I scanned the lobby. Not all the shifter omegas were here. The others must have returned to their rooms. I didn’t recognize any of them, but they stared at me with wide-eyed wonder.
Should I smile and wave? I was busy, but it wouldn’t hurt to be polite. I raised a hand in greeting. Some of them swooned.
I instantly regretted waving.
As I continued on my way, I heard their ecstatic voices behind me: “Guys, Cobalt looked at me! He actually looked at me and waved!”
The hallway full of elated squeals faded into the background as I climbed the stairs. What floor was he on? Which room? Each door I passed made my heart thud faster, made the arrow pulse harder.
I was close. I felt it.
My feet suddenly stopped on their own. A door stood before me. It looked the same as any other hotel door, but this one was different.
My mate was behind this door. I knew it.
Inside my soul, my dragon rumbled, looping in circles impatiently.
Open the door,he demanded.
I grabbed the handle. The electronic key card reader flashed red and made a quiet error sound.
I frowned. First it was Viol, and now a hotel door told me ‘no,’ too.
But this time, I wasn’t taking no for an answer.
My knuckles went white as I curled my fingers around the handle. Hidden power flowed through my body. I breathed deeply, then wrenched my arm back.
A loudcrackechoed in the hall.
I yanked the entire door off its hinges.
Keen gasps sounded behind me, along with the shuffling feet of camera crew kobolds. When had all these people shown up?
A rectangular hole remained where the door had been seconds earlier, and through this new window, I saw a short, bewildered man and his naked bottom.
And so would everybody else crowded in the hallway, if I wasn’t so big that I blocked their view.
My dragon growled in a mix of satisfaction and jealousy. I wanted no one else to witness this man’s nakedness.
In a smooth motion, I stepped into the room and deposited the door back in place behind me. It wasn’t perfect, but at least the man’s nude body wasn’t on full display anymore.
The naked omega blinked at me in silence, so I seized the opportunity to examine him.
The first thing I noticed was his tiny size. He was short and wiry, easily small enough to pick up with one arm. His eyes were dark brown, bordering on black, and his skin was a warm shade of brown. His hair was sandy blond, edged with black tips, which I suspected was natural. It reminded me of a certain animal’s pelt color. It reminded me of—
I sucked in a breath, frozen to the spot.
Iknewthis omega. He was a black-backed jackal shifter, and he’d been a contestant on the Dragonfate Games twice before.
A sudden wave of guilt slammed into me. Until now, I hadn’t paid attention to any of the contestants. My mind was preoccupied with protecting my family. I didn’t think I was ready—or perhaps worthy—to find a mate of my own.
But now this naked jackal shifter stood before me, and the agonizing pain in my chest finally dissolved.
He was home. Right where I wanted him.
Now if I could only remember his name.
A minute had passed, and still neither of us had spoken. As the host and the alpha, it was my responsibility to go first.
