2. Mylo

Two

My heart pounded like a hammer.Sweat beaded at my brow. All my muscles tensed as I sat upright, clutching the controller for dear life.

I sat in darkness. The only light in the dark room came from the TV. It created the perfect ambience—a moody, tense atmosphere for my task.

The secret boss in my RPG was down to his last few hit points. He was impossibly difficult. Only a handful of players in the world had ever beaten him.

If I defeated him, I'd accomplish something incredible.

"Come on," I whispered to my player characters. "You can do it."

My heartbeat circled in my throat as I hit the next button. My attack connected. The boss's HP whittled down to a tiny sliver.

I was so close...

A jarring knock came from the door.

"Mylo! Are you in there?" my dad called.

I swallowed a frustrated groan. Not now, please...

"I'm a little busy," I called back.

"Doing what?"

I bit my lip. If I said I was beating a secret boss, my parents wouldn't understand. And if I said I was playing a video game, they'd brush it off and ignore how important it was to me.

"I—uh—I'm masturbating!" I blurted out.

It was embarrassing, and not even true, but it was the only thing I could think of to get my parents to go away.

A loud sound effect blasted from the TV. In the time I wasn't paying attention, the boss had crushed one of my party members.

"No!" I shrieked.

There was still time. I could salvage this. My healer still had mana, and if I was focused, I could still win the battle.

"Oh, for gods' sake, he's playing games," my mom muttered. "Open the door."

The door burst open. Light flooded in from the hall, hurting my eyes.

"Ack!" I covered my face too quickly and accidentally knocked my glasses off. "Oh, crap."

I felt around for them. I was relieved to find them fast. My vision was terrible without their aid. By the time I put my glasses back on, my mom and dad stood in front of the TV, blocking my view. They looked disappointed.

I began, "Um, could you please—"

"Mylo, we need to talk," Mom said.

Urgency gripped me. "I know, but I just need two seconds—"

"No, not two seconds. Right now." Her tone made it seem like she was talking to a five-year-old, not her twenty-five-year-old adult son.

"I promise we can talk, but I really need to finish what I'm doing right now. It's important to me," I pleaded.

Mom glanced at the TV like it was a pile of garbage. "What, this? This is important?" She waved a hand at the screen. "These... fake characters with swords?"

My heart twisted. She didn't understand. Those characters did mean a lot to me. Their stories touched me, and this boss battle was important to the plot. But I couldn't explain it to my parents. They thought an adult man shouldn't waste his time with video games.

"Yes, Mom," I murmured.

She shot my dad an exasperated look, like I was being ridiculous.

"Mylo, forget the game for a second," Dad said curtly. "We have something to tell you."

I wondered if they were going to kick me out. That would be fine, actually. I only lived with my parents because they wanted me to. They thought an unmated omega was better kept safe at home, under their cautious watch, rather than... I don't know, gallivanting in the streets?

"I'm listening," I said, although I kept one ear on the TV. From the sound cues, it seemed like my party was still alive. I had a chance to see the battle through.

"He's not listening," Mom interjected. "Turn the TV off."

"Wait—"

Dad clicked it off. The screen went black. At the same time, Mom turned the lights on in my room. I felt like an insignificant bug rooting around in the soil, and they'd unceremoniously removed my rock.

"I don't think he understands how important this is," Mom said to Dad. I never liked it when she talked about me like I wasn't present. Looking down at me, she said, "You're twenty-five, Mylo. You're in the prime of your life. And what are you doing? Playing games in the dark alone? It's just sad."

I could tell she felt bad for me, but I didn't feel sad at all. I loved playing games. I loved spending time with my own thoughts. Yeah, it got lonely sometimes, but being alone meant I didn't have to deal with other people's judgments.

"Have you looked for a mate at all?" Mom asked, worried. "What about at work?"

My job at the local game store wasn't exactly brimming with romance opportunities. And when I said local, I meant literally down the street. My parents wouldn't let me get a job too far out of their helicopter range.

Besides, it didn't help that I was the stereotypical chubby, shy nerd. Alphas who walked in to buy games never gave me a second glance, except maybe to silently judge me.

And sometimes, they didn't bother being silent.

"Not really," I admitted, averting my eyes. I didn't want to see the disappointment on Mom's face. "It's hard to make connections there."

She sighed. "But Mylo, you say that about everything. Making connections is hard, but you have to try. Otherwise you'll be single and alone forever."

Ouch. I tried not to wince like she'd just kicked me. I already knew I was undesirable. Why did she have to rub it in?

"Well, not exactly," Dad said. "Remember?"

Mom's voice took on a hopeful tone. "Oh, yes, you're right."

I lifted my head. What were they talking about?

"We're not here to criticize you, son," Dad said, even though that was all they'd done so far. "We have great news."

Now I was even more curious. "What is it?" I asked tentatively.

Mom's demeanor did a 180. She beamed with excitement. "You're going to love this, Mylo. Mom and Dad got you the opportunity of a lifetime."

I tried flashing a hopeful smile, but to be honest, I was nervous. I loved my parents, but they weren't the best at understanding my wants and needs. I couldn't possibly imagine the big surprise they had in store for me. Did they find me a new job even closer to home? Did they get me a mail-order alpha? Oh gods, had they set up a dating profile in my name and catfished someone?

