“Are you coming?” Odette shrieks at us, impatience clear in every word. And maybe a tinge of jealousy?
Though that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Thayer’s jaw does that ticking thing again, like he’s physically biting back words he wants to say. I take off toward the second challenge before he can decide if he’ll speak them or not, heading toward the other omegas who are waiting impatiently.
“Only one of us needs to do this one,” Petal explains. “One of the omegas.”
I eye the crisscross of ropes, the chest on the far side, while the only nice member of my team explains how the chest must be retrieved by an omega (or omegas). Basically, the alpha of the team gets to stand by and try to guide the omega through the ropes without the omega touching them. For every rope touched a ten second penalty will be added to our teams final time.
I count the number of ropes between us and the chest, trying to decide if it would be worth it to just barrel through them and take the penalties. But there are over thirty ropes, which would be an additional five minutes, so it’s not likely.
“What if we did something like a relay race? One of us goes all the way to the end, and then we stagger through the rest of the ropes. We can pass the chest to each other to avoid one person needing to carry it all the way through?”
Petal nods. “I like that idea.”
“Me too,” Thayer agrees, which stalls out the argument I could see blooming from the other omegas, likely hoping they could just stand still and look pretty for the cameras.
“I’ll go through the whole thing,” I offer to save time, because I can tell the other omegas won’t. I move forward intenton doing just that while calling over my shoulder, “you can figure out the rest of the order, right?”
I’m directing the comment to Thayer, since he is the alpha and should be in control of our group, he should be making at least some of the decisions. “I should go last,” Deirdre is quick to say. “I’m just so clumsy.”
Her voice dips into an omega whine so sugary it could rot teeth. The kind designed to make an alpha fold like a lawn chair.
Thayer doesn’t. He just blinks at her, expression mild, the edge of amusement tugging his mouth. “We’ll see.”
Petal hides a smile. Joanie does not hide her scowl.
But I don’t have time to deal with them because the ropes up close are worse than they looked from a distance. It’s not just a crisscross; it’s a full web, knotted in ways that force you to twist sideways, duck under, reach over, and balance on narrow patches of bare earth. Some ropes hang loose, others are taut as tripwires. Touching even one means ten seconds added to our time.
Which means I cannot touch any of them.
Behind me, the omegas are still arguing.
“I should go third,” Joanie insists. “My arms are longer. It only makes sense.”
“And I should be second,” Odette says, flipping her ponytail like we’re on the runway. “Thayer will be able to guide me best.”
Deirdre whines again—longer, sweeter, more pitiful. “But I’m the tallest Thayer. If I go last, I won’t get in anyone’s way. Pleeeease?”
Thayer makes a quiet sound, something like a restrained sigh, and calls, “Ren, you good?”
“Yep!” I shout back, already threading myself between two ropes. “Just… give me a sec.”
The ropes sway with even the slightest movement, so I pause in an awkward crouch, waiting for it to steady. My kneetwinges, but I ignore it—focus, Ren, focus—and slip through a narrow gap near the ground.
The camera swings in beside me. Great. They’re getting the full show.
“Ren, you’re doing beautifully,” Thayer says behind me, voice calm but pitched for the microphones. “Slow and steady. You’ve got this.”
His confidence warms something inside my ribs.
I duck under a low rope, twist my shoulders through a gap only someone my size could manage, and exhale as I reach the midpoint. The chest gleams on the far side, metal catching the sunlight.
Almost there.
The omegas’ voices float toward me.
“That was my turn!” Joanie snaps.
