4. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Scarlett
Ispend half the night staring at the ceiling when I eventually go to bed. The sun’s rising when my phone starts to vibrate on the nightstand. I don’t touch it. No one I’m fond of calls this early in the morning. It’s either a scammer, or it’s Kendra.
Getting up, I go shower and get ready, as if I have somewhere I need to be.
I wish I did. I could use the distraction.
The last thing I want to think about is Kendra’s offer.
I have until Monday, so I don’t have to agonise over it right now.
I throw on clothes and take my time with my makeup.
My tired eyes look a whole lot brighter once I’ve used drops and covered the circles from my sleepless night. Once I’ve got mascara and lipstick on, I feel a whole lot more human.
Some girls need coffee to wake up.
All I really need is a slash of red to brighten up my lips.
Now, I’m ready for anything.
Well, almost.
Kendra’s missed call isn’t something I feel like dealing with.
I don’t know why she called me again so soon after giving me time to think about the offer, and I’m not the slightest bit curious about the voicemail she apparently left when I didn’t answer.
I locate my purse, and I dump my phone inside.
Later, Kendra. Much, much later.
Right at this moment, I feel the need to get out of the house and go do something.
Silver Valley is too small and boring to contain anything fun, so I already know, whatever I end up doing, I’m headed out to Cressidan City.
My reason for moving out to this dull little suburb had nothing to do with small town appeal and everything to do with the crazy low rent our landlord charges us to live in a four-bedroom house where we each have a private bathroom attached to our bedrooms. It’s way too expensive to live in the big city when you don’t make a real, full-time wage.
The handful of side-hustles I have going that enable me to live like a starving artist would never make me enough to keep up with rent payments on a tiny closet-sized apartment in the city.
“Scar?” Karma calls out from the kitchen as I get to the downstairs hallway.
“Uh-huh?” I call back, silently hoping she’s not about to drag me into the middle of another fight. Clearly, she’s more emotional than usual now that she’s met a guy she likes.
Perfume being triggered is only the start of the full Omega hormonal thrill ride.
She appears at the doorway and peers out at me with narrowed eyes. “What are you doing up this early?”
Oh. Right.
“I didn’t sleep,” I admit.
Her long, dark hair is up in a high ponytail that causes it to sway and swirl around her shoulders as she shakes her head. “You need to start taking better care of yourself. All these late nights hunched over that laptop …”
“Okay, Mom,” I murmur, cutting her short and earning myself one of her meanest looks in the process. I probably shouldn’t be riling her up right now, so I drop the sarcasm and step closer. “Sorry. I guess I’m still a little tired. You’re right. I need to quit staying up so late.”
“Do you have time for coffee?” she asks, apparently over it.
There’s nothing I want more than to rush out to my car, but I know she’s really asking if I have time to talk. I’m guessing about the guy. The client she’s falling for.
I nod slowly. “Sure.”
She moves back from the doorway, and I follow her into the room.
The door to the backyard is open, as usual, and it smells like she’s already made the coffee.
I sit down at the small table we rarely actually eat at while Karma pours me a cup.
“Erin already left for that photoshoot thing she was going to,” she tells me, “And Cleo stayed over with that friend she visited last night after dinner.”
So, we’re alone in the house, then. That’s probably why she wants to talk.
These moments when we can be totally honest without the risk of being overheard don’t come along too often. Erin and Cleo are Betas, and they think we are, too.
“You think Cleo’s friend might be something more than a friend?” I ask as Karma sets the mug of black coffee down in front of me.
“Who cares?” Karma snorts. “I’ve started perfuming for a client, Scar. I have more important things on my mind than worrying about who our roommate might be dating.”
Of course. Karma has her own problems right now. How could I forget?
“I wasn’t sure if you were ready to talk about it.”
She sips her coffee and sets the mug down. Then, she sits down opposite me.
“I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about it, either,” she admits, “But you’re the only one who knows, and we’re hardly ever alone around here.”
I nod slowly and stay silent, waiting for her to go on in her own time.
A few minutes pass, and I take my first sip of coffee before she sighs.
“I’m not seeing him again for almost two weeks.”
I put my mug back down. “Two weeks?”
She nods. “He’s visiting his parents, so he doesn’t have another appointment with me next week.”
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
She frowns at me. “It’s a good thing that I don’t get to see him again for two weeks?”
I shrug. “It gives you time to figure out how to talk to him about it before you see him again.”
“Right,” she mumbles. “Because we have to talk about it.”
“Well, I mean, you’re not just going to go ahead and let him mark you, are you?”
She blinks at me. “Let him mark me …”
“That’s kind of what mates do, isn’t it?” I ask, feeling weird for having to say the M word out loud.
“It’s … Well, yeah, but not straight away.”
“Is that what you’re freaking out over?”
“I’ll have to decide if I’m out, or not,” she says. “And deal with the repercussions of my choice.”
“You don’t know if you want to tell people you’re an Omega.”
It makes sense. She made the same choice I did years ago, to live like a Beta and basically give up on the idea of true mates. This isn’t something she thought she would have to figure out.
