Page 47 of Knot in Their Wildest Dreams: Part 1

“Vigo! You’re all over the news!” He said, his phone in his hand as I opened my door.

“Good. That was the point. Being seen at these events with Celeste will open up plenty of doors for us.” Although something nagged at me. It was a bit soon to have articles written about us at the event. The auction had barely ended.

“No Vigo, not the society papers. You’re all over social media.” He waved his phone in my face, and I grabbed it, scrolling through the posts.

“Scandal at the auction”

Heiress causes a wave - of more than just her usual signature scent. The controversial heiress of Harringday was caught sneaking out of a storage room with one of her current paramours, Vigo Lockwood of Manticore Tech. The two were spotted looking very satisfied as they left the Hillsdale auction, with many patrons reporting the heavy scent of risky behaviors in their wake.

I couldn’t help but smile. I wanted people to know that I was with her, that she was mine.

“Many wonder how the headline grabbing socialite can manage to run Harringday when she’s busy making poor decisions in public. The question is, how long can she go unchecked?

"Several anonymous insiders ponder if she will ever face the consequences of her wild behavior?”

My smile faltered. I scrolled through the posts, each one focusing more on Celeste and painting her in a negative light. We were both there, so why were they only questioning her judgment? And I noticed as I read the posts - everyone resorted to calling her an heiress or socialite. Not a businesswoman, CEO or head of her company.

“So, if this rumor has any truth to it, then you…” Liam started, and I looked at him with guilt. I couldn’t even deny it. Her scent was still all over my face and my cock.

“Yeah. It’s true.” I said as I rubbed the back of my neck. Never in my wildest dreams had I believed we’d actually get physical with Celeste during all of this. I thought being around her would cement our hatred of her. And that she’d hate us back so much she’d slip up, and we could get the proof we needed that she was an awful leader and an awful person. But instead, both Liam and I had lost ourselves to our physical needs. And if I wasn’t careful, I’d start thinking of her differently.

Liam watched me with consideration. “Look, I’m not going to judge. I know firsthand how tempting it is to be around her one on one. But we still need to remember that after all of this, she’s going to leave us. Don’t get caught up in the scent match. And don’t get caught up in any more stories that make us look bad.” He warned, and I waved him off.

“Don’t worry. This just makes us look like a real couple. And I wouldn't worry about tabloid scandals. They are notorious in her circle.” I said, turning to go to my room.

But once I was inside, I couldn't calm down. I kept reading the posts, complete with photos of me protectively shielding her as we left the auction house. From what I had seen in my time with her, Celeste wasn’t irresponsible. She was smart, level headed, and yes, she was wild on some occasions - but only with my pack, and not in a way that harmed anyone. So why was almost every post critical of only her?

For the first time, I started reconsidering what I knew of her. No wonder she put on such a strong, emotionless front. She had to, if the slightest misstep meant she’d be torn apart like this. Maybe being an omega in her position was even harder than I’d imagined. And maybe, I was finally beginning to understand her.

Chapter 33

Liam

“So, as you can see, Manticore’s software is faster, smarter, and designed to adapt, so you’re always ahead of the curve, not struggling to keep up.” I said with confidence as we pitched our software to Woodard Inc’s CEO, one of the clients we’d set our sights on.

Our party, which was a disaster in our eyes, wasn’t so bad after all. The bonded alphas saw how we saved Celeste, cementing the idea that we were a legitimate courtship and worthy pack for an heiress. Even though we’d fought several alphas in the struggle, we’d come out on top. That’s why we were currently meeting with Charles Woodard, who had so far been an elusive target for both Manticore and Harringday.

“Well boys, I held out for so long. But it’s time for a change. I trust that you can assist in the transition to a new enterprise system for us.” he said, and stood to shake on it.

“You are in great hands, have no doubt. We will be with you for every step,” Dante replied, and Charles nodded at us.

“I’d expect nothing less. You’ll hear from my team on Monday.” Charles said before leaving the conference room.

Once he was gone, the mood changed. We shook off our air of cohesion and looked at each other, the strain of the past few weeks obviously affecting our bond. It was clear that after both Vigo and I had been out with Celeste on our own, the overwhelming draw of a scent match was stronger than our willpower. We’d both been physical with Celeste, and I was worried about Dante. He could feel the draw to mate with her, and yet he had the strongest reason to despise her.

But there was something else going on. More to Celeste than we thought. And we needed to talk about it.

“That went well.” Vigo said, breaking the ice. “I thought no one would ever get Charles as a client. We got him in just under two months.” He said, referring to our plan.

“Yes, ever since we set this in motion, we’ve been winning.” I added. Even through Celeste being our match was complicating things on a personal level, we’d been absolutely crushing it business wise.

“At what cost?” Dante said, his face serious as he placed his hands on the conference table. “The longer we keep her around, the more entangled you two will get. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you treat her now.” He said.

“I guess we needed to talk about this eventually.” Vigo said, with a sigh. “Dante, I know we all thought she was the villain behind the way Harringday changed when she took on the role. But we haven’t found any evidence so far that she’s the mastermind behind any of the atrocities that we suspected.” He said, referring to the things we knew Harringday was doing out of the public eye.

Dante opened his mouth to protest, but I spoke up. “He’s right. If anything, all we’ve found so far is that she is actually doing more to improve conditions there than we thought. It might be time to consider that she’s not who we thought.” I finished, feeling Dante’s feelings of betrayal and disbelief through the bond.

“You can’t know that!” He said, incredulously. “You’re clearly letting the scent match mess with your thoughts! And don’t try to deny it. I can’t believe all it took was some cheap omega sex for the both of you to completely abandon your ideals!” He snarled, and I felt a wave of protectiveness for Celeste rise up in me.

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