Page 15 of Shattered Trinket
I didn’t know that the churning in my gut was my omega instincts trying to warn me, and now that I do, I hate remembering this part even more because if I’d known even half the things I do now, I never would have ended up in the position I had.
“He was intelligent and charismatic, and most of the people in town had grown to like him after getting to know him after so many weeks of him hanging around. I started thinking maybe there was just something wrong with me when everyone else seemed to like the mysterious alpha that had shown up out of the blue, but I didn’t. Shadow Creek is largely populated bybetas, but there were a handful of omegas back when the town was built. That was decades before I’d been born, though, so younger alphas and omegas weren’t something we saw every day. I’d grown up knowing plenty of betas, but had never met an omega before, and the only alphas I knew were elderly and had lived in the town since it was founded, and they generally kept to themselves. I always had a knot in my gut when Victor was around, but being so naïve, I’d somehow convinced myself it was butterflies or just nerves at being around an unfamiliar guy.”
“Your omega instincts were warning you, but you didn’t know. So, you ignored the uneasiness you felt around him because you didn’t understand it,” Micah cuts in quietly, his brows furrowing momentarily when I glance over at him before going back to looking at the sky. “That’s why you feel stupid? Because your omega instincts were firing on all cylinders, but you ignored them because you didn’t know that’s what it was?” Micah asks calmly, and I nod, crossing my arms and hugging them to my chest because I hate admitting to people how clueless I am about my own designation.
I huff out an incredulous laugh, shaking my head as I remember the chaos I’d thrown the entire town into when I’d perfumed for the first time in the middle of my shift at Chick’s. It had sent all the old bitties that had known me since I was in diapers into a tizzy, like I’d known how to control it when I wasn’t even expecting it. My omega status was hot gossip until I left with Victor, considering it was the most exciting thing that had happened in Shadow Creek since I’d been alive. Nothing new that happened in town held a candle to the news of a late blooming omega born to beta parents perfuming in the middle of Chick’s during the lunch rush.
The news had spread throughout the entire town like wildfire before I’d even made it home that night after my shift. And suddenly, everyone around me looked at me differently, somehating me for something I never asked for and didn’t even want to begin with, while others were just completely enamored with an omega being born in our little town, looking at me like I was someone important suddenly. There were a few that couldn’t have cared less about what designation I was and still treated me like they had my whole life before I perfumed. They were the ones that I appreciated the most.
“I didn’t even know there was a place I was supposed to go when I perfumed, a place that would help me meet alphas safely and teach me what I needed to know, because everything our school taught us about alphas and omegas was minimal. Just the basics about what makes them different from betas, and the fastest explanation ever about how alphas have knots and omegas haveslickand heats, and that was it, which didn’t really help me at all. But why would a town full of betas concern themselves with teaching the teenagers of beta parents about alpha and omega biology and physiology when they would all likely end up being betas, right? Jokes on them, because here I am. An omega that’s the product of two very beta parents. Apparently, it’s a one in ten thousand chance that two betas will produce an omega offspring, and a one in one thousand chance they’ll produce an alpha offspring. And in an already small town, with a population of maybe 900, if that, and at least half of the people being older than child-bearing age, even more rare than if we were in a larger city. Guess I’m lucky number ten thousand, huh?” I mutter, finally realizing how much I’ll have to explain for Micah to fully understand the series of events that led to me leaving with Victor now that the words seem to be spilling out of me like a dam being opened.
Explaining to him how I grew up in Shadow Creek, information about the town, and talking about my parents is all important and all of it helped Victor succeed in getting me out of there so he could finally let his mask drop. The first time Ifinally got to see the real him, all I could think about was how exhausting it must have been to pretend he was a good person for so many weeks and with so many people.
Victor was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, waiting and hiding the monster beneath until he could lead the lone lamb to slaughter.
For a moment, I think about my parents, something I haven’t let myself do in I don’t even know how long now, and my chest begins to ache. I haven’t talked to anyone about them, except for Jeremiah. And even what I told him wasn’t much.
I’ve already told Micah more than anyone else, and there’s still… so much more. So much more pain to relive.
