Chapter 6
Chapter Six
“If you’re a fan of the show, you know this is not a situation we’ve run into before.” Bradley’s voice is somber as he looks at the camera. “A pack masquerading as a single person. It’s almost unbelievable.”
Since I am the original Sax, the face of Onion’s deception, I’m sitting in the middle of the couch, directly in front of the host, and my packmates are on either side of me. Grant sits on my left, his hand on my thigh reassuringly, and Ivan on my right.
“It hasn’t always been this way.” I know that, no matter what I say, some people will hate me. Hate us. Not that I blame them.
We will be villains in everyone’s stories, including hers.
I have to hope that we can have a killer redemption arc.
“Onion and I met when we were teenagers, and I presented as an Alpha shortly after her brother died. I initially believed I would remain a Beta. My presentation was late. It was never my intention to deceive her, but my feelings were already so strong for her. She was terrified of Alphas, and I panicked. I didn’t want her to cut me out of her life, so I never told her when I presented. ”
Bradley crosses his arms over his chest. “And you never considered telling her the truth? That was only the first in a line of many deceptions.”
“Of course, I considered it. I didn’t enjoy lying to her.
But every time I tried to broach the subject with her, she’d say something that reminded me that if she knew I was an Alpha, I wouldn’t be in her life.
She’d never forgive me for lying to her.
And I… I couldn’t lose her, Bradley. I know that sounds like a cop out, but it’s the truth. ”
I’d sooner lose a limb than her.
He turns his attention to the guys. “Tell me how you two got involved.”
“I met them at a party.” Ivan flashes a dazzling smile at Bradley. “He and Grant stumbled into an Anything But Clothes party my fraternity was throwing, and the rest is history.” My packmate leans forward, like he’s confiding in Bradley. “Grant turned a beer box into a pair of boxers.”
Bradley blinks a few times, clearly unsure how to respond to Ivan’s revelation. After a moment, he presses on with the interview. “Most packs form around an Omega. But you three found one another and decided that you’re going to be a pack, regardless of Omega input?”
“Our pack didn’t need an Omega to form around, because they have me.” Grant crosses his legs and rests his hands on his knees with a playful, flirty smile on his face.
Grant’s a Beta and my partner. We’re scent matches, something that’s not common between an Alpha and a Beta, but not unheard of. He’s also scent matched to Ivan, but his relationship with both of us is different.
I’ve been in love with Grant since the first time I saw him. My heart stopped, my knees went weak, and I was all in. He’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen, and I need him in my life.
I don’t know if he and Ivan will ever fall in love, but they’re affectionate and close, and they are happy to share a bed. The three of us work. It’s been natural and easy from the beginning.
“Is that so?” Bradley leans forward, as if he doesn’t know all of this information from the massive questionnaire we answered when we signed up for the show. “What do you mean?”
“I’m scent matched to both of them. Lucky me, right? I mean, look at them. Pretty wild odds that we were all at the same college at the same time, but fate was obviously shining down on me.” He rests his head on my shoulder. “We knew that the three of us were meant to be a pack.”
“How did you go from being a scent matched pack to all of you being involved with Onion?”
“Derrick talked about her nonstop.” Ivan nudges me and waggles his eyebrows.
He’s in a pair of tight jeans with a sweater vest over his bare chest. His arms are well-defined, and his stomach is soft.
A dad bod without having to have kids. He’s handsome as hell, with a killer beard, and the hair and makeup crew had a field day over how nice his skin is.
“He’d show us pictures, we’d overhear them having calls, and I felt the pull to her.
I know Grant did, too. She felt important. Inevitable.”
They wanted me to introduce them to her. But how could I explain my connection to them when she thought I was a Beta?
“So you decided, as a pack, to pretend to be one person?” Bradley does not seem nearly as friendly as he did at the beginning of this conversation.
Not that I blame him. “I must say, this is one of the most devastating lies we’ve seen on our show.
Onion has shared her story and her fears with us, and you are her actual nightmare. A pack of Alphas-”
“I’m a Beta.”
Bradley glares at Grant for interrupting.
“Two Alphas and a Beta who have been lying to her for what, seven years? Eight? That’s not counting the two years that you hid your designation, before the others came along, Derrick.
And now she is going to walk into a house and have all of the fears she’s struggled with realized. ”
“Then why invite us here at all? You knew exactly who we were when you flew us out here! We were honest and clear during our interviews.” I stand, angry at him for hitting my insecurity about this decision on the head. “Do not act so high and mighty when you’re using Onion’s fears for profit.”