“I’ll lose my clients.” Her voice is thick with emotion now.
Like me, the one thing she really cares about is her work.
Music is at the heart of that for both of us.
I can’t say I fully understand what she does, exactly, but I know she’s basically a therapist who uses music as a tool to help her clients heal past traumas. Those people go to her to talk about their problems. They need to put their trust her to do that.
Finding out she’s been lying about who she is would be a betrayal of that trust.
I’m sure some of her clients would understand, but not everyone.
Maybe not even most of them.
“That’s a possibility,” I admit, as she stares past me at the wall.
This isn’t like one of her outbursts over something minor. She might be quick to provoke because she’s a sensitive Omega as well as a bit of a control-freak, but those incidents only agitate her on a superficial level.
I’ve never seen her upset like this.
She’s a storm of emotions right now, devastated over what she’s going to lose with a slowly increasing undercurrent of nervous excitement over what she’s about to gain.
It’s impossible not to soak up everything she’s feeling.
It all sinks into me as if I’m experiencing it firsthand.
One of the greatest things about being an Omega is also one of the most confusing.
Knowing what someone else is feeling without any room for doubt is incredible on its own.
Getting to feel what the other person does is on a whole other level.
It can be a rush, when the emotions involved are positive.
But it can also be really draining, and, sometimes, if it hits a little too hard, it can be so disorienting that a girl can barely tell who she is, or what she actually wants.
Considering I didn’t sleep last night and I’m intending to go on a long drive now, the last thing I need is to suddenly be completely devoid of energy and kind of fuzzy about who I am.
I close my eyes briefly and take in a deep breath, working on separating myself from Karma’s feelings before they can overwhelm my system. When I exhale, it’s like my friend’s emotional turmoil is ejected from my body in the same beat.
My head gets clearer and my own feelings flood back into focus.
Karma slumps down and looks back at me, dark eyes sad.
“Everything I worked for,” she murmurs. “It’s all going to fall apart.”
“You could keep it separate,” I suggest. “Keep living as if you’re Beta to the outside world. Start taking those suppressants to keep your perfume in check when you’re not home. Whatever you need to do.”
It seems like a lot of work, especially if she takes a mating mark.
Apart from making sure it’s always hidden, she’ll probably be less happy about pretending once she’s settled with her new mate. That just seems to be how that goes.
She pulls a face and groans. “I might have to do that.”
“You know you don’t have to do it alone,” I remind her.
A small smile twitches her lips. “Thanks, Scar. I honestly … I’m glad I have you. Only another Omega could understand what I’m going through.”
“So, you’re not thinking about telling Erin and Cleo?”
She starts to shake her head and stops. “I don’t know. If I’m still living here while we date or whatever, I guess I’ll have to. It won’t be straight away if I tell them.”
“I’m sure they’ll be happy for you.”
She laughs. “They would be, wouldn’t they? This is insane, Scar. I can’t believe it’s even happening. I had no idea how much of the real me I’ve been hiding ever since I made the decision to live like a Beta. Ever since I perfumed, everything feels different. I feel different.”
“That can happen. You’ll be more emotional until …”
“Until I’ve been claimed as his mate.”
Her eyes brighten and I know she’s happy without having to feel it.
She practically glows with joy when she thinks about that part.
The changes it’s going to bring might be freaking her out, but, clearly, she wants this.
She wants to be mated. No matter how difficult it makes her life, she doesn’t regret perfuming.
“As soon as you two are past the honeymoon phase, I want to meet this guy,” I tell her, taking one more sip of the coffee and setting the mug back down.
Karma laughs. “You’re worried he might not be good enough for me? We’re fated, Scar. He’s not a random guy I’ve decided to date.”
I shrug. “Hey, I only want to make sure he’s aware of how lucky he got being true matched to you.”
“Well, we haven’t even kissed yet, so you might be waiting for a while.”
“Then it’s a good thing I have other stuff going on to keep me busy,” I joke as I push my chair back and get to my feet.
“Oh? What’s the other stuff?” she asks, raising an eyebrow at me.
“I have a meeting in the city.” It’s a lie, but I don’t want Karma thinking I’m going out there for a hook up. She doesn’t enjoy driving so she doesn’t understand why it makes me feel better to get on the road.
She’s instantly suspicious. “I don’t remember you saying anything about a meeting.”
Damn. This is the downside of having an Omega for a friend.
Whatever hint of guilt I felt when I lied, clearly, she felt it.
“It’s with Kendra,” I go on. “She got me an offer. I figured I’d take a nice drive out there to pick up the contract and have it checked over by someone who knows about that stuff.”
“Hm. Is that someone a guy?”
Oh, great. She thinks I’m trying to cover up a hook up.
I need to give up, I can’t win. No matter what I say now, she’s already decided what I’m really headed out to the city to do.
“Not necessarily,” I answer. “I’ll see you later.”
“Have a great time with your mystery hookup guy!” she calls out as I leave the room.
I roll my eyes as I move down the hallway toward the door. I grab my red leather jacket off the coat hook nearest the door and then I’m out of there.