Page 16 of Lyric & the Heartbeats

We’re auditioning for her band, not a pack.

Just how crushed would Adra be if she didn’t choose him for the position?

No, he’d be fine. Nothing would compare to how crushed he’d been after his first pack…

His heart threatened to beat out of his chest at just the memory, and he pushed it aside. He focused on navigating traffic and getting to the hotel.

And if by some miracle, Lyric chose him?

That omega would surely own him.

“Ready?” Andi asked, clipboard in hand and a smile on her lips.

With a deep breath, Lyric nodded. “As I’ll ever be.”

Lyric stood in the center of a large, elegant room. It was the conference hall of a prestigious hotel. She hadn’t set foot in one so fancy since she’d been little, but the ceilings still seemed forever tall.

Andi tapped her Bluetooth earpiece and said something to the guards outside the large doors, but all Lyric could focus on was the shiny brass knobs.

Through those doors would walk the remaining applicants. It was time for round two. They’d all been the subject of intense interviews with the omega center, and all had passed with flying colors—except one.

And Lyric had to finally choose who her bandmates would be. Who she’d be spending twenty-four hours a day with for six weeks straight. And that wasn’t counting the two weeks they’d spend preparing.

Her thoughts ground to a halt when the handles turned. It was almost a relief when Adra walked through first, a smile curling his lips as he looked down at the floor and chuckled at something. It was like seeing a familiar face, and the tension in her shoulders eased.

He technically was a familiar face. She’d watched his audition tape enough she could practically quote it. From the embarrassing introduction they’d had, to the way his fingers moved over the keys like magic, to the awkward goodbye they’d shared.

His gaze latched onto her as he glanced up, and his footsteps stuttered before he paused in the middle of the tiled floor.

“Hey, watch it,” a feminine voice said, and a tiny, dark-haired woman shoved his arm as she walked past him. “Oh, someone’s a little starstruck,” Desi teased over her shoulder.

Adra’s cheeks darkened with embarrassment, and Lyric couldn’t resist the smile that graced her lips.

Desi shot her a wink as she took a seat behind the drums like she belonged there.

“C’mere, big guy,” she called, and waved Adra over. He took his place behind the keyboard and the synth setup and drifted his fingers over the shiny keys gently.

They’d been instructed to leave their own equipment at home. This round was supposed to be more casual. Lyric had narrowed it down to the most talented… now she just had to narrow it down to the people she felt she could spend two months with and not want to wring their necks.

The doors closed with a loud bang, and Lyric stood, ready to introduce herself, and wiped her sweaty hands on her jeans.

All eyes turned to her, and she eyed the empty chair. Someone was miss—

Knocking sounded on the door, and Lyric turned toward it, realizing who it would be a split second before Andi opened the doors.

“I’m so sorry,” Nohen blurted, straightening his button-up shirt. “So sorry,” he muttered, rushing through the room to the empty chair.

“I take it time management is not one of your skills then?” Lyric couldn’t help but tease.

He ruffled a hand through his short, dark waves and sent her a lopsided grin. For a split second, she was struck stupid. He was utterly, absolutely attractive. With his warm olive skin and even warmer smile filled with absolutely no shame, she knew she needed to tear her gaze from his golden orbs before—

“Time may not be on my side, but trust me, I know where my priorities are.”

Heat rushed through Lyric’s body, and she did have to tear her gaze from his to focus on the rest of the room. But out of the corner of her eye, she noticed him take a seat near Desi and Adra, offering them another half smile.

Was it just coincidence that the three people she felt most connected to had already flocked together?

Andi clicked her pen nearby, and Lyric snapped back into the moment.