15. Chapter 15
Cassie
Inside the Confessional
The confessional room was colder than I remembered.
Or maybe it was just the contrast between the heat challenge we’d just finished and the sterile studio.
Either way, I pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders, still flushed from the simulated heat the producers had just thrown us into.
Well, I suppose Ash was the only one who was really thrown.
They tossed him into the room and somehow, despite all my instincts to get him out, he calmed me. Even when the tension swirled around us like a storm, he anchored me. I hadn’t expected that.
I could barely get my thoughts together before the producer’s voice crackled in through the speaker. "Cassie, we’ve got something we want to show you." My stomach dropped. That was never a good way to start things in this place.
The screen across from me turned on, and there he was - Jace. He was seated in the same room I was when they were holding interviews for show candidates after the first round of auditions. He was clean shaven, trying to look casual but sitting too straight, like he wasn’t sure what to do.
“I’m interested in Last Pack Standing because, well, I want something real,” he began, his voice quieter than I’d ever heard it.
“Tell us about your past love life.” The interviewer asked.
Jace paused, then spoke. “I haven't dated in over two years. The last time I was interested in someone was a while ago. We worked together, and I really liked her. A lot. But I never had the guts to tell her. She was smart, and sharp, and she didn’t take crap from anyone…"
I froze, his voice echoing as my mind zoomed out, feeling out of sorts as I realized what I was hearing.
“I think I blew it,” Jace continued, running a hand through his hair, looking down. “She quit. I don’t blame her. I messed things up, and… I don’t know. Maybe I’m hoping for another chance. A chance to find love, I guess.”
The screen went black. I sat there for several seconds, realization hitting me.
“Thoughts?” the producer asked gently.
My throat was dry. This was Jace’s private audition interview, and wasn’t supposed to be part of the show.
What he was saying was real. He wasn’t bluffing when he said he liked me during our date.
But I had no idea how much he meant it until I saw this.
He was telling the truth - he never meant to mess up my presentation.
Everything that had happened was real between us, not fake.
And though I stopped hating him a while ago, I now liked him even more, a surge of emotion hitting my chest.
“I didn’t know,” I said finally, quietly. “I thought he just... thought I was a joke.”
One of the producers, hidden behind the glass, leaned in over their mic. “So, Cassie. Be honest - how are you feeling about your team now? Any early favorites? Is Jace in the lead?”
Of course they only showed it to me to try to make the competition more fierce.
They didn’t really care about our actual emotions, or our lives outside the show.
So I just laughed. “Favorites? I don’t even know where to begin.
All of them are amazing, better than I ever could have hoped for.
” I paused, smiling at the thought of them.
“And how did you feel about Ash intruding during your challenge?” The voice asked, and I felt myself suddenly bristle. “Jace, Leo and Rys were watching everything. Doesn’t it bother you that Ash was getting that kind of attention while you were the one suffering?”
There it was - the bait. They were trying to get me jealous, to perhaps paint me as possessive or insecure.
“He didn’t intrude. That was all your doing. And anyway, Ash was perfect. He knew exactly what to do.” I said, starting to get angry. There was a pause from the other side of the glass. Then a voice came through, far too innocent.
“That’s interesting. Because, well, Ash had something to say about you too.”
A screen lit up in front of me. I blinked, confused. Then I saw a video of Ash in the same confessional chair I was in now, dressed in black, his usual mix of bravado and quiet introspection on display. My stomach twisted.
“Cassie doesn’t stand a chance against me,” he said with a cocky smirk, arms folded like he was untouchable. “I’m not exactly someone you can steal someone away from. I’m someone you come back to.”
My breath caught. That didn’t sound like the Ash I knew. Not the one who had whispered calming words in my ear just an hour ago, whose touch had soothed every raw edge in me.
He went on. “Cassie’s gorgeous, sure. But I’ve got charm, grit, and a killer smile. If this is a competition, I like my odds.”
The screen faded to black. My reflection stared back at me in the glass now, wide-eyed and shocked.
I swallowed. “That’s… not what I expected him to say.”
“Any thoughts?” the producer prodded.
I forced a smile, but it didn’t reach my eyes. “I mean, I get it. This is a show. He probably felt like he had to play it up a bit for the cameras.”
But something gnawed at me. Was it all just for show?
I blinked hard, trying to separate my feelings from facts.
But when I closed my eyes, I didn’t see the cocky grin from the video.
I felt the hand on my back, the way he steadied me.
I remembered how his presence eased the ache, how my omega instincts didn’t flare up in anger.
I shook my head slowly, grounding myself.
“No,” I said quietly. “I don’t believe that’s the whole story. Not with Ash.”
They were trying to get a reaction, but I wasn’t going to give them one. Because in my gut, I knew something they didn’t. I knew what it felt like when Ash looked at me and forgot the cameras existed.
I wanted to more of that. But there was no way I could let the show see it or know about it. Because if this is how manipulative they were with just the challenges, I shuddered to think about what they would do if they knew I really cared about him.