lined up to learn our fate.
There’s nothing like standing in front of a giant glowing screen, knowing your entire future might be decided by a group of strangers.
Alongside us were the other teams that had been placed together, eight total.
Some of them looked like surefire winners - they were clearly used to performing.
They seemed so confident, and acted so connected already.
I’d watched their trust fall exercises, feeling awful as they seemed to ace the challenge, all while sending us smirks as they watched our team flail in chaotic fashion.
I crossed my arms, pretending I wasn’t on the verge of throwing up. Cassie stood to my left, arms tight at her sides, her eyes feigning disinterest. She was trying to look unbothered, but really, she looked pissed off. I was definitely bothered. But I’d gotten good at pretending.
Our “pack” stood in a line: me, Cassie, Rys, Leo, and Jace. Five strangers who’d fumbled our first challenge so badly that it had already been clipped and memed across the internet.
Leo tripping during the trust fall, somehow picking up two other people into the mess and then nearly launching me into the air? It was an instant classic. The audience loved it. But that didn’t mean they’d believe in our ‘love story’ enough to keep us on.
And no one knew what it meant for me. The pack didn’t know I needed this.
And I really, really needed it. I came from a place where heat suppressants were a luxury, where alphas only looked at omegas like me when they needed someone to use and discard.
Growing up, my family had to hide what I was just so I could get a job.
I wasn’t trying to win a mate - I was trying to win a life.
But I couldn’t let them know that. Not the alphas, not even Cassie.
And especially not the audience. Desperation didn’t sell well.
The host’s voice rang out dramatically as we stood there to learn our fate.
“Team Silver, after yesterday’s, shall we say, chaotic trust exercise - you were one of the most talked about packs on social media. But it’s time to find out if going viral means votes… or if you’re the first to go.”
A long, terrible silence followed. I swallowed, glancing down the line.
Leo stood tall, back straight, looking relaxed and with a happy smile, like someone who’d never been picked last in his life.
Rys looked like a statue, somber but not stressed.
Jace was either brooding or trying not to pass out, I couldn't tell.
And Cassie, well, she looked ready to throw down.
I was pretty sure that if we got cut, she was taking the camera crew with her.
I reached out, my hand barely grazing hers.
But somehow, it seemed to do the trick. Her stance relaxed some, and it also somehow helped the knots in my stomach to ease.
Her citrus scent was tinged with mild anxiety, but I somehow still liked it.
The scent was a calming balm, so very different from the too strong, pungent scents of other omegas I’d met.
But I couldn't even think about that right now. I still had so much riding on this show. All I could do was suffer in silence as the thoughts ran through my head. Don’t send me home. Not yet.
The screen lit up as the teams ranked one by one. With each cheer from the packs nearby, I grew more anxious. Where was our ranking? Then, when I thought all was lost, our team name flashed across the screen.
We came in first place.
Cheers erupted from somewhere, but I couldn’t be bothered to look. I just let out a huge exhale and turned to Cassie. She blinked at me in surprise, and let out a huge grin.
“We made it!” She shrieked, and jumped into my arms. I caught her, stumbling backward slightly in surprise.
I felt a warm hand on my shoulder as Rys stepped up behind me, calmness seeming to radiate from him.
Then Leo bounded up, wrapping his arms around all of us and practically lifting us all up from the ground as he bellowed out.
“We did it team!” Leo’s happiness was infectious, and I couldn’t stop smiling in relief, and also in a strange appreciation of this strange type of teamwork.
“Careful now, we don’t need another accident!” the host joked, and Leo set us down, still beaming. Jace stepped over, looking at us and trying to hold back his obvious relief.
“Well, since we’re all still here, how about a pack dinner?” He suggested, and the host stepped closer.
“Oh, you’ll be having a very special dinner tonight!
The winners of round one get a candlelit meal out on the terrace, courtesy of our award winning private chef!
” The host explained. We gave a team cheer, and were quickly herded toward the exit to prepare for our dinner.
I walked next to Cassie as we headed toward our suite.
“I told you we had chemistry!” I said to Cassie as I nudged her. She smirked at me.
“Enough to make it to the next round! Let’s see how far we can get!” She said, and I smiled to myself.
I felt a presence behind me and looked to see Rys, the rugged, handsome alpha who was so quick to try to help me during the challenge, come closer to us. Rys gave me a once-over. “You good?” I nodded too quickly. “Fine. Totally fine.”
But I wasn’t. I wasn’t ready for how my chest had fluttered when Leo caught me during the fall like I weighed nothing.
I was caught off guard by how turned on I was when Rys’s strong arms surrounded me, keeping me from being injured.
And I was not at all expecting the strange feelings that came up when Cassie grinned at me after the vote, like we were already in on the same joke.
I was less sure than ever. This was supposed to be easy - I was so good at hiding my feelings, at acting.
But thankfully, I wasn’t leaving yet. And that meant I had time to stay in the game.
It meant more time to maybe figure out if a broken kid from the outskirts could actually find a place in this ridiculous, impossible team.
“Alright, Team Silver,” the host beamed. “You live to bond another day!”
I smiled at the absurdity of it all. Maybe this was going to be a disaster. But maybe, just maybe, it could be more.