Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
The studio lights are bright. I’m back in the room where Bridgette first interviewed me a week ago, but this time, there is an emerald-green couch opposite a love seat where she sits with her husband. I’m in between Grant and Ivan, perched awkwardly on the end of the couch.
Derrick isn’t here.
He didn’t show up.
But they told us he wouldn’t. So it’s fine.
I’m fine.
I’m not going to read into it. Even though Grant said he would’ve found a way to be here. Even though the couch feels like it’s large enough for four, I can’t stop looking at the place he’s supposed to be sitting right now.
Bradley’s teeth are somehow brighter than before. He’s gotta lay off the bleach. “Well, everyone wants to know. Was that what you expected?”
Grant leans back and crosses his arms over his chest. “Is that really a question? Were you not watching? This episode is the poster child for the whole show.”
“We definitely earned our name this season, that is true! It was a shock from our side of things, so I cannot imagine what it was like to live it.” Bridgette flips her ponytail, but it doesn’t look dismissive like it would on most people.
She leaves her head tilted to the side with an encouraging look on her face as she stares me down.
I guess she wants me to answer the question her husband asked, but Grant sidestepped.
“It was painful. I felt so much hurt, so much fear, that I barely even gave myself a chance to know them. I’m lucky I did.”
Bradley crosses one leg over the other. “And what made you make that decision?”
My hands are shaking as I push one into my back pocket and pull out Calvin’s note, neatly folded.
“Calvin. I’m glad I brought this letter with me, because it helped me realize that I wasn’t honoring my brother’s memory by living the way I was.
My heart knew it was time to take a chance and open myself up to them.
” Ivan takes the letter from me and stuffs it in his front chest pocket, and Grant weaves his fingers with mine for support.
“It may not make sense to some of the viewers how things played out, but it does to me, and that’s what matters.
I fell in love with them once, when I only had pieces of them. It wasn’t hard to do it again.”
I spent years not telling Sax I loved him, thinking I was protecting my heart, and here I am, letting it slip out as if I say the words all the time.
There’s a smile on Grant’s face when he turns to me and cuts Bradley and Bridgette out of the conversation. “You loved me?”
“Love.”
Maybe I should have waited until we weren’t on camera. Until we’d been together for the obligatory three to six months that make it acceptable to drop those words.
But I don’t need to wait to acknowledge what my soul has known for ages.
“About time you said it. Didn’t you tell her on day one, Grant?” Ivan kisses the side of my neck as our Beta chuckles. “I love you too, sweetie. I hope you didn’t need me to say it out loud to know.”
I didn’t. Ivan wears his heart on his sleeve, and I adore him for that.
Bridgette interrupts our moment.“Wow. How incredible it is that we got to witness this! What a one-eighty from that first day in the house!”
Her husband chimes in as well. “It’s touching to see, honestly. I was terribly worried about how this was going to affect Ariana.”
“I have a question,” I interrupt. When they give me their full attention, I ask what I’ve wanted to know since I got the selection email. “Why did you pick me for this season?”
Bridget’s voice goes dreamy. “Your story was fascinating. The producers loved the idea of bringing together two people who had let fear keep them apart. After researching Pack Sax and interviewing them, we knew we had to bring you on the show. But it wasn’t just the truth about who Sax was.
Something you wrote in the application moved all of us. ”
Her husband grabs her hand and picks up where she left off. “‘I’m terrified of so many things, but I’m starting to think that everything would be less scary with someone I love beside me.’”
Damn, Marlie killed it with that one.
“We insisted, and the producers agreed, that even though it was going to be a massive surprise to you and put you face-to-face with Alphas, that if you were ready to stop going through life alone, we should help you get there.” Bridgette leans over and grabs my hand.
“It’s not often we have a storybook outcome.
A lot of the time, it’s such a massive lie that there is no hope for reconciliation, or everyone is exactly who they said they’d be, and there’s little excitement in that.
But we hoped that even though you had someone who may not have been who he said he was, you’d end up happier because of it. ”
I’ll never know if that was a sincere sentiment or something they were told to say to help the ratings. But I like to think it was real.
Ivan trimmed his beard and shaved his neck before we left the house, and his brand new bite mark shimmers under the set lights.
I can’t keep my eyes off him. And when he talks in a low, rumbling voice?
Oh my God. “While I’ll forever be grateful to the show for bringing us together, please don’t pretend this was anything other than a strategic business decision. ”
Holy shit, that tone. He’s never used it with me, but part of me now wishes he would.
Bradley clears his throat awkwardly and sits back, pantomiming brushing dust off his suit. “We’re dying to know. What is your plan when you leave here?”
