My vision darkens at the edges, and I get a glimpse of Sax, the first Sax, lunging for me before everything goes black.
Chapter Six
“If you’rea fan of the show, you know this is not a situation we’ve run into before.” Bradley’s voice is somber as he looks at the camera. “A pack masquerading as a single person. It’s almost unbelievable.”
Since I am the original Sax, the face of Onion’s deception, I’m sitting in the middle of the couch, directly in front of the host, and my packmates are on either side of me. Grant sits on my left, his hand on my thigh reassuringly, and Ivan on my right.
“It hasn’t always been this way.” I know that, no matter what I say, some people will hate me. Hate us. Not that I blame them.
We will be villains in everyone’s stories, including hers.
I have to hope that we can have a killer redemption arc.
“Onion and I met when we were teenagers, and I presented as an Alpha shortly after her brother died. I initially believed I would remain a Beta. My presentation was late. It was never my intention to deceive her, but my feelings were already so strong for her. She wasterrified of Alphas, and I panicked. I didn’t want her to cut me out of her life, so I never told her when I presented.”
Bradley crosses his arms over his chest. “And you never considered telling her the truth? That was only the first in a line of many deceptions.”
“Of course, I considered it. I didn’t enjoy lying to her. But every time I tried to broach the subject with her, she’d say something that reminded me that if she knew I was an Alpha, I wouldn’t be in her life. She’d never forgive me for lying to her. And I… I couldn’t lose her, Bradley. I know that sounds like a cop out, but it’s the truth.”
I’d sooner lose a limb than her.
He turns his attention to the guys. “Tell me how you two got involved.”
“I met them at a party.” Ivan flashes a dazzling smile at Bradley. “He and Grant stumbled into an Anything But Clothes party my fraternity was throwing, and the rest is history.” My packmate leans forward, like he’s confiding in Bradley. “Grant turned a beer box into a pair of boxers.”
Bradley blinks a few times, clearly unsure how to respond to Ivan’s revelation. After a moment, he presses on with the interview. “Most packs form around an Omega. But you three found one another and decided that you’re going to be a pack, regardless of Omega input?”
“Our pack didn’t need an Omega to form around, because they have me.” Grant crosses his legs and rests his hands on his knees with a playful, flirty smile on his face.
Grant’s a Beta and my partner. We’re scent matches, something that’s not common between an Alpha and a Beta, but not unheard of. He’s also scent matched to Ivan, but his relationship with both of us is different.
I’ve been in love with Grant since the first time I saw him. My heart stopped, my knees went weak, and I was allin. He’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen, and I need him in my life.
I don’t know if he and Ivan will ever fall in love, but they’re affectionate and close, and they are happy to share a bed. The three of us work. It’s been natural and easy from the beginning.
“Is that so?” Bradley leans forward, as if he doesn’t know all of this information from the massive questionnaire we answered when we signed up for the show. “What do you mean?”
“I’m scent matched to both of them. Lucky me, right? I mean, look at them. Pretty wild odds that we were all at the same college at the same time, but fate was obviously shining down on me.” He rests his head on my shoulder. “We knew that the three of us were meant to be a pack.”
“How did you go from being a scent matched pack to all of you being involved with Onion?”
“Derrick talked about her nonstop.” Ivan nudges me and waggles his eyebrows. He’s in a pair of tight jeans with a sweater vest over his bare chest. His arms are well-defined, and his stomach is soft. A dad bod without having to have kids. He’s handsome as hell, with a killer beard, and the hair and makeup crew had a field day over how nice his skin is. “He’d show us pictures, we’d overhear them having calls, and I felt the pull to her. I know Grant did, too. She felt important. Inevitable.”
They wanted me to introduce them to her. But how could I explain my connection to them when she thought I was a Beta?
“So you decided, as a pack, to pretend to be one person?” Bradley does not seem nearly as friendly as he did at the beginning of this conversation. Not that I blame him. “I must say, this is one of the most devastating lies we’ve seen on our show. Onion has shared her story andher fears with us, and you are her actual nightmare. A pack of Alphas-”
“I’m a Beta.”
Bradley glares at Grant for interrupting. “Two Alphas and a Beta who have been lying to her for what, seven years? Eight? That’s not counting the two years that you hid your designation, before the others came along, Derrick. And now she is going to walk into a house and have all of the fears she’s struggled with realized.”
“Then why invite us here at all? You knew exactly who we were when you flew us out here! We were honest and clear during our interviews.” I stand, angry at him for hitting my insecurity about this decision on the head. “Do not act so high and mighty when you’re using Onion’s fears for profit.”
I expect the director to call “cut.” I expect the crew to escort us out.
That doesn’t happen.
Bradley takes several deep breaths before settling back in his chair.
