Barrett

My name is Tegan Reynolds, and I am seriously regretting my life choices at the moment.

I couldn’t confide in any of the ladies who had been staying at this glamped-up campsite with me for the last four weeks. We were contestants on Moonlight Mates, a shifter dating reality show where we vied to be chosen by an alpha beast.

Competition for Gideon Silverclaw, billionaire wolf shifter, was cutthroat. And tonight, he was slated give away his final rose.

The excitement around the set was palpable. My fellow contestants had spent the day getting right with the universe and making themselves the most desirable Beastlerette.

I couldn’t believe I was still counted in the ranks of that groan-worthy title. Not only was I forty-one and way too fluffy to be stuffed into this glorified prom gown, but Gideon Silverclaw was the wolf I’d come here to expose.

Did I expect some sort of enemies-to-lovers fairy tale where the lovable, imperfect heroine reformed the big bad wolf? Hell no. My mission was simple: use the notoriety and the money I made from the show to stop Gideon in his wolf tracks. I’d use my fifteen minutes of fame to expose him for exploiting packs and stealing their land.

I had all the time in the world to pursue this mission after I was fired from Gideon’s company, Wild Adventures, for uncovering his plan to extort local shifters out of the land their packs had lived on for generations.

But the joke was on me when he showed up as this season’s Moonlight Beast. He’d pretended he had no idea who I was, after we’d worked together for the last five years. When I tried to alert production, they told me it had to be a case of mistaken identity. Like I didn’t know who I worked with for the last three years. They insisted that lots of Beastlerettes had nerves once their episode started.

Okay, fine. I decided I’d go through with it because maybe I’d get the piece of information that would blow my case wild open. It made filming awkward, because it took everything I had not to confront him on camera.

Plus, with a half-dozen eligible Beastlerettes within earshot at any moment, anything I said could and would be used against me.

The whole time I’d been on this show, I’d pretended to be something I wasn’t. That ended tonight.

The spotlight clicked on, and show host Larrie Winslow strode on too-high heels to the center of the stage. Those were risky on a good day, but tonight, she’d broken into the champagne and started celebrating early.

A gasp radiated from my fellow contestants as Larrie turned her ankle and fell into the moon shaped pool of light.

“Even I get nervous on nights like this.” She chuckled as the production assistants rushed to help her up. She adjusted the column skirt of her dress. “That will be edited out, right?”

“Of course, that’s why we don’t actually film live,” one of the producers assured her. “Everything will look like a fairy tale, because that’s what this is. Right, Beastlerettes?”

A cheer rose from my fellow contestants. I clapped—it felt so gross, but I didn’t want to bring any more negative attention to myself. There was a literal spotlight at the end of the tunnel. I’d collect the money from the show’s contract, and use every penny of it to stop Gideon.

The money wouldn’t cause much more than an annoyance, but it would give me a chance to book all the tell-all interviews as a recently jilted Moonlight Mates Beastlerette.

Once people learned the truth about this wolf, they’d help me put a stop to this nonsense.

What kind of wolf displaced other packs? And most importantly, why?

The director counted down, and Larrie was once again her most radiant self.

“Welcome to this very special episode of Moonlight Mates. Tonight’s the night all you beast lovers have been waiting for.” Larrie beamed. “Tonight, alpha wolf shifter Gideon Silverclaw will give his final rose away under the light of this gorgeous full moon. I can’t think of a more romantic way to bring this season to a close.”

The cameras panned over the Beastlerettes. My fellow contestants gave themselves a quick fluff to make sure they were ready for their second of screen time.

I couldn’t breathe as Gideon took the stage. Tonight he was dressed in a tux that hugged his slim but muscular body. A suit and tie never really did it for me, but I could understand the attraction. His dark hair had been slicked back on the sides, and the curls on top left free. His jaw was square, and his gray eyes glowed in the moonlight like he might shift and ravage his new mate.

Normally, I was into that sort of thing, which was why I was here, but with him? Hell no.

He nodded and smiled as he took us all in.

I’d never felt so much like I’d joined a cult in my entire life. Or like my longline strapless bra was about to give out at the worst possible moment. I wasn’t sure which scenario I preferred.