I expect the director to call “cut.” I expect the crew to escort us out.
That doesn’t happen.
Bradley takes several deep breaths before settling back in his chair.
“We invited you here because, despite everything, you all seem to truly care for her. Onion deserves to know the truth so she can decide how she is going to live the rest of her life.”
Onion left her house for the first time in years to meet us. I know how hard that must have been for her, and she will hate me for what I’ve done, but I cannot bring myself to regret agreeing to this. The only way I’m going to get her to listen to me is by locking her in a house with me.
I’ve thought about meeting her so many times over the years, but I knew, once she did, she’d run. And I’d never see her again. I have to hope the time in the Expected house will be enough to get her to forgive me.
My pack was pulled together for a reason, and I know, in my gut, that she is it. If I tried to explain it, I’d sound like I’d lost my mind, knowing that she was my scent match through a computer screen, but I do.
There’s no other explanation for the way she makes me feel.
Which makes what I’m doing that much worse.
I haven’t shared that with the guys because if it’s not true, I think they would be devastated. They love her just as much as I do, and it doesn’t matter if she’s not a scent match. Onion is it for us. We’ve never even looked at another Omega.
“I do wish you four luck,” Bradley says genuinely. “I want this to work out for all of you.”
Me too, Bradley.
Me too.
“Breathe, Alpha.” Grant takes my face in his hands, gently stroking my cheekbones.
His soft, floral scent does little to calm my heart, which feels as if it’s going to beat out of my chest. “Onion’s on the other side of that door, waiting for you.
It’s here. It’s real. We’re going to get to hold her. To tell her how we feel.”
A decade under her influence.
Onion is in that house, talking to Bradley and Bridgette right now.
I am seconds away from finally meeting the Omega of my dreams.
The sound of a door closing precedes Bradley and Bridgette coming around the corner, the latter looking at us with soft eyes.
“She is waiting for you, boys. Derrick, you go in first. We’ll hold these two back for a minute to not overwhelm her with three people at once.”
Even if they hadn’t said that, I would’ve requested it. It’s selfish, I know, but I want one moment with her where she doesn’t hate my guts for the lies I’ve told her.
One perfect moment where she wants me like I want her.
Ivan grips my shoulder, nerves rendering him silent, and Grant gives me a soft kiss before patting me on the ass. “Go get our girl.”
The journey to the door feels like a mile. I can’t help but worry that I am walking into my execution.
When my eyes adjust to the lighting inside the Expected house, and Onion comes into view, I’m pretty sure my heart stops. Video calls did not do her justice.
She’s wearing a pretty copper dress, and I have never seen her in one like this before. Maybe production put her in it because it shows off her mouth-watering body. I feel like I’ve been struck stupid staring at her, and I can’t make my mouth work.
“Hi.”
Her voice is a chorus of angels.
I’ve only said two words to her when all of my dreams come true.
A mouthwatering blend of fresh orange and sweet cream washes over me. It’s perfect. She’s perfect. The zing of citrus tempers the richness of the cream, and it makes me want to lick up the line of her throat to see if she tastes as good as she smells.
Mine hits her at the same time, and that’s it.
My one moment, where I got to see just how much I mean to her in her gorgeous eyes, is over.
She’s pissed, and she has every right to be, ranting at the cameras and yelling at me. I sit there and take it.
I deserve this and more.
“You’ve ruined my life, Sax.”
I have, haven’t I?
Selfish, selfish, selfish.
I don’t have the time to apologize because the door opens behind me, and the guys file in. I can see the moment she realizes who all of us are to her, her pupils wide and her mouth a little slack.
“Onion. This is my pack. And… we’re all Sax.”
I wasn’t expecting her to faint, but I should have been. I dive for her, catching her before she hits the ground and cradling her to my chest.
The first time I am holding Onion in my arms, and she’s out cold.
“That went well.” Ivan’s voice is sarcastic and teasing as he crosses the room and flops onto the couch. “But damn, she is even prettier in person.” He gazes at her longingly, like he wants to pull her from my arms. “And please tell me I’m not the only one who… she’s mine, guys. Ours, right?”
“She is. She’s our scent match.” Even though she’s pissed at us, and I know this is going to be an uphill battle, my heart is lighter than it has ever been.
Because I have Onion in my arms, and she’s mine.
I was right.