The sweetest five words I’ve ever heard. They’re tattooed on my heart, right beside Grant’s declaration. Proof of who it beats for.
“Thank you for giving me a chance.”
And I’ll see you tomorrow.
Chapter Thirty-Four
There’sa feeling in my chest that is not my own. It’s the beautiful, cool contentment that belongs to my Omega.
She’s sleeping in my arms, tangled between Ivan and me, and I cannot remember ever feeling this way before. I have always wanted to protect her, to spoil her, to calm all her fears.
And now I get to.
Forever.
Sure, there are experimental procedures that can be done to dissolve bonds, but they may as well not exist, because she’s never getting rid of me. This may seem fast to others, but it’s been years in the making.
And I think she finally sees us. She knows the parts of me that made up Sax, but also the real me.
Ivan stirs awake on the other side of our Omega. My heart swells as his sleepy eyes focus and realize who he’s cuddling with. He kisses the back of her neck before slipping out of the bed and motions with his head for me to follow.
We cross the hallway to his room, and he closes the door behind us.
“Do you think she told Derrick?”
I sit on the edge of his bed and rub the sleep from my eyes. “I would think so, why?”
“Because what if she doesn’t want to bond him?”
A strangled noise escapes me. It never occurred to me that she wouldn’t want him, too. “I don’t think she would’ve bonded with us if she didn’t want him, too. We’re kind of a package deal.”
“Okay, but say she doesn’t.”
I can’t choose between my Alpha and Omega. I won’t. What am I going to do if she doesn’t want him? “He’s moving our stuff to Hollywood, right? We can all get an apartment if she doesn’t want us to move in. And then we help him earn her trust.” I refuse to entertain any other option. My pack needs both Alphas and my Omega. Splitting us up feels wrong.
Ivan paces slowly in front of his television. “Why do you think she trusts us now?”
I rest back on the heels of my hands. “If I had to guess? He’s the face. To her, the betrayal came from him. We were background characters. We were his pack, supporting him. That’s what packs do. She sees him as being responsible for informing her about us. What were we supposed to do, message her out of the blue and say we were his pack and wanted to get to know her? No, she would’ve blocked us. I love Derrick, but he messed up. He should have facilitated the introduction, but that would’ve required admitting that he’s an Alpha, which was the original lie.”
Ivan throws his hands in the air with a low growl. “We told him to come clean hundreds of times!”
“That anger you’re feeling? That’s why she forgave us.She knows that we had no other option if we wanted to know her.”
My Alpha lowers himself beside me on the bed, shoulders drooping with the weight of what happened yesterday. “What if she regrets bonding us?”
“I don’t think that will happen. I think she-”
A loud, annoying sound comes from the television, interrupting my sentence. Bradley’s face appears on screen.
“Good morning, boys! Today is your last day in the house. We’ll be bringing you to the soundstage around one for your exit interviews.”
I look at the clock. It’s just after nine. Ariana is sleeping a lot later than she normally does, but Ivan wore her out last night. We have four hours left before we step into the real world.
Are we going to go home with her today? She doesn’t know that Derrick’s moved all of our things near her. I don’t know how she’ll react. I hope she approves of it because I don’t want to leave her side. The bond between us is so fresh that I know it would hurt to be away from her.
“We’ve got the plane chartered and ready to take you where you need to go. Am I safe to assume you’ll be flying home with Ariana?” Bradley exaggerates a wink, playing it up for the camera.
“Yeah, we are, unless she tells us not to.” I lean into Ivan’s shoulder. I know he is nervous that Ariana will regret all of this and won’t let us come home with her, but I’m trying to stay positive, because if I let myself ruminate on it, I will fall apart.
