Page 67 of Midnight Moon
“Don’t worry about it,” I managed a small smile.
Stephanie gripped the wheel tighter and said, “But I know you have a lot on your plate, and I shouldn’t add to it by mentioning Hunter and his stupid crush. I really am sorry. I don’t think before I speak sometimes.”
“It’s really okay,” I assured her. “Trust me, Hunter is the least of my worries right now.”
She glanced at me from the corner of her eye, then returned her attention to the road. “I think I can guess who is.”
“Not who,” I corrected. “What. The Wilds shifters are winning the game right now. If that doesn’t change, my entire life will be thrown upside down.” And the doubters in our pack will get exactly what they want: someone else as their next alpha.
“There’s no way your dad actually makes you mate with their alpha,” Stephanie said with certainty.
I wished I could share her confidence, but I knew better.
“He doesn’t have a choice,” I told her. “The packs all agreed to the terms during the opening ceremony.” Never, in the history of the Alpha Games, had packs reneged on the victor’s requested reward.
“There must be a loophole.”
I faced the passenger window. My breath fogged the glass. “I wouldn’t hold my breath,” I told her. “My only real hope is for another pack to win the games.”
After game two, the Wilds Pack was in the lead with six points. The next closest was the Northeastern Pack with three points. Hunter and I had two points. The Coastal shifters had one, and the Moors Pack still had zero.
In theory, it was still anybody’s game. Even the Moors Pack had a chance to win. They could earn first place in the next two games and tie with the Wilds Pack, then defeat them in whatever tiebreaker the Badlands Pack used.
Hunter and I could, technically, still win, but I refused to get my hopes up.
One of the next games would, undoubtedly, involve combat. It would take a miracle for us to win that type of competition.
“Maybe Asher will throw the next two games? He offered to do it before.”
I’d told Stephanie about Asher’s offer to team-up prior to the second game and how he’d tried to entice me to accept.
When I didn’t respond, Stephanie continued, “Will you ask him?”
My answer flew from my mouth, “No.”
Asher and I hadn’t spoken since yesterday afternoon, and I wanted to keep it that way.
Unusual feelings and emotions consumed me whenever he was around, and I couldn’t afford to be distracted by them—orhim.
“Fine, then I will.” Stephanie turned the car onto the gravel road which would take us to the center of Badlands’ territory.
My neck whipped around, and I narrowed my eyes in a glare. “No, you will not.”
“Okay,” she shrugged. “I’ll talk to Chase instead.”
“That’s not any better!”
“Blair, don’t be stubborn,” she chastised me. “If talking to these guys is what it takes to make sure my best friend isn’t shipped off to Alaska, I’m going to talk to them.”
I shook my head. “It’s not that simple.”
“It really is,” she countered. “The worst that happens is they say no, and we’re in the same place we are now.”
I stared at the dashboard. Begrudgingly, I admitted Stephanie had a point.
There wasn’t any harm in asking the Wilds shifters to lose the next two games.
But that didn’t mean I liked it…
