Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
Daphne
Saturday morning dawned crisp and golden, the kind of autumn day that made you want to wrap your hands around a warm mug and breathe in the smell of falling leaves.
I loaded my truck with the last of my harvest, bundles of dried flowers and herbs, jars of herb-infused honey, late-season vegetables, and the cookies I'd promised to bring to dinner tonight.
Tonight. Dinner. The thought sent a flutter through my chest that was equal parts anticipation and nerves. But first, the market.
Haven's Rest Farmer's Market was already bustling by the time I arrived. The town square had been transformed into a patchwork of colorful canopies and wooden tables, vendors calling out greetings as I made my way to my usual spot between Eleanor's jam stand and Mrs. Chen's vegetable display.
"Daphne!" Eleanor waved me over with a flour-dusted hand, her silver hair escaping from its bun in wisps. "I saved you a cinnamon roll. Fresh this morning."
"You're an angel," I told her, accepting the pastry gratefully. “Thank you!?"
I set up my booth with practiced efficiency, arranging the lavender bundles in mason jars, stacking the honey in neat pyramids, and laying out the vegetables in colorful rows.
Within an hour, the market was in full swing, and I'd already made several sales to regular customers who'd been waiting for my late-season harvest.
The morning passed pleasantly, filled with familiar faces and easy conversation. I sold out of honey by eleven, moved half my lavender by noon, and was contemplating packing up early when I felt it.
A shift in the air. A prickle at the back of my neck that made my omega sit up and take notice.
I looked up and felt my stomach drop.
Trinity was walking through the market like she owned it, her heels clicking against the cobblestones with each deliberate step.
But she wasn't alone. Flanking her were two other women, both betas, both dressed in expensive clothes that screamed city money, both wearing expressions of rehearsed outrage.
Witnesses, I realized with a sinking feeling. She'd brought witnesses.
Trinity's eyes found mine across the crowded square, and a smile curved her red lips---sharp and satisfied, like a cat cornering a mouse.
She changed direction, making a beeline for my booth, her entourage following in perfect formation.
My hands trembled as I set down the bundle of sage I'd been holding.
Every instinct screamed at me to run, to hide, to make myself small and invisible the way I'd learned to do in all those foster homes.
I forced myself to stay still. To breathe.
To remember that I wasn't that scared little girl anymore.
"Well, well." Trinity stopped in front of my table, her voice carrying across the market with theatrical projection. "If it isn't the little home-wrecker herself."
Conversations around us stuttered and died. Heads turned. I could feel dozens of eyes on us, and my skin crawled with the attention.
"Trinity." I kept my voice steady, though my heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat. "I don't want any trouble."
"Oh, I'm sure you don't." She laughed, high and brittle.
"You'd prefer to do your damage in secret, wouldn't you?
Sneaking around, seducing men who don't belong to you.
" She turned to address the growing crowd, arms spread wide.
"Did you all know that this woman has been throwing herself at my pack?
At the men I was supposed to mate with?"
A murmur rippled through the onlookers. I saw Eleanor's face go tight with concern, Mrs. Chen's eyes narrowing.
"That's not true," I said, but my voice came out smaller than I intended.
"Not true?" Trinity's eyes flashed with triumph. "I was going to be their omega. Oliver, Garrett, Levi, Micah,all of them. We had an understanding. A future together. Until you came along with your—" She gestured at me dismissively. "Your sad little omega tricks."
One of her friends stepped forward, nodding vigorously. "It's true. Trinity told us everything. This woman has been manipulating all four of them, using her omega pheromones to cloud their judgment. She's turned them against Trinity one by one."
"Everyone knows omegas can do that," the other friend added, her voice dripping with false concern. "Lure alphas away from their intended mates. It's practically predatory."
My face burned. The accusation was ridiculous, omega pheromones didn't work that way, anyone with basic biology knowledge knew that---but the way they were saying it, so confident and sure, made it sound almost believable.
"I haven't manipulated anyone," I said, louder this time, forcing myself to meet Trinity's eyes. "From what I understand, there was never any arrangement. They made that very clear. You were never going to be their omega."
