Page 7 of Bliss & Her Idols (Pack Bonds Omegaverse #10)

I sit bolt upright. “Get out of here.”

“Ehm, okay. Well good night then, Bee…” Cricket’s voice is resigned.

As if he expected not be believed.

“Wait, wait, I didn’t mean it like that.

” I need to remember that this isn’t one of my brothers that I’m talking to.

Yet I feel close enough with Cricket, as if I’ve known him forever.

It hurts to imagine that he wouldn’t be there for a single night.

Now that I’ve spoken to him, I know I wouldn’t survive, if this connection was taken away from me.

“Sorry, that was shock. I believe you. You mean, you’ve been sending him fan mail. ”

“I mean that for the last eight years, he’s been writing back.”

I glance up at my Painting Jin.

I’ve been living with the fake illusion, but Cricket has known the true Jin through letters.

My chest tightens. “You know him.”

“As friends. I never expected him to write back to me. But then, he did. I think his letters are being monitored and read through. He never says anything negative. He talks like he’s happy all the time.

It’s why I don’t believe he is. I know what it’s like to pretend that everything is okay, when it really isn’t.

He tells me things that are true but bland like the songs he’s practicing, the costumes he’s trying out, or the weather.

Mostly, he loves hearing about what I tell him and he asks questions about that.

What’s it like in the forest? What did I make for my brothers’ Christmas gifts?

What are my favorite computer games? He’s clueless about anything online.

It’s funny that he’s a celebrity but he’s fascinated by how I cook peanut soup. ”

I laugh.

Wow, that wasn’t what I was expecting.

But then, is anything from the hours of interviews that I’ve watched with Jin real or only fake promotion?

“He’s this ethereal star on the stage.” I tilt my head. “It’s hard to think of him writing to you about peanut soup.”

“He’s a real person .” For the first time, Cricket sounds frustrated.

“I’m not good at talking, I know. But please understand.

Some of Jin’s letters are scripted like he has to protect himself from his staff.

Yet his playful curiosity still shines through them.

He’s thoughtful, kind, and humble. He never talks about his fame, only his hard work. His true beauty is his personality.”

I can’t hold back my smile.

I know that Jin is beautiful and talented.

I’ve always felt a fated connection to him.

But he still could have been a dickhead.

It’s awesome to find out that he isn’t.

“Fame is what we do to people,” I mutter.

“What if he’s trying to fly free from the cage?”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?” I demand. “We’ve been friends for a year. Don’t you trust me? It kind of hurts.”

“I do trust you, Bee,” Cricket replies, “more than I’ve ever trusted anyone.

I wouldn’t have risked what I have — suffered what I have — if I didn’t.

But Jin’s letters are private. He’s chosen to write to me.

I sent him a package with a knitted golden cricket that I made for him and just laid out my soul about my own life not because I expected anything back…

I’m invisible to everyone. So, I never dreamed that someone like Jin would see me.

But I wanted him to know how much his music meant to me.

My life is difficult, but Jin’s music helped me through it.

I thought that he got enough hate online from trolls and people who only cared about how sexy he is.

I was shocked that he’d actually read my letter.

He said that it helped him too. He sent me one back with a knitted dragon inside.

It’s the only soft thing that I have. It smells of him.

My Dragon. I like to think that he kept my cricket too.

I couldn’t betray his trust. Please tell me that you understand? ”

My expression softens. “Of course I do. But why are you telling me now then?”

“Because in the last month, I’ve become increasingly sure from the cryptic and unusual way the letters are written that Jin is working codes into them. After the letter that arrived this week, I’m certain.”

My heart is beating wildly.

I run my hand through my hair.

A code? Smuggled out in fan letters?

Jin must be using the code to hide whatever the message is from his staff and security team.

I knew that I wasn’t being paranoid about those vlogs.

“Are you an expert at codes as well as a hacker?” My pulse speeds up, as excitement rushes through me.

This man is extraordinary.

If Cricket is an Omega, then I’d bet my year’s supply of coffee that Piper tries to recruit him into the BPU.

“Well, I’m a better hacker than I am code breaker, or I’d have worked out what Dragon was talking about sooner,” Cricket admits. “That’s why I’m one of the FBI’s most wanted.”

I freeze.

What. The. Hell?

I cough and then clear my throat.

“Are you still there, Bee?” Cricket says in a small voice.

