Page 24 of Aries Mated

TJ

“Again, but this time, keep that itch close to the surface,” I called out to Sol, waiting for the young boy to try to shift. At least he had a lot of space here at the training ground within the area. This was a place for contestants to get in some practice before the next challenge, which I knew I should have spent the last three days doing myself, especially if I was going to get to that elusive second place, but training Sol seemed much more important. Ever since we all spent that night together, Maeve, Sol, and the idea of a harem was all I could think about. The romance had clouded my mind and reminded me of an easier time in my life when everything was simpler and much more fun. I ached to get back there, to be happy once more. “That’s great, Sol, well done.”

My cell phone buzzed, again, but I ignored it and continued to watch Sol as he trained himself to control his bear. I already knew who it was going to be. The loan shark,again. I’d tried to tell that asshole I didn’t want to go any further in the competition, that I felt my rank was high enough and I was sure he had earned some of my money back, maybe even all of it. I basically wanted him to rethink things so I could concentrate on my own life. But he wouldn’t take no for an answer. According to him, I still had half the payment left. At this point, I was pretty sure I was being swindled, but what could I do about that? I didn’t know how to turn things around when it came to a man like that.

What the hell was I going to do? My heart wasn’t going to be in the competition any longer, and I didn’t know how I would be able to keep fighting. I was pretty sure I was going to have to find some other way to pay my debt back. But since that hadn’t worked for a very long time, I couldn’t imagine any way that I could sort things out now. I was in a hopeless situation and I didn’t like it at all.

Sol was getting much better at shifting, but shifting back to his human form was a bit tricky for him. I understood that because I found it to be the exact same way. As Atlas stepped forward, I could sense him calming Sol down using the telepathic connection that only bears with intense trust could form. Negative energy could be easily overcome with that bond, so I liked the way we had already formed that connection between us all and with Sol as well. It took Atlas a little while, but he soon managed to cool Sol’s nerves enough to get him back.

He was tired, that much was obvious. Sol’s eyelids were heavy, and it seemed to me that he had been through enough.

“Should we stop here for the day?” Kai asked, seemingly reading my mind. “Come on, Sol. Viola is waiting to take you back to the house.”

Maeve would have loved to be here, but Pleasures needed her. She hadn’t been in her bar as much as in recent times, so whatever needed her attention, she was giving it while she could. I hoped she was done soon, though, because I couldn’t wait to see her again. I missed those sweet hazel eyes whenever they weren’t here. Maeve had really tugged on my heartstrings in ways I never expected to happen.

“Hey, guess what?” Atlas called out as he stared at his cell phone in what appeared to be horror. “There is more news about the kidnapping.”

“News?” Kai asked. “Or fake news? Because nothing that I’ve heard or read seems to be real.”

“I think fake news,” Atlas agreed. “No, it’s definitely fake news. It’s calling the kidnapping a ‘misunderstanding.’ How could it be a misunderstanding?”

“Has Sly been mentioned yet?” Matt asked warily as he got a little closer. “Because that asshole seems to be getting away with it and I don’t like that one bit.”

Atlas sighed heavily and shoved his cell phone in his pocket. “No, but what can we do about it? According to Tex, the police are on the case. We’d only be getting in the way.”

I hated that, but I had a feeling we all did. Just because my heart wasn’t in the competition anymore, didn’t mean I was happy for the princess to be kidnapped. We didn’t even know if Sly still had her since everything was being kept quiet. It was very frustrating. I didn’t know how any of the competitors were focused on parkour with all of this going on. Especially Jason. If the rumours about him and Princess Azariyah were true and he was in love with her, this had to be especially hard on him. It made me think about Maeve and how I would feel it if were her in trouble…

Am I in love with Maeve?I asked myself, even if it was one of those questions I was pretty sure I already knew the answer to.

“So, Maeve,” Atlas suddenly said, almost as if he could read my mind. “I know we haven’t really talked about things ever since the other night, but I think we should.” He paused thoughtfully for a moment. “I amreallyinterested in Maeve. More than I should be. I promised myself that I wouldn’t let that happen because she used to be married to my buddy, but I guess the heart wants what it wants. I would love to know where things could go, but the competition…”

He let his words hang in the air, but we all knew exactly what he meant. It was a tense thing, wasn’t it? To say things aloud, to admit how we were all feeling, but I guess it was one of those things that had to happen if we were going to work out a way to move forward.

“I’m going to lose anyway,” Matt admitted with a shrug. “I’m going to be honest with you. I’ve been intentionally planning on bowing out, which is why I purposely came last in the first parkour round.” That actually made sense. I wondered how he’d managed to fall, but with everything else going on afterward, I never got a chance to ask him. “I was never meant to be here. It was by default. I actually came third place in the Capricorn rounds, but second place got sick.” Matt turned and smiled at Atlas. “I feel the same way about Maeve. I want to give things a chance to see where they could go. I haven’t ever had feelings for anyone else like I do her.”

A tight knot formed in my chest. I almost couldn’t breathe as I wondered what this was going to mean for all of us. It wasn’t a straight forward thing, it wasn’t easy to digest, but we did need to make a decision soon. Before things got out of hand.

“I have to admit,” Kai joined in quietly. “I am only here out of a sense of duty to the Scorpio Clan. I’m not doing it for myself. My growing feelings for Maeve are changing things. I can’t honestly put all of myself into the competition knowing my heart is elsewhere.”

I wanted to saysomething, to put my heart on the line as well, but Atlas spoke next. He finally put his own feelings out there for us to digest.

“You know, I feel the same way,” Atlas agreed. “I am here because of duty, not because I have any desire to marry Princess Azariyah or be the Bear King. It’s not for me. It’s strange to think about throwing in the towel and giving up, and also seeing where a harem romance could go because that’s not something I have any experience with either, but if I don’t risk everything, I will never know, and that’s enough for me to want to change.”

After that powerful speech, all eyes were on me. Everyone wanted to know what was going on inside my head. Only, it wasn’t as simple for me. But I had to admire all of them for being so open and honest, so it was time for me to do the same.

“I am not in the games to be Bear King either,” I admitted awkwardly. I scuffed one foot on the floor, unable to meet anyone’s eyes. “I am here because I am in financial trouble.”

“What do you mean?” Matt asked, but I had to be grateful that at least he didn’t sound horrified. That gave me the confidence to continue.

“Well, I was having money issues about three years ago.” Shame and humiliation washed over me. I hadn’t told anyone about this, and I couldn’t believe that I was admitting it here. “One night, while I was out having a few drinks for a friend’s birthday, I got talked into a poker game.” My weak willpower from that night hurt me even now. “I won a couple of hands, which was a great feeling. I realized that if my streak continued, I could win enough to not only fix my money issues, but really get myself back on track again.” I sighed heavily. “I didn’t think about the possibility of losing, even when I started to lose. I guess I was still riding the high from the first couple of wins, until I ended up in real trouble with one of the guys, who turned out to be a loan shark.”

“Sounds like a trap,” Kai surprised me by saying. “Sounds like it was all planned to make you lose.”

“Oh… Yeah, maybe. I don’t know. I never thought of it like that. Or it was just poor decisions on my end. Basically after that, I sunk deeper and deeper into a hole I can’t climb out of.”

“And what does that have to do with the games?” Atlas asked me curiously.

“Well, the loan shark wants to make bets on me to claw back the money. The higher I get in the rankings, the more of my debt will be paid off. But I’m not going to win. Second place is my aim. Right now, I’m only halfway cleared.” Weirdly, it was a bit like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I never thought admitting the truth out loud would be able to do that for me.

---