Free Changeling Winds: Episode Two (The Bachelor Battles Book 2) by Angela White Page B

left, and I pulled back from his sweet lips. “I’ll get you there and then you’re free.”
    I stood up, instantly missing his heat.
    Jason held my gaze. “Whatever you want.”
    I snarled in hurt at that and spun from the room. What I wanted had been denied.
    The Den Mother was waiting for me near the music area and I made a good show of handing her a UD slip to cover the warning I suspected she was waiting to deliver. I didn’t mind it as much as I appeared to. This weird woman was one of the rebels. She would keep him as safe as she could.
    As I neared her, I saw the cleverly hidden words she’d written in dust behind the camera.
    “She’ll come after her property.”
    I tossed the payment slip on top of it, so she’d be able to easily erase the message when she picked it up. “Good.”
    As I closed the door to the bachelor cells, I evaluated the guards I’d earned. They weren’t naturally loyal, but I could pay their price.
    I moved by with low words that had them walking along. By the time we hit my hall, I didn’t have any protection again and my unease had lifted. With what I’d just paid them, those guards wouldn’t let the head of the Network themselves in to see my choice without immediately calling me.
    I couldn’t stop Rankin from visiting him, but I would know about it even when the Den Mothers weren’t around and hopefully be able to intervene before Jason got hurt again.
    On the top, I was busy going over how we would get to Baker. Inside, I was burning. After all I’d done and would do, I still wouldn’t be able to put out this fire. It seemed I would be picking through the rebels at the Safe Zone after all.
     
    7
    “Welcome to Round Three of the Bachelor Battles! Now that we're down to only four contestants, all the matches will be held here, in the big cage! Come see these man-hungry women fight to the death! Who's ready to play? Who wants to play? Do ya? Do ya really? Well, come on then...”
    A brief pause, where I smothered a snarl. How had Candice stood the wait between matches?
    Clips of the week’s matches flowed along the huge screens as the enormous crowd screamed and pushed against the lines of guards and barriers in front of The Block.
    “Let's look at our fabulous fighters…”
    I tensed, wondering how bad it would be.
    “Angelica Pruett is one slot out of first place and has caused much the same furor at these games as her cousin Candice did nearly a month ago, before going on to win. From stirring up rebellions in the Den Mothers, to ripping out throats with her teeth, she's certainly living up to that brutal family name...”
    I hit the button, switching channels before I lost patience and used my claws on the screen.
    “...refusing to let in other contestants to see the male she has a fondness for. Rumors speculate if she wins, she'll defend her title next week in an attempt to claim another of her favorites...”
    I stopped on the next channel, studying the image on the screen. It was Stone Mountain and the charred, bare rubble sent me back to the night it had happened. I’d been there; I’d met the rebel leader and spent a night in their compound with Candice. It had been full of life then. Now, even the jungle that had hidden us was withered and brown. The rebel base was a symbol of death, and I bore a scar from that destruction on my back.
    The station switched to a group photo of the top ten wanted rebels and my heart thudded heavily. Those male faces were angry, even more than I was in the heat of the Change. Their ready expressions and hard stances said they were coming for the Network at some point, and I silently rooted them on before switching programs again. I hit the button, got the Network station.
    “…are investigating a contestant's claims that the bachelors are not safe. Changes to the Den Mother system may already be in the works...”
    I turned it back to the announcer for my coming challenge, ignoring the sounds outside my door as reporters and