“Gideon, you’ve taken your eligible Beastlerettes out on a series of romantic and thought-provoking dates. You got to know a little about each lady, and in turn, they were lucky enough to get to know you.” Larrie batted her eyelashes at him, and I had a feeling she hoped he’d choose her in the biggest plot twist of all. “It’s such a big decision to choose just one of them to be your mate.”

He shook his head. “Actually, Larrie, it was the easiest decision I ever made. It’s a matter of fate.”

My gag reflex was working overtime tonight. Just a few more minutes, I reminded myself, and then I could blissfully begin phase two of my mission.

“We’re all dying to know…which one of these Beastlerettes is fated to be claimed by you?”

“I choose—” the dramatic pause lasted way too long. “Tegan.”

Gasps erupted from the crowd. Music started playing and fireworks exploded overhead.

“What?” I could not have heard him right.

“Go on the stage,” a production assistant whispered, giving me a hearty shove in that direction. “We know you’re in shock—”

“Of course she’s in shock! How did she get picked out of all of us?” Bonnie, the contestant who I swore Gideon would choose, crossed her arms in front of her ample cleavage. “This show is fixed. There’s no way that this gorgeous hunk of wolf is fated to that…spinster.”

It wasn’t the insult she intended, because I wholeheartedly agreed. There was no way Gideon would have picked me if the show wasn’t fixed, which was exactly what I’d been afraid of the moment he appeared on set.

So phase two of the plan was officially under construction. But now, I had to go on stage and accept this rose from my sworn enemy. My ex-boss. This absolute piece of shit.

My mind raced as I walked up the stairs. What would I do when I got up there? I could refuse to take the rose, but that would set off a chain reaction of drama I wasn’t prepared for, and I was so close to exposing him.

But if I went through with it…

We could easily stage a dramatic breakup. No. I knew better than that. He wanted something. Unless Gideon Silverclaw really thought I was his mate.

The cameras slid into position as I walked up to Gideon. Those silver eyes were almost transparent in the bright lights. Completely unnerving, and not the least bit sexy. His full lips curled up into a smile that made my blood run cold.

All sinister, no sexy.

He held the rose out to me.

If I were a braver woman, I would’ve snapped it in half and thrown it in his face. But instead, I took the flipping thing.

His lips were on my cheek before I had a chance to protest.

“It’s fate, Tegan,” he whispered. “Everything’s exactly as it’s supposed to be.”

I nodded, because if I opened my mouth, I was sure to scream. Think of the publicity, I reminded myself. Everyone will want to know what Gideon Silverclaw was up to, and I will share every juicy detail.

But Gideon as usual, got the last word, landing a sloppy kiss on my lips.

I pressed them shut, but that didn’t stop him from trying to slip his tongue inside.

“That’s a cut!” Larrie announced. “Ladies, I’m sorry to say tonight is the end of your Moonlight Mates journey. It’s been a pleasure getting to know every single one of you, and I’m confident you’ll all find the love of your lives. Tegan, come with me. We need to start planning the next part of the episode.”

“Next part of the episode?” I said. “We’re done. This was the finale.”

“She doesn’t even know how things work.” Bonnie rolled her eyes. “This is such a joke.”

Again, we were on the same page.

A few contestants awkwardly hugged me, offering hollow congratulations before I got whisked to the production office, which was just another yurt on the campground.

Larrie took the seat at the other side of the desk and gave me a camera-worthy smile. Gideon was nowhere in sight. That didn’t feel right.

If this was a production meeting about filming some sort of cute epilogue, it would make sense for him to be here. And I still had a chance to expose him on camera. I tried to reframe this in my head—maybe this could give me the opportunity I needed to prove my case. I could do it on camera and catch him totally off guard.

Watching him squirm would be the most satisfying thing ever.  

“Congratulations again, Tegan. Being chosen as the Moonlight Mates Beastlerette is truly a life-changing experience, and I’m excited to see what comes next for you. But first, we have some paperwork for you to sign.” She handed me a tablet. “I hate to drop boring formalities on you on such an exciting night, so I’ll give you the TL;DR version: it’s the same stuff you signed in your contract…”

She was still talking, but I was much more focused on the paperwork as I flipped through the pages.