I stroke Ivan’s back gently. “Since we’re bonded now, we’ve decid-”
“Wait! Before you continue. We have one thing we need to do.” Bridgette makes a come here motion, and my hesitant heart stalls.
Derrick steps around the couch, his back to Bridgette, and smiles at me.
And it’s a smile I’ve seen a couple of hundred times.
It’s the one that he’d have plastered on when he answered a video call.
It’s the one that he’d fall into when I laughed.
It’s the one that has warmed my heart for years.
“Hey.” He reaches a hand out to me. “Come here.”
I let him pull me off the couch, unable to form words. It wasn’t until he appeared in front of me that I realized just how much I wanted him here.
And now he is. He looks gorgeous, eyes wet behind his glasses, and his blond hair tousled.
He holds me close, nose to nose, and I breathe in his nutty and sweet scent. I worried about what would happen in this moment, but I shouldn’t have been.
My lips find his because they were always meant to be together. Our paths were destined.
Even though I want nothing more than to fall into him, we eventually pull apart.
Derrick’s eyes are closed, but this close, I can see that he’s been crying.
Not a lot, but the tears are there. Was he worried before this moment that I wouldn’t accept him?
Even after I bonded his packmates and told him I wanted him, too?
Being told it is different than feeling it. I pull him into another kiss, making sure he knows he’s mine, and nothing will change that.
“Isn’t this a nice surprise?” Bradley asks, obliterating the moment.
Derrick guides me back to the couch before sitting and pulling me against his side. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”
Bridgette claps her hands together in excitement. “You’re just in time, too! Ariana was about to tell us what the plan was now that the show is over.”
My packmates share a look around me. “You should tell them, Alpha.” Grant clutches Derrick’s hand tightly, as if worried he’s about to disappear.
“After I left the show, I went back home to Virginia, quit my job, and packed up all of our things. Our pack has officially moved to Hollywood, Florida.”
Did he say he’s moved? To be near me?
All of them?
The guys and I decided they’d come back to my place for a bit until we could talk this through as a pack, but Derrick moved to be close to me before I even bonded the others. I can’t decide if it’s beautifully optimistic or a bit presumptuous.
Grant leans around Derrick and ensnares me with his passionate gaze. “When Derrick told us he’d started the moving process on our reward call, both Ivan and I were thrilled. I don’t think I could’ve left you, even before you bonded us.”
“I have to confess something.” Bridgette waves us closer. We lean toward her, even though the camera is going to pick up everything she says. “I think this may be my favorite season yet. Seeing your love grow has been incredible. I know America is going to eat you guys up.”
“It’s weird to think that soon people we know are going to get really up close and personal with us,” Ivan admits. “We’re looking forward to getting to spend time together without someone watching our every move.”
“Totally fair! I can’t wait until the reunion episode so we can see where you are at in six months.”
“Now, don’t forget. You have to do your best to stay out of the public eye while the show airs.
Hats, sunglasses, and not confirming who you are while you’re out as a group.
Try not to spoil the outcome of the season.
” Drew walks us through the compound since none of the golf carts were big enough for all of us.
I don’t mind. It’s nice to feel the sun on my face, even though it is close to setting.
“And don’t respond to anyone on social media who may reach out to you.
And, it goes without saying, but I need to remind you, avoid all contact with magazines or television shows that want to feature you.
We’ll set up those interviews for you after the reunion episode.
You’re fine going about your life until the show airs, as long as you don’t tell anyone you were filming it. ”
Ivan holds one of my hands, and Derrick the other, with Grant on the other side of him. Drew looks at me for confirmation that I understand.
“Got it, Drew. We know the drill. Bridgette and Bradley drilled it into us after the interview.”
“I just don’t want to see you get sued. Better to be told too many times than not enough.”
As we reach the gate, a large, black SUV waits for us right outside it. Our ride to the airport.
Where all three of them are flying home with me.
Holy shit, they’re flying home with me.
Is my house a mess? I can’t remember how I left it.
Do I have any food for us to eat? I probably should do a grocery order.
And my nest. I need to prioritize getting that set up, even if the idea of it makes my stomach churn a little.
Before I can spiral any more, Drew pulls me away from the guys and into a hug. “I told you this was going to be a good thing, didn’t I?”
“You sure did.”
“Things were touch-and-go for a minute there. I didn’t want those boys to make a liar out of me.” He pats me on the back and pulls away, a fatherly grin touching his lips. “I’m proud of you, Ariana. You faced a lot of fears this week, and I’m sure you’ll inspire plenty of people to face theirs.”
We all say our goodbyes to Drew and pile into the SUV, tired but happy in our silence on the way to the airport.