Something ugly flickered across Trinity's face, a crack in the polished mask she wore. "They would say that, wouldn't they? After you've gotten your claws into all of them. Spreading yourself around like some kind of…" She stopped herself, but the implication hung in the air.
"Go on," I said, my voice shaking but defiant. "Say what you really mean."
Trinity's lip curled. "Four alphas, and you've got your hooks in every single one of them.
What kind of omega does that? A greedy one.
A desperate one." She stepped closer, lowering her voice just enough that I had to strain to hear.
"You think you're special? You're nothing.
A nobody omega who grew up in the system, bouncing from home to home because nobody wanted you.
Now you're trying to collect an entire pack because deep down, you know one man would never be enough to fill that pathetic void inside you. "
The words hit me like physical blows. She'd done her research. She knew exactly where to strike to cause maximum damage. "And when they get bored of you, and they will, you'll be right back where you started. Alone. Because that's all you deserve."
My vision blurred. My hands shook. Five years of carefully constructed peace, and it was crumbling around me because of this woman and her vendetta.
"That's quite enough." Eleanor's voice cut through the tension like a knife. She stepped out from behind her booth, drawing herself up to her full height, which wasn't much, but the steel in her eyes made up for it.
"I beg your pardon?" Trinity turned, clearly not expecting interference.
"I said, that's enough." Eleanor moved to stand beside me, her arm brushing mine in silent support. "I've known Daphne for five years. She's never manipulated anyone. She's one of the hardest-working, most honest people in this town, and I won't stand here and listen to you slander her."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Trinity snapped. "This is between me and…"
"Between you and the whole market, apparently.
" Mrs. Chen appeared on my other side, her arms crossed over her chest. "You're the one who decided to make this public.
And publicly, I can tell you that Daphne has been nothing but a blessing to this community.
You, on the other hand, I don't know at all.
Based on what I'm seeing, I don't think I want to. "
"And for the record," Eleanor added, her voice sharp, "there's nothing wrong with a pack courting an omega. That's how it's supposed to work. All four of them choosing her, and her choosing all of them, that's not something shameful. That's something beautiful."
More people were stepping forward. Brad from the hardware store. Sarah from the bakery. Victor who ran the coffee stand. One by one, the vendors and townspeople I'd known for years moved to form a loose semicircle around my booth, their faces set with quiet determination.
"We've known Daphne for five years," Brad said, his voice gruff. "She's part of this town. Part of this family."
"We don't know you," Sarah added, her usually sweet face hard with disapproval. "And frankly, we don't like what we're seeing."
Trinity's composure was cracking. Her cheeks flushed an ugly red, and her carefully styled hair seemed to wilt as the crowd turned against her. Her two friends exchanged nervous glances, clearly not expecting this level of resistance.
"You don't understand," Trinity said, her voice rising. "You don't know what she's really like. She's a manipulator, a liar, she stole my entire future…"
"The only liar I see here is you," Eleanor said calmly. "Making accusations you can't prove, bringing strangers to back up your story, causing a scene in a public place. That's not the behavior of someone who's been wronged. That's the behavior of someone who's desperate."
Something snapped in Trinity's eyes. The mask didn't just slip, it shattered completely.
"Desperate?" She laughed, wild and unhinged.
"You have no idea who you're dealing with.
Any of you." She whirled on me, her face contorted with rage, all pretense of civilization gone.
"You think these people can protect you?
You think that pack can keep you safe? They were supposed to be mine!
All four of them! I had plans! I had everything figured out!
Then you come along, some pathetic little orphan omega, and suddenly they can't see straight! "
Her voice rose to a shriek. "I will destroy everything you've built here.
Everything! I'll make sure every single one of them regrets the day they chose you over me.
And you…" She jabbed a finger at me. "You'll end up exactly where you belong, in the gutter, with nothing and no one. I'll make sure of it!"
The threat hung in the air, naked and vicious. Around us, I saw phones being raised, screens glowing as people recorded.