Chapter 1
Chapter One
When I first met Jade Rost, I didn’t hate her. It was everything that followed after that made us enemies.
We grew up in the same neighborhood, both from well-off families.
I saw her sometimes, but never got close enough to see her face.
We went to different private schools until we were both seniors.
I never knew why she transferred in her last year, but one day the entire school was talking about Jade Rost.
Rost. The family that rivaled mine. Her father always copied my mother’s ideas. She opened a craft store. He opened a craft store. She started a chain of restaurants. He started a chain of restaurants.
I dreaded meeting her for the first time, the girl I’d known of my entire life but had never seen face to face. After finding out where her classroom was, I lingered in the hallway, hoping to catch a glimpse of the mystery girl the school was buzzing over.
Jade was an Alpha female. I knew without seeing her. It’s all everyone could talk about. Females were a rarity amongst Alphas. Most of them were male. I was an omega female, an ordinary flower in a field of others just like me. I wasn’t special or unique, not like she was.
I peeked into her classroom, only letting one eye see inside so I could run if she spotted me.
Oh. There was a beautiful girl sitting on a desk, chatting brightly with her friends.
The way she smiled made my stomach jump.
Was that her? I hoped not. She had gorgeous long black hair, and silver eyes that seemed to glow in the sunlight.
The thick muscles on her arms, and her wide frame suggested she was an Alpha.
Still, there was something delicate about her, and it wasn’t just the perfectly applied makeup on her face or the coral nail polish on her fingertips.
Her friends said something funny, and she laughed out loud, tossing her head back and clutching her stomach in mirth. My heart thumped loudly in my chest, and refused to calm down.
Please don’t be her. Please, please.
Someone walked past me, almost shoving me against the wall as she came into the room.
“Jaaade!” she shouted, and reached up to give the pretty girl a high five.
When their hands lowered, Jade’s silver eyes landed on me, and her smile slowly dropped, leaving behind a cold look on her stunning face.
I hoped she might not recognize me, but based on her expression, she knew who I was and already disliked me.
I ran away from the classroom, running until my heart beat so fast, I thought it might burst from my chest. I finally met her.
Jade. I wasn’t expecting to feel anything when I saw her.
She was beautiful. An icy princess who was cold and warm at the same time.
Calculating, just like her father. She oozed charm, and always got everything she wanted.
Every time I saw her, those feelings resurfaced, making my heart pound, and my stomach twist. Avoiding her wasn’t easy, but it was all I could do to keep her at arms length. How could I be attracted to her? She was poison. Delicious, beautiful poison. I had to stay far, far away from her.
My family was just as wealthy as hers, but I wanted to earn my own way in life.
Jade had no such ideas. So when she opened a bakery not two months after I did, you can imagine how furious I became.
Would she love it the same way I did? Would she work hard every day like me, or pay someone else to do it?
Did she even care about baked goods? No, she was just a leeching copycat, just like her father.
The worst part was… how much I desired her. I didn’t want to. I fought those feelings every time I saw her stupid gorgeous face. But the times I had given in, losing myself in temptation, my weakness for her, had almost been worth the regret.
Almost.
“Daphne! Earth to Daphne!”
Shit. Right. I was working.
“Whew!” I yelled. “I closed my eyes for five seconds, and suddenly I’m back in high school.” Wiping my hands on my apron, I quickly pressed the button on our industrial mixer and left it to turn all the ingredients into cake batter.
“What’s fun about high school?” My omega employee and friend, Abby, was absolutely correct. There was nothing fun about my high school years.
“Nada,” I responded, grinning as she set down a freshly oiled cupcake pan.
“Batter’s almost done.” The front door chimed, and I quickly swiped away a bead of sweat on my forehead as I checked the clock.
Being close to the ovens made me so boiling hot.
We had just opened, so whoever was there had to be in a hurry. “Abs, can you get this one?”
She grunted, giving me a side eye as she grabbed the finished batter from the mixer and started scooping it into the muffin pan. “I have to get these done. You know I’m better at this than you.” She was right.
