Page 59 of Knot in Their Wildest Dreams: Part 1

Because one thing was clear. None of us could let her go without knowing who she really was.

Chapter 41

Liam

Celeste had been coming out of her room more often now, and although none of us said it out loud, we all secretly looked forward to it. We were lingering more in the common areas, just hoping to “accidentally” run into her. And she seemed to do the same.

She’d taken to eating most meals with us, and I felt how it affected our entire pack. Somehow, her presence had become a source of joy and a calming balm that made us feel closer - even though we weren’t actually courting her. But that was going to change soon, if everything went right.

“How’s my favorite group of corporate spies doing?” she joked, walking into the kitchen with her long hair up in a messy bun. She was just wearing sweats and a t-shirt, but she looked more beautiful than ever. I felt that way every time I saw her now. She grabbed a spoon and pulled a pint of ice cream from the freezer while Vigo and Dante threw glances at me. For the first time, we were actually feeling nervous around her.

I walked into the kitchen, holding a special bottle of wine I'd pulled from our real wine cellar. We’d be needing it tonight, either for celebration or to numb a rejection. I bit the inside of my cheek. I was almost completely certain she wanted the same thing that we did, but just the idea that she might say no - it would probably kill us. A rejection from an omega was already something that stung, but from a scent match - well, I didn’t want to imagine it. But we had to make a move – before we lost the chance to find out more about her, before we lost her completely.

I stepped up beside her, grabbing a few wine glasses from the cupboard. She raised an eyebrow at me as she ate a bit of ice cream, pulling the spoon out of her mouth. “Wine? What’s the occasion?” I smiled down at her, loving that she felt so at home here. It was such a stark contrast to when she first arrived, back when she barely left her casita.

“Well, come join us and find out!” I motioned to the fireplace, where Vigo and Dante were already sitting on the couch and chair, trying to act casual, as if we hadn’t been waiting for her to arrive. Celeste shot me a look like she knew something was up, but I just smiled and gestured for her to follow me. Vigo put down the magazine he was reading, and Dante set his phone aside. Despite trying to act so nonchalant, I could tell they were on pins and needles. And it didn’t help that both of them had dressed up slightly, eschewing their sweats and tees for cashmere sweaters and slacks.

“Here, have a seat.” I said as I set the glasses down. Celeste paused, then sat down cautiously as she looked at the three of us.

“So, what’s going on?” She asked, and I opened the bottle, pouring us each a glass. “None for me, thanks.” She said, stopping me from pouring her the vintage. I grimaced. I’d wanted this to go so perfectly. Instead, I nodded and served my pack instead.

“So Celeste, we wanted to ask you something.” I said trying to sound kind and welcoming instead of the cocky, self-important alpha-hole that I was sure I’d been when she first came here. She leaned in, looking between the three of us with her big, entrancing eyes.

“I’ll start by admitting the obvious, we didn’t like you much when we first started this contract.” I started, and she gave me a skeptical look.

“The blackmail you mean?” She asked, and I swore she knew how nervous I was and was trying to purposely mess with me. I guess I deserved that.

“Technicalities. Anyway, of course, we only knew of you from our past interactions with your company, some of which were misunderstandings.” I started, and she watched me carefully, her blue-green eyes sparking with the light from the fireplace. “And, since you’ve been here and we’ve cleared some things up, I can only wonder what else we got wrong. And I speak for myself, and my pack, when I say that our initial opinion of you was misguided.” I said.

She didn’t look impressed. Damn, why was I so good at everything except impressing Celeste? I felt tongue-tied around her. I couldn’t afford to mess this up, not when we’d already done so many things that should have screwed any chance of being with her.

Vigo, who had been nursing his glass, set it down and mercifully came in for backup. “What my pack mate here is trying to say is that between the secret scent match drama and the time we spent getting to know you better, that we don’t hate you anymore.” and then took another deep sip from his glass. “In fact, we’ve grown quite fond of you.” He ran his hand through his hair and made eyes at her. Celeste gave him a smirk.

“Wow,fondof me? Careful, guys. Say something too sweet, and I might start thinking you actually have feelings.” She teased, and I felt myself get warm with embarrassment at just how much control she had in this scenario. Then, surprising everyone, Dante spoke up.

“There were a lot of things we blamed on you that turned out to be misconceptions.” He said softly, and Celeste turned to gawk at him. His dark features looked even more intense in the shadows of the fire light. “And that’s not your fault. We misjudged you. I misjudged you.”

I sat back, gripping my wine glass, hoping the alcohol would give me the courage to say what needed to be said.

“As a pack, we wanted you to know that we do like you. More than we ever expected.” I said in a serious tone. Celeste’s eyes widened slightly, and for once, she was speechless. “And, we were wondering if you’d be open to the four of us getting to know each other better. We want to take you out. Not as part of the contract,” I said, hoping she wasn’t going to get up and bolt at our suggestion, “but just us. No cameras, no publicity. Just the four of us.”

Vigo leaned in, smiling as he swished the wine around in his glass. “A date is what we are asking for. A real one.” He said bluntly, and Celeste’s cheeks turned pink. She didn’t say anything for a moment.

Dante, possibly panicking, interjected.

“And we would be on our best behavior. No pressure!” He added quickly, before Celeste looked at him. She bit her lip, and I felt a mountain of pressure on my chest.

Please say yes.

“I - I’d love that.” There was no sarcasm, no teasing, just raw honesty. Relief flickered across her face, and my heart clenched at the realization that she might have been waiting forusto ask all along.

“And I admit, I had some misconceptions about you all as well.” She glanced down at her hands before looking back up, expression open in a way I rarely saw. “I think it's a great idea. Hopefully, we can clear the air, and finally get to know each other for who we really are.”

I wanted to get up and shout to the world that Celeste had agreed to a date with us, except the world already thought we were dating her. More than anything, I was ecstatic that we finally had a chance to make things right with our scent match. And hopefully, we could finally get some answers.

“So, it’s a date, then?” I asked, watching as she bit her lip, as if trying to suppress her own excitement.

She nodded. “It’s a date.”

---