He smiles brightly. “So it truly was paradise for you. Or maybe not quite. Let’s talk about your other relationships in the house. The audience wants to know…what exactly was your relationship with Chad? Frienenemy? Rival? Friend? You were often shown together, but you were both actively going after the same pack.”
I snort. “We were all dating the same pack.” I seek out Chad. He nods and purses his lips, encouraging me to share our story. “But Chad came to me that first night…he claimed that he was going to the end, and he wanted to take me with him. Guess it didn’t work out the way he wanted, but I did leave the house with at least one life long friend.”
“Friend? Really?”
“In the end,” I say. The crowd eats it up, and I can’t help the smile that pulls at my lips. If they only knew half of it. If he had been anyone else, he never would have gotten past my walls. But I’m glad he was so persistent.
“What about the others?” He runs his gaze over the omega’s across from me. “What about Blair…?”
The audience boos, and I meet her eyes with my headheld high. “I think that what you saw on the TV is what you got. And I’m sure that neither one of us will be sad if we never see each other again.”
She rolls her eyes, her lips pressing into a thin line. But she knows how she was shown on the show.
When Tucker moves on to the other contestants—leaving Hailey for last I would assume, because he skipped right over her—my heart rate finally levels out as my nervous energy dissipates.
“I bet it was hard, having Rafe’s ex in the house and competing for his heart. There were some tense moments between you two. Do you want to expand on them?”
There is so much I could say, but in the moment…with the lights shining down on us, I just want to let it go. Maybe I just remember being broken. Or maybe now that I’ve found my pack, I’m soft. Whatever it is, ruining her on national TV isn’t appealing.
“Well—I think that if I were going onOmega in Paradiseto try to win an ex back, anyone that was getting close to him would be the enemy. And Rafe’s a catch. I’m sure losing him for the whole world to see would have been really hard to deal with. But I don’t think she had a chance, with or without me there.”
He nods, taking in my words before turning to the camera. “When we come back, you’ll hear from the rest of the omegas. What drama unfolded in the house this year? We will find out from them soon.”
Makeup rushes onto the stage and touches up his perfect face the second the cameras break for commercial. It’s a flurry of activity, and before I know it, we are live once again, and his complete focus is on the other omegas. They reveal drama in the house I wasn’t aware of, a new look at the meanness of Blair and Hailey. While the two of them defend their choices.
After another commercial break, the guys are strolling outon the stage. I’m pretty sure half the audience swoons all at once. And when they reach me, Elliott picks me up before tucking me into his side, with Miles and Rafe on my other side. Cocooning me in their musks. Home. That’s what they are to me. Love and safety all in a perfect package.
“Well, you look cozy,” Tucker says. “When’s the bonding ceremony, and are we invited?”
“We are still working out the details on that,” Elliott says.
His lips brush the side of my head, and the purr rumbling from him makes me want to climb into his lap and nuzzle his neck. Miles tangles his fingers with mine and lifts them to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss to our knuckles.
“It will be soon. We don’t want to waste any time now that we’ve found our omega,” Miles adds.
Rafe loops his arm across the back of the seat behind Miles, and his fingers play in my curls. Each of them touching me makes my blood sing. And the links between us are already as strong as any bonding ceremony. At this point, it’s just a piece of paper.
“But we won’t be doing it on TV; it will be small and intimate. Sorry,” Rafe says, not sounding sorry at all. The crowd makes various sad sounds at the idea of not seeing it. I guess that’s part of opening your life up for everyone to see, they want to see it all. It’s part of the fantasy.
“What’s more intimate than camera crews and a few hundred thousand of your friends watching through the screen?” Tucker jokes.
“There will be pictures,” I say.
He moves on effortlessly with his questions, and before I know it, it’s done. The lights are lowered, the crowd disburses, and the omegas go their separate ways.
Rafe wraps his arms around me from behind. Pressing a soft kiss to my shoulder. “Was it everything you hoped it would be?”
My fingers ghost over his cheek as I turn in his arms. “It was okay. But I’m ready for that happily ever after now.”
He hums happily, “Me too.”
Miles chuckles and shares a look with Elliott. “Looks like the plan worked.”
“It worked a long time ago.” Miles eyes us with a wide grin. “Rafe fell the second he saw her in that club. Love at first sight like the both of us.”
Rafe shakes his head with a laugh, but doesn’t deny his words.
“Is that right? Did you fall the second I threw up all over you or before?” I joke.
