Chapter 129

Gavin’s POV

“Alpha Gavin, what do you think about this year's Gamma competitors? Do you have a favorite?”

“Has anyone from your pack been chosen?”

“Are you sponsoring any portion of this competition this year?”

“Alpha Gavin, over here!”

The flashes of lights from the paparazzi cameras nearly blinded me, but I kept a stoic face as I stared at each and every one of them. I wasn’t going to answer any of their questions right now; I didn’t really have answers for them. I just landed and I was exhausted, I wanted to get to my suite and relax for the night. I hadn’t even looked over the list of Gamma Competitors that had been sent to me.

“Give the Lycan Chairmen some space,” my head Gamma, Derek, who happened to be a champion of the competition 5 years ago, said as he pushed the paparazzi away from me, providing me room to get by.

There was already a car waiting outside and I was just about ready to get out of this airport. My wolf was anxious and eager to get to the resort. I classified it as him just being tired and not wanting to deal with Levi Churchill. It wouldn’t be long before he arrived as well.

Once we were in the car, we were driving away from the airport and away from the paparazzi. I let myself sigh and lean back against my seat, loosening my tie. It was practically strangling me at this point.

“The competitors are having a dinner tonight to meet one another. Levi Churchill will be attending as well. Should I give them our RSVP?” Derke asked, glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

I glared at him as if the answer was obvious. He nearly folds in on himself.

“No,” I muttered. “The last thing I want is to deal with Levi tonight. I’ll meet the competitors tomorrow.”

“Have you read the competitor list yet?” Derek asked.

“Nope.”

Derek sighed, but he said nothing more.

…..

Judy’s POV

“Holy crap!” Nan breathed as we were nearing the resort. “It’s bigger than Carter’s Resort.”

I had never actually seen palm trees before but here they were everywhere. They were so tall and draped around the resort like umbrellas, shielding us from the sun. There wasn’t much dirt on the ground, instead, it was mainly sand. The walkways were made of cobblestones and gave the entire area a brighter feeling. There were so many people leaving their cabs and buses, lugging their belongings through the giant glass doors that led into the main lobby.

I had to crane my neck to stare up at the large building; not only was it incredibly tall in the back, but it was also wide, and it seemed as if it could go on for miles. Most of the windows were large floor to ceiling; some had curtains closed, others did not.

I knew, from looking at the map on our way here, that on the other side of the resort, which we couldn’t see from where we stood, was the ocean.

“This place is incredible,” Nan breathed, unable to stop looking at everything around her.

“I’m going to go find my boyfriend,” Sammy said with a small smile. “Thanks for letting me ride with you.”

“Of course,” I replied, returning her smile. “I hope to see you again soon.”

She nodded and waved before she took off. I looked at Nan and motioned for her to follow me with her head. We grabbed our suitcases, thanked the cab driver, gave him an extra tip, and then we headed inside.

It was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. My mouth nearly fell to the ground. The ground was a rose gold marble that matched the floor-to-ceiling pillars. There was a giant water fountain in the center of the lobby and a ton of people. It was overwhelming, to say the least. I could see gift shops and other small shops along the far side of the lobby and hallways that led to places I was eager to explore. There were giant spiral staircases on both sides of the lobby and a couple of giant glass elevators that went up to each floor. Each level had balconies that overlooked the inside of the resort and there were balconies on the outside as well.

The line for the front desk, which stretched from side to side, was huge.

“We are going to be here forever,” Nan complained.

I glanced at the time. It was only 1 pm.

“We have plenty of time,” I told her. “The dinner doesn’t start until 6.”

In the itinerary that Alpha Levi sent me, it mentioned a competitor's dinner at 6 tonight so we can get to know the other competitors and the judges. I had to admit, I was a bit nervous to see who I was up against.

Surprisingly, the line didn’t last forever. We only had to wait about 20 minutes before we were at the front of the line. One of the workers waved me over and I quickly hurried towards her with Nan in tow.

“Hello, are you checking in?” The woman, according to her nametag, Stacy, said.

“Yes. It should be under Judy Montague.”

She nodded and typed something into the computer.

“Oh, you’re here for the Gamma competition?” She asked.

“Yes,” I replied. I shouldn’t have been surprised that this resort was a shifter-owned resort. I didn’t smell any humans and there were a lot of people with Gamma sweatshirts and other gear. Very intimidating-looking people.

She typed something else into the computer.

