Page 130 of Now Their Starlet

“What’s wrong?” I ask, too quiet to hear over the blood pounding in my ears.

“Hmm?” Eli hums, his voice a low growl.

“They’re freaking out over there,” I say, pushing his arms from around my waist and making my way to the two of them. “What’re you looking at?”

“I don’t know if you need to see this right now,” Cameron says, immediately shoving his phone in his pocket.

I raise a single brow, crossing my arms over my chest, my foot tapping along to the beat of Beck’s song playing in the background.

“I’m not going to let up until you show me. I can tell its something bad.”

“It has to do with your mother,” Leo says, his brows drawn down in concern.

I take a deep breath, continuing to tap out the beat with my foot.

“All the more reason for me to know, right?”

“Your mother got married,” Cameron says.

“You’re fucking joking,” I gasp, digging into the front pocket of his jeans and pulling out his phone.

He lets out a soft sound of surprise, but it’s drowned out by my own sound of frustration when his phone is locked.

I flip it around and unlock it with his face before scanning the headline he had pulled up.

I’m half expecting the headline to come on the tail of an unbonding announcement from Jonathan Fletcher, but apparently, that’s not the not-so-lucky-groom-to-be.

Or rather, the not-so-lucky-groom, since it seems they’ve already eloped.

“You’re fucking joking!” I say, echoing my words from earlier.

“Who’d she get hitched to?” Eli asks, peering over my shoulder.

“Stuart! Can you fucking believe it?”

“The timing of this feels strange,” Everett grunts, joining our little huddle of absolute confusion. “I think it’s also interesting they’ve defaulted to marriage instead of another attempt at bonding.”

“Maybe the chemical unbonding she underwent prevents her from bonding again,” Leo suggests. “Or maybe she just doesn’t want to bond a beta. Regardless, this is an unexpected pairing.”

“I mean, he’s had a thing for her for as long as I can remember. Who would’ve thought she’d actually give in though? She’s a bitch who wouldn’t give a beta a second glance,” I say, handing Cameron back his phone.

The news article doesn’t really go into things beyond the headline. There aren’t even any photos of the actual ceremony or anything—which feels very different from Gina’s normal MO when it comes to big events exploitable for attention—just a blurry photo of them leaving the courthouse.

Eli tugs me into his chest again, my back to his front. His chest vibrates with a soothing purr that’s too quiet for me to hear with Beck’s voice crooning over the speakers, but still strong enough for me to feel vibrating against me.

It helps ground me. My mind is absolutely spinning.

I think I would’ve been able to handle myself well if that were the only crazy thing to happen tonight, but unfortunately, the universe isn’t that kind.

I catch a whiff of an omega’s perfume. Sweet coconut creme. I’ve never been the biggest fan of coconut—that probably should’ve been a sign.

“What the hell!” A shrill voice cries out, loud enough to be heard over all the noise.

I lean forward from the cozy, enclosed space formed by Eli’s massive biceps, to see a girl around my age. She’s wearing Doc Martens, a cute skirt, and a spaghetti strap tank top. It’s cute, but the cuteness of her outfit only emphasizes how mean the expression on her face is.

Cool, cute girls can be the meanest bitches alive. Seems this one didn’t get the memo that kind of behavior should stop after graduating high school. But then again, who am I to judge? Half the world thinks I’m cut from the same cloth as her. Maybe I am.

Hanging around her neck is a VIP lanyard.