Chapter 8 The Second Round

• Adriana pov
• "Ladies and gentlemen, the second round is about to begin," Carmen announced as the competitors gathered around, Alpha Abel's hopefully gaze was still focused on me,
• "So what do you say? Are you going to join my team for the second round?" Alpha Abel asked as his amused gaze focused on me.
• "Are we meant to be in teams?" I asked as I moved my gaze to Carmen, who also had an amused expression on his face.
• "Listen to the announcements first, and Abel, don't pester the girl," Carmen said as Abel grumbled some incoherent words, I managed to hear some of what he said and it went like this 'mind your business' then the rest was gibberish.
• "Go on and make the announcements, and stop annoying me," Abel said to Carmen, his annoyance evident in his tone.
• "Fine, fine. Quit being so grumpy," Carmen retorted before making his way to the stage to outline the rules for the second category.
• "Such an annoying brat," Abel muttered quietly as our focus shifted to Carmen, who was about to start with the announcement for the second category.
• "Congratulations to everyone for progressing to the next round," she began. "And I apologize for the delay," Carmen continued, his tone adjusting to a more formal cadence. "In this next round, we'll be evaluating your speaking and creativity. The top performers will advance to the final stage.
• "What do you mean by our creativity? I thought we would just be reading dom damn poems, like you said before," one of the competitors said as the rest grumbled.
• "There have been some changes. Instead of just reading the poems, you will have to create one yourself, and your teammate will read" Carmen explained, which made Mr wonder if he changed the rules for Abel's sake or he just wanted to do it to piss off the other contestants, either way I win both ways because I'm good at creating and writing a poem, so partnering up with Abel wouldn't change anything.
• "Wait, we have to team up with someone else now? Why were we not informed about this earlier?" one of the contestants exclaimed, causing Carmen's expression to shift quickly from playful to enraged in a matter of seconds.
• "Are you questioning my decision?" Carmen's voice lowered to a dangerous tone. "It certainly sounds like you are. I am the Alpha here, and I have the authority to change the rules as I see fit. There's nothing you can do about it."
• "I don't care who you are," the contestant yelled as the whole room went quiet. "Changing the rules midway isn't fair to any of us."
• Carmen's eyes blazed with fury as he glared at the contestant. "Fair? I define what's fair in this game. Disobey me, and you'll see what else I can do."
• Tension crackled in the air as the other contestants exchanged nervous glances, "you don't scare us, this contestants if to choose warriors for you pack, we don't need you, you need us" the contestant went on and I had hold myself back from laughing,
• 'What the hell was wrong with this idiot? Of course, he could change the rules. He was the Alpha for goodness sake,' I thought to myself as I continued to watch the drama unfold.
• "Does anyone else share the same opinion as this man here?" Carmen asked as the room went silent. No one dared speak for the man.
• "Come on guys, we can't allow him to do whatever he wanted," the same contestant said, and still no one supported him,
• "What a bloody idiot," I muttered to myself as an amused smile formed on Alpha Abel's face as he stared at me.
• "As you can see, no one's as foolish as you," Carmen remarked, a devious grin forming on his face. He looked different from the playfully Alpha from before.
• "You know I'm right. He can just alter the rules because he's Alpha," the same contestant said as he continued to justify his stupidity.
• Another contestant advised, 'You should give up while he's still being patient with you,' as he distanced himself from the deranged individual who dared to question an Alpha. Because if he isn't mad, why would he dare challenge Carmen?"
• "I will not be silenced, he can't do this, we need to join hands and fight this injustice," the contestant yelled as the other contestants started to grumble, and they all turned to him. In anger.
• "Shut up! You fool, " one contestant said, and the rest began to make comments.
• "If you don't want to participate, then leave, don't ruin the competition for the rest of us."
• "What injustice? It favours most of us, " one said.
• "Yes, it does, so shut up and go jump off a bridge or something."
• "You guys can't be serious. He is manipulating you," the contestant said as the crowd began to boo and throw trash at him.
• "Quit! You idiot, " the crowd yelled as the contestants stared at them in shock.
• "Seems like the crowd has made a decision," Carmen said as he turned to face the crowd, "all in favour of kicking this contestant out of the competition please raise your hands."
• As the silence enveloped the room as the crowd thought about what Carmen had just asked.
• Then, after a moment, a few hesitant hands started rising, one by one, gradually joined by more, creating a gentle wave of agreement among the crowd.
• Carmen nodded in acknowledgement and faced the contestant, "the crowd as chosen, and you are hereby disqualified from the competition," Carmen said as the contestant stared at him, a mixture of disbelief and anger.
• "You can't do this to me," the contestant yelled as the guards approached him.
• "Get him out of here. He is becoming an eyesore," Carmen said as the guards dragged the man away, kicking and screaming.
• "Now that he is gone, we can start the second category." Carmen said as he turned to face the crowd.
• "As I was saying," Carmen resumed, his tone projecting authority, "our next challenge in this category will test your creative skills and reading skills.
• So go on and pick your teammate, you will have ten minutes to create your poem and then one if you will be asked to read the poem to the crowd, you will be scored based on the originality of your poem and reading ability of the teammate reading. Now that the rules have been said, you may begin"
• As soon as the words left Carmen's lips, the contestant moved to pick their partners, so I turned to Alpha Abel, who was staring at me with an amused grin.
• "Ready to start, partner?" I inquired as Alpha Abel lifted me, twirling me around before setting me down.
• "Thanks, partner," he replied, a mischievous grin on his face as I suddenly felt queasy.
• "Please, don't do that again," I pleaded, rushing toward the nearest bin. "I think I'm going to be sick."
• Alpha Abel chuckled softly. "Sorry, partner. I won't do it again." He apologized.
• Feeling slightly better, I straightened up. "I appreciate it. Now, let's focus on the task at hand, okay?"
• "Agreed," he said, nodding."
• "I'll begin with the poem since you seem more confident than me. I'm certain you can read it without any trouble," I said, and he nodded in agreement.
• "If all I need to do is read it, then that's not an issue," Alpha Abel said, his grin widening.
• "Great, I'll start on the poem," I replied, heading over to the table to start on the poems.
• Ten minutes later
• After I was done with the poem, I walked back to where Alpha Abel was standing with the others, I handed it to Alpha Abel, who took it with a curious glance.
• "Let's see what we have here," he said, scanning the verses. As he read, a smile spread across his face. "This is beautifully written, Adriana," he complimented, his eyes shining with appreciation.
• "Thank you," I responded, relieved by his positive reaction. "I'm leaving it up to you now.
• As soon as it was exactly ten minutes, the bell rang, and Carmen went back to the stage. He had an amused expression on his face as he watched the contestants struggle to finish up their poems.
• "Time is up guys, I need the teammate reading the poem to come up on the stage right now" Carmen announced as murmurs filled the room, "no need to grumble you were given enough time"
• As the contestants ahead of Alpha Abel went on stage, I leaned in and softly whispered, "Good luck," eliciting a charming smile that lit up his face, adding an extra touch of handsomeness to his appearance.
• "Thank you," he responded graciously before making his way to join the other contestants on stage.
• "Now that we're all gathered, let's move on to the second category: poem reading," Carmen announced, turning to the first contestant. "You're up first."
• One by one, each contestant stepped forward, recited their poems, and returned, leading up to the moment when it was Alpha Abel's turn to present my poem. The fear began to creep in. What if my poem wasn't good enough?