“Can somebody turn the sun down?” Alaric grumbled. A fashionable pair of dark sunglasses blocked his eyes.
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Poppy said sympathetically. I got the feeling he would actually try to fulfill Alaric’s request if he could. “Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe you should stay at the hotel.”
Alaric sighed. “I’m fine. Just a headache. Besides, I have no reason to put in actual effort, so I’ll take it easy today,” he added, shooting me a glance.
So his drunken ravings last night weren’t all drama. He really had given up on finding his mate with either twin this season.But if he still thought Saffron picked me as his mate, he was out of his mind.
“I dunno know what you’re talking about,” I told Alaric.
Alaric pushed the sunglasses up his thin nose. “We’ll see.”
The contestants gathered in front of Gaius, who was easy to find since his highlighter-yellow button-up radiated like a beacon.
Alaric shielded his face with his hand. “Dear gods, he’s trying to murder me today...”
But it wasn’t Gaius or his neon shirt I was focused on. Beside him stood the twin alphas. It was cheesy, but they were breathtaking. I’d never seen two more beautiful people in the flesh. I almost felt embarrassed to be in their presence.
Despite their identical outfits and appearances, my gaze kept sliding to the one on the right. I didn’t know why. There wasn’t a single differentiation—not that I saw, anyway. Yet I couldn’t help my fascination with one of the pair. Saffron, he said was his name.
Then he caught my gaze, and his golden eyes flashed.
I held my breath. The same thing happened during the opening ceremony. But this time, we weren’t strangers. He’d spoken to me. He knew my name. That made our locked glances feel... intimate? No, that word was too strong. Friendly?
“Welcome, omegas!” Gaius announced in his cheery, charismatic voice. “I hope you’re ready for your first challenge!”
The crowd roared with approval. Poppy and I both winced at the loud noise. Alaric groaned, rubbing his temple to nurse his throbbing headache.
I glimpsed at the twins. I couldn’t tell if they were excited or not. If I hazarded a guess, they seemed unsure. I had no clue how this show worked. Did the alphas know about the challenges beforehand, or was it sprung on them the day of?
“Fantastic, I love your enthusiasm,” Gaius exclaimed. He strode towards the twins and clapped them on the back. “Today, we’ll start off with a simple task. Using your experience from the meet-and-greet yesterday, your challenge today... is to figure out which twin is which!”
The crowd’s hopeful excitement died like roadkill.
Gaius grinned, oblivious to the vibe shift. “See? Easy!”
Alaric scoffed under his breath. “He must be joking.” A pause. “Heisjoking, right?”
“I don’t think so,” I murmured.
Looking at the twins, I saw a noticeable contrast in their expressions. The one on the left seemed as shocked and apprehensive as the crowd. Meanwhile, Saffron failed to stifle a grin.
Why? It seemed odd their reactions varied so wildly. Then again, they were two different people. I knew I shouldn’t fall into the trap of always lumping them together.
“Aurum and Saffron will be split into two separate stations,” Gaius explained. He spread his arms, noting the divided seating arrangements. They were far enough apart to be out of earshot of each other. “You’ll have five minutes with each twin. No question is off limits,excepttheir name, obviously. Afterwards, you’ll write down who’s who. The winners will have a group dinner date with both alphas!”
Alaric pinched the bridge of his nose. “Winners? Plural?” He scoffed. “Please. I’ll eat my shoe ifanyonewins this.”
“Even if you’re not sure, there’s a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right,” Poppy pointed out.
He fiddled nervously with his hands, which made me think he wasn’t confident, either. Looking around the crowd, that was apparently a common sentiment. Everybody seemed confused.
“Dragons, you go sit down. Contestants, make two lines, please,” Gaius announced. “All right, step right up! Let the challenge begin!”
The apprehensiveness evaporated. Omegas rushed to the front of the lines. They were all eager to talk to the alphas, regardless of who they spoke to. I didn’t want to get trampled, so I stayed back and waited for everybody else to go first. Poppy and Alaric had the same idea.
I glanced at the staged area. Each side had two armchairs—one for the alpha dragon, one for the contestant. They were partitioned from the crowd, probably so people waiting in line couldn’t see or hear the conversations for an extra hint. But the camera crew lurked on the other side to capture everything on film.
As the first two omegas in line entered the partition, I watched the twins closely. Despite Gaius’s order to sit down, they hadn’t moved yet. The wary one—Aurum, I guess—looked like he was trying to make the best of this challenge.
