Ah. He wasn’t talking to me...
I heard a disgruntled huff behind me. Another white-haired young man showed up, followed by the scent of baby powder. His perfectly groomed hair was pure white, and he had striking odd-colored eyes. Was he a husky shifter? Or maybe a domestic cat?
“There you are, Poppy. I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Alaric drawled. “Is it just me, or does the amount of frat-boy meatheads increase each year?” He waved a well-manicured hand. “Ugh, I swear I’ve walked through three separate clouds of Axe body spray.”
“I haven’t noticed,” Poppy replied. His voice was as gentle as his appearance. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Likewise.”
I stood there awkwardly. The two white-haired omegas had an entire conversation over my head, like I was a garden gnome or something. I couldn’t leave because that would draw attention to my existence, but the longer I stayed, the more embarrassing this became.
Finally, Alaric huffed. “You know what—excuse me.”
He slipped past me gracefully to stand closer to Poppy. I blew out a relieved breath. Now I could go back to total obscurity.
But then Alaric suddenly faced me and raised a sharp brow. “Aren’t you boiling to death in that outfit? Honestly, who wears a black long-sleeve to the beach?”
His blunt words caught me off guard. “Oh. Well... I thought—”
“What’s that? Speak up.”
The half-baked answer tumbled out of my mouth. “It seemed like a good idea to bring it?”
Alaric stared like I was an idiot.
But the soft-spoken one, Poppy, chimed in. “I think it looks nice on him.”
What did he say? Did he justcomplimentme?
The words ‘thank you’ got stuck on my tongue for too long. I had no experience being complimented. I felt like the training wheels had just been yanked off my bike and now I was spinning out of control.
Finally, I mustered the courage. “Thank—”
“Good morning, contestants! Welcome!”
The booming voice cut me off, followed by a raucous cheer from the crowd that nearly gave me tinnitus.
Gaius strutted across the stage, microphone in hand and a huge grin on his face. “I bet you’re all as excited as I am.”
Another ear-splitting cheer of approval.
“I know you are!” Gaius laughed. “Then let’s not waste any time. Welcome, omegas, to season four of the Dragonfate Games! Four seasons... Can you believe that? Time flies when handsome alpha dragons are discovering their fated mates.”
I grimaced. The cheesy reality TV dialogue was killing me. How could anybody watch this stuff?
“Four seasons,” Gaius repeated as he strode back and forth. “Interesting number. Because half of four istwo.” He arched his brows and shot the audience a pointed look.
A rising murmur of understanding rose among the crowd. The significance of Gaius’s speech was lost on me.
I caught Alaric and Poppy’s whispers.
“Is he talking about the twins?” Alaric said, astonished. “I knew there was a twist, but certainly he can’t meanbothof them.”
“I’m not sure,” Poppy admitted.
Twins?I thought.Oh boy, there’s a lot of lore I’ve gotta catch up on...
I bit my lip. Should I ask? Alaric and Poppy seemed to know a lot, and I was a total noob about this whole situation. I steeled my nerves and leaned towards them.
