Page 41 of Alpha Games
Papa:Okay, I won’t tell you. *kiss face emoji*
Aspen:*face palm* NO!! What did they show?
The phone rang in my hand, blocking out the text, and I frowned at the unknown number. Two calls in one day from Clara was unheard of. My heart started racing as I wondered what they’d shown on the latest episode.
I pressed the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Is there a reason you’ve been avoiding me, Aspen?” Alpha Derek’s cold voice made me freeze.
“No,” I stuttered, caught off-guard. “My charger hasn’t been working for some reason.”
“You should get your boyfriend to buy you another one.” The sound of him hawking spit on the ground made my stomach roll. “I’d ask what was keeping you so busy, but the whole world can see it on TV.”
I swallowed down my panic.
I’d been so worried about my papa watching or making a fool of myself on the show that I forgotten Derek would be seeing everything. I quicklythought back to the interviews and events, wondering if I’d said anything wrong to piss him off.
I hated how small I felt. “I’m doing exactly what you told me to do.”
“I can see that.” He chuckled. “Looks like you found yourself an Alpha after all.”
My wolf started snarling, disgusted that he was speaking of Ranger. I agreed with her, but I guess we’d lost our rights to privacy when we’d signed the contracts for the show. It was getting harder to remember people were watching and there was the entire world outside this resort.
I shouldn’t have forgotten though.
There was still my real life out there.
“I guess I did,” I whispered, feeling like I was twelve years old again and waiting for his other boot to connect with my ribs. “Is that a problem?”
“No problem at all,” he sounded smug. “But that’s not the reason I sent you there.”
“Trenton is doing good on the show.”
“I saw what happened to my son,” Derek barked. “You know what I didn’t see? You giving two shits about his welfare. Where was his rose? Why haven’t you helped him find a mate?”
“I don’t know what else you expect me to do. I’ve been coaching him and helping him through the games.” I didn’t bother saying the only reason he was still on the show was because of me. Alpha Derek wouldn’t care. He expected blind submission and results.
“Let’s get one thing straight.” An engine started in the background. “You’re there for my son and my pack. I don’t care who you have to fuck to protect him, but Trenton will survive these games and come home with a mate or you can forget about ever setting foot on Nuva territory again. And your grandfather will never leave my lands.”
My beast flashed in my eyes as I started growling, “You wouldn’t dare–”
The call dropped and I looked at my phone, silently screaming when I saw the battery had gone dead. This was great. Amazing, actually.
I was going to kill that old bastard.
Burn down his house. Destroy his pack.
Hot tears filled my eyes and the shame washed over me. I wasn’t going to do anything.
He was right. Who was I kidding? I wouldn’t even be on this show if it wasn’t for him. Getting involved with Ranger was dangerous. It made me forget my place… at the bottom of the pack.
I sucked in a shaky breath and quickly dried my eyes before Jesse’s makeup could get ruined.
There was no use in feeling sorry for myself. I knew what I signed up to do. Alpha Derek was a dick, but he was still my Alpha and until I was free of him, I had no choice but to obey.
One day, we’ll make him pay.
I straightened my shoulders and headed to the door, jerking it open to see Ivan standing there with a raised fist as if he was about to knock.