My spine straightens. My shoulders square. My chin tips up. I am ready to go to battle with the prince of Bravonne over this. Overhisbeta.
Forsythe watches me square up to him and somethingignitesin his eyes. Like he can’t believe I would dare tocontradict him, that I would fight him on… probably anything. He must be used to people just rolling over and showing their bellies, but I have literally nothing to lose.
I know they won’t be my pack and with that knowledge comes a certain amount of freedom. I don’t have to try to impress them. I don’t have to bow and scrape and pretend to be something I’m not.
Not that I would anyway. I want a pack to choose me for me, not because of an image I present.
And that is why I’m about to tear into this alpha in front of me.
Or at least I intend to, but then his dominance swells. Literally. I can feel it in the air and it presses into me, into my skin. I realize my mistake too late. He’s an alpha and I’m an omega.He’s going to bark at me. Force a command on me that I will have no choice to obey, just like Frederick Bell did.
Memories assault me, the sharp sting of his bark, how I couldn’t move or scream or cry. How I could do nothing but sit on the edge of Haven’s hospital bed while he kidnapped her. And later, how I couldn’t save myself because he made it impossible.
I whine. A soft strangled thing, that if I weren’t drowning in horrific memories might embarrass me.
Let him fucking try, my omega snarls, fiercely, even as some part of me shrivels up.He needs to know,she presses.He needs to see how perfect Piers is.
She’s right, and so even if he barks me into submission, I will find a way to make this better for the beta. I brace for an alpha command, readying to fight it with everything I have, to not let him have that power over me.
But it… never comes.
The dominance that had been pressing on me is gone. And my head is tilted to the side. My neck exposed in a clear sign ofsubmission. When did that happen? Forsythe is staring down at me, his expression… remorseful? Guilty? Hungry?
I can’t read him, dammit.
“Ren,” he says softly. “Cor mea.”
I know in that moment that he’s seen too much. I gave away one of my secrets without ever saying a word.
His hand drifts toward my face like he might cup my chin, but I give a tight shake of my head, knowing I’ll break if he touches me. And no one wants to see that, least of all him.
“Florence!” Lulu’s voice snaps through the air, cutting the tension between us. A reminder of where we are, of who we are. He is a prince and I am a nobody.
And if any of this goes into the show, it will undoubtedly paint me as a halfway feral omega with no etiquette and zero chill.
The producer appears at my elbow, expression hard. “The prince needs to get ready for his date.” She tries to soften her expression as she looks at Forsythe. “I’m sorry, Your Highness, but we are running short on time.”
His honey eyes have cooled considerably by the time he drags them away from me and over to her. “Of course. If you would be so kind as to give me and Miss Karlin a moment to finish our conversation?”
He poses it as a question, but I can tell it's not. So can Lulu. But what is she going to do? Deny him? He’s a prince for chrissakes.
“Two minutes,” she says before turning away.
“Miss Powell?” Forsythe stops her. When she turns back to face us his dominance is back, pressing into her, but somehow avoiding me. “None of this is to air on the show, understood?”
Lulu’s gaze flicks to me and then back to him. “We’re aware of the stipulations regarding any footage containing Piers andany conversations that pertain to his being a member of your pack.”
I frown. They’re cutting him out of the show entirely? Not even letting him be in it as a background cast member? Someone to bounce ideas off of? Is he not allowed in the room during their deliberation on who to send home?
What.
The.
Fuck?
Forsythe sighs when he sees my expression. “I promise you, Florence, it's for the best.”
I want to argue with him, but it's not my place. And I’m feeling brittle, vulnerable at the moment. I don’t want to invite more of that, so I just nod. “Not really my place to say anything anyway is it?”
