Page 175 of Ashley & the A-Listers

Ashley chuckled and responded.Now is not the time for “I told you so.”

When is the time? I’ll pencil it in.

Rolling her eyes, Ashley put her phone away, silencing the keyboard-smash texts from Kenzie and Jordan, and focused on the omega in her lap. Well, mostly in her lap.

The morning had passed in a blink. Ashley’s phone blew up, from clients and friends to strangers who found her on social media. She switched her profiles to private right away, per River’s suggestion. Then Cam had taken back-to-back phone calls while Dylan remained eerily calm, keeping himself busy while River hovered, and then forced himself to stop.

They were seated on the couch, Cameron leaning into her affectionately on her left, and River on the other side of him. Behind them, Dylan paced back and forth.

And now before them, a laptop was loading the pixels of an office setting, a severe-looking blond woman behind a grand desk. The head of Cam’s management, Sabrina.

This meeting was for all of them. The pack.

Riiiight. Because I’m now in a pack—with Cameron Thomas, a famous movie star.

“Okay, first thing: suppressants. That’s easy. No problem. If anyone has a problem with it on set, report it,” she said.

Ashley squeezed Cam’s thigh. He’d wanted to come off of them ever since his heat. At least one thing was going their way.

“Alright, so we’re on damage control. I can call Christian?—“

Cam tensed in her lap, and Ashley frowned as he sat up. “Actually, that’s what I wanted to speak to you about. I don’t want to work with Christian anymore.”

The blond woman looked up, a frown on her face. “Why not? I thought you two got on alright.”

“He… barked at me.”

“What.” Ashley growled and sat up, scent flaring between them all as if to ward off any other alphas. She turned to meet Dylan’s gaze to confirm. His lips were a thin line.

River’s brow knotted.

But the woman on the call interrupted them. “Well, he’s an alpha—are we surprised?”

Ashley’s glare fixed on her. “Yeah, I’m surprised you can’t hire decent alphas.”

Sabrina arched a single brow, lips pursing as she decided whether to accept the insult.

“Fine. Shall I promote Denise, then?”

“Preferably not. She turned tail and ditched me the moment Christian got aggressive.”

“I was there, and can confirm. Christian’s an asshole,” Dylan said. Ashley felt the headrest decompress as Dylan leaned his hands there.

“Well, lucky for you, I’m not short on beta staff. I’ll find someone new for you, but in the meantime, we need to figure out how to handle this.”

Cam cleared his throat. “We’ve been talking about that. As a pack,” he said.

The woman blinked, sighed, and deflated. “Dammit, Cameron. I had a feeling that’s where this meeting was headed. You’re my golden boy! My bachelor! Why’d you have to go and find a pack?”

Cam’s lips twitched, and his scent sweetened. Ashley stroked a pattern with her thumb on his thigh, trying not to smile. She still couldn’t believe it wasreal—that she was an alpha with a pack.

Made up of my childhood crush, a hot movie star, and a famous screenwriter.

“Guess I’m just lucky like that,” he said. “And I don’t wanna lie about it. I’m tired of lying. It wouldn’t be fair to myself or my pack to keep them a secret.”

Ashley glanced at River, who’d seemed rather dazed by the entire development. She wished she could read his mind. How did he feel about being able to admit it, finally, after so many years of secrecy?

Maybe it hadn’t sunk in for him yet. Ashley wasn’t sure it had for her.

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