The Competition (Ada's POV)

One by one, the Alpha Princes transformed into their wolves. Each one was more beautiful and striking that the last. Phoenix’s wolf was the smallest of the three and donned ginger-snap colored fur and bright emerald eyes. Darius was a pure white wolf with eyes the color or the deepest ocean blue. Nik, equal in size to Darius, was the exact opposite in wolf form— pure black fur, coal-colored eyes. As the three of them bounded off in the direction of a large building, I admired their wolves size and demeanors. They exuded power and most likely instilled fear in every adversary they may have come across.

The King’s fingers finally released from around my arms, his voice cold, “Come. You will sit with the rest of the Court and watch.”

He led me into the same large building that the Alpha Princes had run into. As I walked through the relatively narrow entryway, the building opened into a large arena. Either side of the center was surrounded by chairs and hundreds of people filled them. There was a cacophony of conversation that ceased upon the King’s arrival. Hundreds of sets of eyes turned to look at him. He gave a curt nod and led me to an empty seat right beside Lady Elizabeth Jane. She was sat directly to the right of his make-shift throne, a group of friends (all Lady’s of the court) gathered in front of her.

She was deep in conversation as I took my seat beside her, admiring her silver gown. Apparently, she took my looking at her as an insult because she turned and spat, “I understand my beauty is alluring, but find something else to look at whore.”

The small smirk that crossed the King’s face made my cheeks flame. I faced forward, finding my view blocked by the extravagant gowns and hair in front of me. Cheers erupted as the sound of snarls and the scent of fresh blood filled the air. Every now and then, one of the many women in front of me would shift to the left or right, giving me a clear view of the fighting grounds. The three Alpha Princes were moving in what seemed like a well-choreographed dance. I only caught glimpses as they made their way through each of the four challenges, only knowing that by the time the final challenge started, each of them had been a victor of one of the previous ones.

Dozens of remarks of admiration had been made by the woman around me. Nerves settled in my stomach as the fourth challenge began. This was it. This was what was going to determine which of these men was going to take my virginity. I had to fight against the embarrassment of knowing that not only did I know that’s what these men were fighting for, so did every person watching the spectacle.

The evening sun was starting to set as the people in front of me parted again, allowing me to catch sight of the three Alpha Princes running toward the center of the arena at full speed. Just as they were about to reach a strange apparatus, the bodies in front of me shifted once more and blocked my view.

That was when I heard it. To my right, a few rows forward, a woman was speaking boisterously, “I swear it’s as if the Alpha Princes are competing to lose,” an eruption of laughter from around her, “And who could blame them. I mean look at her.”

I did my best to keep my eyes facing forward, but I caught them all glancing toward me out of my peripheral. My cheeks flamed as Lady Elizabeth snorted beside me, “They’re right, you know. From what I know of these three, they all could be doing *so much more.*”

A hand rested on my shoulder, making me jump. Beta Cade’s voice whispered beside me, “Don’t listen to them. They’re just jealous of you.”

His words didn’t do anything to comfort me as the crowd erupted into loud, boisterous cheers. Ladies and gentlewolves all around me jumped to their feet. The King’s voice carried over the crowd, “And with that, we have our Victor!”

I tried my best to look around those around me, to get some glimpse at which one of the princes had won the competition, but it was no use. The crowd was swarming the arena, surrounding the three Princes, who had shifted back into their human form. I looked to my left and caught the King and Lady Elizabeth exchanging a heated stare. When he saw me watching, he gave a nod to Beta Cade.

Cade’s voice was practically a yell as he told me, “I’m taking you back to your quarters, Ada.”

I turned to him, “But who won?”

My heart was thudding rapidly as he gave me a small smile and shrugged, “You’ll find out at the banquet tonight. Come along now.”

The cheers still hadn’t stopped as he led me out the entrance of the arena, leaving the three potential victors behind to celebrate with their people for now. My stomach was churning uncomfortable with butterflies as I realized that perhaps it didn’t matter to me which of them won. They all seemed rather polite and understanding of my position in this situation.

I did my best to convince myself that I didn’t care, but when Cade closed the door to my quarters behind him, I knew I was lying to myself.

It did matter.

Because as much as I’d grown to like Phoenix and Darius, and *could* grow to like Nik, they simply didn’t have what I wanted most in this situation. They weren’t my mate. But if I had to go through with this, I knew I wanted my first time to be with the one that felt most like someone I could see being my mate. And since there was a 66% chance he didn’t win the final challenge, I knew the odds weren’t in my favor.