Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
There’s a feeling in my chest that is not my own. It’s the beautiful, cool contentment that belongs to my Omega.
She’s sleeping in my arms, tangled between Ivan and me, and I cannot remember ever feeling this way before. I have always wanted to protect her, to spoil her, to calm all her fears.
And now I get to.
Forever.
Sure, there are experimental procedures that can be done to dissolve bonds, but they may as well not exist, because she’s never getting rid of me. This may seem fast to others, but it’s been years in the making.
And I think she finally sees us. She knows the parts of me that made up Sax, but also the real me.
Ivan stirs awake on the other side of our Omega. My heart swells as his sleepy eyes focus and realize who he’s cuddling with. He kisses the back of her neck before slipping out of the bed and motions with his head for me to follow.
We cross the hallway to his room, and he closes the door behind us.
“Do you think she told Derrick?”
I sit on the edge of his bed and rub the sleep from my eyes. “I would think so, why?”
“Because what if she doesn’t want to bond him?”
A strangled noise escapes me. It never occurred to me that she wouldn’t want him, too. “I don’t think she would’ve bonded with us if she didn’t want him, too. We’re kind of a package deal.”
“Okay, but say she doesn’t.”
I can’t choose between my Alpha and Omega.
I won’t. What am I going to do if she doesn’t want him?
“He’s moving our stuff to Hollywood, right?
We can all get an apartment if she doesn’t want us to move in.
And then we help him earn her trust.” I refuse to entertain any other option.
My pack needs both Alphas and my Omega. Splitting us up feels wrong.
Ivan paces slowly in front of his television. “Why do you think she trusts us now?”
I rest back on the heels of my hands. “If I had to guess? He’s the face.
To her, the betrayal came from him. We were background characters.
We were his pack, supporting him. That’s what packs do.
She sees him as being responsible for informing her about us.
What were we supposed to do, message her out of the blue and say we were his pack and wanted to get to know her?
No, she would’ve blocked us. I love Derrick, but he messed up.
He should have facilitated the introduction, but that would’ve required admitting that he’s an Alpha, which was the original lie. ”
Ivan throws his hands in the air with a low growl. “We told him to come clean hundreds of times!”
“That anger you’re feeling? That’s why she forgave us. She knows that we had no other option if we wanted to know her.”
My Alpha lowers himself beside me on the bed, shoulders drooping with the weight of what happened yesterday. “What if she regrets bonding us?”
“I don’t think that will happen. I think she-”
A loud, annoying sound comes from the television, interrupting my sentence. Bradley’s face appears on screen.
“Good morning, boys! Today is your last day in the house. We’ll be bringing you to the soundstage around one for your exit interviews.”
I look at the clock. It’s just after nine. Ariana is sleeping a lot later than she normally does, but Ivan wore her out last night. We have four hours left before we step into the real world.
Are we going to go home with her today? She doesn’t know that Derrick’s moved all of our things near her. I don’t know how she’ll react. I hope she approves of it because I don’t want to leave her side. The bond between us is so fresh that I know it would hurt to be away from her.
“We’ve got the plane chartered and ready to take you where you need to go. Am I safe to assume you’ll be flying home with Ariana?” Bradley exaggerates a wink, playing it up for the camera.
“Yeah, we are, unless she tells us not to.” I lean into Ivan’s shoulder. I know he is nervous that Ariana will regret all of this and won’t let us come home with her, but I’m trying to stay positive, because if I let myself ruminate on it, I will fall apart.
“Good. We’ll get everything set up on our end and give you all the rules you need to follow until the reunion show.”
Once the TV fades back to the show’s logo, I rub my hands over my face. Leaving the house isn’t the end of this.
“Shit, I forgot we’re going to have to be careful about being seen while the show airs. It’d ruin things if we were seen galavanting about as a pack.”
The sound of a soft knock interrupts whatever Ivan was about to say.
