15. Chapter 15
Ivy
I looked at the vintage set of lab equipment that Pack Vale sent me, holding a vial up and smiling to myself. These weren’t even something that most people would care about, but they meant everything to me.
No one had given me a gift like this in a long time.
It was unique, tailored exactly to what I loved.
And it meant something more - a pack giving an omega a gift was one of the first signs that they wanted to potentially court an omega.
And despite everything, no matter how impossible or illogical it may seem to anyone else, I felt like Pack Vale might just be perfect for me.
They were way beyond what I could ever hope for in a pack.
A group of handsome, successful, sought-after men?
They could have their pick of any woman, omega or otherwise.
But even with Arabella around, they somehow seemed to always look my way.
For the first time in years, I felt like maybe, just maybe, something wasn’t wrong with me.
Then, a shriek echoed throughout the house so loud I thought someone had been injured.
I rushed downstairs just to see Arabella jumping up and down in the living room, clutching her tablet against her chest. Her hair was bouncing as she flushed with excitement.
Clara was right behind her, and my fathers came into the room.
"We matched!" Arabella practically screamed the words. She looked around, elated.
“What? Who matched?” One of my fathers asked, and Arabella just beamed like she’d won the lottery.
“I was matched in the database! My genetics are a near-perfect fit!” She yelled, and I stepped back, confused.
I hadn’t realized she’d even sent hers in.
Now she had already found a match, it seemed.
Well, that figures. They’d probably be some wealthy, high-status pack that would love someone like her around.
Maybe she’d bond them quickly and move out so I could finally get some peace.
Clara looked ecstatic, running over to hug her daughter as they jumped up and down. Arabella caught my eye, just for a moment, before turning to our fathers.
“And you will not believe it. We already know them,” she said, turning her tablet around.
So, she matched with someone in our social circle?
I stepped forward, a strange feeling growing inside me.
My fathers read the tablet, and the look of shock and then excitement on their faces only had me more on edge.
"I matched with Pack Vale. Ninety-eight percent compatibility." She said, each word like a dagger as they hit my brain. There was silence for a moment. Then, the room erupted.
Clara gasped, her hands at her mouth as she stared at Arabella, her eyes wide with shock. My fathers broke out into cheers, rushing to congratulate her. I waited as I processed the words, my world spinning as I tried to make sense of what I just heard.
"Oh my God," Clara breathed. "I knew it. I knew it! Of course they wanted to work with you. They must have sensed your compatibility this whole time!"
"I knew it too!" Arabella laughed, tears gathering in her eyes. "I knew there was no way they were over here all the time for just business."
My stomach lurched, and I felt dizzy. I suddenly felt like I might get sick all over the floor. Sweat beaded along my back and forehead, and I reached for the banister to steady myself.
No. No. It can’t be! She can’t have matched with them! The one pack in the entire world that I actually cared about, the one pack that made me feel like I mattered, like I might have a chance at happiness. The nicest pack I’d ever met. They couldn't possibly be a match for someone like Arabella!
No one noticed my reaction, as they were far too busy congratulating Arabella. My father's face lit up with pride.
"Proud doesn't even begin to cover it," he said, pulling Arabella into a hug. "Pack Vale. Do you understand what this means? This is incredible." The pack surrounded her, all of them talking excitedly about the future and how the match would launch Arabella into a new income bracket.
Arabella laughed against his shoulder, and I felt another pang of pain rip through me.
That should be me. I wanted my fathers to care about me, to congratulate me one day when I finally found a pack that wanted me.
It was just one more stab of the knife in my back.
I started breathing heavily, my body shaking.
Across the room, Arabella’s eyes found mine, and then she smiled. Not kindly, but with triumph. Like she’d won - like she always did. This was the way of the world. How could I have thought any differently?
"Well," she said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Aren’t you going to congratulate me, Ivy?" She asked.
Suddenly, every set of eyes was on me. I sucked in air, trying to will myself to stop shaking. But something deep inside me was tearing apart at the seams. Something deep in my body was screaming out that this was wrong, that they weren’t hers - that they were mine.
I clenched my teeth to stop them from chattering. Clara looked over at me, her eyes narrowing coolly as she smiled. “Well? What’s wrong, Ivy? This is a momentous occasion. Probably one of the biggest ones of our lives. Congratulate your sister.” She said, and I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.
Clara took a step forward. “Ivy, what’s the matter with you?
Are you not happy for her?” She asked, and my father’s pack looked over at me, their eyes judging me as always.