Since I’ve already reopened the wound, I guess there’s no better time than the present to talk about them. Memories of them flood my mind, causing my eyes to fill with tears and my vision to blur as I stare down at my feet.
“My parents lived pretty simple lives. Not surprising considering how old and outdated the town is, but they were good people. Good parents. They were always there when I needed them, while also letting me make mistakes and figure things out on my own. It was something I always appreciated.”
I chew on the inside of my cheek, blinking away my tears before looking up at Micah.
“They both grew up in Shadow Creek, and they never really left because they loved it there. So, it’s not surprising they had no clue what to do when I perfumed. They couldn’t teach me anything because all they knew were the basics we were taught at school. I tried the local library, but even there, the selection for information was limited. Trying to look anything up online was also pointless because the internet out there is still in the dial-up age, I think.”
There’s the slightest curl to my lips as I remember what it was like to grow up in such a small town where everyone kneweveryone, and how insanely unprepared my parents were when they realized they had an omega daughter.
“Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate growing up in Shadow Creek. I liked the community, and although life might have been monotonous most days, I was content. I figured I’d eventually move away, especially after perfuming, but I just kept finding excuses to put it off because it was anxiety-inducing each time I thought of being somewhere that was so much bigger than where I’d spent my entire life. Somewhere new where I’d have no one to run to if something happened.”
Micah smiles, nodding his head encouragingly at me to keep going, giving me his full attention. It’s a little unnerving, but it’s also nice.
“Tell me about them. Your parents,” he says politely, his voice soft and relaxed.
Not demanding, but more gently prodding.
As he says that, an image of my mom and dad in the kitchen of our family home pops up, momentarily making it hard to breathe because I’ve spent so long trying to forget that I thought I might have completely forgotten what they looked like. I smile, taking a cleansing breath.
“My mom was like a ray of sunshine, lighting up every room she entered with her kind eyes and genuinely pure, open heart. She had the reddest hair that was always wild, with untamed curls that would flop over into her face all throughout the day. I always found it amusing how she would constantly blow the curls out of her eyes when she could have simply tied her hair back. But she didn’t because my dad loved it down, her curls like a wild mane surrounding her heart-shaped face. My dad was a farmhand, and he always reminded me of an old school cowboy. You know, like those old black-and-white tv shows? He was a hard worker, but when he came home, he gave his all to me and my mom. His girls,” I murmur, the corner of my mouthtwitching upwards. “They did everything together, and I always thought there could never be two or more people as in love as they were with each other.”
My heart hurts the more I think about this, the more I talk about them. The more I allow myself to remember. I miss them so much, and knowing I’ll never see them again, never get to introduce them to Jeremiah or… my pack—if I ever get one—is devastating.
“They sound like they were wonderful people,” Micah interjects when I pause, and a knot forms in my throat, making it hard to speak or swallow.
I clear my throat and nod my head in response, before I turn back to the window. Heaving a deep sigh, I keep my eyes locked on the clear blue sky, watching the clouds roll by as I continue when I can finally unstick my tongue from the roof of my mouth.
“When Victor came to town and set his sights on me, my parents were all too happy that an alpha had shown up and wanted me, and I guess I never really gave them a reason not to be happy about it or to worry. They loved me more than anything, but they just weren’t equipped to teach an omega how to… be an omega. They thought he’d be able to teach me what I needed to know. If something developed between us, then great, and if it didn’t, well, no harm done in letting him get me out of Shadow Creek.” I shrug, rubbing my palms on the legs of my jeans and clenching my eyes shut.
“But Victor didn’t want to teach me the truth or give me facts,” I say hollowly, a shudder rolling through me as I reopen my eyes.
Six
Cozette
Everything Victor taught me was so beyond wrong, but after a year of him beating his lessons into me, they’ve become hard habits to break. I still struggle most days, but I’m getting better at recognizing my triggers so I can stop falling back into those old habits. And I’m trying to remember that I won’t forget them overnight, if ever. My newfound family helps, though, and I’ve grown attached to Mama Valley. She’s been the main one to be there when I break or slip back into the omega Victor molded, stopping me and reminding me I’m not her anymore.
I hate that omega…