Page 131 of The Rogues

“Maybe this means we can finally come out as a pack,” Lennon says, his lips curved into a hopeful smile. “Maybe we can be honest about all of it.”

Before any of us can wrap our minds around that, Cyrus’s phone rings.

“It’s Mac,” he says before answering. “Hey, man… Yeah, we’re looking at it right now. What are they saying?”

I try to gauge whatever Mac is saying by looking at Cyrus’s face and feeling him through the bond. He seems steady, focused. There’s nothing there to indicate that this might be the disaster I expect.

Remi slaps a hand on my shoulder, watching our prime. The others all sit in anticipation, their scents spiking with thunderous undertones.

“God, I can’t take it anymore. Put it on speaker,” Malaki grumbles.

Cyrus looks at us and sighs. “Hold on, Mac.” He pulls his phone back and presses the speaker button. “Can you repeat what you just said?”

“Unfortunately,” our manager gripes. “The guys over at Midnight Records are freaking out. So far, the source can’t be traced. They have no idea who took those pictures of you. It couldn’t be anyone who worked at the venues, but the pictures are spread out too much for that. The roadies who moved from city to city with us were under ironclad NDAs, and they were under time stamps from the company they work for.” He pauses. “The original story came from a magazine that’s under-known, and they said they received an anonymous tip with all the information, but still no luck.”

“Is this going to affect our contracts?” Cyrus asks.

“I don’t think so. You didn’t do this yourself. We did everything to keep it under wraps. I think they’re going to find a way to explain it rather than have you two outright deny it.”

Cyrus takes him off speaker and walks away to ask a few more questions. The rest of the guys look at me, their eyes wide.

“Well, that’s good at least! Maybe this won’t be as damaging as they thought.”

“It shouldn’t be damaging at all,” Josie interjects, her lips turning into a snarl. “I mean, having you two pretend you’re not together was a bullshit thing to ask to begin with. I mean, it’s not the twentieth century anymore. It’s barbaric.”

Seeing her so passionate makes my stomach flutter. “We were young and didn’t expect them to take advantage of us like that. You’re right though, they should have never demanded that of us.”

Cyrus walks back over a second later and slides his phone in his pocket. “It seems like everything is good. We’ll have to meet with the execs and our publicists to put out a statement. It looks like they’re going to make this about the dangers of outing rather than taking responsibility for forcing us to hide our relationship.”

There’s a weighted silence before Remi speaks.

“You guys don’t have to hide anymore,” he says, and the load of everything Cyrus and I have endured these past few years lifts right off our shoulders. I can hear Josie’s sniffle in the corner and it brings forward my own emotion.

Cyrus flings himself at me. He lifts me, holding me tight as he burrows his head into my shoulder. He is breathing heavy, finally letting himself feel the relief he’s been so desperate for.

When we first started this arrangement, I let it slide off my back. We had so many close friends and family members who knew the truth, that it didn’t matter to me whether our fans knew it or not. Still, I saw how much it hurt Cyrus to pretend. All he’s ever wanted is to be himself without the expectations of others.

And now, for the first time ever, I think he’ll finally be able to do that.

I kiss him deeply, hoping he can feel every bit of happiness in my body through my kiss and bond alike. He groans into it, the sound lighting me up from the inside out.

When we pull apart, our pack is there, surrounding us and forcing us into a group hug. I find myself laughing as they all scream, their energies pulsing with joy for us. Love spreads over us from every single one of them, and my cheeks hurt from smiling as we all celebrate this blessing in disguise.

This is my pack. I couldn’t have asked for a better one, not in a million years, and now it’s finally time to live with them in peace.

FORTY-FOUR

As seen on Punk-Tune TV

“Following the cancellation of their tour and the tragic news of front-woman Cleo Del Rossi’s overdose, the labels of Vicious Velvet and The Rogues have put out a joint statement promising that all will be revealed when the dust has settled. They request privacy at this time as they navigate these unforeseen circumstances. It’s also been leaked earlier this week that Cleo Del Rossi has been admitted to a rehab facility and will likely not be a part of the tell-all that’s been promised…”

I turn the TV off and toss the remote aside, still sensitive to everything that happened after the last few months: meeting my scent matches, my best friend overdosing, the tour getting abruptly canceled, the media going absolutely freaking nut-so.

It all feels like a bad dream mixed up in a fairy tale. The two sides are entangled and it leaves my brain feeling rotted from the inside out.

We’ve been back in L.A. for a month now. I’ve taken to their pack house so easily that it was scary. It looked as if it were made for me, made for my omega, every room more cozy than the last. Living with them has been a reprieve, and I can’t see myself ever going back to the lonely apartment I was living in before I met them.

After the article about Jamie and Cyrus came out, our labels decided it would be best to give the public some time to recover before we come out about us being scent matches. The public has received Jamie and Cyrus’s bonding extremely well. There’s been so much support from our fans that it seems to drown out the noise from the haters.