“Fine,” I conceded, and wiped my hands on my apron again before heading out to the front of our shop. With my apron still pressed between my fingers to remove that last bit of sweat on them, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw her standing at the counter.
Jade.
Her hair was so long and straight, so silky, you just had to reach out and feel how soft it was.
No, Daphne. Keep your hands to yourself.
That was so like her, walking around looking this tempting, even I had a hard time resisting her charms. I was lucky I had the foresight to burn pheromone dimming candles so I couldn’t smell her scent.
I came up to my side of the counter and leaned against it. “What do you want?”
The edge of her mouth pulled up in a teasing grin. “That’s no way to talk to a customer, Daph.”
Reprimanding me? Seriously? Who was she to tell me what to do?
I bit back a retort as another customer came inside, heading straight for the wall of coffee bean options. “I told you to stop using that nickname. What can I get for you, Miss Rost?”
Her slight bristle filled me with delight. She hated it when I called her that. “I’m here for Paisley’s cake.”
Paisley Rost, Jade’s younger sister. She was the complete opposite of Jade, all warm and bubbly. Her I could tolerate.
I walked over to the freezer and retrieved the correct cake box, then carried it over to the counter, smoothly placing it in front of Jade. “Your sister always has so many parties that need cake. I don’t know why you don’t make them yourself. You own a bakery too.”
“She likes yours better.”
Oh, you sweet talker. You keep those syrupy words to yourself.
“Whatever,” I muttered under my breath.
Jade picked up the cake box, balancing it on one hand while the other dropped something into our tip jar. She’d already paid for the cake, and gave a tip then, too. Was she trying to drive me crazy? “Nice to see you, Daph.”
“I told you not to call…” Biting my tongue, my eyes darted to the other customer examining a bag of coffee. I plastered on a smile in Jade’s direction, conveying all the hatred I felt for her through my seething grin. “Thank you, ma’am. Please come back soon!”
Not.
Rolling my eyes, I waited for Jade to leave, but she lingered by the counter, holding the cake box close to her chest.
“You look warm. You okay?”
The audacity. I didn’t need her concern. I needed nothing from her. I bent closer, my voice low so no one else would hear. “Stop. You’re not my girlfriend. Go away.”
She left without another word, taking her stupid cake to her stupid party. I swear to god, she came here just to torment me with her stupid pretty face.
Grumbling under my breath, I returned to the back area and helped Abby put the sheets of cupcakes into the oven. She noticed my tense stance as I whipped up some icing and helped me prep the piping bags.
“It was Jade, wasn’t it?”
“Pff. Yes.” I shoved a spatula full of icing into the bag, imagining it was her face. “Hate her so much.”
“Mmhmm,” Abby said quietly. I couldn’t tell if that was agreement, or if she was holding back a remark. “Oh. Speaking of Alphas.”
“We’re not talking about Alphas.”
Ignoring me, she whipped her phone out and pulled up an email. “There’s this new app, it’s called Alpha Net. Their test weekend is coming soon and they’re looking for people to sign-up. My aunt told me about it.”
“Is that a new crappy dating app?”
“No,” she argued, whapping me on the shoulder with her phone. “It’s not for dating. It’s for hooking up with Alphas when you’re in heat. They vet everyone and make sure it’s safe for omegas to find a partner.”
An app to find a heat partner? That beat the alternative, either waiting it out in agony, or finding a stranger at a bar who may or may not be someone you should take home. Still, just because it claimed to be a sure thing didn’t mean that was true.
“Let me see,” I said, holding my hand out for her phone. The email looked fine. Their website was professional. It seemed okay, but that’s how scams always looked. And who better to scam than omegas looking for a safe partner to spend their heat with?
“I’m not sure about this, Abs.”
“Oh, come on. Winter Blackwell created it. It’s gotta be legit.”
I was still skeptical, but she was right. The Blackwells had a thriving reputation, and I doubted they would put their name on something if it was a scam. “Still,” I said, handing her the phone back. “You said they’re accepting sign-ups? Send me one. I’ll check it out for you.”