Page 4

Elijah spoke again before any of them could form questions.

“I didn’t tell anyone because, honestly, it didn’t have a good chance of working.

For something like this, we would have to hit a certain level of popularity and respect that I couldn’t guarantee we would reach.

We would have to somehow manage to completely avoid scandal, and we would have to balance on that line of perfect chemistry that isn’t too little or too much all the time. ”

“It was a faraway hope,” Kalen agreed, “But it paid off because it’s actually working. Braun’s team have noticed a huge uptick in theory videos circulating online about Isobel being in secret relationships with every single one of you—except us, of course.” He motioned between himself and Mikel .

“Well, yes, that was never supposed to happen,” Elijah agreed. “But all eight of us? Even Kilian?”

“Those videos had a slightly different tone.” Kalen pulled out his phone and tapped at the screen a few times.

“In the list of the most popular fan-made videos with the Eleven hashtag, these were the second and third most popular: ‘Kilibel is the cutest duo in the world,’ and ‘Kilibel sexual tension that I wish was real.’”

“Kilibel,” Moses stated, somehow even more expressionless.

That was all he said.

“We didn’t come up with it ourselves,” Isobel said, hiding her cringe.

“What was first?” Kilian asked. “You said those were the second and third most popular videos?”

“Yeah.” Kalen swiped his thumb across his phone screen. “Theodore Kane getting his way Eleven times over.”

“I don’t get it,” Moses said, looking genuinely confused.

One side of Kalen’s mouth lifted, something in his amber eyes hinting at amusement. “You don’t get it in the video either.”

He tapped his screen and turned his phone around to show them all the video.

Everyone leaned forward to peer at clip after clip of their group members treating Theodore with offhand care like they didn’t even realise they were passing him drinks, squeezing his shoulders, or treating him with obvious favouritism.

There were videos of Oscar shoving coffees into his hand without a word, Cian fixing his hair, Kilian complimenting his outfits, Isobel clapping at his dancing or singing, her lips forming the word wow , her eyes full of stars.

It showed Elijah smirking at him in an expression that was almost indulgent and Gabriel holding doors open for him.

It showed a clip of Niko play-fighting with several of the guys, but when he did it with Theodore, his movements were considerably gentler and more affectionate.

It even showed several clips of Mikel and Kalen praising him, but right at the end of the video, the tone suddenly switched to show almost a dozen instances of Moses rolling his eyes at his brother in utter disbelief and exasperation.

Isobel pressed her lips together to keep from giggling, but the others weren’t as restrained.

Most of them burst into laughter, a slight flush creeping along Moses’ cheeks.

He wasn’t used to being the centre of attention or the most popular part of those viral videos, but the comments section was flooded with sudden praise for how low-key hilarious he was—interspersed with praise for Theodore, of course. Theodore’s popularity was unbelievable.

There was a rumour going around that a female Ironside student from the Rising Stars campus—which housed the first- and second-year students back in Arizona—had been sent to the medical centre with “ unknown injuries” after stating in a live video that Theodore was overrated.

Isobel cut a look to the man in question, noting the way he tucked the wavy dark strands of his hair behind his ears, his lips caught in an amused wince.

At least he had the decency to look embarrassed.

And yes, naturally, even shame suited him.

It was very hard to find fault with Theodore.

Unless you were his own brother. Moses probably didn’t think that Theodore managed to cringe in a hot way.

“All right, back to the topic,” Kalen said as Theodore shook off his shame and launched his overlarge, muscled body onto Moses, terrorising him with demands about why he didn’t love him.

Moses was laughing when Oscar and Niko broke them apart, the four of them falling against the back mirror with matching smirks. Isobel just stared at them, shaking her head.

Her black-haired boys.

Oscar caught her stare, his brow arching up again, his wrist hanging over his bent knee, his posture so relaxed and inviting, she wanted to crawl over to him.

He knew it too. His lips twitched, eyes darkening, fingertips flexing like he was seconds away from beckoning her over, but Kalen was speaking again, so she reluctantly dragged her attention away from her four dark-haired mates lounged up against the mirror and forced her mind not to try and picture her light-haired mates lined up along the opposite wall like angels and demons facing off, Kalen and Mikel standing in the centre like they were ruling over this sinful heaven and were devious enough to orchestrate the test just to see which direction she would crawl in.

“Anyway,” Mikel spoke up, eyeing her with just enough curiosity to convince her he had felt some of her distracted emotion through the bond. “Braun has correctly interpreted this as a rare opportunity and wants to implement a new social media strategy.”

They all waited, watching Kalen and Mikel as a touch of wariness stirred inside Isobel’s chest. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust them—or Elijah’s plans—but she didn’t always agree with her father’s methods.

He came up with a new plan every month, each one more outrageous than the last. He was determined to tear open the narrow future Ironside had corralled her and the Alphas into.

She imagined him pacing his penthouse and raging at all of his assistants.

Not my boys! Not on my watch! She pictured him snarling the words into a phone, his face red, and her lips quirked up a little.

“This isn’t Braun’s plan,” Mikel said, his eyes landing on Isobel.

It seemed that he was paying very close attention to her through their connection.

“We explained to him that Elijah had mapped this out as a possibility and had a path forward already planned to take advantage if this happened. Braun latched onto the idea and is willing to throw his might behind it.”

