Thomas takes a small step back, straightening under the weight of our stares. “She disqualified herself,” he states, his tone clipped but not without a hint of unease.
“Like hell she did,” I growl, closing the distance between us until I’m inches from his face. The words feel like they’re pulled from somewhere deep inside, almost a snarl. “If she leaves, I walk.”
His eyes narrow, a calculated look crossing his face. “You’re under contract,” he reminds me, but there’s a flicker of uncertainty behind the calm mask he wears.
Fury boils in my veins. I can feel it thrumming in the space between us, barely contained. “She stays, or you have no show. Do you understand?”
Thomas holds up his hands, palms out in a placating gesture. “I can see you’re upset about this development.”
“Upset?” Miles barks out a laugh, sharp and dangerous. “You haven’t seen half of it.”
Rafe steps up beside me, his body rigid with anger, a low growl simmering beneath the surface. “You’ve made me keepHailey. Every. Fucking. Step. Of. The. Way. If that fame-hungry bitch gets to stay, so does Lilah.”
Thomas flinches. Then he straightens his shoulders as his voice drops to a menacing rumble. “If she goes back into that house smelling like her natural perfume, the other omegas will lose their minds. It’ll be chaos. Do you want to deal with seventeen scenting omegas?”
Miles adds, almost nonchalantly, but with a sharp edge, “After tonight, it’ll only be eleven, right?” The implications hang heavy in the air, as if eleven perfuming omegas wouldn’t tear each other apart fighting over the same pack.
I swallow, trying to keep my voice steady, even as the words tremble with emotion. “She can come back to the carriage house, take a shower, and take her pill. Costuming can bring her a matching outfit. No one will know.”
Silence stretches between us, thick and suffocating. I can feel the others tensing beside me, the threat of us walking away hanging in the balance. I’m not bluffing—Lilah’s the one. If we could call it a day now, that would be perfect.
Thomas’s lips press into a hard line as he surveys each of us, his eyes calculating. He knows we’re serious. He knows we mean every word. Finally, he exhales sharply, jaw working as he nods toward the SUV. “Fine,” he grits out, the word laced with reluctance. “But if she does it again before production says it’s time, she’s gone.”
The tension eases, but only slightly. Rafe’s anger still radiates off him, and I can feel Miles vibrating with barely controlled fury beside me. None of us are satisfied, but it’s a win—a small one, but a win nonetheless.
Thomas turns, walking away with the tightness of someone who’s just been bested. I catch Rafe’s eye, and for a moment, we share a look of mutual understanding. We’re not done fighting for her—not by a long shot.
The rideback to the carriage house is silent. Lilah doesn’t ask what Thomas wanted. And when I pull up in front of the smaller house, she glances over at me.
“What are we doing here?” she asks. It’s off limits for omegas. Another rule we are about to break, I guess.
“Production needs you to take your scent-blocking pill and a shower,” I say as I meet her blue eyes.
Her lips form a silentoh. “Right, yeah.” She nods like a bobble head, clearly uncomfortable now. The flirty omega’s gone, and in her place is one that’s regretting her choices.
Miles and Rafe climb out of the car, and I hesitate, wanting to reassure her but not exactly sure what words would do it.
“Are they sending me home?” she asks in a tiny voice, her eyes downcast, hiding her emotions.
“No. But they will if you do it again.”
I want to scent her perfume every day. Fuck. Ineedto. I’ve always known that there are scent matches for everyone. That one perfect person’s out there that just matches. The perfume that you can’t live without. Even if there were a hundred omegas with the same smell, hers is the only one that would speak to me on a soul level. She’s mine. And there’s nothing or nobody that can take her from me; not now that I’ve found her anyway.
“Come on. I still have those seven minutes to collect and the film crews won’t be here,” I say, attempting to make my words teasing to bring a smile to her face.
She nibbles on her lower lip before nodding and releasing her buckle. Miles is opening her door the second she reaches for the handle, clearly waiting for our conversation to be done. He helps her out, meeting my gaze over her head. All three of us are on the same page. Well, almost. Rafe’s stillstruggling a little bit with it. But she’s the one, and now we just need to make it to the end of the show.
The only problem with that is the fact that we will also have to flirt and talk to the other omegas like they might have some sort of chance. Or I’m sure Thomas will step in and make it happen. Angry bees erupt in my stomach. I am not sure I can physically touch any of them. If she’s even within view, I’m pretty sure it will be impossible not to be right by her side. That’s the opposite of what a courting alpha should do.
It’s ironic that our publicist said the best direction for our pack to ‘fix’ what Rafe did a great job at destroying was to come on this show. Did I want an omega? Yes. But I also knew this show would help Rafe repair his career. And I hoped finding an omega would mend us. Three birds, one stone. At least that’s what it looked like before meeting Lilah. Now, we may make an even bigger media storm by breaking the fucking contract, not to mention the money we would owe.
Forcing myself from the SUV, I trail after them into the house. Their voices mixing, yet still not having the same lightness to them.
Lilah comes to a stop next to the kitchen island, her eyes flowing over each of us. “I really screwed up everything today, huh?”
“Just a little,’ Rafe says as he crosses the room and takes down some glasses. “Water?”
Without waiting for responses, he fills all four glasses with ice water and slides them across the counter for each of us. An awkwardness seems to fill the space, and the way that Lilah’s perfume becomes a little more sweet tells me she feels it too.
