Page 34 of Bliss & Her Idols (Pack Bonds Omegaverse #10)

Torin growls, when Craven leans over Jin, trapping him on the throne.

Jin must be under orders not to move, but his hands twitch like he’s desperate to push the man away.

I glare at Zoe, willing her to intervene as Jin’s supervisor. Isn’t she there to support and protect him?

Only, she doesn’t.

“Look what I’ll do for you, pretty boy.” Craven is attempting to dominate Jin, probably to shore up his fragile Alpha ego that’s about to take a battering from his poor performance.

“ I’m the Influencer Knot King in front of a camera.

But you want more tribute, huh? Fuck that.

Alphas don’t waste time messing around on toys like this. I leave that to sweet Betas like you.”

Jin’s lips thin.

“You must play or be disqualified.” Serenity’s voice is hard. “Then you will be removed from the island.”

For a moment, I think that Craven is going to hit Jin.

Torin moves faster than I knew he could, pushing Cricket into my arms and throwing himself toward the stage with a snarl.

Craven backs away from Jin with his hands held up to appease Torin. His eyes are wide with fear.

Torin’s dominant pheromones are flooding the room. It’s enough to make every single person here want to drop to their knees.

“Okay, okay, fuck, what’s your problem?” Craven bangs his knee, as he settles himself awkwardly behind the drum set.

He stares at it in confused defeat.

Then he picks up the drumsticks and beats out a furious rhythm that makes me wince.

Ouch, that’s painful.

Craven hits the cymbal, before hurling the drumsticks down.

He’s panting hard.

Nobody applauds.

“Fuck this shit.” Craven slips out from behind the drums.

Before he can storm off the stage, however, Serenity stops him.

“All contestants must wait for Ice Dragon’s judgment at the back of the stage,” Serenity says with smug satisfaction.

“Since when did Alphas wait on Betas?” Craven mutters, crossing his arms.

Please let him come last.

I hope that Jin can see me, even if I’m in darkness.

At least, let him be able to sense me.

Cricket and I nuzzle at each other’s necks, licking and breathing in each other’s comforting pheromones, as the spotlight of doom starts sweeping over the room again.

“Not me,” Cricket whispers, repeatedly. “Not me, please .”

I take fast, scared breaths.

If this goes wrong, then we’ll be losing our Beta this morning.

Could I perform better than Craven?

It may not be up to Jin but the producers. Yet the audience will be reacting to the show, and the producers will know that they can’t go against the obvious winner and loser.

Right?

I clench my jaw.

I tense, when the spotlight appears to hesitate on Cricket and me.

No…

Then it moves just slightly to the left, shining on Leah.

I can’t help the flood of relief. I still reach out to squeeze her arm, reassuringly.

I’m surprised at the confidence with which she strolls up onto the stage.

She smiles at Jin. “I’m a big fan. You’re the best singer. Your songs have helped me through some tough times. See this as me paying you back for the joy you’ve brought into my life, okay?”

Jin flushes with pride but can’t hide his confusion.

Leah sits down behind the white grand piano with a flourish. She stretches, before softly placing her fingers on the keys.

“She’s going to be good,” I mutter. “She looks professional.”

Leah closes her eyes, arching her neck.

Then she launches into Mozart’s “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” all played with just two fingers.

Badly.

I gape at her.

She’s throwing this contest on purpose for Jin’s sake.

For the sake of love and pack bonds.

When she finishes, there’s a resounding silence, only broken by Torin’s laughter and then loud clapping.

Sawyer joins in.

He’s grinning.

“There’s my Omega,” Sawyer says with deep pride.

I whoop and cheer. Even Cricket joins in.

Jin’s lips twitch. “Thank you.”

I can tell that he’s not meant to be speaking by the way that Zoe immediately lays her hand in warning on his shoulder.

He flinches.

Leah stands up and sweeps a bow, then waltzes to stand next to the glowering Craven.

Two down, three to go.

Instantly, the spotlights sweep the room. I’m not as anxious as I was before.

But still, I’m happy, when the light lands on a quiet Omega who looks barely out of college. She was paired with the oil baron in his sixties. She’s the most fragile of the Omegas here, but at the same time, has a constantly sneering expression, as if this whole experience is beneath her.

She’s wearing a frilly pink dress, which matches her pale pink hair that hangs to her ass.

She doesn’t even hesitate.

She walks up onto the stage, ignoring Jin.

