Changeling Winds: Episode Two (The Bachelor Battles Book 2) by Angela White

one.”
    I threw in a chuckle, and felt the interest pick up instantly. In one answer, I'd declared a problem with the protected males. Would there be a response from the public or the Network? It was the mob outside that I was hoping for.
    “So you assume you'll win?”
    The reporter knew better than to follow the tip live and un-researched, but she wanted to. I could see it in her tense grip on the microphone, and I finished the rest of her questions as politely as I could force myself to, hoping she would come back for more. I’d figured out how to use that angry Fourth Estate.
    This reporter, Dana, was dressed in a simple sweater and jeans, unlike most of the others who were constantly trying to out-do each other with the next big fad. Last year, it had been contacts that gave them glowing red orbs while they interviewed. The Network had quickly banned the contacts after one of the Changelings mistook a reporter as a contestant because of it and ripped her throat out on live waves.
    Still, I thought I could see the woman’s own attempts to start something with an artfully spiked tattoo that ran from her wrist to disappear under her tan sweater. I narrowed in on it. I’d seen something like that, hadn’t I? On a man’s arm…
    As she moved away, I heard a lowly spoken order to one of the short, bald girls on her flank
    “Get a copy of that to the Zone and be quiet about it.”
    That was where Candice and the rest of my family had headed, where I’d be going, too, after I collected a prize. Was the reporter a threat? Was she in contact with the rebels? A spy for them?
    I could see more of the tattoo as she twisted up the cord and was able to place it. One of the convicts we’d tracked down last month had sported a matching ink on his arm. That convict had been Baker, the leader of the rebels. He was the one who’d told me the drill noise was the sound of a rookie getting inked and it only surprised me a little to find a rebel sympathizer inside this complex. The stories of Network salaries being very low had always existed, and pay-offs were hard to keep track of.
    I wasn't sure yet, how far I might go into the rebel cause, but I'd had two strong faults even before the Change. I'd been nice , and I'd been protective of those weaker than me. It seemed that both of those old traits might be heard from and it wasn’t just because Candice was with the rebel males now, starting to retrain them and she needed my help. I’d seen too much, felt too much, to keep ignoring the Network’s crimes. When this was over, I would settle in and do my duty.
     
     
    8
    Upon entering the Cells this time, the bachelors already seated at the long table. With nervous looks, the Den Mothers withdrew.
    It was the same group as the first visit and I nodded to each of them, searching with such intensity that they couldn’t hide their worry. Only two of them didn't flinch when my chair scraped the floor as I sat down.
    Feeling heat in thin, shaky waves, I swung my head to find the pristine male from my last visit staring at my body again. I made my voice as inviting as I could. It was time to thin this herd, too. “You'd be mine?”
    He hesitated for only an instant, but it was enough. No, not if he had a choice.
    “Of course.”
    The meek answer displeased me, and my slight frown sent him hurrying to make up for it.
    “I'd be honored to be your mate.”
    I wanted to recoil from the incredible need, shocking me with its strength, but only shook my head. He was too tame. “Shift.”
    I surprised them again by offering a bit of comfort. “Good luck to you.”
    He stared, startled at the friendly tone. As he left, he sent a searching glance over his broad shoulder, asking one question - had he passed up a good owner?
    His replacement, a cute, young redhead, took his seat warily and I looked at those I'd mentally cut on my last visit, eyes picking them out. “Shift.”
    That left three here, eight total, remaining to pick from. I saw