"You've heard of the Dragonfate Games," Mom began.

I blinked, my heart lifting at the sound of a game. Was that a new video game series I hadn't heard of? Maybe it was from a different country and hadn't been localized yet.

"No, what's that?" I asked.

Mom looked shocked. "Mylo, really? You spend all day in front of the TV and don't know about it?"

My excitement died. Back to square one.

"Well, I use the TV to play games. I don't watch shows," I explained.

Part of me wanted to say, "I'm actually doing something in front of the TV, not vegging out all day", but I doubted it would affect her opinion.

"What about dragons?" Dad asked.

"Er... what about them?"

Had my parents signed me up for some kind of Dungeons Dragons camp? Not that they understood the difference, but I was into video games, not tabletop RPGs. For one thing, you could play video games solo. Tabletop games required friends, and I was short on those.

My parents exchanged an incredulous glance. They acted like I was clueless, or Amish, or something.

"The Dragonfate Games, son," Dad said, like the meaning of those words was obvious. "It's the most popular reality TV show airing right now. There's already been three seasons of it."

None of that meant anything to me. I rarely watched TV, and if I did, it sure as hell wasn't reality TV. What did I care about other peoples' lives—especially thin, charismatic, conventionally attractive people?

"Haven't heard of it," I admitted. But I was curious about the name. Dragonfate Games? Dragons didn't exist, so it was probably a metaphor, or maybe it was about dragon boat racing.

Mom laughed like she couldn't believe my obliviousness. "Well, he's in for a big surprise, isn't he?" she asked Dad.

Dad nodded. "Sure is."

"Uh... why's that?" I asked, already scared of the answer.

They shared a conspiratorial smile.

"Because, son," Dad began, "we signed you up for the Dragonfate Games season four."

There was static in my ears distorting his words. Because there was no way my parents signed me—me, their chubby, nerdy, shy son—up for a reality TV show.

"What?" I blurted.

"And here's the kicker," Mom preened. "They accepted you! You're going to be on TV!"

I felt faint. A cold sweat broke out over my skin.

This was not happening.

"Well? Are you excited or what?" Mom asked.

I was the polar opposite of excited. I wanted to sink into the floor. But my parents searched my face for a positive reaction. If the show had accepted me, it was already too late to drop out. And if I didn't act happy, it would hurt their feelings.

"Y-yeah," I wheezed. "Wow, thanks, Mom and Dad."

Mom kissed my forehead. "We knew you'd be ecstatic over this, Mylo. Oh, we should go shopping for some new clothes before you get on that plane." She patted my tummy. "This shirt's looking tight."

The blood drained from my face. "Plane...?"

She chuckled. "Of course there's a plane! It's on a private island."

Reality TV show. Plane. Island.

This sounded like my worst nightmare.

"I can't wait," Mom squealed. "I'm going to go tell all our relatives!"

She scurried out of the room. I was glad for that, because I might've passed out at any second. The fewer people present to witness that, the better.

But Dad was still here. He kneeled in front of me.

"Oh, don't look so scared, Mylo. Buck up," he said.

I wasn't the kind of person who ‘bucked up'. I was more of a ‘hide in my blanket pile in my room until my anxiety passed' kind of guy.

"This really is an amazing opportunity," Dad continued. "And, let's be honest, you need it. Our whole kind needs it. We need the visibility."

His statement grounded me. As black-footed ferret shifters, we were rare. Our non-shifter cousins were disappearing in their native territory. As an omega, I'd always known I had an unspoken responsibility to help our kind. AKA, make black-footed ferret shifter babies.

"I know," I murmured.

"And who knows? You could find a mate. It's a dating program, after all."

"I doubt that—wait, what? WHAT?"

Now I was really going to pass out.

Dad didn't seem to notice. "Right. I forgot you don't know. It's all about alpha dragons finding their fated mates. You'll be competing with other omegas for their love."

Oh.

My.

Fucking.

Gods.

I wanted the secret boss from my video game to step out of the TV and incinerate me with a fire blast. And then encase me in ice. And then blow me away in a hurricane. I wanted him to tear me limb from limb, then reduce me to atoms. Finally, I wanted the atoms to implode.

None of that happened. I still sat on the floor, getting a lecture/forced dating opportunity.

"Do some research, son," Dad said, clapping me on the shoulder before he stood up. "Watch a season or two. See what it's all about."

I'd rather jog around the block ten times.

"Oh, and dinner is in half an hour," Dad called from the doorway. "Mom's making special diet chicken and broccoli. She wants you looking your best for the show."

I just nodded.

When Dad left, he mercifully shut the door behind him. Then I grabbed a pillow, shoved it over my face, and let out the biggest groan of frustration known to mankind.

This was awful. Nothing could be worse than this.

Suddenly, my heart stopped.

"Shit, the boss," I hissed.

I scrambled on all fours to turn the TV back on. The controller trembled in my sweaty hands.

"Come on," I whispered. "Please, please..."

The black screen awakened. The game was back on.

All my party members lay dead on the ground. The secret boss threw his head back in triumphant laughter. The words GAME OVER took up half the screen.

I dropped the controller and fell onto my back, staring listlessly at the ceiling.

Could it get any worse than this?

Actually, yeah, it could. Because soon I'd be on a private island competing against hot omegas for a dragon's love—a scenario that would only end in total disaster.