Page 3 of Bliss & Her Idols (Pack Bonds Omegaverse #10)

“Crick is also a hacker,” I explain. “I haven’t told him about the BPU.

But he’s been becoming increasingly worried about Jin.

He reached out to me to start with because I’m a music journalist who has already run several stories about abuse on my social media.

I’m also a member of the fan club. It’s been frustratingly hard to uncover evidence.

Then Crick found something on a discord server: a couple of lines from an Idol rulebook that nobody should have access to. ”

I click onto a message from Cricket, before holding up the screen between Piper and me.

“ Idols must keep the pack’s secrets, ” Piper reads out, before his eyes darken with fury.

“ A rock star Beta who divulges to journalists or fans the Idols’ rules, training regime, or punishments will be matched with an Alpha and Omega in the Pack Bonds TV show.

Idols cannot refuse this bond. To reach the top in show business, you must smile to hide the tears…

” He breaks off. He’s shaking. He glances up at me. “What. The. Fuck?”

I swallow.

I felt just as shaky, when I first received the evidence from Cricket.

The problem is that I can’t verify it. I can’t publish something as explosive as this without being able to back it up.

Yet nobody will talk.

If the consequences to the Betas is being forced into a pack bond, then I can understand why.

I will solve this mystery.

What’s going on in the Idol camp, which is run by the Idol family?

Like us, the Idols are orphans. Unlike us, they’re all Alphas: two sisters and four brothers.

They’re also billionaires.

Every rumor I’ve unearthed, including blurred paparazzi photos, describes each of them as dazzlingly beautiful and talented in their own right.

Yet they rule the Betas, who are taken into their pack as kids and trained up to become future rock stars, with an iron fist.

Nobody knows how.

I’ll be the first because I’m going to find out.

It’ll be my exclusive — how I break into journalism.

I swipe across on my phone, pressing onto a video edit of vlog clips that Cricket put together for me.

Cricket creates fan edits and incredible montages of Jin from interviews, concerts, and public appearances, which he does for his fan club.

Yet this edit is private.

For the last year, Cricket has developed the theory that Jin has been hiding messages in each appearance, asking for help.

Is it true?

It would be the story of the decade, if it was.

“What’s this?” Piper taps the screen. “This is just the vlog that Jin makes for fans, right? Immortal does one too…not that I watch it. Much. Okay, every day. Twice. Three times, but who’s counting?

Why do you think Jin is in more danger than Immortal, for example? Wait, can we rescue Immortal too?”

Alarmed, Piper slams his hands onto the counter almost tipping over the tray.

“Hey, calm down.” I put out soothing pheromones, at the same time as I rest my hand on my brother’s arm.

Piper is volatile. He looks ready to march into the nearest recording studio and kidnap Immortal.

“Jin is the one who is in trouble right now. If this runs as deep as I think that it may, however, then we’ll save every Idol, Immortal included. Now, watch.”

Piper’s shoulders slump.

He nods.

I glance at the screen.

Jin is seated behind a small table in what looks to be a cheap hotel room. He has shadows under his eyes but he’s still the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen.

He’s willowy and tall for a Beta with dramatic white hair, which is half looped up away from his face. His hair startlingly contrasts with his large, dark brown eyes.

He’s dressed in a blue silk shirt and smart suit trousers.

He’s ethereal with peachy skin. He glows like sin sprung to life.

Yet off the stage, there is a playfulness about him that is unexpected.

After all, on stage, his image is as the Ice Dragon. He’s the cocky, swaggering bad Beta, who every Alpha should want to tame.

In his vlogs, however, he’s sunny with an infectious laugh.

How much of his image is made up? Fake?

A mask?

How hard is it to live a lie?

Since I have to hide my own identity as a resistance member, I should know. Except, I choose to hide one side of myself.

What if Jin didn’t get a choice about hiding his true identity?

Piper scrunches up his nose. “What am I watching? His magic trick is cute, but I don’t see…”

“Crick thinks that Jin has been asking for help. But whether he has or not,” I reply, “watching this collection of vlogs about how the Idol is treated each day by his staff is enough to know that he has to be rescued.”

Piper looks as uncomfortable as I do, when he notices that in each clip the superstar is surrounded by bodyguards who are actually more like guards.

Also, how nervous Jin appears of them.

How he flinches, when they move toward him.

Piper points at the Beta female staff member, who is just off camera. She should be a supervisor who supports and works for the star. Instead, she has the vibe of being his boss.

It’s subtle, but once you notice it, it’s impossible to miss.

Every time that she talks to Jin, his shining charisma is dimmed.

Jin smiles at the camera in a way that makes my heart melt. He leans closer to show his card trick. He appears as fanatical about them, as Piper is about coffee.

Just as he’s about to reveal the card, however, the supervisor’s sharp voice comes from off camera, “Pay attention to your posture.”

Instantly, as if he’s a puppet, Jin sits unnaturally straight, dropping the card.

Piper and I both wince.

It’s painful to watch.

Jin’s expression changes from a relaxed smile into a bright, fake one.

“Her ass,” I say through gritted teeth, “is going to be kicked.”

In the next clip, Jin has the task for the vlog of cooking with the punishment consequence of eating a Carolina Reaper chili, if he gets the recipe wrong. I notice that there is always a consequence, which is meant to be funny, for the games that they play.

I don’t find them fucking funny.

In his enthusiasm, Jin forgets the meal, and it begins to burn.

He can’t be good at everything. From what I’ve seen, he could fuck up boiling an egg.

Suddenly, the same supervisor’s voice snaps from off-screen, “Control your facial expression. You’re looking ugly for your fans.”

“Sorry.” Jin ducks his head.

He takes the Carolina Reaper, which is thrust at him in punishment. He struggles to smile prettily, even as he doubles over at its heat. Water streams from his eyes.

I hate this.

I fucking hate this.

This man is my Beta.

I feel it in my soul.

I may never be able to claim him. I don’t care. I must rescue him.

Please let me be able to.

Please.

If this is what’s shown to the public, what the hell is happening to Jin off camera?

Piper pushes the phone away. “Turn it off. I get it. He’s a celebrity but he’s a prisoner. We’ve seen it in enough abuse cases. We’ll get him out. I believe in you.”

“Thanks, Pip.” I slip the phone back into my pocket.

My pulse is racing. My palms are sweating.

I force back the tears. “I’ve been fighting for years to be accepted as a journalist. I’ll expose the entire music industry.

You know, us Wolf Siblings dream big and fight hard.

They want to keep their secrets hidden. Fuck that.

They’ve never faced an Omega like me before.

Perhaps, they can buy off or find a way to stop every other journalist. But I’m a resistance member, a Reject, and a survivor.

I’ll do anything to rescue my Beta, even go undercover. ”

I jump, when the front door to Coffee Knot Tea bangs open.

The scent of a powerful Alpha floods through the room.

Protectively, Piper twists on the counter to face the Alpha like he isn’t the smallest male Omega in Haven.

I rest my hand on his back in support. My heart skips a beat.