Page 1 of So I Dared a Dragon

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Bibi

Just after Calista’s bombshell during Hannah’s episode...

When I came out as Bibi le Bonnet, I promised myself I’d never run from another shifter ever again. But as I leaned against my office door with my eyes closed, it was a surprisingly attractive option.

In case you missed the last episode ofThe Mating Game, let me get you up to speed on the absolute bombshell that just rocked my entire world.

It was our mate claim segment with Hannah and Lars. It should’ve just been an adorable highlight reel of their relationship, culminating with Hannah accepting Lars’s claim. My nerves had been at an all-time high at the start of filming. I chalked it up to my wolf’s intuition and the fact that we had Bigfoot himself on stage. We’d taken care of those tiresome hunters, defeated a zombie shifter hostage situation, and handled a faux pas with a bossy and diabolical dire wolf. But the one thing I wasn’t prepared for was to see Calista, my former best friend, appear on that stage.

A knock on the door startled me, and I was relieved to find Tina on the other side. Not only was she my best friend in Sunset Springs, but she was one of the best producers in the reality game.

“Can I come in?” she asked softly.

“Of course.” I opened the door and took a seat on the couch. “If anyone can make sure we get out of this without someone’s heart getting broken, it’s you.”

Tina settled in the chair. She was perfectly put together—the mate claim segment was always dress to impress. Today she’d chosen a black mock turtleneck and a gorgeous pair of floral wide-leg pants. Her dark skin was glowing, curly hair perfect, and no one would ever know two littles kept her from getting a full night’s sleep.

“How are you feeling?” she asked with a chuckle. “How ironic that I get to ask you the question that’s mostly likely to make our contestants cringe.”

“Now I understand why.” I tipped my head back and sighed. “Are you filming?”

“I wasn’t, but I feel like I should.” She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. “May I?”

“Something tells me we’ll regret it if you don’t.”

My brain spun as she placed the device, checking to make sure she had it at the right angle to catch us both. Producer Me thought we could use this on our website, as fodder for our insatiable fans who wouldn’t rest until they had all the answers about what happened on stage today.

But it was a whole different ballgame when it wasmyheart on the line.

Tina counted herself in by raising her fingers. “Okay, I’m backstage with Bibi le Bonnet after an absolute shocker on stage. Bibi, tell me what it was like to see Calista after so long?”

“Complicated.” It was a miracle that one word could encompass the emotions that churned through me like a tornado. “Calista was my whole world growing up. My very best friend. We were inseparable, and everyone in the pack expected me to claim her as my mate. But as I realized my life was more than what the pack expected and Calista needed from me, I knew I had to say goodbye to everything I’d ever known to become who I was meant to be.”

“Leave it to you to nail the soundbite when you’re in the middle of a crisis.” Tina grinned. “It sounds like she wasn’t happy that you left.”

My new best friend wasn’t about to let me off easily. Eventually, I’d be able to appreciate that. “Leaving Calista behind was the hardest thing I’d ever done. I wasn’t sure I could ever make her understand how much I needed to change. It wouldn’t have been fair to bring her with me and expect her to be something she wasn’t. Soon, she’ll see I’m not the same wolf who’d left her in Montana all those years ago.”

“Tell us how you’re different from the wolf who left her behind.”

“Well, I hadn’t become Bibi yet. I was still Bronson.” It felt like it had happened in another lifetime. “The role I played in the pack was…suffocating.”

Tina tipped her head. “Because you were Bronson?”

“I’ll always be Bronson, but I feel more comfortable as Bibi.” Bibi wasn’t just a drag persona; she’d become my whole personality. Bronson still existed, dormant inside me. Maybe someday, the time would be right for him to come back. For now, I was having way too much fun as Bibi. “The more time I spend as Bibi, the more Bronson feels like a memory. Like those things didn’t happen to the same person.”

“Can you tell me what it was like to be Bronson?” Tina bit her lip. “You hardly ever talk about it. If you’re not comfortable, I can edit the question out.”

“I’ve been quiet about my background for too long,” I said softly. “There’s nothing for me to hide. I wish I could have left under better circumstances, but maybe if things were better, I would’ve never left. My pack raised me to be a fighter.”

“You have a reputation for being fierce in battle,” she said.

“I never lost a fight. It was the only part of me that seemed to matter to my pack. They kept putting me into increasingly dangerous situations. It wasn’t what I wanted. They never gave me a choice.”

“Is that why it was such a shocker to come face-to-face with Calista?” Tina asked. “Because it meant your old pack still wasn’t respecting your boundaries?”

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