“This looks like a marriage contract,” I said.

She nodded eagerly.

“Like a real one.” My heart was in my throat. Sweet moon, this was exactly what it was. And Gideon had already signed it! All it needed to be official was for me to sign where they’d highlighted in fluorescent yellow. “If you expect me to actually marry Gideon Silverclaw…”

“You’re contractually obligated to actually marry Gideon Silverclaw.” Larrie’s tone was icy enough to give me frostbite. “As I said, everything in this paperwork was already in the contract. You agreed to be the fated mate of this season’s beast, if you were lucky enough to be chosen. It’ll be considered a breach of contract if you refuse, and all our obligations to you will be considered null and void.”

Translation: kiss that payment goodbye.

But my lawyer had gone over the contract in painstaking detail. Okay, my lawyer was my niece, who was studying to be a paralegal, and she would’ve definitely mentioned that I was on the hook to spend forever with a beast I hardly knew.

Something was very, very wrong.

“Give me a minute.” The words barely had volume as I pushed myself away from the desk and ran out of the tent.

There was a bench outside and I sank onto it, holding my head in my hands. The crisp night air had little chance of actually clearing my head, but I needed a moment to collect my racing thoughts. I needed to come up with a way out of this, effective immediately. This wasn’t a game anymore. They wanted me to marry this wolf for real.

There was no way I could do that.

I hated his guts—not only because he fired me. He had done really shitty things to unsuspecting local packs that thought the money that Wild Adventures was bringing in would make real change. Which it did, just the worst possible kind.

And his inner wolf had to be dense if he really thought I was his mate.

Gideon strode toward the production tent with purpose. Like he did with everything else, he was about to make this worse. He was chatting with one of the producers, too absorbed in the conversation and himself to notice the recently declared love of his life was sitting outside.

Thank the moon.

I got up fast, clasping my hand over my dress to make sure the bra didn’t slip into oblivion as I scrambled to the back of the tent.

After a few weeks at the campground, everyone knew the canvas walls of the yurt were far from soundproof. Since it never stopped anyone one from speaking their mind, it was how the show obtained some of its juiciest material. Which was what I planned to do right now.

“Did she sign it?” he asked once inside the yurt. “Now we can drop the façade and get this bitch in line.”

“Not yet.” Larrie let out a heavy sigh. “It’s not looking good. Of course, she’s asking a lot of questions. She’s onto us.”

Damn straight I was. It took everything I had not to burst into the tent and demand answers. But Gideon Silverclaw was a dangerous wolf and confronting him when I was this furious could backfire.

Or they had set me up to film my implosion.

I refused to give them what they wanted.

Gideon growled. “You’re one of the best producers in the business, and considering the generous donation I made to your company, I’m confident you’ll find a way to get Tegan to cooperate. Do I make myself clear?”

Gravel crunched in punctuation to that statement.  

“Gideon!” Larrie called out, but it was futile. He was already out of the tent.

My heart raced. This might be my only chance to get him one-on-one, to get him to answer my questions without his pack, his lawyers, or the cameras. Find out why he thought I was such a problem. Sure, I was onto his plan to buy shifter land and displace the packs who lived there, but really, what did he think I was gonna do about it? I was unemployed and not very business savvy, since the best plan I’d come up with was to come onto this show to expose him.

Sweet moon. This was a bigger mess than I thought. When Gideon magically appeared as the fated beast on Moonlight Mates, I tried to convince myself it was a coincidence. But there was no way he would want to fall in love in the most public way possible, especially with me.

But I was right all along about his intentions. He was here to silence me and love didn’t have a single thing to do with it.

My resources were limited and my choices sucked even worse than that. But that didn’t mean I had any plans of giving in.

Giving my boobs a quick check to make sure they were still inside this ridiculous dress, it was my turn to make an unannounced visit to the production tent.

