Page 5 of Now Their Starlet

I keep replaying in my mind, Andi’s bright smile as she stared up at the stars in Beck’s hometown the night before we went to meet her father. We made so many galaxy jokes, considering Andi’s full name is Andromeda.

I’m pretty sure Beck said his “it’s galaxy-ception!” joke half a dozen times over the course of the night.

Why did the universe have to be so cruel to such a sweet and earnest girl who just wanted to belong? Why did it have to give her a taste of happiness, of what life could be, before ripping it all away in a public scandal of this magnitude?

I let out a deep, frustrated sigh before forcing myself to take a slow breath.

The others are relying on me to fix this, to figure out a solution. I have to be the one in charge here.

I stalk into the living room, pulling my shoulders back.

Beck’s eyes are swollen from crying. When I first showed up here, right after I got the call from Cameron about the terrible news, Beck was hysterical. Not even Eli could get him to calm down.

And as he blinks up at me with wide, hopeful eyes that aren’t filled with tears for the first time in hours, I nearly choke on my guilt.

I’m also nearly choking on Beck’s normally sweet, caramel perfume that’s twisted with his stress. It’s so burnt you can barely tell what it’s supposed to be when he’s calm or happy.

“I don’t have good news,” I say, fighting to keep my words even past the lump in my throat.

Leo looks up at me for the first time. He’s been sitting in an almost comatose state, staring at the wall for who knows how long.

Eli stiffens, his hands clenched into trembling fists at his sides. He immediately reaches for Beck, swinging the omega’s legs across his lap and squeezing Beck’s thigh. Whether he’s anchoring himself or offering Beck the physical reassurance an emotional omega needs, is a little unclear. Given the situation and the way everyone here feels about Andi, it’s probably a mix of both.

My eyes cut to Cameron last. He meets my gaze with a tired one of his own.

This is affecting him too. It’s obvious in the way he’s perched at the very edge of the armchair. There’s tension radiating off him in waves, but he’s trying to keep it buried under the front of professionalism. Almost like he’s unsure whether he has a right to care as much as he does.

If this were any other situation, I’d probably take the time to probe around and figure out exactly how much it’s affecting him and why, but for now? I just accept the fact that he’s here and willing to help. He didn’t have to call me the moment he found out about that headline.

He could’ve let us find out hours later on our own.

For that, I’m grateful.

“Don’t just stand there,” Eli bites out, his jaw working. “What the hell did they say?”

“The conservatorship was filed on emergency grounds, following the ‘violent outburst’ Andi supposedly had,” I answer. “That... complicates things.”

Beck lets out a choked sob and buries his head in his hands, his shoulders trembling. I have to fight to keep silent and still. There’s a growl that desperately wants to explode out of my chest right now in response to hearing and scenting an omega in such distress. And I’m not even interested in Beck like that.

I’m surprised Eli is keeping himself together so well.

Instead of going on a rampage and throwing things or putting holes in walls, Eli just tugs Beck’s shaking form into his lap completely. Eli’s chest vibrates with a sound that’s a mix between a purr and a growl, but it does its job. Beck’s shoulders relax and his perfume pulls back ever so slightly.

It’s good enough for the rest of us to resume breathing again. Not normally, but at least we can continue the conversation.

“Complicates things, how?” Leo asks, his voice soft, but there’s a hardness there that’s not normally present.

“Conservatorships normally don’t work this fast,” I explain, summarizing what Charles, the partner at the law firm I keep on retainer, explained to me earlier. “There’s time between the petition being filed and the hearing where it’s granted. In normal proceedings, the potential conservatee is even notified so that they can arrange representation for themselves. That’s not the case here. Because it was an emergency filing, claiming that Andi was a danger to herself and others around her, it was granted immediately.”

“Even if it was an emergency application, she was just with us,” Cameron says softly. “Her mother had to have been preparing this for a while.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised to find out she was.” I nod.

“So—so what are we supposed to do now?” Beck rasps, raking the palms of his hands over his eyes.

“The current conservatorship is technically temporary. They’re going to set an official hearing date, probably within the next thirty to forty-five days. That’ll be where Gina will probably push the case to make the emergency conservatorship a permanent one,” I say, beginning to pace once more.

“So we just have to sit on our asses with our dicks in our hands for a month?” Eli bites out. “While that bitch does God knows what to her?”