Page 65 of Alpha Games
“Everything’s quiet at the resort.”Mattox’s range was fading as I put distance between us.“And Nuva Pack is being cooperative for now.”
“Good.”I wasn’t sure if he heard me as I crossed the border marking the edge of the resort property. Something was wrong. It was tugging at my chest, making my wolf uneasy as he paced.
It’s Aspen,he said.
But that couldn’t be right. She was safe in my room and waiting in my bed. Besides, we wouldn’t be able to sense her yet. Not without a claiming mark.
She needs us.
I burst through the thicket of trees near the makeshift stage set in the front of the resort property by the fish head water fountain. There were pop-up canopies set on the other side of the gravel driveway. One had Jay Renfro who was getting fluffed by his makeup team like a show Pomeranian. Beyond that, the girls lingered in the shade of the second canopy.
My nostrils flared as my beast growled.
Anger had me tightening my grip on the kill.
Fallon gave a short wave.“Don’t freak out.”
I ignored my sister, fixating my gaze on Aspen as she sat with the other Lunas. She wore pale blue dress pants with her ankles crossed and her hands were folded in her lap like a prim and proper princess as she stared back at me with her chin raised high.
And she looked pissed.
I dropped the lion on the platform and pulled on a pair of shorts from the basket beside the stage. My gaze never wavered from Aspen, even as a cameraman shoved a microphone in my face.
“Mr. McCaw, how do you think your animal will stack up against the others? The viewers say you should have won the obstacle course. Do you think you’ll win today?”
I growled at him, but the fresh-faced human was too eager for a response to recognize the threat.
“How is Aspen Nuva? Are you two making plans for the season?” he continued the rapid fire.
His questions were ones I wanted answers to, too. I dragged a hand through my hair, realizing how feral I looked with blood still coating my bare back and chest. “Excuse me.”
“She wouldn’t listen,”Fallon was saying as I approached the females’ tent.
Aspen’s glare narrowed, forcing my heart to beat harder in anticipation.
“I told her everything.”
No wonder my Luna was pissed. Fallon would have blundered it and made me out to be some sort of deranged caveman. My sister wasn’t known for her gushing compliments.
“She didn’t take any drugs on purpose,”Fallon rushed to explain.“Someone put it in her drink. She’s never touched them before.”
My beast stopped pacing. Protective fury coursed through us both.
“Oh and I told her about the cameras–”
“Enough,” I growled the word out loud, causing the female Lunas not already looking my way to jump. I could smell their arousal as it drifted in the late afternoon breeze, could scent the excitement circulating around the tent. Yet Aspen’s anger was the only thing potent enough to keep my attention.
“Ranger, how did it go?” Edith stood with Meghan, moving forward to block my path.
Aspen’s nostrils flared.
I ignored the other women, stepping around them without a care. Aspen still hadn’t moved from her seat. She was making me come to her. A power-play. That was cute.
I bit back my grin, knowing it wouldn’t be well received as I knelt beside her chair. “How are you feeling?”
There were gasps around the tent as the cameras moved in, circling where I sat crouched in front of Aspen for the whole world to see. Even my sister was shocked as she took a step back.
Aspen still didn’t move, but I heard the increase of her heart beat and the sharp intake of breath. “Why don’t you tell me how I’m supposed to be feeling? You seem to need to control everything else.”