Page 23 of Harley

“I just love him a little more than all you guys.” Jax winks over at me, and my eyes widen a little. Ah...that’s what he means by mine.

“I hope you like to share?” I wink back at Jax, and he chuckles deeply. Happiness bubbles up. I love that I can make him laugh like that.

“What’s mine is yours, Harley.” He places a hand on his chest. My whole body heats up at those words and that sexy grin of his.

Ace clears his throat, and they all turn to the tallest alpha of the pack, who’s standing a few feet away from the group. Dash reaches out and takes his hand, and I watch them. Is Dash his too?

“Harley, this is Zayd.” Dash gestures to him.

Zayd. I love his name, but his expression is hard to read. Still, his scent...mine. He smells like summer rain and lilacs. His eyes bore into mine, but he doesn’t say anything, and I’m not sure if he’s scared of me or hates me. I quickly change the subject when no one speaks.

“This can’t be real,” I say mostly to myself. It has to be impossible. Scent matches are rare, and I have a whole pack of them. All of them are my scent match.

Knight quickly adjusts me when I smell...him.

“No, it can’t be real. It’s too good to be true,” Jonathan says from behind me, and I shrink into Knight. I feel the others shift around me, blocking me from Jonathan. I feel protected in the arms of my blue-eyed alpha.

“It is true, we won. You seem to have something to say about that,” Ace growls lowly to Jonathan. I peek out from where I'm hiding. The expression on Jonathan's face makes me smirk. He doesn't like the way Ace is challenging him.

“This just seems a little bit too convenient. Considering Harley has never left the Omega House and comes from a beta-only town. Yet you all seem to know each other so well.” Jonathan cocks his head to the side, as if taunting Ace to challenge him.

Fuck.

As soon as I saw Knight, I didn't even question it. I forgot about the whole act; I just needed him. He needed me just as much. I messed it all up. I shouldn’t have jumped into his arms.

Veronica appears to the side of Jonathan, her eyes narrowed. Fuck. She knows too. She muttered it before, but I thought she would drop it.

What are they going to do about it? It was just announced to everyone on national TV that pack Bentley is mine. They can’t take that back. Everyone will know the lottery was rigged, and they would have to go back and look at all the lotteries before mine. How many omegas took the chance to get the pack of their dreams before me? Dahlia can’t have been the only one. It seemed like she knew...maybe even her own mother shared how to circumvent the system?

“I know something is going on here. I have a list of every single pack in that barrel. Your name is not on my list. You didn’t even get in for the meet and greet. So, there is no way your name could have come out.” Veronica stands tall.

Jax steps forward. “We did come to the meet and greet. We had an invitation. We came here, and we met Harley, just like every other pack in that draw.”

Veronica shrinks down a little before straightening herself back up. “I know you were not in that lottery. I'm the one who handpicked every single pack in there. I will be the one assigned to you, until the first heat and figure out how this happened and once I do….”

“The first heat?” Ace questions, parroting my thoughts. What is Veronica talking about?

She gives us an evil grin. “You would have known this if you came to the meet and greet. For the first heat or about a month, one of the betas from the Omega House is assigned to make sure you don't accidentally kill your new omega. Stop you from going into rut and hurting her. But I will do everything I can to prove that you somehow rigged the lottery.”

Jonathan nods his agreement. “This seems too convenient. Something is going on here and it will be looked into.” He eyes me before turning back to the stage, where Storm is with the announcer, drawing her pack.

I tap Knight’s shoulder, and he reluctantly sets me on the ground. I want to watch Storm and support her.

I can feel the power coming off Jonathan. Ace doesn't seem to be reacting the same way, and I like that. He has a more calming nature. Or maybe he is trying to be unaffected by Ace.

Storm pulls out her ticket, and I hold my breath as I wait for the announcer to tell us who her pack is. I know they’re going to be amazing, because she would only choose the best pack for her.

The announcer looks down at the ticket, and I watch as his brows furrow. He clears his throat as he looks out to the crowd, then back to us. I'm frozen. Did she also draw Pack Bentley? Did she want my pack?

But then I realize, his eyes aren't on us. They’re on Jonathan as he reads, “Pack Henley.”

Veronica gasps.

Who’s Pack Henley?

Where there was silence only a second before, the whole venue erupts into chaos as Jonathan runs toward Storm and the announcer. He grabs the microphone, and I don't understand what's going on. Who the hell is Pack Henley?

“This may come as a shock to you all, but my pack and I are retiring as the alphas of the Omega House. We entered our name in the hopes of finding our own Omega. And we have now found that with Storm.” Jonathan says to the crowd, and they continue to boo and curse at him.

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