"Until they moved in next door and suddenly you're everywhere." Trinity's eyes glittered with malice. "At Morrison's store, giving baking advice. At the market, playing the victim. On their property, playing the helpful neighbor. You're pathetic."
Something in me snapped. I'd spent five years being careful, being quiet, keeping my head down and my distance maintained. Five years of building walls and protecting myself from exactly this kind of attention. And now this woman—this entitled, vindictive woman who couldn't take no for an answer—was tearing it all down in front of everyone I knew.
"I'm pathetic?" I stepped out from behind my stall, my voice low but carrying. "You're the one who followed a pack to a new town, who threw a public tantrum when they rejected you, who can't seem to understand that no means no. And now you're harassing me because you've decided I'm competition for something I never asked for. So who's really pathetic here, Trinity?"
Trinity's face flushed red. For a moment, I thought she might actually lunge at me. Instead, she raised her voice even louder, making sure every single person in the market could hear.
"Everyone needs to know what kind of omega you really are," she declared, pointing at me dramatically. "Playing innocent, playing the hermit, but really you're just scheming. You saw a pack of successful Alphas and decided to make your move. Well, I'm not going to let you steal what should be mine!"
"Should be yours?" I stared at her in disbelief. "They're not objects to be owned, Trinity. They're people. People who have made it very clear they're not interested in you. Maybe instead of blaming me for that, you should look at your own behavior."
"My behavior?" Trinity's voice went shrill. "I've been nothing but devoted to them! I followed them here, I've tried to show them how perfect we'd be together, and instead they're wasting time on you—a nobody with a garden who can't even manage basic social interaction!"
The words were designed to wound, and they hit their mark. Because she wasn't entirely wrong, was she? I was a nobody with a garden. I couldn't manage basic social interaction—that was the whole reason I'd built this isolated life in the first place. But before I could respond, before I could find words to defend myself against the truth in her cruelty, Eleanor's voice cut through the tension.
"That's enough." Eleanor had stepped out from behind her stall, her usually gentle demeanor replaced by something steel-hard. "Trinity, you need to leave. Now."
"I'm not going anywhere until everyone knows?—"
"Everyone knows you're making a scene and harassing a vendor," Eleanor interrupted firmly. "You've said your piece. Now go before I call someone to make you go."
Trinity looked around the market, seeming to realize for the first time that the crowd wasn't sympathetic to her performance.People were shaking their heads, whispering to each other with clear disapproval. A few of the vendors had their phones out, probably ready to call for help if needed.
"Fine," Trinity spat, turning her glare back to me. "But this isn't over. When they realize what you really are—a damaged, desperate omega clinging to any scrap of attention—don't come crying to me."
She stalked off in her ridiculous heels, leaving a wake of uncomfortable silence behind her. I stood there, my hands shaking, my face burning, my carefully constructed facade crumbling around me.
Everyone was still staring. Still watching. Still making assumptions and judgments based on a drama I'd never wanted to be part of.
"Daphne—" Eleanor started, her voice gentle.
"I need a minute," I managed, my voice barely above a whisper. "I just... I need a minute."
I turned and walked away from my stall, away from the staring eyes and whispered conversations, toward the far edge of the market where the crowd thinned out. My breathing was too fast, too shallow. My hands wouldn't stop shaking. The walls I'd built so carefully were cracking, crumbling, and I couldn't stop it.
This was exactly what I'd been afraid of. Exactly why I'd stayed isolated for so long. Because letting people in, letting them see you, giving them any opening at all—it meant they could hurt you. It meant they could tear you down in front of everyone who mattered.
And the worst part was that Trinity's accusations would stick. The gossip had already started—Lynn's phone calls, Mrs. Morrison's knowing looks, Eleanor's gentle assumptions. Trinity had just thrown gasoline on a fire that was already burning. Noweveryone would believe I was courting the pack. Or trying to. Or scheming to.
And when nothing came of it—when the pack realized I was too much work, too broken, too isolated to be worth their time—everyone would know. Everyone would see me fail. Everyone would witness the confirmation that I was exactly what my mother had been: an omega chasing after Alphas who didn't really want her.
I found a bench at the edge of the square and sank onto it, pressing my hands against my eyes. Don't cry. Don't you dare cry in public. Not here, not where everyone can see. But my body was shaking with the effort of holding it together, with the weight of Trinity's words and everyone's stares and the crushing realization that my peaceful, controlled life was spiraling beyond my ability to manage it.
"Daphne?" A male voice, concerned and familiar.
I looked up through my fingers to find Levi standing a few feet away, two coffees in his hands and worry written across his face. He must have just arrived at the market, probably hadn't witnessed the scene with Trinity. But he could clearly see I was falling apart.
"Are you okay?" he asked gently. "Eleanor sent me to find you. She said there was some kind of incident?"
I dropped my hands, trying to compose myself. "I'm fine."
"You're shaking." He sat down beside me—not too close, respecting my space—and offered me one of the coffees. "And you look like you've been through hell. What happened?"
I took the coffee automatically, wrapping my hands around it for something to hold onto. The warmth helped slightly, grounding me in the physical sensation. "Trinity showed up. Made a scene. Accused me of... of scheming to steal the pack from her."
Levi's expression darkened. "She what?"
"She told everyone I'm using my 'omega wiles' to seduce you all. That I'm pathetic and desperate and damaged." The words tumbled out before I could stop them. "And the worst part is, everyone believes it now. They're all talking, all assuming, all making up stories about something that isn't even happening."
