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I growl despite myself, moving closer to the door. “She better be ok,” I snarl.
The beta’s eyes widen, and he holds up his hands nervously. “She’s fine,” he says quickly. “Going on her first date today.”
My snarl grows even angrier, but Arlo puts a hand on my shoulder. “All right,” he says, calmly. He turns to face the beta and smiles. “Sam, you and I know each other pretty well, right?”
“Yeah?”
“And we both know I’ve done you a solid a time or two.”
“Yeah.” He flushes as if remembering something particularly embarrassing.
“So maybe you could help us out here. Tell us what’s going on? What do you say?”
Sam sighs and cracks his knuckles nervously. “Well, from what I’ve heard, the new omega at the mansion?”
“Haven,” I growl.
“Yeah. Well she threatened to pull out of the whole thing. Said she would pay back the debt and peace out of the show.”
“And why didn’t they let her?”
“Well they don’t want that to happen, do they? She’s big right now. That fight you guys had with the alphas in the failure flat went viral, and that combined with the whole body positivity push? It put a lot of pressure on the network. So they decided it would be a good idea to bring her up to the mansion.”
“And if she leaves?”
“It would look bad, I guess. And she says she’ll leave unless you’re both rehired.”
“If she left, she would own them a hundred grand,” I say.
“Yeah,” replies the beta, looking contrite.
My insides are churning at the prospect of seeing Haven again; the hurt in her eyes when we parted ways will haunt me forever, I know. And I’m not sure I have the strength to stay away from her if I know she’s so close by. But what choice do I have? I can’t let her take on that kind of debt; not when I can do something to stop it.
I look at Arlo and then back at the beta. “We’ll come.”
“There’s a car waiting for you downstairs when you’re ready,” the beta says. “You’ll be staying at the mansion. Pack your things… if you have any.” He peers around the apartment, wrinkling his nose. My eyes follow his to the pile of sheets next to the bed. I slept on the floor last night. Arlo tried to insist on me taking the bed, or sharing it, but I refused. After I fucked him blind last night, I needed to put distance between us. Fucking feral instincts make it hard to keep my cock on a leash, but if I’m going to free Arlo, I have to find a way to keep my distance. Sleeping on the floor instead of snuggling him close is a start.
Arlo frowns as he closes the door in the beta’s face. He turns to look at me, his eyes filled with worry. “I don’t like this,” he says.
“Neither do I,” I mumble.
Arlo walks across the room and opens a kitchen drawer, drawing out a bottle of pills. I watch as he takes one, then turns to look at me sadly. “Better de-stink myself if we’re going into that pit of vipers.”
I grunt in response, hating every moment of this. With a sigh, I grab my backpack and start filling it with my meager possessions.
***
A half-hour later, we are on our way to the damned mansion. As we pull up in front, a cameraman is there, waiting, the lens trained on the back door of the car. I step out and wait for Arlo to join me. The camera stays on us, steady and unyielding, and I struggle not to look straight at it.
The door to the mansion opens, and Willard Peters steps out onto the porch, his arms spread wide in welcome.
“Arlo! A pleasure to see you again. Reese! What an honor to meet you.” He jogs down the stairs, enthusiastic and friendly, shaking each of our hands with a confidence that doesn’t match the sweat on his palms. “Come in, come in, there’s lots for us to do.” He ushers us up the stairs, the cameraman walking backwards in front of us as we make our way up and into the extravagant home.
Inside, the place is lavish and beautiful, with crystal chandeliers and marble floors. I feel a sudden surge of pain as I remember that nice things aren’t exactly something I can provide. If I were to become Pack with Haven and Arlo, we would be back living in Arlo’s piece-of-shit studio, struggling to survive.
“Arlo, Derek is going to show you the ropes, assuming you’ll be alright working cameras here?” Willard says graciously.
“Um, sure,” Arlo says, looking as star-struck as I am.
