Page 5 of Bliss & Her Idols (Pack Bonds Omegaverse #10)

I’m seeing my Beta.

My stomach is twisted in knots. I only have tomorrow to plan how to start this mission.

Chase places his hands behind his head and rests against them like he hasn’t just managed the near impossible.

“I’m a resistance member who is bonded to a billionaire Omega.

That’s how I pulled this off. Luckily, I’m confident enough in my Alphalinity that I’m not challenged when Rook throws his money and status around to help me out, including snagging these.

Have you noticed the V.I.P pass? You get a meet and greet beforehand.

Don’t ask Jin anything that I wouldn’t. But then, I’d ask him literally anything. ”

My heart races.

A meet and greet as well?

I can ask my ideal Idol questions?

This is perfect.

Terrifying.

But perfect.

Except, I don’t know if I will freeze.

I’ve danced and lived my life to Jin’s sinful, rocky voice for a decade. I’ve put my iPod in and fallen to sleep to his honeyed singing. I’ve spent months analyzing every public appearance, vlog, and interview.

I don’t know anyone as well as I do Jin, apart from my own brothers.

Yet I don’t know him at all. At least, nothing real .

He’s untouchable.

But at the same time, mesmerizing.

I feel like I’m drowning, unable to suck in oxygen, when I look too long at Jin’s elegant face with his white hair and his fathomless dark eyes.

Sometimes, his shirt will hang open, revealing a flash of his gorgeous collarbone, teasing at the tempting body beneath his layers of silks and satins.

But only ever teasing.

What would it feel like to stroke down his willowy body and slowly strip away those layers, one by one?

Yet I’ve fallen for Jin’s playful side, which he reveals off stage. A side that is squashed by the staff, when it shines through.

Can I tease it out of him at the meet and greet? Break through his frozen exterior to the playful man inside?

I’ll be walking a tightrope, making sure that I don’t put the star in more danger than he already is in, while not revealing who I truly am.

If I do, then I could be executed. My brothers as well.

Yet I’m frightened that when Jin has such a burning screen presence and a charisma that makes fans scream and faint, I’ll open my mouth to ask him a question and nothing will come out.

My birthday wish is that the Beta who feels like mine will be freed.

At the same time, I’ll need to hold onto the painful truth that I am a thirty year old, Reject Omega who is married to only my work from an infamous, outcast pack.

I’m not deluded. Everything that I feel for Jin is only a fantasy, an intense daydream.

“Thanks, Wolf, this is an incredible present.” I peer at the tickets again, tracing over the raised gold V.I.P journalist pass lettering at the bottom.

“There are two of them.” Chase glances significantly between Piper and me. “You have a brother who is bouncing up and down next to me desperately trying to catch your eye, while pointing to his Immortal top.”

“I don’t do subtle.” Piper grins.

“Then it looks like the Wolf Siblings will be going to their first concert.” I wave the tickets.

“Yes!” Piper throws himself into my arms.

I carefully slide the precious tickets into my pocket, before nuzzling Piper.

“Aw, bring it in, cubs.” Chase wraps his arms around us both because he’s so much larger.

Piper and I purr.

Our pheromones are thicker in the air, mixing with Chase’s. Our scents are sweet with happiness.

“I have a gift too.” Piper’s voice is muffled against my neck. “You need a birthday cake, right?”

“You baked?” I try not to show the fear in my voice.

Piper is the potion master of baristas. But he’s more like the poisoner of bakers.

Chase and I exchange panicked glances.

Piper doesn’t notice but dives to a shelf underneath the counter. “Fuck, no. I don’t want you to be hugging the porcelain throne all evening on your birthday.”

I let out a huff of relief.

Piper pulls out a cake box, which is pink with the logo of the Dough Knot bakery on the top.

Chase’s expression brightens. “One of Candy’s creations.”

Piper nods, before opening the box with a flourish.

The rich, chocolate fudge cake (my favorite), has been shaped in the howling wolf design, which is inked onto each of our bodies.

“It’s beautiful.” My eyes burn with tears. I instinctively rest my hand on Piper’s shoulder over his tattoo. “I love it.”

“I’ve told you the story of the tattoo, haven’t I?” Chase looks thoughtful.

“You said that it’s the pack tradition to get it on our eighteenth birthday,” Piper replies, cautiously.

Chase paces, as if unsure how to begin. “We were once an elite pack. We follow the tradition, however, to ensure that our name isn’t wiped out like the government want because we’re rebels.

We won’t wear it as a badge of shame but rather, honor.

Our ancestors were Vikings. The tattoo was a way of them marking out as theirs every member of the pack: Alpha leaders, Beta servants, and the Omegas who they kidnapped.

Some packs still do that. Now, however, we’ll only ink our skin because we want to. It’s a sign of our freedom.”

Chase is rarely serious. He uses banter to protect himself.

It’s precious that he’s chosen to share this part of my heritage with me.

It’s another gift.

I reach to touch the tattoo on the back of my neck. “I wear it because it means that I’m a rebel and not a reject.”

I jangle the hateful Rej bracelet at my wrist.

“Because we’re the Wolf Siblings.” Piper flexes his arm, making the tattoo appear to move.

Chase taps his chest where his tattoo is. “I may be bonded to a Feral, but I’ll still always be a proud Wolf. It’s why I’m good hunting prey in and out of the ring. You need to become an Omega hunter, Little Wolf. Take this second gift. See if it helps hone your hunter instincts.”

When he reaches into his pocket, I stiffen.

If he’s about to hand me a gun, I’ll pass.

Tempting as it is, I’m not about to go all cave woman Omega and kidnap my Beta, before dragging him back to my cave.

