Page 117 of Knot Just for Show

I watched in horror as he made his way directly for us.

“Hey Ursula, we gotta talk,” he slurs. Bourbon on his breath.

“Ugh, Hi, Anton.” Ursula turns her face away, fanning away his fumy breath.

“Can we talk?” he asks again haltingly.

“We are talking, Anton,” Ursula answers flatly.

“Come on, you know what I mean. I mean without.” He shakes his hand at Roxy and the rest of us.

“Anton, respectfully, after that afternoon on the beach, there's no way that I'm talking to you on our own. Whatever you need to say to me, you can say to me here,” she scoffs coldly.

“Fine, I've got nothing to hide,” Anton laughs, shooting Teddy a venomous look. “Teddy's full of shit. He's only on the show to make some quick money to get some pussy by proxy and drive traffic to his social media, maybe pick up a few sponsors and get himself a couple of auditions for other reality shows, if nothing else. He doesn't care about you. He doesn't care about any of this, he told me when we were in Britt's lounge,” he blurts out—barely able to stand.

Anton is visibly upset when Ursula doesn't take the bait, instead sitting back, arms crossed over her chest, looking at him, bored.

“Is that it, Anton? Is that everything that you have to say?” Ursula asks impatiently.

He looks around, desperate—gears visibly turning in his head as he figures out his next move.

“That's not all. I, well, the truth is. I care about you, Ursula. I always have.” He blurts out, crocodile tears springing to his eyes.

This does surprise Ursula. Though not in the way that he hopes.

“You can't be serious, Anton. I know that you'll do just about anything to get what you want, but this is ridiculous.”

Ursula winds up prepared to lay into Anton again, Roxy hot on her heels when suddenly Britt appears from the crowd, her blonde ponytail bobbing, her girls in formation behind her.

“Cut the shit Anton. Ursula's too smart for your act,” Britt snipes.

We all turn our faces to Britt, dumbfounded.

“Why don't you tell her, Anton? Tell her how she's your last resort. Tell her how you tried Jesse, Suzi, and even Lana—making your way around all the other girls, seeing if you couldfind a way in. A way to get yourself all the way to the finale,” she spits at him acidly.

Anton doesn't bother to look at Britt, just grabs Ursula's hands, pleading.

“Are you really going to listen to her? You know what she was like to you! She's a total bitch. Imagine what it was like to date her!” Anton protests.

Britt, looking chastened, turns her face to Ursula.

“He's not wrong. I was a total bitch to you. That night after the beach, I went home and talked with the guys, and I was so embarrassed about what happened. It's no excuse for how I was in the bubbles. But that night, I told Anton he could kick rocks. This wasn't the kind of pack that I wanted to be an omega in.”

Ursula nodded solemnly. Pulling her hands away from Anton.

“As it just so happens, Anton. Teddy already told me all about his original plans to get work or even a little money off of this show to help out his moms—o help himself get more jobs to keep supporting himself and them in the future. You're not telling me anything I didn't know, but I'm telling you right now, something that you don't know. What we have, as a pack? It’s real. And tonight, we officially announce our intention to bite into a new pack together with Teddy as our leader. May I introduce Mavren Renard, Ash Dressaliers, Ronan O'Neill, Lysander Ewing, Theodore Wong, and yours truly, Ursula Golblum-Laskaris—Pack Gold,” Ursula proclaims boldly as the entire bar, including Britt and her minions, erupt into thunderous applause.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Ursula

Though I read all the paperwork and signed the disclaimers before we even started shooting Build-A-Pack-Blind, the particulars of the whole process seemed a lot less intimidating on paper than they do in person.

According to the production team, there will be no camera teams, no television staff ‘in the room where it happens’, as it were. Production assistants, camera crews, intimacy coordinator’s and other staff will be on the property on standby. In our case, this means that everyone is holed up in the, frankly, quite opulent, carriage house rather than in-building units in the condo complex set up for use by other show contestants without an alternate nest location.

I’m also somewhat of a special case. Though I’ve certainly had more than an ample sexual appetite throughout the process…I have been on full dose suppressants my entire designated life. I am about to experience a true heat for the first time—and while I’ve read plenty of books and watched more NuToob videos than I can count, I’m still not quite sure what to expect.

The team arrives early, two women in sea-foam green scrubs that explain that the heat inducing drugs will kick in within a half an hour to forty-five minutes, that my heat is likely to last 3-5 days, but could last for upwards of a full week. Since this is my first heat, I am likely to be especially insatiable—luckily for me, the show also has provided for my alpha and gamma partners to have their ruts induced; which should all but guarantee that I should be provided for throughout the duration of my heat.

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