“Yep,” I force myself to squeak, even though adrenaline is rushing through me.

I thought that I’d been the one who was hiding the deadly secret.

All this time, however, my geek has been one of the most wanted criminals in America.

“Surely there aren’t many hackers who are…

? I mean, there’s Knot Crusher of course but he’s…

and you couldn’t be…? After all, he’s the hacker who has been causing disruption to billionaire, corrupt Alphas everywhere for the last… Fuck, you are, aren’t you?”

“Congratulations, you’re the first person to find out who the anonymous hacker Knot Crusher is.

” Cricket sounds proud and shy at the same time, which is an impressive thing to pull off.

“It’s another reason that I contact you at night.

My pack are all asleep, which is when I can use my brother’s computer and pull off the stunts. ”

I throw myself onto my back with a laugh.

“Fuck, you’re awesome. I follow Knot Crusher.

Every liberal pack and most Omegas do. You’re so funny.

Your memes and subversive stealth attacks are legendary.

Last month, when you changed Immortal’s album cover to the six Idol bosses illustrated as shadow vampires sucking Immortal’s lifeblood was epic.

Especially, when the picture mysteriously appeared on the front of every music magazine. ”

Yet I battle to hide my fear.

Knot Crusher is infamous.

If the authorities ever catch Cricket, then they’ll make an example out of him just like they did my parents.

If he’s an Omega, he wouldn’t simply be sent to the Institute to be reconditioned and then auctioned to a pack, or if an Alpha, to the Alpha Center.

He wouldn’t merely be broken.

He’d be executed.

“Mockery is the secret weapon of us Omegas.” Cricket chirps in excitement. “I want those powerful Alphas who think that Omegas are weak and can be controlled to know that we can fight back.”

Omega.

My Omega.

I suck in a sharp breath.

Then warmth floods through me.

A sense of rightness settles over me at his confirmation. I truly didn’t mind what dynamic he turned out to be, he’s simply my Cricket.

Knowing that he can be my Omega , however, settles something in my soul.

“You’re an Omega,” I say slowly because my mind is frozen on that.

“Is th-that…?” Cricket stutters, catching himself. “Is th-that okay? I shouldn’t have told you. I don’t mean to encroach on your territory. I swear, you’re in control here. We can still be friends. You won’t hate me for being an Omega, right? Please tell me that I haven’t screwed this up?”

Confused at his distress, for the first time, I regret that he’s not in the same room as me, so that I can soothe him with my pheromones. “Woah, calm down. It’s fine. We’ll always be friends. You don’t need to keep apologizing.”

“Would you prefer me to beg for forgiveness? It’s only that I’ve been taught by Dad to say sorry. It’s up to the Alpha to say whether I’m worthy of forgiveness.”

I clench my jaw.

His dad is a knothead.

“You are worthy, but also, there’s nothing to be forgiven. I can’t sleep without you wishing me sweet dreams , remember? And I love Omegas being in my territory. They’re cuddly and shit. Why wouldn’t I?”

“You make me feel safe,” Cricket replies in a breathless rush like if he doesn’t tell me this quickly, then he won’t have the courage.

“I don’t have other Omega friends. I did once.

At least, I thought that she would be. I was eighteen.

Dad promised me to his best friend’s pack.

The Alphas were twice my age, but their female Omega was only a couple of years older than I was.

She seemed friendly. She promised that she’d look after me and show me how to act. I was so happy.”

A promised pack to his dad’s Alpha best friend, when Cricket was only eighteen?

I let out a growl, before I can stop myself.

It’s more than the dread that’s curdling my stomach. It’s the thought of Cricket being promised against his will to someone else.

Fuck, I have it bad for Cricket. Only now does it hit how close I came to losing him.

“What happened?” I whisper.

I don’t want to know, but at the same time, I have to.

“I moved into their house, before the bond. At the start, they were nicer than my own family to me. At least, they didn’t beat me, even when I made mistakes.

The Alphas even courted me. They gave me gifts.

” Cricket’s voice is raw and vulnerable.

“But they were the female Omega’s scent matches.

They weren’t mine. I was only the Second Omega in the pack.

None of them loved me. It was made clear that I was there to keep house.

But I’m a realist. I understood my responsibilities and role.

The female Omega wasn’t cruel; she simply ignored me.

I wasn’t allowed in the bed or in her nest. I had a small bedroom of my own.

I thought that was normal. What I deserved. ”