Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

Kas's POV

Hundreds of flashes go off as we take our spots on the little x's on the red carpet in front of the wall of

photographers. We ignore the questions being yelled at us as Bronx slides his hand around my waist

and squeezes a little. I look up at him with a big smile, which makes the flashes go off even faster. My

smile gets even bigger when he gives me a wink, then leans down to give me a kiss.

"You're so fucking beautiful, Kas," he whispers against my lips, before he stands straight again and

walks away backwards. He raises his hands toward me and looks toward the photographers, then

claps his hands, showing the crowd how much he approves of my slinky black dress. We don't go to

many red carpet events, but for the ones we go to, Bronx always gives the media a minute to get solo

pics of me. I feel Lex swoon at our mate, making me blush again before I pose by myself.

I may be young, but I'm not stupid. After my interactions with Katherine, I completely understand she

invited

Bronx and me here for clout. We are just another feather in her cap. Convincing the Masons to attend

one of her events is an impressive feat, indeed. If she wants attention, I'll be glad to provide it. Two can

play at this game.

I let my little storm cloud, combined with Lex’s bold personality, fuel me as I stand by myself in front of

the endless sea of flashing cameras. I turn and let everyone see the large keyhole back of the dress,

intentionally exposing my keloid scars from years of being whipped by my former Alpha. It’s nota secret

to the public that I have severe scarring, but the human world believes it is from being in a fire when I

was young. It is something I have discussed before, but never shown off in the human world.

There is a lull in the noise when the crowd, who has never seen the scars, realizes how severe they

really are.

When I turn my head and wave at the photographers with a sly smile, the flashes and questions start

again, even more frenzied than before.

Through the noise, I hear giggling and clapping. I see Delilah, Musu, Carly, and Diane chatting

excitedly in the left wing while they watch me pose.

"Kas, who are your friends?" a voice calls out from the crowd. I wave the women toward me. Carly

looks around, not sure what to do in the impromptu moment. A woman with a headset and clipboard

motions to Carly that they should all come out to join me.I can hear her say you have forty-five seconds

as Carly nods her head.

Bullshit, lady. We have as much time as I damn well please.

My four friends shyly make their way hand in hand out to stand next to me. I see them looking at the

view from center stage in awe. We wrap our arms around each other's waists and pose with big

cheerful smiles. I call out to the reporters who each woman is and how I know them. Carly whispers

she will provide the spelling for everyone’s names so it is correct in any publications that want to post

them.

“I wouldn't be here today if it wasn’t for these ladies. They are family to me,” I say loudly to the

reporters. They do not know it is a dig at Katherine and the rest of the Manae, but I know damn well

she is watching the video feed and she will hear it. 1 imagine how angry she looks right now with a

sense of satisfaction.

While we all smile and wave. When we walk out of the spotlight, Carly goes to speak to a production

assistant and gives them everyone's names with the correct spelling °

I am stopped by a reporter from a fashion website who is accompanied by a cameraman recording

video for a quick interview.

After she asks about the dress designer and fawns over how good I look, she asks a couple more

serious questions, " Kas, can you tell us what's next for you? "Well, my business partner Delilah and I

have been considering another second location for our bakery. We'll see. One is a lot of work as it is,

but we have big goals."

"And what about you and Bronx?" The reporter smiles broadly.

"Oh, you mean are we planning on having children?"

"Well, I would never ask that outright, but since you brought it up, sure.”

"Maybe one day, but things have been really busy for us with my business getting off the ground and

with

MasonCo doing so well, so we haven't talked about it much," I wave off the question.

"Thank you for your time, Kas. You look gorgeous as always.”

I step away and am greeted by my friends. Bronx is still being interviewed by a reporter from a financial

magazine. While we wait for them, Marco takes pictures of us all together with his cell phone.

"Diane, you look amazing," I compliment as we wait for Bronx. She is wearing a light blue dress that

falls below her knees with high-heeled sandals. She has styled her short blonde hair onto a messy

pixie cut and she is finally looking healthy again.

"Thank you, Kas. I have never felt more glamorous in my life,” she giggles, "all those people taking our

pictures? I don't know how you do it.” '

Carly walks up next to Diane and takes her hand, "What are you two giggling about?"

"Oh, just the glamorous life," I sigh with an exaggerated eye roll, "Speaking of which, Carly, you make

this whole feminine tuxedo thing look gorgeous."

She looks down at the tuxedo style suit she picked out at Chanel, "Thank you Lu -, Kas. It was a gift

from my boss's wife."

During dinner, Katherine stands at the front of the room to give a speech. She thanks everyone and

explains how important the event is for her charity organization. The organization provides clean water

to millions of people a year in developing countries and they need all the help we can give them.

She invites everyone to go to the ballroom where the casino is and encourages us to buy as many

chips as we can and to have a good time.

Before she gets off stage, she catches my eye and waves at me with a cold, calculated smile.

Oh, she definitely saw me posing on the red carpet. I give a big smile and wave back, but inside I feel

the acid of distrust already eating away at me.

"Alright, ladies, I have to go say hello to a few business contacts. Marco and Tyree are in charge.

There are also two MasonCo guards monitoring things from the corners of the room. James is going to

be tailing me,” Bronx briefs us, " There are chips for all of you, so go have a good time."

He leans forward and gives me a deep kiss, "Please stay out of trouble, Mrs. Mason.”

"Yes sir," I giggle before someone pulls him away.

"Ladies," Marco hands us each a pile of plastic poker chips, “Please make our jobs easy tonight and try

to stick together. Each of these chips is a thousand dollars. This is what Mr. Mason donated so far.

Winning is a commitment to additional donations and Santoro Enterprises matches the winning

amount. Everything goes directly to the charity. The more you win, the more money the charity gets.”

None of us have ever played casino games before, so we walk around and watch other people play for

a while. We stop at a table where a short man ina cowboy hat is throwing dice. The people around the

table cheer and groan at each throw.

“Mrs. Mason, would you like to play?” the employee running the table asks.

“No thank you, I am fine watching,” I smile.

The man in the cowboy hat looks at me carefully, shaking the dice in his hand, “ Mason? You're Bronx’s

wife?”

“I think what you meant to ask is if Bronx is my husband?" I give him a confident smile. Behind me,

Musu and Carly giggle at my response.

He gives me a little sneer, “Well, Mrs. Mason, would you mind blowing on the dice? For luck.”

I look at Marco, who gives a small nod of approval. Then I look at Delilah and give her a little wink. She

giggles and nods at me.I step toward the man and take his wrist into my hand, pulling him closer to me.

His pulse pounding against my hand, letting me know how uncomfortable he is. I take a breath and

blow gently on the dice, looking up at the man at the same time. His face turns beet red as he looks at

Marco, then takes half a step back, closing his fingers around the dice.

“Th-thank you, ma’am,” he stutters and turns back to the table. I walk away before he finishes throwing

the dice. I already know they are going to land on his winning numbers. Cheers come from all around

him.

“Feeling lucky tonight, mon ami?” Delilah says, wrapping her arm around mine.

“I'm feeling like this charity is going to make a lot of money tonight, Delilah,” I wink at her as we walk

away.