“Guys? Are you… decent?” I can hear her blush in her voice, and it is adorable.
“Yeah, sweetie, come on in.”
She’s fully dressed when she walks into the room, which is surprising. We haven’t been in here that long. Her contacts are in, her hair styled prettily, and she’s wearing tight jeans and a fashionably oversized sweater. She sits on the bed and wedges herself between us.
“This is it, huh? The last day.”
I can’t tell if she’s happy or sad. Things are going to be different once we get out of here, but that’s a good thing, right?
Ivan rubs his beard, eyes unfocused as he stares at the ceiling. “Yeah. How are you feeling about everything? About…” He doesn’t finish the sentence.
“Are you asking if I regret bonding you?”
Straight to the point, I see. I guess it’s better to get this conversation out of the way right out of the gate rather than waiting until we’re about to board the plane.
He places his hand on top of mine and squeezes, reassuring himself as much as he is me. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
“Then let’s get that out of the way. No, I do not regret it. I am still a little sore from the Sax situation, but I’m not going to let that stop me from seeking happiness. Calvin would have approved of you guys.”
I still have complicated feelings toward her brother. It makes me sick that he asked her what he did, but I can see it was a moment of weakness for him. It doesn’t matter how I view him, though. It matters that his memory tainted Ariana’s view of the world.
Until now.
Ivan grabs her chin and pulls her across me for a delicate, romantic kiss. This is not the type of kiss that makes someone moan or their toes curl. It’s the kind that makes you feel safe. She sighs into his mouth, nearly melting into my lap.
When he releases her, I scoot back to give them more space. He presses their foreheads together, and she grabs his bearded cheek.
“We still have a lot to figure out, especially me and Derrick, but I promise I’m not going to run away from you.” She releases him and turns to me, caressing her bite on my lobe. “And I hope you don’t regret letting me bond you.”
“Never.” My words ghost across her lips before I press mine against them.
After a few luxurious moments where we fall into one another, she pulls away. “I’m going to go make us breakfast. Do you think they’ll have any last-minute challenges or anything they want us to do today?”
I try to think back to the final episodes of the show, but I can’t remember if it was just packing up or if the producers tried to sew in a bit of discourse before leaving the house. I come up blank.
“Well, it can’t be worse than asking us to bond, right?” Ivan asks as he pushes to his feet. He digs through his suitcase, which he never bothered to unpack when Derrick left, for an outfit to wear today.
“Well, Alpha, now that you put it out there, I bet it will be.” He stops short at Ariana’s words, spinning around and gaping.
“Say it again.”
My Omega wrinkles her brow in confusion for a moment before a sly smile curls her lips. “Oh, that now that you put it out there, it will be worse than asking us to bond?”
He shakes his head and takes two long steps to get to her. “You know that’s not what I want to hear, Omega.”
A full body shiver rolls down her spine. She plays with the ends of her soft brown hair. “Alpha.”
Our Alpha groans and grabs her around the waist, pulling her hips flush with his. “You’re not allowed to call me anything else. Fuck my name. Who likes Ivan anyway? I will only answer to Alpha now.” He points a finger at me and narrows his eyes. “You never call me Alpha.”
“I do too, Left Alpha.”
“Not the same,” he growls.
“Left Alpha?” Ariana looks at me for clarification. “Why do you call him Left Alpha?”
Ivan tries to answer on his own, but I talk over him. “Because he’s never right!”
Ariana rolls her lips inward, trying to hold back laughter. It does no good. She has to brace her hands on his shoulders as her giggles take over.
“You better not start calling me that, Omega, or I’ll have to put you over my knee.”
She untangles herself from him and takes a few steps toward the door. “Promises, promises, Alpha.”
Ivan lunges for her, but she runs out, laughing. He looks at me with narrowed eyes that hold no malice. “If this becomes a thing, just remember I have two knees.”
His words light a fire in me, but I do my best to maintain my cool. “Promises, promises, Left Alpha.”