Page 2 of Last Resort

They walked through the offices and headed to the motion capture area where gym facilities were available. There were over a dozen people waiting, and the icon for the island program was there on clipboards.

Tyr scuttled ahead, got the suit and the company tee, and bustled her to the changing space.

When she came out, she was dressed in green spandex and a tee that hung to her knees.

She walked toward the gathering of her boss and his mates and the organizers. “So, what do I have to do?”

The darker-skinned alphas looked at her, and one seemed familiar. He asked, “Ma’am, have you been to the islands?”

“Six months ago. We spent three days and two nights on Wonder with my cousin’s bachelorette party. I had to keep the ladies from biting off more than they could chew.”

The guy grinned. “Of course. You were on the charter.”

“Everybody takes a charter, but yes.”

“Well, thankfully, that does not disqualify your application.”

“Oh. Delightful. So, what do I have to do?”

The woman standing next to the man who had spoken smiled and said, “We just need to make sure that you can make it through the trials, more or less.”

She nodded and looked at the list that was handed to her. “Oh. Okay. Any order?”

The male said, “As long as we can see it. It will be recorded for before and after clips.”

“Delightful. Well, I am going to start climbing.” She glanced at the cameraman. The guy gave her a nod. Yawning, she walked up to the climbing wall and just got going. Her toes pressed on the hand holds, and she pushed and pulled herself up the thirty feet of wall. Then, she quickly moved down.

She called out, “What is the distance I need to run?”

“Two kilometres. Four times around the marked track.”

“Okay. Maximum time?”

“Ten minutes.”

She yawned again, stretched, and got ready. When the cameraman dropped his arm, she ran. She went around the first two times, and then she started to get irritated. She made the third pass around and pulled out all the stops for the fourth.

Poppy panted. “What next?”

The man with the clipboard smiled and said, “Twenty push-ups, and then we are done.”

She nodded, and folks started counting as she methodically went up and down. When she got to twenty, there was a resounding cheer.

She did one more and stood. “Anything else?”

Her coworkers were staring at her, mouths open. She snorted, “Oh, come on. You have seen me eat. I have to do something with it.”

Poppy looked over at the couple from the island. “Am I done?”

The woman smiled. “Yes. What is your job title?”

“Program budget manager and staff coordinator.”

Tyr came up and nodded. “She knows how much everything costs and is keeping everyone on track. She’s a budgeting mastermind.”

Poppy snorted. “He normally calls me a pain in his perky ass. His words, not mine.”

Tyr grinned, and Simon and Roane backed him up with wry expressions.

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