It’d make a good dark romance novel. In real life, however, it’d be the best way to get myself arrested.

Instead, Chase slips a beautiful wolf hair clip out of his leather jacket pocket and fussily slides it into my hair.

It’s an exquisite and ornate silver, snarling wolf. Emeralds are used to mark out the eyes, ears, and fangs.

“Ehm,” I blink, “it’s lovely. But it makes me less hunter Omega and more pretty Omega on a first date.”

“Whoever said that you can’t be both?” Chase tucks my hair behind my ear, before messing with the slide again. “This is Lion’s gift.”

I smile.

Lionzio doesn’t have much money, since he escaped his cruel mafia family. He hasn’t got a bonded pack of his own and lives under his brother, the Chief Alpha of the Ferals.

He must have saved for months to buy me this clip.

“I want to thank him. Is he coming over later?” I ask.

Chase shakes his head. “Are you suggesting that our resident workaholic take more than one night off a week? Lion already came over for a movie night on Monday. He hasn’t finished working on the books for Harley’s MMA academy.

I tried to persuade him that he won’t be punished if he leaves them for one night — that he won’t be punished at all any more — but trauma’s a fucker. ”

I give a sad smile.

Yeah, it is.

“This clip is extra special.” Chase gives a wicked smile that puts me instantly on the alert. “You simply press the right fang on the wolf and the tiny hidden camera in it starts to record…” He presses on the emerald fang. “Then press the left one on it, and it stops.”

He touches the left fang.

I stroke over my new clip, which is actually a spy device.

Why has there never been an Omega James Bond?

I know who they should pick next for the role. If they choose Jex, the world’s most popular Omega movie star, everybody would watch it.

I straighten my shoulders and stand taller.

Chase leans closer.

His piercing gaze meets mine, as he lowers his voice. “Omega hunter, Little Wolf .”

I nod with fierce determination.

All of a sudden, a chirping sound vibrates from the pocket of my leather trousers.

Piper whistles. “Your source is smaller than I thought, if he can fit in there.”

“Your source ,” Chase says, suggestively. “Good work. He’s already managed to get into your pants.”

I flip Chase off, before dragging out my phone.

I can’t help my cheeks heating at the sound of the chirping or the image of the cute golden cartoon Cricket that flashes up.

It’s my alert that Cricket has sent me a private and encoded message.

I frown. Anxiety spikes through me.

It’s hardly past ten o’clock.

Cricket has never messaged me before midnight.

He’s avoided explaining the reason beyond loving being the last person to say goodnight to me , before knowing that I’m snuggling down to sleep in my nest.

It sounds like something a possessive Alpha would say.

I clutch my phone, stiffening with concern.

Is Cricket okay? What’s happened?

I’ve grown addicted to his nightly messages. He’s become my partner in crime.

A gut instinct of dread curls in my guts.

“You’d better go and check what your bug wants,” Piper says.

“Cricket.”

“Insect, right.” Piper grins at my hiss of outrage. “Chase and I can take the coffee and pastries around Haven now. Then when we’ve finished, we can enjoy a slice of your cake.”

I nod.

My phone chirps again.

I smile, softly.

My sweet, geeky Cricket is getting impatient.

“He’s the only one who makes you look like that.” Chase cocks his head. He studies me intently. “I like it.”

Confused, I turn to the door, which leads toward the stairs.

Piper and I live in a small flat above the shop.

“Like what?” I ask, pushing open the door.

“Kind of soft. Relaxed. Happy ,” Chase replies.

I blush but can’t stop the sudden burst of pheromones.

“Called it. Smelled it,” Piper mutters.

Maybe it’s not always a positive thing to have an Omega brother.

Chase crosses his arms. “Just something to think about. If a man, whether he’s a Beta, Alpha, or Omega, contacts you every night before you sleep, chats about his day and asks about yours, and makes sure that his is the last voice that you’ll hear before you sleep, then he’s not only a source.

Trust me, that’s him courting you. That’s him falling for you.

That’s him being more than your friend but being too shy to tell you.

He’s this socially anxious cute sheep, right?

Then why don’t you do what our pack does best and hunt him, Little Wolf? ”

My blush deepens.

On the other hand, my hands are clenched at my side, and my pupils are dilated.

My pussy is wet with slick.

I struggle not to whimper.

My brothers know me better than anyone in the world.

Chase understands just how much I’d love to be the predator to my shy prey, especially if Cricket has been waiting for me to make the first move for as long as I’ve known him.

If I could bring my prey back to my nest, then I’d ravish him and spend my life treasuring and spoiling him.

He’s the first man I’ve felt that about. I don’t understand it.

Yet will I lose him as a friend, if I pursue him?

“You’re wrong,” I whisper, not turning my head so that Chase can’t read the lie in my eyes.

He hears it in my voice anyway.

“You want him; he wants you. Seems simple to me. You just need to go get him. It’s your birthday, why not treat yourself?” Chase flashes a devilish grin. “Don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do.”

“So, nothing then.” Piper winks.

“Have fun with your man,” Chase says with a certainty that makes my stomach clench.

I swing open the door and run up the narrow stairs, trying to block out thoughts of Cricket wrapped safely in my nest.

Right now, Cricket has contacted me hours earlier than usual. It’s a red flag.

Panic rushes through me.

I speed up, taking the stairs two at a time

Fuck, while I’ve been celebrating my birthday, has my mission been falling apart behind the scenes?

Has Cricket’s hacker activities been found out, putting him at threat by the authorities?

Has Cricket found out something alarming about Jin?

Or is my sweet Cricket the one in danger?