Page 22 of Escaping Rejection

Kira sat up quickly, slapping a hand over my mouth. “Hello?” she called, loud enough to be heard through the door.

“It’s Von, my dear! I have cameras rolling. I somehow missed you leaving the mating chamber. I need to get a word.”

“Shit,” Kira muttered.

“Is something wrong?” Von asked, his voice muffled. I could still hear the glee in his tone. “Are you… indisposed?”

Fuck. He knew I was in here with her. The son of a bitch knew, or at least suspected. I took her hand off my mouth and hissed, “Get up. We have to get dressed. Hurry.”

I bounded off the bed in search of my clothes. Kira hustled off the other side, finding her panties in the corner. I’d barely gotten my underwear on when the door crashed open and a hulking fallen angel stumbled inside.

Kira yelped in surprise and threw an arm across her exposed breasts—thank the gods she’d gotten her panties on in time. Von stepped through the door, followed by cameras. My wristband flashed from white to bright green. The fucker was filming this.

Von clapped gleefully. “Oh, goody. Just as I expected.”

“Get the fuck out of here!” Kira screamed, her face flaming with anger and embarrassment. She did her best to pull a T-shirt over her head without showing the whole world her tits. “Now, Von. Get out.”

Ignoring her shouts, Von turned to one of the cameras. “Ladies and gentlemen, now you see why we went with a special live broadcast. Exciting, isn’t it?”

Live? Holy fuck. That meant everyone on the planet saw this, including the other alphas. Oh, gods.

“This morning, we have abigreveal,” Von said. “It seems that we have a first onThe Reject Project. Never in our history have a lead mate and one of the contestants known each other prior to filming.”

“Don’t, Von,” I snapped.

“Now, now, Mr. Rivers. Don’t try to steal my thunder. People of the world, I bring you an exclusive, juicy secret that Wyatt and Kira have been hiding from everyone.”

Kira buried her face in her hands. She knew what awaited us. It was like watching a train crash. You couldn’t do anything, didn’t want to see it, but you couldn’t pull your eyes away.

“Kira Durst and Wyatt Rivers knew each other before the show started. They partook in carnal delights with each other prior to the premiere. They have tried to play the system. This entire season has been rigged from the start. Rigged by these two duplicitous lovers behind me,” Von declared, then swept his hand back toward us.

The cameras zeroed in on us, like gun barrels ready to fire.

Chapter7

Kira

Rage wiped out all my surprise. The fucking bloodsucker had busted down my door and caught us with our pants down, literally. Had I ever been this angry? This worried? Wyatt would take most of the backlash for this, be the main target for ire. As the lead mate, I’d probably get the benefit of the doubt, though that was debatable. Either way, I needed to protect Wyatt as best I could.

Summoning all my inner strength, I forced myself not to gut Von right there and took a step forward.

“This wasnotrigged,” I said desperately. “Yes, okay, we did know each other before coming on the show, but nothing was ever rigged in Wyatt’s favor. I had no idea he was coming on the show. You’ve got this all wrong. It was… um… a coincidence. That’s all.”

Von wagged a finger at me. “Now, now, Kira. I’m sure you can see how that sounds. Besides,” he gestured at us and our half-clothed state, “it appears you two just finished having averygood time.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks. I was wearing nothing but a T-shirt and panties. Wyatt stood on the other side of the bed, clad only in boxers, his chest still sporting the faint marks from where I’d clawed him while he’d fucked me.

Yeah. This looked bad.

Von turned back the cameras again, laying his surprise on thick for the audience. “Can you believe it? These two in here, doing only the gods know what to each other mere hours after their sordid nights with two other contestants.” He sighed and shook his head. “What would poor Chelsey and J.D. think of this?”

Wyatt looked as pissed as I did, but he knew it was pointless to argue. Von would spin this however he wanted to make us look as bad as possible. Wyatt sat on the edge of the bed, teeth clenched, and stared at the ground while Von kept flapping his jaw.

“Our viewers at home have never seen something as underhanded as this. In all the decades ofThe Reject Project,there has never been a couple as shameful and malicious as this.”

I couldn’t handle it anymore—he needed to shut his mouth. I took a few steps in his direction, ready to break his jaw, but the fallen angel stepped in front of me. The massive bodyguard towered a foot and a half over me.

“Don’t think about it, miss.” His voice was like mud-covered rocks cracking together.

---