Darcingtowne Wolves: The Flower Moon Games (Book 2)

Chapter Eleven: Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie

Inside of the delivery box was a tiny string bikini and a gift box complete with a big, fancy bow.

Carrie lifted the bikini from the box first, lifting an eyebrow as she examined it. It was yellow with polka dots; like the song. She would have laughed if she hadn’t been so perplexed. What kind of physical challenge was this for? Did the Alphas want to watch them play volleyball or something? Ugh.

She grabbed the gift box next, then moved back to the bed where she settled so that she could open it. Carrie fingered the neatly trimmed ends of the bow, catching the faint whiff of something familiar coming from it, though she couldn’t quite place what it was. At least her nose seemed to have recovered after having been peppermint bombed.

The fragrance sent a thrill of warmth through her, which she quickly shook off. This gift might help her get through this next challenge, but that didn’t make it the man behind it any less creepy. Were you really a man if you had to capture a woman and bribe her with gifts to convince her that you weren’t actually a horrible monster bent on forcing you to her will? Yeah, no. She would not be impressed, even if there was a crown full of diamonds and pearls in the box. This gift was nothing more than a means to an end, something that would help her survive long enough to escape.

Realizing that she needed to get moving if she wanted to be ready by the time the heavies came to fetch her, Carrie went ahead and pulled the bow, untying it in one swift motion. She popped the lid of the box off and tilted her head slightly as she took what lay inside the box. It was not a crown, that was for sure.

The gift inside seemed to go with the bikini theme. It was a short sleeved wetsuit in black with hot pink details, including a thick, fluorescent pink zipper that ran the length of the front. It offered considerably more protection to her modesty than the bikini offered. She could also imagine that this might mean that the upcoming challenge had something to do with water, and that having a wet suit would provide a little bit of extra warmth if said water was cold. Carrie shivered; she hated being cold.

Her mate had better run hot because she fully intended on using him as a personal space heater whether he liked it or not.

Desmond was sweating through his undershirt, internally cursing the Alphahole who had chosen this particular challenge. Granted, this was not the worst of the challenges put forth, it just happened to be the one that was currently taking place which made it his current most hated challenge. The she-wolves had been brought in, some looking mortified and others strutting as if they were actually happy to be there. His mate’s entrance was somewhere in between.

She strode into the arena with confidence, wearing the wetsuit he’d sent her as a gift on behalf of Alpha Jaxon, but she did not look happy to be there. Unlike Tanya, the blonde bombshell who was beaming her most winning smile as she made eyes at each of the Alphas in turn, Carrie was more interested in taking in the arena.

Some of the other she-wolves had small gifts from their patrons, but Carrie’s was the most obvious - as the wetsuit covered up roughly two thirds of her body while the rest of the women were nearly nude. Desmond was deeply relieved that she was covered, as he wasn’t sure that he could handle the looks the Alphas would be giving her otherwise. He’d already struggled enough trying to put a simple card onto the giftbox with Alpha Jaxon’s name on it. 

Which he’d ended up tossing in the trash before delivering the gift box. It was a small thing; the Alpha would probably never find out about it, and if he did Des would just claim that the card must have slipped his mind. That was believable, right? There’s no way that people would assume a forgotten card meant Des was having intensely possessive feelings toward one of the contestants.

Feelings which were surging as he realized that Carrie’s wetsuit was zipped down low enough that he could see the lush curves of her t**s underneath, and the thin string of the bikini that he knew must be hiding their pale pink peaks. He swallowed down a low growl, knowing that the other males had taken notice of Carrie as well. The other contestants were wearing nothing but the bikini, so she stood out. 

“I see that my gift was well received…Desmond, is it?” Alpha Jaxon remarked as he motioned for Desmond to approach. “There’s definitely something to be said for leaving a little to the imagination. If she does well today I’d like to send a follow up gift, something more personal. Perhaps jewelry of some sort. I’m sure you’ll think of something appropriate, but only if she finishes in the top three.”

“Very well, Alpha. I will keep this in mind.” Desmond replied as evenly as he could.

