Page 137 of Believe it or Knot

His face remains impassive, but he steps away from the door and motions down the hall. “Room 7002.”

“Thank you,” I breathe before I hurry in the direction he pointed. Though, it’s not really all that hard to find since there are only two doors in this hall and there’s another guard standing in front of the second one.

I expect to be turned away, to be told that no one can enter while they’re filming, but the guard just moves to the side and uses a key card to unlock the door for me. It beeps and flashes green and he pushes it open, giving me a nod as I slip through.

Maybe this isn’t the smartest thing to do. After all, I don’t recognize either of the guards in the hall, and I don’t know for certain that this is where the Cordova pack and Gage actually are… But I can’t just stay still.

I slip into the room and take in the scene before me: the cameras, the film crew, the lights, the interviewer in her crisp suit and blouse, and then in the middle of it all the four men who have absolutely stolen my heart. All of them are looking at me.

That’s not even an exaggeration. There’s a camera pointed directly at me as I stumble forward a step, suddenly acutely aware of my damp wavy hair and that I don’t have a bra or panties on, that I’m just in sweats and a t-shirt without a stitch of makeup. The bruises and cuts I received during my ordeal are fully on display.

I probably look a little crazed and a lot tired and definitely not at all like I belong with this pack.

But not one of the four men staring at me looks like any of that matters. They just look… so happy to see me, that I’m here with them.

“Sorry,” I say quietly. So quietly that I’m sure the camera can’t pick it up. “I didn’t… I shouldn’t have…” I take a step back. “I’ll just talk to you later.”

“No,” Gray growls out, holding out a hand to me. “Don’t go, sweet thing.”

Rafe pushes to his feet, and the crew members hiss warnings he ignores. He crosses to me in a few strides, pulling me into his chest and burying his face in my neck. My feet leave the ground as he lifts me up, toes dangling toward the floor. I stick my nose into the curve of his strong throat, sucking down lungfuls of his winter forest scent and feeling settled for the first time in days.

“Why aren’t you wearing our clothes?” he murmurs into my hair as he carries me through the cameras and the people to the rest of my pack.

I mumble a response that isn’t really a response because he already knows why. He must. I was—am—on such shaky ground with them, I couldn’t possibly wrap myself up in their scents. I wasn’t sure I wanted to. Wasn’t sure if I should.

He grunts something and carries me over to the rest of the pack, settling back into his spot on the couch with me sideways on his lap, his arms banded around me so that I couldn’t escape even if I wanted to. Gage is to our left with my legs draped over his lap, with Gray on his other side. And Liam is on our right, doesn’t waste any time reaching over and lacing his hand with mine, unashamedly bringing my hand to his mouth to press a lingering kiss to my knuckles. I swear every woman in the room sighs at the romantic gesture, and some men too. Gray wraps one of his big hands around my ankle, like he has to touch any part of me he can reach, and Gage grips my thigh possessively.

It feels so fucking good to have all four of them near me, touching me. After the trauma of the last few days and the heartbreak before that, it’s tempting to just… sink into them. But I can’t.

Hence why I didn’t put on their clothes.

Though I’m regretting the lack of coverage now. Especially since I’m not wearing a freaking bra. I look at Giulia Hanson with wide eyes. “Is this… Are we live?”

She looks over at a man holding a clipboard who nods. “Yes, I’m afraid we are.”

My stomach clenches with nerves and I know the men around me can smell it, because they immediately start to purr for me. Every one of them. On national television. My cheeks grow hot, and I can’t look at anyone even as my muscles slowly unclench, the low rumble doing its job.

“It’ll be okay,” Liam reassures me.

I’m not sure it will, but I take a deep breath and look up at the interviewer—Guilia—and say with more certainty that I feel. “I know.”

“I’m so glad you could join us, Sorrel,” she says, sounding like she means it. “Your pack made it seem like they didn’t think it would be possible.”

I nod. “I’ve had a difficult few days. I was pretty out of it. Asleep.” I clarify so it doesn’t sound like I was high or something.

The woman eyes me with a small smile on her face, but it doesn’t seem mean or calculating. She looks like she’s really truly happy for us, for me. “I take it you saw the first part of the interview?” she asks me, brown eyes sparking.

I nod, fingers twisting together, hoping like hell no one can see how much I hate this, hate being in the spotlight. “I did.”

She shifts, leaning forward. “And what did you think about what these men had to say?”

I lick my lips as Liam lifts my hand to his mouth again so he can place a soft kiss on my knuckles, before he lingers there, lips running back and forth over the skin. “It was… a surprise,” I say honestly. “The last we spoke, they still thought I was some kind of manipulative monster.”

“But you aren’t.”

“No, she fu-” Gage catches himself just in time. “No, she isn’t. She doesn’t have a manipulative bone in her body.”

I shake my head. “I won’t lie and say I didn’t have a crush on Liam before we met. I mean, I am straight and I have eyes. I’ve-” I look over at the omega next to me. “I’ve been a fan since I was a prepubescent teen, but I would never, and I mean never, try to lie or manipulate him or anyone into loving me, into wanting me. That wouldn’t be real. And I want something real.”

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