I flicked my tail crossly. "Let him."
Heavy wing beats sounded above us. A half-eagle, half-lion creature landed beside Crimson, then shifted into a cheerful man in an eye-searing Hawaiian shirt.
Gaius gestured theatrically down to the shore. "And we have our first arrivals! Poppy the Arctic wolf, and Taylor the Siberian tiger!"
A shiver went down my spine. For a moment, I'd forgotten this was all being filmed. I tried not to looktoopissed off. But deep down, I was glad not to be disqualified. I didn't understand why, but I desperately wanted to win.
I chalked it up to my protectiveness over Poppy and Muzo. I couldn't look after them if I went home, right?
As I thought of my jackal friend, I glanced behind me. I sighed in relief when I saw him doggy-paddling his way to the shore, spitting out water. He'd made it to the next round, too.
And he wasn't alone. A dripping-wet white furball clawed his way onto the island. If my glare at Crimson was bad, Alaric's glare towards me was ten times worse. I was sure I'd be on the receiving end of his harsh words later.
"And two more contestants have just arrived," Gaius announced. "Muzo the black-backed jackal, and Alaric the cat! Ah, and a few more are right on their tails!"
A couple more stragglers wound up on shore. Soon a dozen shifters stood there, wet and waiting for Crimson to announce the ultimate winner. A few shifters were unable to swim to the island and bowed out of the competition, which only served to annoy me further. Crimson thought he was too good for people who couldn't swim? What a dick.
Muzo smacked his lips next to me. "Bleh, I swallowed a pound of seaweed..."
"We were in a river, there was no seaweed," I grumbled.
Poppy sheepishly licked Muzo's damp ears to dry them off. I ignored my canine friends. All my attention was on Gaius as he wrapped up his announcement of the contestants still in the running.
"That's everyone, folks! Congratulations on passing your first challenge. You've all won a chance at a date with Crimson tonight, but the final decision is his to make. I'll hand it over to the big man himself."
Gaius gave Crimson the microphone. Crimson looked slightly dazed. He distractedly brought it to his lips but didn't speak.
"Well, Crimson?" Gaius prompted in an upbeat tone. "Which omega will it be?"
Crimson glanced over the line of wet omegas. He didn't spare any of them a lingering glance—except for me.
My heart suddenly began pounding.
Why was my body reacting? I didn't give a damn about this stupid competition. I couldn't care less if I won or lost.
But as Crimson's ruby eyes dawdled on me, my pulse picked up speed.
Finally, Crimson opened his mouth.
"The winner of this challenge, and the omega I choose to take on a date tonight... is Taylor Chalchin."
Eight
Crimson
Perhaps I should've paid moreattention during the planning stage of the Dragonfate Games, because I surely would've spoken up about the utterly ridiculous "challenges" my brothers had thought up. Honestly, asking omegas to shift and swim across a river? Who came up with this nonsense? The worst part was that I was positiveeverychallenge would be as idiotic as this one.
After the producers propped me up on the island in the middle of the river, I had no choice but to stand there and watch the water race. I didn't give a kobold's ass if my potential mate could swim across rushing waters. I mean, really, when was that ever going to be an issue? I'd rather my mate be challenged in dry cleaning or sewing in order to maintain my suits...
Apparently, those activities didn't make good television. None of it was up to me except the final choice of the winner—and in this case, there was no contest. I'd had my eye on Taylor since the meet-and-greet when he gave me the cold shoulder, and I'd been drawn to his photo before filming even began. There was something about that stoic tiger that intrigued me.
When the challenge started, Taylor had instantly taken the lead. It made sense. Tigers were excellent swimmers. I was secretly pleased he'd make it to the front of the pack.
But then he turned around.
At first, I couldn't comprehend what he was doing. Was he giving up? Was he doing the challenge all wrong just to spite me?
Then it dawned on me. He turned around to help his struggling friend.