Carrie stared at the obstacle course for so long that her eyes started to feel dry. Dry as her mouth had gone when she realized that when they said this would be a physical challenge, they meant it. It looked like something straight out of a reality fitness competition, complete with a giant wolf’s head shaped metal and rivet entrance to the first obstacle and a sign that read “Ultimate She-Wolf Warrior Master,” spelled out in glowing neon pink.

There was a climbing wall, some kind of spinning whirling death contraption, and an enormous pool that had surging jets that looked suspiciously like river rapids - but ones that could crank up the pressure at a moment’s notice and send a girl flying back the way she’d come.

Carrie heard a soft whimper next to her from Tanya, whose smile looked less excited and more like a grimace up close. The Alphas probably couldn’t see it from where they were sitting on the far side of the obstacle course, but there was fear in Tanya’s eyes. She was even less of the warrior type than Carrie was. She looked good in her bikini, but even Carrie could tell that her flat stomach and much sought after thigh gap, that the poor girl didn’t have much in the way of muscle.

Carrie herself was not all that much better off, truth be told. Yes, she had trained for the past several years, but not in any serious way. There was more muscle to her than people expected, but she more or less trained so that she could eat elder Mason’s pastries without feeling too guilty. Carrie felt like she could probably hold her own in a one versus one bout, mostly because she was not afraid to fight dirty and had a few protective pieces, but she was no Ultimate She-Wolf Warrior Master.

Wanting to emphasize a little with the stricken looking Tanya in the hopes of building a bridge, she spoke softly so that only the women nearest her could hear, “I hope I don’t fall face first into anything. Is that…a swimming section with rapids? Ugh. My hair is going to be a wreck.”

“Who cares about your hideous ginger tangles?” Tanya sniffed, her expression shifting to haughty as she looked over at Carrie.

Carrie snorted, rolling her eyes at this response hard enough she thought she might give herself motion sickness. What a ridiculous put down. She’d heard more creative ones from the five year olds that she occasionally helped Sebastian train.

When people complained about girls being catty, she usually ignored them. Any time a female did something even vaguely indelicate, people would come up with a reason to hate. Yes, women could be competitive, but cattiness was something of a societal construct - and something that could be unlearned with a little bit of effort. Carrie had always found that if she just ignored catty behaviour and countered it with kindness, most women laid off - especially when they came to the conclusion that Carrie was not out to compete with them. 

The only person that Carrie was competing with was herself.

That said, she wasn’t going to complain if one of her new found friends wanted to stand up for her.

“Who crawled up your g-string and died?” Yumi muttered from Tanya’s other side, eliciting a giggle from Sarah who was further down the line.

“Ladies, welcome to the first challenge, which was set forth by Alpha Frank.” Tiffany said as she strolled down the line of ladies. 

She motioned to the Alphas, who were seated on bleachers. Not just normal bleachers, though. They were carpeted on the lowers, and had padded red velvet cushioned seats, because cold metal benches just weren’t good enough for these Alphas. Good gravy.

The aforementioned Alpha Bertrand took this mention as an introduction, and stood up to wave at the women. He was an older Alpha with short hair that he wore in a neatly trimmed business-like cut, paired with an equally neatly trimmed moustache, both of which were more salt than pepper. He was also, no getting around this, rather obese. What kind of self-respecting Alpha let himself go like that? Every Alpha she’d ever met had been fit. They had to be if they wanted to keep their position. Not to mention, if this Alpha was old enough that his hair was now mostly white, he had to be way too old for these she-wolves.

Maybe that was ageist, and maybe there were plenty of women who were happy in age gap relationships, but Carrie had the distinct feeling that there was a very dark reason as to why this man didn’t have a mate at his age. She swallowed a little when Alpha Frank’s eye fell on her and lingered too long for comfort. He even licked his lips as he looked her up and down, and she instinctively reached to pull the zipper of her wet suit up.

“Today you are going to be competing in the reverse of the order in which you introduced yourselves yesterday.” Tiffany said, her voice far too peppy for how early it was. 

Darn, Carrie thought, knowing what was coming next.

“Meaning that Delta Carolyn will be going first.”