The concrete is cold under my bare feet. My leggings and oversized t-shirt wrinkled, my hair is likely a mess, falling out of the braid I put it in for sleep.
“What’s going on?” I ask, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes unsuccessfully.
“Next challenge,” she throws over her shoulder, striding through the resort.
I stumble when I step on a stray rock, hissing as it digs into my bare foot. “Why are we starting so early? Shouldn’t we have been told there was going to be a challenge?”
She snorts and shakes her head. “It was on a need to know basis.”
And you didn’t need to knowis left unsaid.
I frown when we reach the main house, and rather than heading into the conference room where the choosing ceremonies have been held, she takes me into a side entrance and down a set of stairs, into the basement.
At the base of the stairs I pause, staring after the beta, trying to remember if I’ve seen her around the production side of things before or not. Because this… it doesn’t feel like the show. Not at all like the sweet, sunny, romantic things that are supposed to happen.
Why the hell are we in a basement? Where is everyone else?
My omega senses are tingling, and an uneasy feeling slides down my spine.
Unsafe, unsafe, unsafe.
The beta woman pauses when she seems to realize I’m not following her. With a sigh she turns. “Come on. Can’t win a pack if you don’t participate in the challenges.”
I open my mouth to tell her I won’t be winning this packperiod, and so why should I follow some unknown beta into a dark and dingy basement? The door at the top of the stairs opens, and I spin to see Petal stumbling along after Marshall.
The other omega makes a relieved sound when she sees me, and I mimic it, lacing my fingers through hers when she reaches my side. “I thought they were taking me somewhere to get rid of me,” she whispers. “Like an off camera rejection. They do those sometimes.”
I nod. “Much more realistic than what was going through my head.”
The female beta’s glaring at us. “We need to get a move on.’
Marshall slides into the space next to me. “Yes, yes, we know. Time is money and money is time or whatever.” He turns to Petal and me. “Ladies. If you would be so kind?”
Without any other options, Petal and I move down the hall, following the surly female as she slips into a door.
My feet tangle when I see what’s on the other side, so badly that I definitely would have fallen had Petal not been right there to catch me.
This can’t be right.
It can’t be.
My frantic eyes flit around the room, taking in the other omegas, the metal chairs. And the cages. As in actualmotherfuckingmetal cages spaced around the room at even intervals.
The chairs are placed inside said cages, with neat coils of rope and a blindfold resting on each seat.
I’m shaking my head, mouth open as I turn horrified eyes toward Marshall. “No. No, absolutely not.”
He arches a brow at me. “It's the alpha care challenge. Rescue scenario. They’ll come in, and free all of you while looking very manly and caring. You’re going to be one hundred percent safe, Ren.”
I grit my teeth. As with so many things, logically I know that. I know I’m not going to be any danger in front of so many cameras. But PTSD isn’t logical. The idea of being tied to a chairhas my lungs constricting and my heart thudding wildly in my chest.
“If I don’t participate, what happens?”
Petal moves closer to my side, rubbing circles between my shoulder blades as Marshall answers. “Technically nothing. But the chances of you going home are a lot higher if you don’t.”
Petal tilts her head to rest it on my shoulder. “There was that one omega in season four, Holly, I think. One of the front runners and fan favorites. She was deathly scared of heights and refused to do a challenge because of it.”
I nod. I remember. “She wasn’t eliminated that day, but the pack never really sought her out after that and sent her home the next elimination.”
