The complex was a massive architectural monument of metal, mirrors, and plants.
Every time I thought about the fact that I was in a building within a building, underneath a stadium, my brain exploded.
With a clack of her high heels, our tour guide motioned for us to follow her and blabbed excessively about the village’s gyms, shops, and eateries.
The guide gestured to door after door as she gave us a tour of the complex.
“So, is this where we live in between fights?” I asked with confusion as she pointed out yet another beauty parlor and an office space.
She smiled at me nicely, like we were talking about something pleasant, not the brutal games I was being forced to take part in.
“This is where competitors fight and train to hone their skills so they can put on the best performance for the realm.”
My gut twisted, and something died inside of me.
With a deep breath, I spoke my truth. “I’m not training. I refuse.”
My poor body could literally not handle another second of damn physical training.
I really had thought we would just chill all day in a dungeon, then randomly fight for our lives in the games, and then chill some more.
At this point, the thought of sitting all day and not moving was downright erotic.
“Would you like me to inform the fae queen of your insubordination?” the guide asked with a serene smile.
“Nope, I’m good.” Turned out I was also a coward.
The guide nodded like she’d expected my response. “I will show you to your living facilities. You have the freedom to choose your fitness schedules and routines, although some group classes are mandatory to ensure peak performance.”
Her shiny heels clacked loudly on the marble as she led us through the massive building.
“Oh my sun god, is that Cobra?” fae whispered as we walked past. Jax shifted to block their view of him.
Others loudly pointed and said, “Look, it’s the alpha shifters and the girl.”
I opened my mouth to point out that I was also an alpha, but before I could start a fight, Ascher moved in front of me and growled, “Don’t look at her.”
His tattoos rippled across his massive frame, and he appeared extra menacing with half of his horn chipped off.
Hell, the way he held himself ramrod straight with his biceps tensed radiated, “stay the fuck away.”
Unsurprisingly, the fae shut up when he growled at them, and hurried away.
I turned to point out to Ascher that he was not forgiven and had no right to defend me, when the guide stopped in front of a door and said, “This will be where you live.”
The space was three rooms: two bedrooms, each with two beds, and a living area connecting them.
Unlike the cozy brick walls and fireplace in the shifter realm, this space was shiny and modern, with high ceilings.
The room might be large, but with the three alpha men and Xerxes, who were all well over six feet tall, it seemed small.
“We need an extra bed,” Xerxes said coldly as he looked around the space and counted the beds.
All four of us bristled and turned to him.
“Can’t you find somewhere else to stay? I’m sure your precious queen could make accommodations.” I glared at him.
It was bad enough that the rude bastard kept following us everywhere. I didn’t want to live with him.
I didn’t need his bad energy in my life.
You could just tell when some people were toxic. He was some people.
Xerxes’s purple eyes flashed with fire, and he scoffed, “You would want me gone. Classic alpha. You think you’re too good to bunk with an omega?”
“No? I just don’t want your rude ass ruining the room’s Feng Shui.”
He stepped forward threateningly, his massive frame and large muscles bunched with anger as he tried to use his size to intimidate me.
“Step away from her,” Jax growled, and shoved me behind him.
“Kitten, play nice,” Cobra purred as he petted my hair and cradled my head like a creep.
I struggled to get away from the big snake psycho, but he just laughed like the insane person he was.
“Fuck off,” I growled as I tried to regain an ounce of dignity.
When I finally untangled myself from Cobra’s frosty-scented grip, Jax and Ascher had cornered Xerxes against the wall.
The omega held twin daggers to their throats and grinned like he wanted to spill blood.
Across the room, the fae guide watched the chaos with a bored expression on her face.
“The queen ordered me to live with you,” Xerxes said slowly, his honeyed British accent rolling sweetly off his lips.
At his words, our fae guide snapped to attention and asked us, “Would you like me to inform the fae queen of your insubordination?”
I wanted to stab her, but groaned out, “Fine,” before anyone could disagree. No way was I going back to the dungeons.
The guide nodded. “Perfect. Follow me to the bathing area.”