I guess she thinks that he’s beneath her as well.

She’s the type of cherished Omega who believes that Betas, no matter who they were before they bonded, are no more than servants.

I shudder at the thought that Jin could be won by someone like her. She doesn’t even seem to see him as a prize.

With a bored expression, she picks up the recorder and plays a precise but joyless tune.

So far, it’s the best performance.

“She can’t win,” Cricket whispers fiercely and unexpectedly into my ear. “She’s just like the female Omega in my first pack. The one who rejected me. I won’t let her take such an incredible man and treat him like I was.”

“We won’t allow that to happen,” I promise.

Is it possible to manifest musical ability through love alone?

The pink haired Omega finishes to half-hearted applause and joins the other contestants at the back of the stage.

“Two packs remain,” Serenity announces. “Those who have yet to compete move into the middle of the room.”

Reluctantly, I tug Cricket with me closer to Easter and her Alpha in the middle of the oak floor. Torin prowls closer as well.

Huddled together, the spotlight appears on each of us in turn like a gun shot.

I grit my teeth.

“Me, me, me,” Torin chants.

The spotlight lands on Easter.

“Not me.” Cricket breathes out in relief.

Yet the way that Easter gives me a smug, satisfied smile, narrowing her gaze at Jin makes me uneasy.

She wanted to be picked.

Easter struts to the stage.

I expect her to ignore Jin like the pink haired Omega did but instead, she stops in front of him.

Jin shifts on his throne, uncomfortable.

“I’ve dreamed of this moment for a long time.

” Easter’s voice is surprisingly flat. “I didn’t know what I’d do when I met you.

You’re not as beautiful in real life, did you know that?

I guess that you should never meet your idols, huh?

We turn you into something to be worshiped, but you’re nothing special.

I look forward to taking you into my pack and showing you your place, no different to any Beta. I’ll break the arrogance from you.”

Jin is shaking.

But then, so am I.

I need to snatch both Torin and Cricket by the elbows to stop them both from launching themselves onto the stage to drag Easter away from Jin.

We’ve all worked too hard and are now too close to our goal to lose this by getting ourselves disqualified.

Is that what Easter is trying to do? Get other packs disqualified?

Torin isn’t the only Alpha who is growling at Easter now.

Easter leans forward to take Jin by the chin like she has any right to touch him.

Still Zoe doesn’t stop her.

How many other people has Zoe allowed to touch Jin?

And that’s my breaking point.

“Don’t touch him,” I snarl at the same time as Cricket does.

Torin stalks to the front of the stage and thumps it with his fist.

Finally, Easter jumps away from Jin with a squeal. Torin’s furious scent of burned tea washes over the room.

“Take your hands off him,” Torin orders. “He’s not your bonded Beta yet. He is, however, my pack. Play, before I show you what happens to those who touch members of my pack without permission. Then you won’t have hands to be able to play with.”

Sawyer barks with laughter.

Easter blanches, scrambling away from Jin. She snatches up the violin.

I relax.

Nobody can play a violin the first time that they try.

I prepare to hear a painful squeaky din.

Instead, the room is filled with a passionless but technically brilliant performance.

My eyes widen. “Fuck.”

“She’s good, isn’t she?” Cricket whispers. “I don’t know anything about classical music, but this sounds…”

“Like she’d be a professional if she wasn’t an Omega.” There’s a lump in my throat.

This woman is the worst of the Omegas. I hate that she may win this task.

When the strains of Easter’s final, poignant note die down, everybody claps.

But it’s reluctant.

Nobody liked how Easter spoke to Jin.

When I glance at her Alpha, Montserrat, I can see by her sour expression that apparently even she isn’t that keen on Easter either.

Now, my heartbeat quickens.

Because there is only our pack left to play.

I tighten my arm around Cricket. “Whoever is chosen, we simply need to do our best. After the asshole behavior of most of those people, it isn’t a high level that we need to beat.”

Yet only Torin has a chance of playing better than Easter, and I don’t know if he can. I’ve never heard him play guitar.

A hush falls over the group.

Then the spotlight flits between the three of us teasingly.

Please, select Torin.

Torin never turns around, keeping Jin’s gaze like he’s determined that he’ll be the one to go up there and fight for the Beta.

“Tor,” I whisper. “Pick…”

The spotlight lands on Torin.

“Yes!” Cricket finally brightens, bouncing up and down. “Go show them how amazing you are, Charming.”

