"You're not Crimson's type," I said.
"Oh, and you are?" Alaric shot back venomously. "You can barely get your fat ass up this cliff!"
Okay, now he was getting on my nerves.
Baring my fangs, I growled, "You'd better watch your mouth."
Alaric smirked. "You want to slap me right off this cliff, don't you?"
That was exactly what he wanted. I knew it. His plan was to goad me until I snapped and looked bad on TV. But his plan wasn't going to work.
"I don't need to," I said, leaping a foot up the slope.
Alaric was neck-and-neck with me. He threw his lithe body upwards, then sank his claws into the earth. "And why's that?"
"Because Crimson doesn't like mean omegas like you."
Alaric looked shocked and annoyed. "I amnotmean. I'm telling the truth."
"Whatever, Alaric."
Ignoring him, I slammed my paws into the cliff, inching up one step at a time. But my tiff with Alaric left me irritated, so I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have been. My claws caught a loose rock the size of a human fist and plummeted from under my paw.
I gasped, looking down. If there was anyone beneath me, they'd get hit—and from this height, it would hurt.
My heart sank when I saw a familiar figure directly below me.
Muzo.
My body moved faster than my brain. I unlocked my claws from the cliff, twisting in midair as I fell towards him. Alaric made fun of my large size, but in this case, my weight was a blessing. I lost altitude just fast enough to outrun the plummeting rock.
I couldn't push Muzo out of the way, otherwise he'd fly off the cliff. Steeling myself, I sank my claws into the earth just above Muzo and used my body as a shield, taking the blow instead of him. I grunted as the rock hit me. It bounced off my thick haunch, then tumbled harmlessly down to the ground.
I sighed in relief. Looking down, I caught Muzo's wide eyes.
"Uh, what just happened?" he asked.
"Don't worry about it," I said.
"Well, a tiger fell out of the sky, followed by a big rock, so it's kinda hard not to worry about it." Muzo put two and two together. "Wait, did you just save my life?"
I snorted. "Don't be so dramatic."
"I could've gotten a concussion! Or worse! You're my savior, Taylor!"
Embarrassed at his praise, I flicked my tail. "I'm leaving now."
With that misadventure over, I crept back up the cliff. Getting to the top was easy since I was fueled by leftover adrenaline. There, I joined a handful of shifters who'd already reached the finish line. Alaric was among them. He sat with his back to me, as if trying to pretend I didn't exist. That was fine with me. It was better than constantly bickering with him.
I looked around the top of the cliff. This time, Crimson was nowhere to be seen. That made me feel better, in a childish way. That meant that the bird shifter and others who'd arrived before me hadn’t had some private, special moment with Crimson.
I wanted to be the only person who had those.
I heard a familiar voice huffing and puffing behind me. Muzo and Poppy had finally made it to the top together. I felt relieved to see them. Today's challenge was definitely harder than yesterday's for them. I hoped tomorrow's was easier, for their sake. As much as I wanted to win, I didn't want my friends to go home.
On the other hand, I wouldn't complain if tomorrow's challenge was difficult for a certain house cat…
"You guys okay?" I asked my friends.