There was a long moment as Xerxes held his daggers to Ascher’s and Jax’s throats, but eventually he pulled away, and we all reluctantly followed the guide.
“Kitten, will you hold my hand?” Cobra purred and held out his pale hand with jewels embedded in it.
“Um, maybe later?” I mumbled as I moved away from him.
The frosty bastard threw his head back and laughed like I had said a hilarious joke, and even Jax looked over at him with concern.
Somewhere between me riding his face in the closet, being naked in front of the entire realm, and swan diving onto hard sand in the arena, something had shifted in Cobra.
He was still the gorgeous snake man who was quick to sneer and be obnoxious, but he was also different.
It was almost like he cared about me, but had zero clue how to show his affections like a normal person.
As the guide showed us the bathroom, I tore my eyes away from Cobra’s ridiculously handsome face.
It was a couple of doors down from our bedroom, and the room was large, with a series of stalls and shower heads. There were no privacy curtains or doors.
Just twenty different showers in a long room. Completely open so everyone could see your naked bits.
Since I was the only female competitor, the fae had probably never worried about modesty issues.
I shuddered because it didn’t look like I would be showering.
I was about to be a very dirty bird. My sand-coated skin itched just thinking about it.
Before I got the courage to ask about different accommodations, our tour guide led us further down a long hallway.
Finally, we got to the good part.
We exited into a massive cafeteria with different food options along the walls. There were cuisines in shapes and sizes I’d never seen before.
Instead of stopping to grab a bite to eat because I was one second from starving to death, the tour guide hurried down more long corridors.
She showed us a ridiculously large indoor swimming pool, an indoor weight center, an indoor sparring gym, an indoor track, and a door that led to an outdoor running path.
I dry-heaved when she said the last one.
The cat in me loved a good dramatic vomit.
Unaware of my panic attack, the guide handed each of us a flat amethyst crystal. It was smooth, and I touched its glossy surface.
Suddenly, it heated in my hand, and a floating screen popped up above the crystal. Like a cool cucumber, I screamed with surprise and caught it before it broke on the floor.
Once I calmed down, I realized a schedule was projected off the crystal’s surface. It must be some type of fancy fae enchantment, and it reminded me of a cell phone in a way.
After I stopped admiring the enchanted stone and actually read the schedule, my will to live left my body.
The schedule was depressing as hell, mostly because it said breakfast ended at eight in the morning and the kitchen closed at nine at night. So much for sleeping in and late-night snacks.
Although, those were the least of my problems.
The schedule also informed me I had group training three times a week in the afternoon, and group runs at five in the morning, four times a week.
A tiny tear slipped out of the corner of my eye when I read the last part.
For a second, I considered telling the fae queen I couldn’t do it and just letting her torture me.
I’m not proud of how close I was to choosing the dungeon over running.
The memory of screaming, emaciated prisoners and feces touching my skin was the only thing that stopped me from giving up.
Finally, after what felt like the longest tour ever, our guide left us at the cafeteria. She clacked off in her high heels with a smile, ready to ruin someone else’s day.
My stomach rumbled as I took in the crowded eatery.
The village was full of pointy-eared fae: guards, stadium workers, accountants, doctors, and other people milled about, creating a steady buzz of activity.
The palatial structure was so much more than a place for competitors; it was the ecosystem that supported the stadium above. Since a million fae had been in attendance, it made sense that so many people worked and lived beneath it.
“Oh my sun god, it’s Cobra!” a woman squealed and gestured to her gaggle of friends.
Suddenly, a stampede of people was heading directly toward us.
They marched like a military unit, and their eyes had the same crazy look that the most intense beta soldiers had back at the fortress.
Jax stepped in front of Cobra protectively. He tugged off his green hoodie and showed off his mountains of impressive muscles.
Then he handed it to Cobra, who quickly pulled it on and tied the strings. He beelined away from the fae and hurried deeper into the crowded cafeteria.
My stomach churned as he hunched his shoulders and ducked his head, desperate to not be recognized.
I swallowed down bile.
Not only had he been forced against his will, but he was also a celebrity for it.
I couldn’t even imagine what that did to a person.
