Page 141 of The Rogues

It feels like everything is going at lightning speed as we walk on set. The audience applauds for us, loud. It’s overwhelming, along with the bright lights overhead, but I find myself smiling as best as I can as we walk to the seating area. I don’t even notice that we’re still holding hands until we get to the host, her eyes trailing over us with kind eyes. She gives me a hug, but avoids touching Cyrus. Rumors of our bonding have circled recently—probably due to a leak at one of our labels—so she shies away from touching my alpha just in case.

Which is good. I am already feeling weirdly territorial after my heat, so her touching him would probably send my nervous system into overdrive.

We go through the pleasantries while I’m internally freaking out. Cyrus is charming, as always, and Silva is generous. I think she can see the anxiety riddled on my face because the environment turns somber.

“How are you holding up, Josie?” she asks. “I know it’s been an intense couple of months for you.”

Instead of staring blankly at her, I find the energy to nod. “It’s been difficult, to say the least. It feels like one of the best times of my life is coinciding with one of the worst.”

“And when you say the best, you say that in regards to what, exactly?”

I look over at Cyrus, and he’s already looking at me. His eyes are patient, his smile soft. I can’t help but feel all the anxiety drift away as I look at him, his dark chocolate scent lulling away all stress.

“Meeting my scent matches,” I say honestly. “It was the last thing I ever expected and an absolute whirlwind, but I am so lucky to have them by my side.”

Cyrus takes my hand, and the crowd lets out an audible “aww” before they applaud once more.

When it quiets once more, Silva is smiling. “And did you scent match to every band member in The Rogues?”

“Yes, I did.”

She gives us a knowing look. “I guess this means you are all an official pack?”

Cyrus takes the reins, smiling in a way that I know is genuine. He’s been waiting for this day, the day he can finally claim his pack publicly.

“Yes, we are. Our pack bonds have clicked in, and I can officially announce that we are Pack Darlington. I am a very proud and happy prime.”

The audience loves that sentiment as they clap and sigh with awe. When it dies down, the host looks to us once more. “How did you two first meet?”

“In the hallway right before our first meeting regarding the new tour format. It nearly knocked me off my feet,” Cyrus says.

The crowd laughs and Silva asks, “And you never met before that?”

I shake my head, knowing what she’s really asking. “We never met when Cyrus and Cleo were dating, so it never struck me that it was a possibility that we could be linked.”

“That’s kind of odd that you never met your best friend’s partner.”

I put on my best poker face and shrug causally. “We were so busy back then. Both Vicious Velvet and The Rogues were just starting out and we both had our obligations. Whenever Cleo and Cyrus had free time, they spent it together. The girls and I didn’t want to crowd them when they barely got to see each other.”

“And does it bother you? That your best friend dated your scent match?”

I swallow, but catch myself. I knew I would have to lie a bit when I came out here. Luckily, there’s still a lot of truth in my words, just not in the same context that we have to present it as.

“She didn’t know,” I answer honestly. “None of us could have known this would be the situation we ended up in. Being scent matches kind of throws all of that out the water.”

“Do you think Cleo feels that way? She seems to have some strong feelings about the two of you being together.”

“Cleo wants me to be happy. We’ve always wanted that for each other, our entire lives. Anything happening between us right now has more to do with our friendship rather than her past relationship with Cyrus.”

Twisting the truth still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but the world can’t know that our team faked their relationship. It’s a cardinal rule in Hollywood, and one that I don’t want to break one bit. Our contracts are ironclad about that.

“When did things start to happen with Cleo? Do you recall when things started to change?”

I shake my head. “She started becoming angry. All the time. It was so difficult to see my childhood best friend like that, and I didn’t know why. I was oblivious to it and didn’t see the signs until it was too late.”

“So you had no idea she was using?”

“I knew during our first tour that she had experimented, but I thought it was all recreational. I had no idea that she had been using for a lot longer than that.”