“I won’t be signing that contract,” I said as I took the seat in front of Larrie’s desk. “Gideon chose the wrong Beastlerette. We need to reshoot the rose scene, and this time, he’ll name his true fated mate.”

Larrie raised a well-manicured brow. “That’s so cute. You think you’re in charge of production now.”

I gave the most casual shrug I could muster. Especially when I wanted to blurt out that I heard the whole exchange. That he’d bought her off. But it didn’t feel like the time to let her know I was onto her.

There would never be a good time, but I needed to do this on my terms. Not when these assholes had my back against the wall.

“Just want to make sure everyone ends up happy,” I said.

“Seems that we both want the same thing.” She smirked as she pushed a paper at me. It was the original signed contract—well, it was my signature, but nothing about the rest of the document looked familiar. “You’ve already signed a legally binding contract that stated if chosen, you agreed to have an official mating ceremony with our eligible beast. Of course, you are more than welcome to break that contract, but if you do, prepare to pay back every penny that was spent producing this episode. Including the other ladies’ accommodations.”

I gulped. Even with a payment schedule that lasted for the rest of my life, I’d never come close to erasing that debt. “Gideon and I didn’t share the connection that he had with the other Beastlerettes. They’d be more than happy to accept that rose from him, even as his second choice. They’re all still here—we can fix this.”

“There’s nothing to fix, Tegan. Gideon chose you. More importantly, his wolf believes you are the woman that he’s fated to claim. Do you have any idea how lucky you are?”

“Apparently not.”

“Women all over the country would do anything to trade places with you. You could try to show a little gratitude. Because a week from now, you’ll be married. They’ll all want to live vicariously through you. The network is already talking about a spinoff with you and Gideon as you start your life together.”

It was official. In exactly seven days, Gideon Silverclaw would own my ass. I shuddered at the thought as I rose from the chair. There was no need to waste time right now arguing with Larrie, her bogus contract, or the blood money she’d accepted from Gideon to make this happen.

Because they already had a plan in place to make this worse.

I had six days to manifest a better outcome for myself, and it didn’t mean I wouldn’t give it everything I had.

“Okay. I’ll do it.” I practically choked out the lie. I wouldn’t be able to work my universal magic if production clogged up my time trying to bully me into compliance.

Please don’t let this backfire…

Larrie softened, giving me as genuine a smile as she could manage with that much plastic surgery. “I’m so glad to hear that, Tegan. I assure you this is the right decision.”

“What happens now?” I’d play the role of the good little Beastlerette, because I wasn’t letting these bitches catch me off-guard ever again.

“We get everything ready for your wedding,” she said, clasping her hands together. It was the sincerest she’d seemed all season. “This is my favorite part of every episode. We’ll pull out all the stops to make sure this is the day you always dreamed about.”

More like a nightmare. I nodded. “Looking forward to it.”

As I walked back to my yurt, I tried not to focus on the fact that I was royally fucked. There had to be a solution to this.

By the time I went back to my room, my roommate was already packed up and gone. That was fast, and at this point, everything seemed off. Had production helped her pack because they wanted me alone?

Was I even safe here? It wasn’t like I had anywhere else to go. Even if I did, I had a pretty good feeling Gideon Silverclaw would appear there too.

What would he do once he actually got me alone? No cameras, no rules? My funds were limited, but I’d put them all in on the likelihood he planned to kill me. A shiver went down my spine at the thought. Whatever I knew was enough to ruin him.

If he simply had romantic feelings for me, he wouldn’t have waited until after he fired me from Wild Adventures to make his move.

Then I remembered something.

It was a long shot, but it might have been the only shot I had.

I dumped the contents of my purse onto my bed, thankful that I hadn’t had a chance to clean it out. I did a little happy dance when I found the battered business card, I’d pulled off a corkboard at a diner because my gut told me I might need it someday.

Like right freaking now.

Grizzly Guardians. Shifter Security.

My hands shook as I typed out the text message. An email would’ve been more professional, but this was an emergency. I had no idea what this would cost me, if I could even pay for it, but I’d figure it out, because the possibility of spending eternity with Gideon Silverclaw was fucking bullshit.