I took deep breaths, trying to maintain some semblance of calm.
I had to say it. I had to congratulate Arabella, once again, for taking every single thing in my life for herself.
“Congratulations.” I managed to say, though my tone was anything but jovial. Clara looked at her daughter and seemed as triumphant as she was the day she arrived at this doorstep.
"Oh, they had their eyes on Arabella from the beginning, don’t you see? The constant meetings, all the lunch invitations. Honestly, looking back, it seems obvious now. Pack Vale wasn't just interested in a business collaboration. They were courting you." Clara said to Arabella.
I tried to force in another breath. They had come over here quite often… and I foolishly thought it might be because of me.
"That makes sense," one of my fathers said with a chuckle. "I was wondering why the whole pack was spending so much time over here."
"Of course they were," Clara continued. "When a pack finds their omega, they'll take any excuse they can to spend time around her.
" Her eyes slid to me. "And they were very gracious about including everyone else.
" She looked closer at my pale skin, my clammy hands.
Arabella looked over as well, spotting my disposition before making her move.
“What’s wrong, Ivy? You look upset. Is there something you’re not telling us?
” She said, scrunching up her face as if she didn’t know.
As if she hadn’t seen my excitement every time the pack had come over.
“Oh, you didn’t…” She took a step forward, her hand coming to her mouth in mock concern.
“You didn’t think they might have been over here for you, did you?
” She asked, her voice now dropping to a shocked tone.
The words hit harder than any slap ever could have. I steadied myself, shaking my head as I looked down, denying the very truth of the matter, the one thing that Arabella knew that I wanted. “N-no, I didn’t…” I started, but I had already lost my words.
"It was so kind of them to include Ivy in everything," Clara added with a sympathetic sigh that was anything but sincere.
"I can see how you may have been confused. It would have been cruel to make their intentions too obvious." Arabella couldn’t help but let out a little laugh at her mother’s words.
“Ivy, come on,” Arabella said with a look on her face that said she thought I was being ridiculous.
“You really didn’t think… between the two of us…
” She let her words trail off, but the meaning was clear.
There was no way they would have chosen anyone but her.
The room went silent, and I closed my eyes to stop the tears from welling up.
Clara sighed dramatically. "Arabella."
"What?" She smiled innocently. "I'm just saying, Ivy gets attached to people who are nice to her."
I felt myself flush with embarrassment. Arabella was right. I did get attached to the pack. Because no one was ever really nice to me. So when I was finally listened to, when people made me feel seen, I latched onto it. And I’d read more into it than what was really there.
My father shook his head. "Well, none of that matters now. You’ve been matched, and to a phenomenal pack. We’re going to celebrate.”
I felt another pang of pain in my chest. Arabella glanced at me and smiled, the one she used every time she inevitably got her way. Only this time it was the one thing I’d truly hoped I might have.
"I guess I should thank you," she said lightly. "If you hadn't kept asking for all those research meetings, they might not have had as many chances to get close to me."
My vision blurred. No one was surprised by this outcome. It was obvious to everyone except for me. Arabella was the star, and I was just the background character meant to support her.
My father wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I always knew you'd find an exceptional pack." The pride in his voice nearly destroyed me.
I couldn't remember the last time he'd sounded that proud about anything I'd done.
Not when I'd developed our bestselling products, or made breakfast and cleaned every morning since the day they decided to bring in a new omega.
Not even all those years I'd spent helping build the company into something that everyone in this room benefited from.
But Arabella found a pack, and she was all that mattered.
I looked around the room one final time at the people who were supposed to be my family. No matter what I accomplished, I would always be standing in Arabella's shadow. And this time, she’d taken the one thing that had given me hope that I might escape this nightmare.
I couldn't stay there for another second.
I turned and rushed up the stairs, tears falling down my cheeks as I finally let them fall.
Mercifully, no one stopped me or called my name.
I could only hear them celebrate from down below as I ran to my room, my legs giving out as soon as I shut the door behind me.
A sob ripped out of me, and I buried my head into my arms, finally letting myself cry over a dream I should have known was never meant for me.
My body was wracked with heaves, the self-pity I felt taking over until I felt the sweat break out along my skin.
Eventually, I reached into my nightstand and pulled out my suppressants.
I didn't want to feel this anymore. The pills slid down my throat.
As the numbness slowly settled over me, I pulled the scarf Elias had scented closer to me and buried my face in the fading scent one last time.