Squeezing Harper’s hand, I manage a strangled laugh. “I know. Just look at us now.”
Bastien looks between us. “I’m going to start the countdown, and when the red light goes on here – we’re live. Harper, you’re still okay to go first?”
When Harper nods, Bastien looks to me and I smile.
“I love you,” I mouth, and he blows me a kiss, pressing his hand against his heart as he steps back.
“On my count,” he calls, and everyone stills.
Harper and I face the camera, both of us barely breathing. My hand drops to my stomach.
“Five…”
“Four…”
“Three…”
“Two…”
Leo and Emery Grey. This one’s for you.
“One…”
ChapterSixty-One
Luc
The red light blinks on.
Harper and Ava share a final glance before Harper turns to the camera and begins to speak.
I should be listening, but I can’t take my eyes off my omega.
Ava stands proudly, her shoulders back as she stares directly into the camera. Her hazel eyes are bright, her expression fierce and her hands wrapped firmly around her bump.
She looks so small, especially next to Harper given she only reaches her shoulders, but she’s never looked so fierce, or beautiful.
A lump appears in my throat as I watch her, and I have to glance away, clenching my fists to fight off the urge to sweep in and pull her away from the millions of eyes watching her.
Beside me, Max and Nikolai look equally struck. Nik’s eyes flicker between Ava and Harper, his jaw clenched as he listens to Harper’s story, but Max’s sole focus is on Ava, every shift she makes mirrored in his body language.
Bastien darts from camera to camera, fiddling with his laptop, but his eyes keep sliding back to Ava too. I wonder if the reality of his plan is sinking in.
What happens after this?
This is the part that we have no control over. After this, it’s up to the public, and if they see enough in Harper, Ava and Nikolai’s story to change their beliefs. It’s a Hail Mary, at best, but it’s the only chance we have.
Nikolai flinches, and I follow his gaze to Harper. Her face is just as fierce as Ava’s, the emotional toll this is taking on her clear in the lines of stress on her face as she speaks.
Across from me, Devlin Winter shifts on his feet, mirroring the urges we all have to jump in front of our omegas and protect them from this.
As Harper talks about the heat hormones she was given by Jason, bile burns the back of my throat. The burning need, the begging that Harper describes in clear tones – Ava experienced that twenty times over. I’m not sure that I can listen to it without losing my shit.
Beside you, not behind you.
I promised Ava that I would be with her, and I’m not going to look away. Even if it breaks me.
Harper finishes speaking, and she turns to Ava, squeezing her hand. For the first time, I see her shake, her hand trembling where it rests on her stomach.
