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“Eight!”

“Seven!”

I scan the crowd. There are only royals, who might already be mated, and a few strangely dressed males I don’t recognize. Based on their appearances, I’m going to guess they’re visiting monsters who have come for the show.

But no Godric.

No Arwan.

And no Ze’ev.

“Six!”

“Five!”

All of the live feeds flip to various female candidates.

Most of them look terrified.

I lock onto a particular pink-haired bride wearing a turquoise lingerie dress. She kneels on a lily pad, of all things, and stares defiantly into the water. The feed dips beneath the surface, and my eyes widen as it passes by a massive dragon swimming easily through the deep, its blue scales glinting under the scarce light. Underneath it is an even worse terror, something with tentacles and purplish-blue scales that look impenetrable.

Are those that girl’s sponsors? I wonder dizzily.

If there’s a lesson to be learned here, it’s to choose wisely. Although, I’m not sure if the other locations really leave their candidates much of a choice.

There is always a choice, my heart sings.

Because when it comes to monsters and their mates, true matches will always choose one another.

“Four!”

“Three!”

But what choice do I have? I wonder as my entire body seizes now that the moment is actually here.

What choice have I given Godric, Ze’ev, or Arwan?

The pack master will ultimately reject me once he learns the truth. I’ve been a coward and haven’t told him the one thing that I know will push him away.

Maybe because I’m not ready to let him go.

Arwan became entangled with me when I had nowhere else to turn. My sad excuse for a life isn’t his responsibility, and yet I’ve strung us together, intentional or not. I gave him no choice in this.

And Ze’ev… he’s perhaps the sponsor that I belong with the most. He and I are outcasts. We don’t belong anywhere.

But does that mean we belong with each other? Should fate have dealt us such a solid blow that we cling to each other, with nowhere else to turn?

“Two!”

“One!”

My gaze tears away from the screens as a scream is emitted from the desolate land. I expect to see monsters emerging in the distance, but all I can spot is the faint outline of a massive tower in the opposite direction of the castle where we’re supposed to be heading.

The tower is one I’ve seen before.

I stare at it as a melancholy bell sings across the isle.

It rings once.