7

Aspen

After one two-hour plane ride where I didn’t die, we stepped outside the airport onto solid ground. A group of human teenagers all wearing fake wolf ears stood mixed in with the reporters on the other side of the loading area. They had their phones out and were screaming questions. I suddenly wished I was wearing sunglasses like Trenton despite the overcast skies. My wolf’s eyes kept flashing with mine as she panicked, overwhelmed by the sights and smells and noise.

“Aspen!” Someone screamed my name and I spun around, looking for the voice.

A skinny human girl reached over the ropes and tugged on my sweater sleeve.

“No touching.” One of the security team whose name I couldn’t remember pushed back against the crowd.

“She’s just a kid.” I sidestepped him. “What’s your name?”

“Ol… Ollie,” she stuttered. Her grin took up half her face and I felt my panic ease a little. Flashes from the cameras went off in bursts around me.

“Move it,” Molly barked in her no-nonsense tone which I was learning you didn’t argue with.

“Nice to meet you, Ollie.” I let the security guard usher me to the waiting limousine with tinted windows.

I was the last to slide in and the door slammed shut, blocking out most of the noise and leaving me alone with three very frustrated faces.

“What?” It wasn’t like I’d broken the rules. She said no official interviews and try not to talk to anyone. I didn’t want to be rude to a kid.

“I guess we can add anotherone to the lineup,” Molly groaned as she powered up the tablet on her lap and started typing.

“Another one of what?” I asked softly, looking to Trenton and Stef when she didn’t elaborate. They both turned to their phones and ignored me. I knew we weren’t exactly friends, but we were pack. They could have at least tossed me a bone.

I sank into myself, feeling homesick already.

“Oh that’s just great.” Stef threw her phone into her purse. “You could have told us your plan.”

“My plan for what?” I had no clue what she was saying. Maybe I wasn’t the only one going a little crazy with all this chaos. Stef continued to glare at me.

Molly glanced up from her tablet. “Are we going for country bumpkin comes to the big city? Or sweet and innocent meets the big bad wolf?”

“Like a persona?” I asked. “I’m just me. I didn’t know we were supposed to be acting like anything.”

“Sweet and na?ve it is.” Molly rolled her eyes as the limousine pulled onto the busy freeway, heading away from the airport.

“I’m not sweet,” I muttered under my breath. But no one was listening to me anyway.

*

Death by paperwork.

I was assuming this was what killed the contestants from previous seasons. We were an hour deep into signing contracts and NDAs and liability forms with no end in sight.

I barely saw any of the resort after the three hour drive up the mountains. It was dark when we arrived although the fountain out front was lit with multicolored lights and fake lanterns hung over the log beams on the entrance way. We were taken through a side door and brought to the conference room until we’d officially signed away our rights.

My stomach was growling. I hadn’t eaten much today besides a little pack of goldfish on the plane. Shifters needed meat. And I was two seconds away from crawling into the corner so I could take a nap. It was getting dangerously close to my bedtime.

I had to keep rereading lines on the documents I was signing, worried I was agreeing to something that would take my first-born pup if I ever decided to have kids. Trenton had long since checked out as he scribbled his name on each page. But I caught Stef reading through the fine print like I was despite the lawyers on the other side of the conference table explaining the different documents.

The wording seemed clear enough.

The show assumed no liability for our safety–wolves were dangerous–and we consented to audio and video recordings in all of the common areas of the resort for the duration of the show. On resort property, there was no full shifting for the safety of the staff.

That riled my beast a bit, but I eased her worries. We’ll find somewhere else to run.

Also, we had no access to WIFI or internet once filming started. The lawyers said something about spoilers to social media, but that didn’t make much sense when we were allowed to use our phones to make calls.

But I wasn’t the one running this show so I was in no position to argue. It wasn’t like I was active on social media anyway. Nuva Pack didn’t need accounts to know everyone else’s business.