Torin looks around like he’s waiting on similar words of encouragement from me.

What did he call himself? Forgotten? Invisible?

“I see you,” I say, “whether you win or not. Now make sure that everybody fucking hears you.”

Torin blinks at me in wonder. Then his smile widens.

He salutes me. “Anything for the most beautiful Omegas in the world.”

He swaggers to the stage, ignoring the stairs, and climbs onto it.

Torin stalks to Jin, who stares at the Alpha entranced.

Instead of intimidating or caging the Beta, Torin drops to one knee in front of him.

The other Alphas in the room suck in their breath.

No Alpha would normally willingly kneel for a Beta like this, even in role play with one as the King.

Yet it doesn’t make Torin look weak, only strong enough to make this romantic gesture without worrying about what anyone else thinks about him.

“My King,” Torin declares with a rumbling intensity like ice shifting in the depths of the freezing ocean, “I will be offering you my performance of a song that I wrote for you last night.”

I wondered what Torin was doing, scribbling frantically on sheets of paper, while I’d been tossing and turning and failing to sleep.

Cricket was the only one who snored happily through the night.

Jin gives a genuine smile, his first of the day. “I accept your tribute.”

Zoe tightens her hand on Jin’s shoulder, but he ignores it.

Jin watches with the same eagerness as me, as Torin prowls to the electric guitar and straps it over his shoulder.

Torin fiddles with it, tuning it for a moment.

Then he strokes over the guitar’s cool wood like he’s feeling out the soul of the instrument. He takes a final breath, before he begins to play or more, as if his heart and blood bleed from the guitar… weep from it.

He’s fucking shredding it.

His riffs and energy are mind-blowing.

I seriously didn’t expect this.

Frozen, I stare at Torin.

He comes alive on stage. He’s rocking out like some of the great Beta musicians and showmen: Jimmi Hendrix, Keith Richards, or Brian May.

Did Torin always want to perform?

Has this also been taken away from him by his Head Alpha?

Because he should be performing.

The entire room is caught in a bubble, electrified as Torin plays.

Jin is leaning forward, mesmerized.

Torin throws himself back onto his knees in front of Jin, as the final chords reverberate to the high ceiling.

Jin is looking down at Torin, however, like he’s the King.

It’s impossible to miss the love and admiration in his eyes.

Instantly, everyone (with the notable exception of Easter), burst into wild applause.

Cricket and I jump up and down, before rushing toward the front to stare up at the two men, singer and guitarist, who are our pack.

Our Alpha and Beta.

Right now it’s clear that Cricket is president of both these men’s fan clubs. I wish that I could write a review of Torin’s performance. I would rate it five stars.

I may write him a private one later, so that he can frame it.

Panting, Torin removes the guitar, laying it at Jin’s feet like his soul lies inside, before moving to stand next to the other five contestants.

“Now, Ice Dragon will deliver one dead rose to the contestant whose chances at a bond are dead,” Serenity says with breathy anticipation.

“They will immediately leave the island. Then he will give a living rose to the contestant whose performance he judged the best because romance has a chance to blossom. The reward will be a date alone together this evening.”

“Here it comes.” I bite my lip.

Jin takes both a healthy and a withered purple rose out from the inside pocket of his robe.

He stands from the throne, walking without hesitation toward Craven.

He passes the withered rose to him. “Please leave Pack Bonds island.”

I sigh.

We’re safe.

Craven grimaces. “I was only here for the exposure anyway.”

Jin clutches the remaining rose hard in his hand.

He turns away, catching Torin’s eye. He smiles, eagerly beginning to walk down the line toward him.

He’s going to pick our pack for the date.

When Zoe rests her hand hurriedly on Jin’s back, I’m shocked by the way that Jin gasps.

Has she pinched him?

Jin looks pleadingly back at her over his shoulder, but she shakes her head.

Reluctantly, Jin stops at Easter.

“Why’s he stopping?” Cricket hisses. “Our Alpha was better. Charming should win. This isn’t fair.”

“What made you think that this contest would be fair?” I reply.

I watch, and horror turns my guts to ice, as Jin almost throws the remaining rose at Easter.

“Congratulations on winning the first task,” Jin forces out.

Torin’s blazing gaze meets mine.

We tried.

We’re not going to be thrown off the island.

Yet I know that none of us will be sleeping tonight.

How can we, when we know that our Beta is on a date alone with an Omega who has promised that she’ll break him?