“Lycan Chairmen has everything set up,” she explained as she continued to type stuff into her computer. But then she froze and glanced up at me, and then at Nan. “Except the room was for one. Is she staying with you as well?”

I flushed; I hadn’t thought about telling the hotel, or Alpha Levi, that Nan was coming with me. I felt stupid for not clearing it with them first.

“Uh, yes. But she can just share my bed,” I said quickly, hoping that was enough to clear things up. She looked between the two of us questionably, as if she was trying to figure out if she should allow it or not. But then a presence appeared beside me and my entire body froze as I looked up at the powerful-looking man that I had only seen briefly in the past.

“How about we upgrade her room then?” Beta Ron, Levi’s Beta, said, his eyes narrowed.

Stacy’s eyes widened at his request.

“I’m afraid we are all booked up…” she told him, her voice nervous.

“It’s okay; really,” I said, trying to resolve the situation.

“Then, I guess I’ll have to call Alpha Levi and tell him that the resort staff are incompetent,” he murmured as he made a show out of taking his phone out of his pocket. Before I could protest Stacy quickly intervened.

“That’s not necessary,” she said quickly. “We do have one room left. It’s a queen’s suite on the top floor. It has 2 beds and a half kitchen.”

“Excellent,” Beta Ron said, nodding at her as he shoved his phone back into his pocket.

“You don’t have to go through that much trouble,” I told them both. “It’s honestly okay.”

“Nonsense; you are a guest and will be treated as such,” Ron said, narrowing his eyes at me. “Enjoy your stay, Judy Montague.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

Stacy nervously typed on her computer without meeting my gaze. After a few minutes, she clicked the final button and grabbed a couple of keycards, a map of the resort, and a printed version of the itinerary.

“You will be in room 606,” she told me. “Enjoy your stay.”

I nodded and thanked her.

I went to grab my bags, but she stopped me.

“We have people who can take your bags to your room. You don’t need to lift a finger at our resort,” she assured me.

“Are you sure?” I asked her. “I don’t want to be too much trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all,” she assured me.

I nodded and together, Nan and I made our way through the crowd and towards the glass Elevator. We were both in awe as the elevator went up and we were able to see the resort from a different view.

“This is going to be so much fun,” Nan breathed with wide eyes.

I nodded in agreement. We walked down the wide hallway, looking up at the crystal chandeliers that lit the entire place up. We finally made it to our suite and used the keycard to get into the room.

The room was huge, and the beds were on a large pedestal with stairs. There was a half-kitchen, which had pretty much everything except a stove. There was a living room area and a door that I assumed led to the bathroom. Some dressers and wardrobes looked like they were picked right out of a storybook.

The windows were huge which provided a ton of natural light, and they were facing the ocean. If we looked down the window, we could see one of the many swimming pools this resort had. I heard they even had a swimming pool on the roof.

“Oh, I’m definitely going to like it here,” Nan said with a wide grin.

I nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, me too,” I agreed.

A few minutes later, a man arrived with our luggage. I thanked him and we spent the afternoon unpacking. If we’re going to be here for a few weeks, we might as well get comfortable.

“Want to go exploring with me?” Nan asked as she came out of the bathroom a little later.

I shook my head.

“I’m going to rest up for tonight,” I told her. “But you go and have fun.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later.”

I was able to get a couple of hours of sleep and woke up about 30 minutes before I had to leave for the dinner. Nan wasn’t back yet, but I knew she would be before we had to leave. I grabbed a change of clothes and went into the bathroom to take a hot shower.

The shower was bigger than any shower I had ever seen before, and water squirted out from every which way. It was incredible and I felt calmer than ever as I stepped out of the shower. I quickly dressed and by the time I left the bathroom, Nan was back.

“Ready to go?” I asked her.

“Actually, I was hoping maybe you could go by yourself. I met some people earlier and they wanted to go out to dinner and hang out while the Gamma competitors did their thing. They are all here out of support like me.”

I frowned.

“You don’t want to come with me?” I asked, sounding and feeling disappointed. I wasn’t sure I could do this without her.

“I’m sorry. Don’t hate me. We’ll do other stuff together and I’ll be there during the competition to support you. But I could really use a drink, and I doubt anyone will be getting drunk at this dinner tonight. Please don’t be mad.”

I sighed.

“I’m not mad,” I assured her. “Go have fun. I’ll be fine.”

She shrieked and hugged me. After we said goodbye, I gave myself one long look in the standing mirror and then I sighed.

It was now or never.