Page 67 of Luna Trials

One.

It didn’t show the name of who voted, but I had to assume Trenton wasn’t that much of a jerk so he cast his vote for me and Stef. She had four Alpha votes even though Stef was well below the popular vote cutoff. I was the only one with… one.

My cheeks flushed with shame as I looked out over the darkened crowd of Alphas who were clapping on cue, signaling the end of the show.

None of them had voted for me.

My wolf flashed in my eyes, searching too.

Ranger?

Nope.I swallowed hard.

It wasn’t like I expected someone like him to vote for someone like me, but I just thought…

I don’t know what I thought.

Winning the popular vote was enough to carry me through the next round and I’d have to try extra hard to keep it that way. But social media was fickle.

You know what?

It didn’t matter.

I needed to stay long enough to help Trenton through the Alpha games and then I’d take my money and get the hell off this show. That was it. I wasn’t here to find a mate or love.

So why did it hurt so bad that I was the only candidate none of the other Alphas voted for?

23

Ranger

I watched the stage as she sat there like royalty with her head held high, a cut above the rest. The other Alphas were clapping like they were told, but I couldn’t bring myself to move my hands. I sat there, staring.

She’d won the popular vote by a landslide. I didn’t understand how. These things were rigged. Edith and Lilith were near the top along with Fallon and Cindy and Wyona and Sarah and the rest of the elite packs’ offspring females. The producers already knew who’d bring in the most money in sponsors and donations. They altered the film to showcase those who would. But Aspen had taken over the highlights of the episode.

The little she-wolf from a small desert town was making waves on the screen and I didn’t like it one bit.

We need to get her out of here.

Agreed.

Despite Fallon’s griping, I was more than grateful I’d already gotten surveillance set up. Things would get worse for Aspen the more attention she brought on herself and I needed to be prepared to handle it.

Unless she liked the attention.

I rested my chin on my fist, watching as the production assistants came out and removed the women’s microphones. The Alphas around me were rising and congratulating each other as if their Luna’s wins were their own.

Still, I sat.

This shouldn’t have affected me as much as it did. I was no fool. Things were already getting too deep for me to walk away from. I was obsessed.

I didn’t get obsessed.

Blaming my beast would only get me so far.

It wasn’t as if I really knew this woman. Did she like the cameras? The fame? My sources were still pulling information, but from what I’d learned, that didn’t seem like her.

I wasn’t normally wrong, but I wasn’t cocky enough to think I would never be. Watching Aspen stare at the numbers on the screen as if she wanted more bothered me.

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