Once we lost the terrifying army of fae fans, Cobra stopped sprinting like his life depended on it, and I looked over the food options.
I gave him a soft, sympathetic smile and reached out to hold his hand.
He whirled and glared down at me, his emerald eyes cold and harsh.
For a long second, I thought he was going to rip his hand away and sneer at me like he always did.
Instead, his eyes softened infinitesimally, and his long fingers tightened around mine. The jewels embedded in his warm skin were cold to the touch.
My stomach turned over and my chest squeezed. It was just holding hands, but it felt like so much more.
“So, what should we get to eat?” I asked to ease the tension that strummed between us.
I inspected all the sign options. There were pictures of all types of dishes, and my brain hurt trying to decide.
Instead of discussing the food options like rational adults, Jax pulled out a table seat and alpha-barked, “Sit down.”
Cobra released my hand and alpha-barked, “Don’t move.”
And Ascher alpha-barked, “Obey.”
Instinctually, I plopped down into a chair because their alpha barks forced my body to comply.
For a long moment, I couldn’t move a muscle, and I fantasized about grabbing the chopstick off the table and ramming it up their asses.
“You need to rest. You’ve exerted yourself too much after being in a coma for three days.” Jax clenched his fists at the reminder of my flightless bird moment.
I glared up at him, betrayed by his attitude.
His features softened at my expression, and he gently cupped my chin in his large, callused hand.
His fingers were warm as he slowly dragged them across my jaw. “Please, Sadie, I’m worried about you. You’re covered in bruises. Just rest here for me?”
I couldn’t help but nod as he stared at me with his warm gray eyes and caressed my face.
Cobra nodded. “Yes, stay put. You need to rest.” A weird rattle shook through his chest as he stared at me. He whispered, “I’m going to kill that half warrior fucker. How dare he bruise you like this?”
I rolled my eyes at his melodramatics as my stomach growled.
At this rate, I was going to lose my mind if they didn’t let me hunt down and kill a bread roll.
Apparently, comas made you very hungry.
Who knew?
Jax dropped his hand, which had been subconsciously stroking my face. He tucked it against his side awkwardly, like he had to fight the urge to keep caressing me.
I opened my mouth to point out to Cobra that Ascher had also gone splat and was missing half a horn and no one was making him sit down and rest, but the three of them turned around and sauntered off toward the food.
Cobra looked over his shoulder and winked at me.
With both hands in the air, I flipped him off.
He licked his sinful lips and turned around, unbothered by my rage.
I huffed. So much for me thinking I’d been having a moment with Cobra when we’d held hands.
The man was chaotic.
Also, I made a mental note to work on resisting alpha barks, because no one was showing me the respect I deserved.
Xerxes pulled out a seat at the table and sat down across from me.
He said nothing.
Great, now I was abandoned and stuck with the table companion from hell.
“What shampoo do you use?” I asked him the question I’d been dying to say since we’d first met, when he’d betrayed us to the fae queen.
It straight up haunted me how luscious his hair was.
Xerxes scrunched his face up like I was an idiot and asked, “What?”
“What?” I asked back intelligently.
“If it isn’t the little alpha cunt,” a deep voice said and interrupted my riveting conversation with Xerxes.
I looked over to find a tall fae man with a blockhead and dark eyes staring back at me. He was the water fae who had given me the death glare during the opening ceremony.
My brain ached with a tension headache.
I’d done this song and dance before, and it didn’t take a genius to see where it was heading.
First, it had been the bearded beta in the shifter realm; then John, who I’d thought was a nice guy; then Ascher’s betrayal; and now this completely random dude wanted to have beef with me?
“I physically can’t deal with your toxic energy right now. You hate me; I get it. Take a number and get in line.” Rubbing my hands into my eyeballs, I prayed he would suffer cardiac arrest and keel over.
Either there was something wrong with me, or men were generally unwell and at the root of all problems in society.
It was definitely the latter.
Blockhead dude just gaped down at me with his meaty hands clenched into fists and sneered, “Women don’t belong in combat.”
“I totally agree,” I said with a heavy sigh and looked around for the other alphas. They better be getting me something good.
“You-You,” the blockhead man sputtered like he hadn’t expected me to agree with him.
