Spotlight Problem

"Just figured it out? Yeah, you bet. Sure if it's seen I'll be caught in blackmail, but you caught as a werewolf? Goodbye life itself." Judge Love handed him the paper. "Here you go."

I tried not to scoff, but this was horrible. "Each one? I have to line up a proper mate for each one?"

"Four females, and fifty guys. Not hard. It can be you too, don't worry," Judge Love said.

Don't worry? "I don't want one."

"Then don't take one," Judge Love said in a mocking tone. "When each one gets a mate for good, the show is over."

When each gets a mate . . . "How long does this den last?"

"Until the woman is secured. Since you aren't exactly local, let me explain this for you." He moved closer to him. "Usually, a decent woman doesn't end up in a den. They get the celebrities or the rich guys. Guys of their dreams, they don't have to slink to the dens. No, den females? They go for any handsome guy, go to the love rooms with more than one, end up having a kid, and then? Well, the world is a female's oyster. The father has to pay like 60% for it for life, but it's still anyone's game if she doesn't select him."

I hate this island. I really hate this island. None of this happens back in our sector, none of it. "If each female selects a mate, then it's done."

"No, no. A female has to have a bun in the oven and then select the guy. You see, just because the female had a kid doesn't mean the show is over. Hell, that's the whole goal of marrying off females in the first place. She still needs to select a mate in the den. If she gets pregnant again? The next dad will pay 60% for its life. Are you getting what kind of female does these shows now?" He sailed off with his chair again and brought out a notebook. "Give me a second. Let me show you my worst den. It's nasty, it's horrible, and I would have put that female's brother in it if you hadn't caused this circus that enabled him to get back to hers."

I looked at the history of the den he showed me. "She's got nine kids?"

"Nine kids. She was here before I took the position," he said. "Her paycheck? She makes over 10,000 a month from what the fathers send her alone. She can buy, eat and do whatever she wants. Most times it's the potential mates that watch the kids. I have to keep bringing in more mates just to keep the den open. If it closes, the deal is off. Sure, the mom deserves it, but nine kids suddenly out like that?" He shook his head. "Court proceedings, ownership issues with the dads, a whole mess. I just keep it on the edge for simplicity's sake."

"The money goes for the kids, doesn't it?" This island was so backwards.

"No. Like I said, females are rare. Things are made for their favor. The proven fathers pay her, for the kids. The kids still get taken care of, and the court of law would probably make sure they get enough money to survive. The court of love? Is going to make sure the female leaves happy, whether it's with the kids or not."

"None of the females who came with me will be like that," I told him. They had all honest backgrounds of working hard. Destinyoftheages certainly didn't want a mate in the first place, she was scared, which was why I ended up in the situation I was in now. "They have to be pregnant before they can just pick a mate?"

"Oh yeah, of course," he agreed.

"What if they can't?" I asked.

"Proper examinations of everyone will happen before anyone goes to the den," Judge Love said. "Most females don't have problems. If there is, then she won't be in a den and can apply for a no marriage certificate too in the court of law. I've never had a case when it happened, usually they are checked on regularly for that. Don't worry about those small things though. I'll help. I am getting involved in this den."

Hm? "You are coming too?"

"You have three females who seem oblivious but actually decent, along with a lovely female who just got shoved in a bad situation just because you left her stranded," Judge Love answered. "Yeah, I remember that. You were the one who suckered her in for this. She would be off getting married soon to a rich handsome celebrity or something, but instead she's got to play the den games."

This man was absolute scum. Look at what he was doing, and he was calling me out? "Goodness, why don't I just set you up with my sister and get it all back at once?" Ugh.

"I mean, you could try?" he said. "I'd appreciate a future brothers help, but I wouldn't give it all back though. This is my chance for a den to hit it big."

Curse this man. I looked at the paper, my stomach feeling queasy. Mattie wrapped us all up into something extreme. How are we supposed to get the humans to be our allies, and start making progress on the creation of something to create balance, when we were going to be in some competitive courting TV show? "If I get the bodyguards, I get two extra pieces of paper." They must be expensive. "Greyworth and William wanted to help, so there's two right there. They can guard their own mates." What a ridiculous phrase, especially with them. "I will guard Destinyoftheages."

"The females are definitely getting better names too. None of this superiorfemaleoftheages crap anymore," Love Judge said. "They usually get gem or flower names. Ruby, Sapphire, something pretty but simple to remember."

It's the only thing I could agree with him on. I needed one more guard. He made sure I got my first piece of paper by not being Mattie's guard for good reason. Zoan would also be very close to Destinyofages. Brothers probably made it tough. If I couldn't guard my own sister, and I had no one else I could trust? Then I had to go with brother's intuition. "Zoan will guard Mattie."

"Get the bodyguards to agree to this, for free, and you can have your next three pieces of paper," Judge Love said. "That gives you four total. If you hook up each female to a mate, it's 4 extra. That gives you 8. Possible 9 if I get picked."

To ask every single one of those women to get pregnant and pick someone in order to get out? How could I even try to utter that? That eliminated all of their freedom. I couldn't do it to the perfect strangers of Jill and Lilly, of the Destiny woman, and definitely not to my own sister.

Even all that would only get me nine pieces of paper out of ten. I had ten pieces of paper I needed to get back. "What are the last options?"

"Top 150 in Romances of Wolf Islands will get you five pieces of paper back, but featured in Top Ten Den Hour or Top Ten in Romances of Wolf Islands will get you ten pieces of paper at once," he said. "That's it, after that I pull you and the women, no pregnancy, no choice, I will just pull you out of here so you can go back home."

Back to where we belonged, away from the spotlight. "That's it?"

"That's it. Maybe something else will come up, but I doubt it," Judge Love smirked. "Obviously your best bet is to get a hit show. My best show with the long name made it to 150 for one day. Hit Top 10 and I'll even pay to make sure you get out of here, if that's what you want. The higher you get in ratings, the way more you make."

I can't believe it! "You don't understand the severity of this, it's not just me that is on the line, I am on a very important-" No. No, wait, if I told him he wouldn't show any sympathy. He'd just take advantage of the situation even harder. Right now, he had my information. Last thing I needed was him getting everyone else's details.

Okay. This guy wasn't calling in authorities to have me killed or arrested, that was a plus. A big plus. There was still a way to get out of here, I just needed to scratch this itch he had to make money.

I knew about fighting. I knew about staying covert. Grayson and William knew how to hunt werewolves. None of us knew one thing about romance, how could we all guarantee this would become a hit show? Plus, the bigger it became, the more the real priority would get corrupted.

I couldn't just tell the females to go have babies like that and pick someone. What kind of cold and heartless person would? I couldn't leave my information there though. It was in greedy hands, but at least it wasn't a cold-blooded killer's hands. "This was brave of you. Had I been someone else, I could have carved you up-"

"I have bodyguards not far from here. I have triggers all over the room. I have a camera that has your most intimate secrets and would track you down." He took the rest of my papers and went to a huge locked safe. He used a code on it. "Code doesn't do you any good if you have great vision, it reads my thumbprint on each number too." He opened it, put the papers in, and locked the safe. "Go get your guards, and I'll explain the rules to the rest of them."