“Spade,” he said, his tone deeper than usual as he fixated on one of the comments. Gabriel tilted forward in his chair to listen to Kilian. “When are you going to debut a dance? We’ve been watching you and Reed practise for two years. Why are the Alphas being so secretive about their specialisations?”
“Pass.” Gabriel sat back, looking at the camera in a disapproving way. The comment section filled with immediate scoldings for whoever had asked such a “pushy” question. They were protective of Gabriel for some reason. Or maybe it was just the Alphas in general.
“Hart.” Isobel spotted Niko’s last name, holding her finger on the screen to keep her place since the comments were now flowing in much faster than she could keep up with. “Are you planning on specialising in tennis next year?”
“Nah.” Niko shook his head, tossing the platinum locks that slipped over his vision. He brushed both hands through his hair, pulling the bleached waves back as he shared a warm, secretive smile with the camera. “Next question.”
The comment section exploded.
@reed’s_rhapsody: NIKO HART HAS A SECRET SPECIALISATION? WHAT IS GOING ON?
@kannoisseur: Why does Sato look like the only snack he’s playing for is sitting in Gray’s lap? Can’t tell if I’m turned on or terrified.
@wildestdreamer: Not Niko Hart over here playing 3D chess and making even the fifth-year Icon contestants look unprepared.
@tune_tracker: Niko Hart can specialise in me if he has nothing else going on.
“Carter.” Kilian found a question for her amidst the chaos. “Are you being bullied by the Omegas?”
“No.” Isobel forced a light laugh, wishing she was half as good of an actor as Theodore, or Niko, who seemed able to turn his charm off and on just as easily. “It’s all just normal, healthy competition.”
The comments immediately turned to questions about Eve and Aron, and what happened in Vermont, but Kilian quickly flicked past them all, pausing on one that seemed to be addressed to Reed instead.
“Reed.” She cleared her throat. “Why do you think they let Eve Indie back into Ironside? Wasn’t she there when Carter—when I was attacked in Vermont?”
Elijah blinked, looking down at the camera over the rim of his glasses. He hadn’t been wearing them when he sat down. Maybe he hoped they would be an extra barrier against the camera. “What does that have to do with me?”
“I think that’s a pass,” Kilian mumbled as the “cold” emoji started to pepper the comment section again, the rest of the comments admonishing the poster for such a triggering question. “Moses, what did you think of your kiss with Carter? People are saying you’ve never had a girlfriend before. Is that true?”
“My brother dated every girl in our year group back in the settlement,” Moses said blandly. “And I’m not into sharing.” His image on screen cocked a challenging brow. “Did I kiss Carter? When?”
Cue another onslaught of cold emojis.
“Answer or pass,” Reed inserted, his tone droll.
Instead of snapping at Reed, Moses relaxed further back into his chair, lifting a tanned hand to stroke his scarred chin. His stormy eyes narrowed in thought, one of his legs kicking up to notch against the edge of the chair, his knee swinging distractedly back and forth.
“Pass,” he eventually said, the shadow of a smile ghosting his lips, like he knew he had just driven everyone into a frenzy thinking he might actually answer the question.
Isobel squirmed on Kilian’s lap, realising the screen had switched to a split view again, showing her own face. “Sato,” she said quickly, picking a question and then pausing … wishing she had proofed it first. “Why did you …” She cleared her throat awkwardly. “Did you offer to be Carter’s—I mean my surrogate?”
“Pass.” He answered instantly, giving the camera the same deadpan stare, his hood still up, his eyes slitted. He was going to lose the game at this point.
Isobel knew her face was bleeding red, but Kilian was already moving on.
“Theodore, who’s your favourite Alpha?”
“Moses.” Theodore rolled his eyes, and the mood began to lighten immediately, with Cian and Niko both jumping on Theodore and demanding he change his answer.
Isobel and Kilian tried to pick light-hearted questions after that, but Sato still refused to answer any of them, earning himself last place, while Isobel, Kilian, and Theodore tied in first place.
“How should we settle this?” Theodore asked, his competitive streak rearing its head, as he swept his eyes over Isobel and Kilian cuddled up in a chair before turning his attention back to the camera.
Sato suddenly started laughing, and then he stood. “This one,” he said, flashing his phone screen before tucking it into his pocket. “I like this idea. Whoever lasts the longest locked alone with me in a dark room, wins. Except we’ll do the garden shed, instead. If any of you break before three minutes is up, I get top spot and you all have to share last place.” He started to stride off but paused at the edge of the platform. “Kilian, you’re up.”
Kilian didn’t exactly have time to argue before Oscar strode away, and he was left sitting there in silence with everyone else. Locking himself in a cramped, dark space with Oscar was very far down his list of priorities, especially with Isobel snuggled into his lap, but there was suddenly a staff member with a camera notched onto his shoulder and a timer pulled up on his phone rushing to the platform, and everyone else had turned to see what he would do.
He lifted Isobel and plopped her back into his seat before striding off without a word. The cameraman followed him, so he tried to relax his expression, but it soon became glaringly obvious that all the students gathered on top of Alpha Hill for movie night had their screens lighting up their faces and were watching the live stream with rapt attention.
He pushed into the garden shed and slammed the door behind him, turning on his phone’s flashlight and dropping it onto one of the workbenches.
“What’s got your panties in a twist?” Oscar asked, sitting on the bench, and examining his nails.
“I was comfortable where I was,” Kilian sulked, crossing his arms.
Oscar smirked. “You know someone has already stolen her, right? Probably Cian. Maybe even Gabe, just to fuck with Theo.”
Kilian itched to check the live broadcast to see if it was true, but forced his arms to wind back in an exaggerated stretch instead. “Are we gonna make out or what?”
Oscar laughed, his eyes glittering darkly. “Nice deflection. How about I describe what it was like to make out with the person you actually want to get your hands on?”
“When did you make out with Cian?”
“When did you get so funny?” Oscar’s smile suddenly disappeared, and all the glitter twinkled right out of his stare, rendering it blacker than black. “I don’t want to hand out massages so here it is, Kili. She tasted exactly like how I knew she would. Like fear, and sweat, and fistfuls of crushed cherries leaking all over her skin. Her little whimpers and moans and the way she pressed against my dick—”
“Yep, I’m out. This was great. Let’s never do it again.” Kilian stormed out of the shed, ignoring the cameraman checking the timer on his phone as he rushed back to the stage.