The TV goes black, with only the logo bouncing around on the screen.
Before we have time to process the interaction, the door to Ariana’s room opens.
“I’ve made my decision.”
When I get her in my sights, my stomach bottoms out. She’s crying, clutching at her chest as if there is a physical ache.
Fuck.
This isn’t good.
If she rejects us now, I worry there will be no second chance. And she’s not ready to bond us.
I would have shown her my neck the moment I first laid eyes on her if it wouldn’t have made her run away screaming. I’m all in. And I know Grant is too. Either of us would let her sink her teeth into us right now.
But to do it for a prize makes it feel cheap.
Forced.
And the last thing I want is to take this decision from her. We’ve hurt her so much with our deception already, I won’t let her do something she’ll regret.
Before I can open my mouth and tell her to forget it, we’re not doing this, she speaks.
“I opened the letter from Calvin when I first got here. And it hurt so much to read. It was like he was sitting there with me. I could hear his voice in my head. Not that it ever left. But he told me not to let his death be the most memorable thing about him. And honestly? It has been. It’s driven every decision I’ve made since I was sixteen.” She sniffles and wipes the tears off her face, and I want nothing more than to pull her into my arms.
But I won’t. I want her to be able to say her piece before she rejects us.
“Except coming on this show. When I accepted their invite, I wasn’t thinking about Calvin’s death or all the Alphas I’d come into contact with getting here. It stillscared me when I had to make the journey, but that didn’t play into my agreeing to come here. To meet Sax. I knew that meeting him would make the risk worth it. That if I was ever going to put myself in danger of meeting a scent match, it would be for him. For you guys.”
Grant reaches out and grabs my hand, squeezing it and seeking reassurance from his Alpha. Ariana is still half a room away from us, and I can’t smell her scent, but somehow I know it’ll be bitter and sour. My Beta’s typically sweet floral scent smells more like the soil an orchid grows in.
“‘I want to be the reason why you take a chance on something. I want to be the reason why you follow your heart. I want to be the reason why you trust yourself enough to fall in love.’”She fists her hips and looks up at the ceiling, but it doesn’t stop the tears that track down her cheeks. “He wrote that in the letter. One of the things I kind of glossed over. I tried to pretend he hadn’t said it. He also said he didn’t want to be a ghost that haunts my footsteps, and he has been. For ten years, his death has followed me everywhere.”
I can’t help myself anymore. I’m on my feet, crossing the room, and pulling her into my arms. Grant is right behind me, embracing her from behind. A sob cracks her chest, and she melts into our arms.
“My big brother was amazing. He was strong, loving, and brave. And he wanted me to take a chance. To follow my heart. And I owe that much to him. I deserve to have the kind of love he got from his pack.”
My breath catches.
“He said that he knew that they were his pack immediately. He just knew, even without catching their scents and having that confirmation. He knew. And I know. I’ve always known. Whether you’re three people or one, you’re my pack.”
Grant is smothering silent tears against her back, his shoulders bouncing as he wraps his arms tighter around her.
I’m crying, too.
Because she called us her pack.
“I want to bond. Both of you.”
Our Beta loses control of his knees and drops to the ground, arms banding around her knees as his quiet sobs become loud in relief.
“You don’t have to do this,” I tell her, grabbing the back of her neck. “We can wait.”
She tilts her head and presses our foreheads together. “We could. I’m sure people will judge me, thinking I’m doing this just for the prize, but I’m not. Why should we wait when we know what we are to one another? You’re mine, and I’m yours. That won’t change when we leave this house. It will never change.”
Then her lips are on mine, and I am kissing Ariana for the first time.
I’ve heard my entire life that my Omega would change everything for me. Older family members would grab my hands and tell me the right Omega for me is just waiting to be found. Even as a kid, our fairy tales and movies make the bond between an Alpha and an Omega seem like the stuff of dreams. And she is. She didn’t even know who I was until six days ago, and yet she knew I loved her. She may not have said that she loves me, too, but I don’t need that. Offering me her bite is the highest honor she could bestow upon me.
