Page 90 of Luna Trials
“I don’t need your protection,” I bit back.
“Honestly, I think we need to cut ties with her,” Stef said, lowering her eyes. “It’s too dangerous for us to associate with someone who causes problems like this. She’s going to get hurt and bring us down with her.”
“Are you serious?” I laughed derisively. “Weren’t you the one begging me a few days ago to throw you a bone? Theonesponsor you managed tofind wouldn’t even consider supporting us if it wasn’t for me.”
“Things change.” Stef smiled.
Trenton ran a hand through his blond hair, heading for the door.
“Where are you going?” I jumped to my feet.
“To see if I can talk some sense into the other guys,” Trenton snapped. “In the meantime, stay away from Ranger so you don’t piss him off anymore.”
Something twisted hard in my chest and I pressed a fist against it as my wolf started to whine. The door slammed shut. I raised my eyes, still holding back the burning tears.
“What?” Stef growled. “Don’t look at me. This is your own fault. You should have listened to us from the beginning and remembered your rank.”
*
IfI made it through the elimination round, I was hiding in my room for the rest of the day. I’d raid the cafeteria and stock up on supplies, crawl into bed, and read rom-coms saved to my phone in my pajamas until my eyes glossed over.
Though that wasn’t going to score me any more Alpha points and I still had one more trial to pass. The voters might have forgotten about me too since apparently no one had gotten to see my nest.
I almost wondered if it was cheating to have the viewers keep me here. Was I taking away a spotfrom another Luna candidate the Alphas really wanted since they didn’t seem to want me?
I took my seat in the back row of the bleachers, as far away from the cameras as I could get, and I wasn’t proud of it, but I scanned the crowd of Alphas looking for him. Ranger wasn’t here to watch.
Figures.
My wolf whined again.
Jay took his spot on stage as the director yelled, “Action.”
I distracted myself from my nerves by watching the clips of the nests play on the screen and listening to Jay’s commentary. This felt wrong. Like the private parts of ourselves were being exposed and judged and picked apart. I could sense the embarrassment in the room as the Luna candidates around me shrunk into themselves.
When they showed Stef’s nest, Jay made a comment about velvet being out of style and a few of the other contestants laughed.
I couldn’t bring myself to smile.
“He’s an asshole,”I told her through our pack link.
Stef sat up straighter, ignoring the jab.“I’m sure your nest was worse.”
They never showed my nest.
Instead, there was a clip of Ranger growling and strong-arming the doors. No one dared to set foot near the shed. I was equal parts confused and frustrated.Why is he doing this to me?
“As you can see folks, we have some protective Alphas already emerging. Stay tuned to watch the drama unfold.” Jay winked for the cameras.
Protective? Yeah right.
“But first it’s time to say goodbye to a few more contestants.” Jay stood to the side as the screen showed our tallies.
I held my breath as my eyes quickly scanned the results. My name dipped below the popular vote cutoff line and I slowly released the air from my lungs. I’d lost the public. I was sitting at number twenty-one in the list. The viewers at home had forgotten about me and voted for other candidates after the nesting trial.
I wasn’t in the top twenty anymore.
But the total number of Alpha votes was…