Bree sticks her head into the screen, blond hair tumbling free around her shoulders, and gives me a dimpled smile. “Hi, Sythe.”
“Bree.”
She shifts and kisses Elizabeth, before murmuring, “I’ll just go grab a snack.” Then she slips out of frame and I hear the door opening and closing. My twin gives me a considering look.
“How’s my baby brother? Wooing all the omegas?”
I wince at my sister’s smiling face. “We’re the same age. And you know we can’t talk about the show. It was part of the NDA.”
Elizabeth sighs, shaking her head. “I know. It’s a shame. I need to know how things are going. We’ve been watching, but I know we’re a few days behind.” I hum a noncommittal sound and she scowls before a sneaky little look crawls over her face. “How’s Florence?”
That dig for information has me jerking and definitely giving too much away if the smug smile that curls my sister’s lips is any indication. It’s been a few days since the debacle that was the alpha soothing challenge, where the crew left my omega tied to a chair while she panicked and hurt herself trying to escape.
We let go of two omegas that night and the next day was one of the low key chat days, meant to give us time to stew in jealousy and drama. Florence was back to her normal bright self by yesterday morning, though it seems to have dimmed quite a bit thanks to that inane challenge. I have hopes that with a little distance she’ll be able to bury whatever trauma it dug up.
She didn’t tell me what it was, and I didn’t press for more information.
No, you were too busy pressing your body all against hers, and your mouth to hers, and your hands, and tongue and-
I cut off the spiral of my thoughts, not wanting to sink into them.
I shouldn’t have kissed her.
But I literally could not stop myself.
She looked so wrecked, sad and unhappy, and right back to being wary, like she was at the beginning of the show.And challenging, so damn challenging. Standing there with her adorable chin tilted up all but daring me to do something about the sexual frustration pulsing between us.
I’d had the urge to do everything I could to make it better for her. The trauma. The heartbreak. The tension. My alpha, of course, thought the best thing for her would be a knot and a claiming bite, and I’m so fucking glad I was able to stop at just a kiss.
“You know I can’t discuss specifics of the show, Lizzie,” I repeat. Though I really fucking want to. My twin has always been my safe space, the person I can tell anything to.
Her eyes soften immediately, the way they always do when she clocks that I’m not actually joking. “All right,” she says, shifting upright. “Talk to me. How’s the circus?”
I lean back against the headboard of my bed, scrubbing a hand over my face. “Filthy. Loud. Artificial. I hate every second of it. Even though I should be used to it by now.” It's not all that different from our day to day life.
“And yet,” she drawls, arching a brow, “you’re still there.”
Elizabeth watches my face carefully, her expression going sharp and perceptive in a way that’s always unnerved the people around us. It’s why she’ll be a good queen. It’s why I never stood a chance of hiding anything from her.
“I don’t really have a choice, do I?” God knows if I did, I wouldn’t have even considered doing this show, participating in this farce.
Then you wouldn’t have met Florence,some insidious part of my brain mutters.
And that would have been better for all of us,I argue back, even as I know I don’t fully believe it.
“So,” she says, almost like she can read my thoughts. “Florence, huh? She’s it. The one.”
I don’t answer.
I don’t need to.
My twin sister always just knows.
Her lips curve into something softer, something almost sad. “Grams will have a problem with it.”
Lizzie doesn’t know the half of it. When we’d agreed to do this show, she’d been excited for us, at the prospect of us finding our omega, our mate, like she did with Bree. I didn’t see the point in telling her that was not the case. That by the time it’s over we’ll be officially engaged to Isadora, whom Lizzie can’t stand.
After years of defying our grandmother’s wishes, I’m finally giving in. And I can’t bear to see the disappointment in my twin’s eyes.
