“Which is why,” she sighs and leans forward. “I’m going to remind you again. Whatever happened last night, whatever they said or did, Florence, you know they are going to let you go. Tonight. Before the scenting ceremony.”
I stare at her in a daze. “What?” This doesn’t make any sense at all. None. Why would they warn me about this? Didn’t Forsythe just say they can’t give the omegas a heads up?
No, it's not true.
It's not.
This is a ploy to get juicier drama. I’m sure production expects me to storm out of here in tears and have some kind of a standoff with the pack. One with whining and demands for answers.
Which…
Let's be honest, I'm very close to doing anyway.
Maybe not the tears and the whining, but the answers? I can ask for those in a totally mature and calm way, right?
They’ll tell me that the video I saw was from earlier in the season and not this morning. And they’ll hug me and tell me everything is going to be alright. That they want me. That they want to keep me. That… I’m theirs.
I shy away from the thought, heart thundering just a little too hard in my chest. Like I’d just witnessed a jump scare in a movie.
But my omega has latched onto it.Theirs. Mine.Possessive grasping thoughts.
She views them as ours, as our pack. And that is a dangerous thing.
“Florence?” Lulu presses gently.
I blink back to her, swallowing down the whine that wants to emerge and licking my lips. “Yes?”
“Do you have anything to say about that? About knowing they’re going to send you home tonight?”
She’s looking for a reaction. That’s all this is.
I shake my head and give the camera a halfhearted smile. “I suppose if that’s true, I’ll just have to accept it, won’t I? That’s the nature of the show. They get to decide who stays and who goes.”
My voice cracks on the last word and I curse myself for it when Lulu’s eyes flare just the slightest bit in victory.
I grasp onto that like a lifeline.
See?I tell myself.This is all for the ratings. The drama. The…heartbreak.
A flare of hatred so intense it steals my breath hits me. For Lulu. For Marshall. For the entire production staff and every person who watches the show supports it. That is what they want, what they’re salivating for. My heartbreak. The heartbreak of omegas like me.
They want to see us shatter beyond fixing.
And I really don’t want to give them the satisfaction of witnessing it.
“Is there anything else?” I ask again, keeping my voice as level as I can, my expression as neutral as Forsythe’s always is. “Any other secrets you’d like to get my opinion on?”
Lulu slumps back in her chair. ‘“No, I suppose that’s it.”
“Great.” I slap my hands down on the arms of the chair and push up. “I’m off then.”
I keep my chin raised and my steps steady as I slip out of the confessional room and into the hall. People blur together as I quicken my pace, ignoring their curious looks.
Alphas, my suppressed omega cries out weakly.We need our alphas.
I swallow thickly acknowledging that she’s right. That I do need to talk to them, to get reassurance from them. I change direction, moving with purpose now rather than the beating need to justget away, back toward the pool area where I know everyone else is gathered. The remaining omegas and the Ashbourne pack.
The sunshine hits too bright, my eyes squinting against it as my stomach roils. There’s only a handful of us left now, and everyone looks up when I enter the area.