All Luna candidates were required to participate in activities during the trials and leave the property immediately if voted off. Transportation would be arranged. Alphas must stay throughout the games after the Luna Trials ended. And the show made no guarantees that we would find a suitable mate during the season.

Fine with me.

I signed my initials.

“And this is your direct deposit form.” Molly yawned as she slid over the last stack of papers. “Fill out your bank information here unless you want to wait for a check in the mail.”

My eyes widened when I read the $5,000 base pay for participation on the show. There was a $10,000 bonus too, paid to each Luna who passed the trials and every Alpha who made it through the games. I glanced over at Stef’s and Trenton’s papers, making sure we were receiving the same amount.

Alrighty then.

I had no problem signing my name to that.

*

“You won’t have much time to get settled in.” For a human woman, Molly sure could powerwalk in those heels. “The other candidates have been trickling in over the previous week. You three were the last to arrive.”

Stef eyed me like it was my fault. I didn’t have the energy to return her glare. After the day we had, I needed a bed. Or even a blanket on the ground somewhere. My wolf and I weren’t picky.

I barely caught a glimpse of the reception area in the resort. The lights were dim in the antler chandelier hanging over the massive room with arched windows. A stone fireplace with embers burning was the focal point in front of black leather couches and chairs.

“Trenton, you’re on the first floor. The concierge will show you to your room. Girls, you’re up on the sixth floor.” Molly pressed the button for the elevator. “Makeup and hair starts at nine in the morning. Breakfast begins in the buffet room at six. Your preliminary interviews will be in the afternoon. Here are your keys. Room 623. You two are fine bunking together, right?”

I didn’t have time to respond as Molly thrust the keycards into my hand.

Stef growled as the elevator door slid shut, grabbing one of the keys from me. I was dead on my feet and too tired to care. We were past nine o’clock and I was bound to be grumpy soon.

Thirty days and twenty-one hours.

Plus a $15,000 paycheck.

At least there was a silver lining.

*

When Molly said “bunking together,” I assumed she meant bunk beds and not this. It wasn’t even a normal hotel room–the kind with two queen beds and a single chair because only one occupant could sit at a time–this was a freaking apartment.

Our bags were waiting for us in the small dinette area with a table and chairs next to a minifridge and microwave. Down a step was a lower level with two small sofas and plush beige carpet. Two doors were on either side of the living room where the floor to ceiling windows overlooked the snow peaked mountains under the silver moon in the distance.

I stood there staring in a delirious haze while Stef rushed forward. She rubbed her hand over one of the sofas, marking her territory, and poked her head into both rooms.

“This one is mine,” she declared, standing by the door to the right as if I had the energy to fight.

“All yours.” I slung the strap of my duffle bag over my shoulder and lifted my gram’s trunk, checking to make sure it wasn’t damaged.

“Bring my suitcases over here.” She tapped her long pink plastic and glittery nails against her elbow. It must have been a while since she shifted last, because those nails wouldn’t still be intact.

Or maybe they would.

I chuckled to myself, picturing her white wolf running around with glitter claws.

“Is something wrong with you?” she snapped. “I said to bring me my bags.”

I was probably delusional, but I was too tired to care.

“Get your own bags.” I carried my stuff to the door on the left.

“In case you forgot, I’m–”

“Shut up, Stef. I’m exhausted. You don’t want to work as a team? Fine. We can work alone. But this isn’t Nuva territory or high school anymore. We both signed the contracts. That means we’re both in the running for a Luna position. I don’t have to take your “higher ranking” shit here and if you want to fight me about it, you know where I’ll be.”

I kicked the bedroom door closed behind me.

That felt amazing to say. I’d probably regret it in the morning, but it was totally worth it tonight.

Agreed.My wolf yawned. Now go to sleep.

I unlaced my sneakers and reached under my sweater to unhook my bra, falling face down on the king-sized bed. The blanket was softer than clouds and at least ten pillows of downy comfort surrounded me. This was heaven. My eyes drifted shut and the last sound I heard was Stef cussing as she dragged her suitcases into the other room.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad here after all.