“His might,” Isobel repeated, her lips pursing. “That’s exactly what I’m worried about. He’s less like a silent dagger in the night and more like a bull in a china shop.”

Mikel’s hard lips quirked at the corner. “Normally, I would agree.”

“What does that mean, exactly—that he’s willing to put his might behind the idea?” Elijah asked, surprising them all that he didn’t already know.

“Backspace,” Moses sighed dramatically. “The rest of us idiots still don’t even know what the plan is.”

“To spoon-feed the fans content directly related to whatever is trending,” Elijah responded.

“It almost turns it into their idea, like something they’re orchestrating, rather than something we’re hiding and lying to them about.

They love the hunt for secret meaning, and they love when they’re right.

That quest to be proved right will trick them, in a way, into celebrating when they are right.

If it’s done well,” he added hastily. “Done in the wrong way, it’ll backfire spectacularly, and we’ll all be cancelled. ”

“What’s the wrong way?” Cian asked, frowning.

“Giving them something they’re not asking for.

If all the videos are about Isobel and Kilian, but we give them Isobel and Oscar, then we’ll piss them off.

If they’re obsessed with Kilian and Isobel’s chemistry, we need to give them more of that.

Little bits at a time. We gently turn up the intensity, and then we slip Theodore into a few of the moments, and suddenly they’ll transfer that energy to him too. ”

“You really missed your calling,” Niko grumbled, staring at Elijah like he was a little afraid of him.

“As what?” Elijah seemed genuinely confused. As smart as he was, he could also get a little hyper-focussed and tunnel-visioned, and sudden changes in topic were able to throw him off.

“I don’t know?” Niko shrugged. “An evil mastermind? A dictator? A dictator’s publicist?”

Elijah snorted.

Niko pointed accusingly at him. “If Theo had said that, you would have laughed.”

“I knew it!” Theodore threw up his hands. “I knew I should have just stayed in bed today.”

“Have you ever?” Isobel asked, truly curious.

He eyed her. “No. I’m going to start. Wanna join?”

“No flirting during the small group session.” Moses flung out a leg over Oscar’s lap, kicking Theodore hard in the stomach.

Theodore barely blinked, just shoved off his brother’s foot and waited for Isobel’s answer. Eventually, she couldn’t take it anymore, and a small giggle fell out of her. He grinned like he had won some sort of battle, and the others all looked at her.

Mikel’s eyes narrowed on her face for a moment, his expression assessing. He wouldn’t call her out in front of the entire group, but she could feel his words as clearly as if he had spoken them all the same.

You’re unfocussed today .

She quickly straightened. “Uh, so, how is my father planning on throwing his weight behind this plan of Elijah’s?”

“He wants to remove some of the risk.” Kalen’s assessing eyes flicked briefly between Mikel and her.

“The media expert he hired has a massive team who will leak the videos we want and boost visibility and positive engagement with fake fan accounts. Instead of relying on the public to pick up the threads we’re laying down, he wants to …

” He frowned momentarily, trying to find the right word.

“Force-feed?” Elijah supplied.

“Manipulate?” Gabriel guessed.

“Both of those things, but also neither of them.” Kalen nodded.

“People still have the choice to believe it or not, but they will feel like this is becoming popular opinion when, in reality, it’s a small army of employees spending all day posting under false accounts that have been warming up for years for purposes just like these.

Braun won’t be the first public figure or company to do this. ”

“Sure.” Oscar shrugged. “Whatever gets us what we need.”

Moses was frowning a little, but he also shrugged.

“I don’t see how even an army can convince the entire world that Isobel and I have more chemistry than she has with the others, but …

” He trailed off, a little shocked at the way everyone’s heads had just snapped to him, eyes wide.

“What?” he blinked back at them, not even looking at Isobel.

“Did you mistake me for someone who likes to play dumb?”

Isobel swallowed, unsure what to say. She wasn’t in a relationship with Moses, despite him being her mate. Despite her throat remembering the shape of his dick. She swallowed again, choked up for a different reason.

She really was unfocussed.

“Am I leaking power?” Oscar suddenly asked, drawing the attention away from Moses. He was trying to look genuinely confused, but befuddlement simply wasn’t a look that naturally clung to his features. He was turning his palms before his face like he was searching for errant chaos.

Moses shot him a short look that might have been gratitude, and they all moved on, quietly debating the merits of Braun’s idea.

But Isobel couldn’t move on.

Was she being unfair?

She hadn’t been the initiator in her relationships with the others. They had pursued her in their own ways, at their own pace. Moses had pursued her once too. He had pressed her up against Theodore’s bedroom door and almost kissed her, and she had used her safe word.

She knew that the others were waiting for her to indicate that she was ready for something more with them, but looking at Moses now, she realised that wasn’t the case with him. He actually needed her to make a move if she wanted to establish a romantic relationship with him.

He was requiring her to make the decision, not to simply be ready for him.

Unfortunately, “decisions” were pesky little things she desperately liked to avoid because she didn’t want the responsibility of upsetting their friendships and relationships with each other.

At least if she only allowed them to pursue her, she could be a little less at fault if it caused tension.

It was typical, in a way, that Moses was forcing her to do this. He always did things the hard way.