You could practically see his last two brain cells trying to function.
With a few fortifying breaths, he regained his unwell energy. “I don’t care what you agree with. You don’t belong here, and I am going to make sure the realm knows it. You heretic women and your campaign to replace men in battle—it’s disgusting. I won’t allow you to poison the female minds of this realm.”
I gave him a thumbs-up and a big smile. “Good luck with that. It seems like you’re in a real healthy place mentally.”
I was going to go off on a mental limb and guess that this man had never had sex.
Blockhead dude gave off big virgin energy. He needed to visit one of those clinics Aran had been talking about because he was so tense and angry.
It just wasn’t healthy.
Sadly, he might be dumb, but he was smart enough to realize I was mocking him. His face turned bright red, and he leaned forward into my personal space.
Suddenly, Xerxes unsheathed one of his wicked blades and reached across the table.
The steel edge pressed flush against the fae’s neck, and a small amount of blood trickled down his throat where the blade pressed into his skin.
“Walk away or you will be reported to the fae queen,” Xerxes said softly.
The water fae looked at the blue crest on Xerxes’s chest and turned pale; all the queen’s guards wore them.
It signaled Xerxes was her bitch.
Blockhead dude backed away without another word.
“Appreciate it,” I said to Xerxes, who cleaned the blood off his blade by licking it. A highly disturbing practice that had me shifting my chair further away from the table.
A small part of me noticed how hot Xerxes looked while licking blood off a dagger.
I ignored that part of myself.
She was unwell and beyond saving.
Xerxes tilted his head like he couldn’t figure me out. “Why didn’t you warn him off? You’re an alpha, yet you did nothing?”
I harrumphed and motioned to my small, unimpressive frame. “Well, you’ve seen me. Even when I can shift, half the time I think there’s been a mistake and I’m not actually an alpha.”
Xerxes narrowed his amethyst eyes. “But you fight like an alpha.”
I scratched my head and wondered how I could explain I had a homicidal voice in my head without sounding like a complete lunatic.
At that exact moment, Jax placed a heaping plate of meat and potatoes in front of my face, and Xerxes’s mask fell back into place.
The omega leaned away and went back to glaring at all of us. His cut jaw and handsome features were tense.
My stomach rumbled, and I greedily shoveled food into my mouth.
Cobra pushed a drink in front of me, and Ascher put down a basket of bread rolls and an entire tub of butter.
The men sat down with their plates but didn’t eat. They just sat and watched me inhale food like absolute freaks.
“So, are we going to talk about the fact that we are all kidnapped from the beast realm?” I asked Jax.
A lot had happened since the dungeon, but I was still trying to process it all.
Jax shook his head. “We have too much to deal with, with the games. We will worry about that later. Eat, little alpha.”
I opened my mouth to argue with him, but the scent of food made my stomach howl.
Instead of arguing, I focused on the delicious dough melting in my mouth and not the fact that I was kidnapped, or the pheromones that saturated the air with all the men sitting so close to me.
Warm chestnuts mixed with rich conifer, frosty snow, and spicy cinnamon.
Together, the men emitted a heady scent, which made it hard to concentrate on my food.
I wanted to lean over and lick them all.
Roll around in their scents until they completely consumed me in a protective bubble of warmth.
Instead of acting like a hussy, I took a massive scoop of butter and placed it on another yeasty roll.
As I focused on stuffing my face, I tried to remind myself that they were controlling psychos and not delicious candies.
Cobra smirked across the table, like he knew what I was thinking about. His handsome face contorted in its signature sneer.
The bread was warm on my tongue, and the buttered dough slowly restored my will to live.
Cobra swiped his red tongue over his luscious lips, Ascher’s colorful tattoos bunched as he clenched his jaw and stared at me. Jax’s gray eyes were stormy with intensity, and Xerxes’s luscious blond hair blew around him in a phantom breeze.
Sun god help me, the men were fine as hell.
Too bad they all had major red flags.
Well, Jax didn’t. And Cobra had been through so much. I still didn’t forgive Ascher, but he had sacrificed his body to save mine.
I was so screwed.
