SCARRED OMEGA

Chapter 2.

“What was that all about?” Annie asked, her voice a little too high. “With Isaac, and then Harrison?”

“Nothing,” I said, trying to sound casual.

“It didn’t look like nothing,” Annie mumbled. She was quiet for a few steps, then she let out a big sigh. “I just don’t get it, Peach.”

“Don’t get what?”

“This!” she said, waving her hand around. “All of it. The staring. The drama. Leo, Isaac and now Harrison? It’s exhausting just watching it.”

I looked at her. Her smile was gone. She looked tired and a little angry.

“It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose,” I said, though we both knew that wasn’t entirely true.

Aren’t you, though?” Annie stopped walking and faced me. “You smile at them just enough to get them hooked. Then you shut them down. You hold all the cards Peach! You keep all the attention for yourself.”

Her words felt like a slap. “Annie, that’s not fair.”

“Isn’t it?” she asked, her eyes bright with a hurt I hadn’t noticed before. “Look at what just happened, Harrison is heartbroken, Leo is heartbroken. Those girls back there hate you. And Isaac… you played with him like a toy. You get to do that, and everyone just lets you. Meanwhile, I’m just… here. The friend. The one nobody sees unless they’re looking past me to get to you.”

I didn’t know what to say. I had never heard her sound like this.

“You don’t even have to try,” she continued, her voice dropping to a bitter whisper. “You just exist, and the whole world spins around you. And the rest of us are just… background noise.”

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but nothing came out.

“And you know what the worst part is? You think you’re better than everyone. You walk around with that pride, that… that look on your face. Like the rest of us are just dirt under your shoes. Like nobody's feelings even matter.”

“Annie, that’s not true—”

“It is true!” she shouted, making me flinch. “I hate it! I hate your stupid pride! I hate that you get to hurt people and they still come back for more! I hate that I have to stand here and smile and pretend I’m happy for you, when all I feel is… is nothing. Because next to you, I am nothing!”

Annie turned and left, leaving me alone on the path. I watched her go, her words ringing in my ears.

Okay, I thought to myself, taking a slow breath. She's just in a mood. She'll come around.

I started walking again, trying to shake it off. But her words stuck to me.

I hate your stupid pride.

You get to hurt people and they still come back for more.

Next to you, I am nothing.

I reached my dorm and closed the door, leaning against it.

"Is it true?" I whispered to the empty room. I walked to the small mirror above my dresser and looked at my own reflection.

"Am I really that prideful?" I asked myself.

I thought about Leo's fallen face. I thought about Harrison's quiet, crushed look when I said I needed a real Alpha. I thought about Isaac's cold glare.

A sick feeling started in my stomach.

I sat on the edge of my bed, my head in my hands, rocking myself.

"Did I really hurt Harrison that badly?" I mumbled. I replayed the moment in my head, his hopeful face, my gentle but firm smile, my words. I need a big, strong Alpha by my side. I had thought I was letting him down easy. Now, I wondered if I had just broken his heart to make myself feel powerful.

"And Isaac..." I said out loud. I had wanted him to follow me so badly. But instead of just talking to him, I smiled and then shut him out.

She’s right,” I said out loud in the room. “I’ve been… awful.”

I took a deep, shaky breath. “Tonight. I’ll find Isaac tonight.”

“He’s probably at his spot,” I mumbled to myself, wiping my eyes. “By the big oak tree, with his weights.”

I imagined walking up. He’d look up, his face probably cold, like it was earlier.

“And then I’ll just say it,” I whispered. “I’ll say, ‘I was a jerk. I like you. I was playing hard to get because I was scared, and it was a terrible idea. I’m sorry.”

Meanwhile, Annie stormed across campus.

The anger was a hot, steady burn in her chest that was evident in her brows, she had kept pushing herself forward with vicious stomps.

She knew where the group that always orbited Peach’s drama would be. She found beside the only oak tree on campus. Leo, Harrison, a few guys from the team, and some girls who were always whispering. Isaac was there too, leaning against the wall, looking detached but still obviously angry.

Perfect.

She walked straight up to them. The chatter died down.

“Annie?” Leo said. “You okay?”

“No,” she said, her voice clear and hard. “I’m done being okay with it.”

Isaac looked over, his expression wary. “Done with what?”

“With her,” Annie said, crossing her arms. “With Peach. And the way she plays with all of you.”

One of the girls, Sherpa, snorted. “Tell us something we don’t know.”

“I will,” Annie said. She looked at each of them. “You all think she’s this perfect, untouchable prize, right? Well, she’s not. She’s got a flaw. A physical one.”

That got everyone’s attention. Isaac straightened up. “What are you talking about?”

“She heals like a human,” Annie said, the words feeling sharp and satisfying. “Maybe even slower. You get a cut, it’s gone within seconds. She gets the same cut? It lingers. A bad enough injury? It’ll scar. Permanently. She’s terrified of anything that could leave a mark on her skin.”

A stunned silence fell over the group.

Leo was intrigued. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious,” Annie said. “I’ve seen it. She fell on the track last year. A simple gravel burn. It was a pink line on her knee for months. She wore long pants in summer to hide it and she told me.

Sherpa’s eyes were wide. “She’s so vain about her skin. That makes sense.”

“It makes her vulnerable,” Annie pressed, her jealousy fueling the reveal. “All that pride, all that acting like she’s better… her body can’t even hide a scratch. She’s just as breakable as the rest of the humans. More, maybe.”

She looked directly at Isaac, then at Harrison. “So maybe stop treating her like some queen who can’t be touched. She can be. She just hates when people see it.”

Annie turned on her heel and walked away with satisfaction, leaving a buzz of shocked whispers behind her.

She’d done it. She’d cut Peach down to size for them. She glanced back once at the group, a thought flashing through her mind: Harrison should have seen that. But of course, he wasn’t here. He’d gone back to his own college across town, probably nursing the heartbreak Peach had given him. Annie almost wished he’d been there to hear it too.

one of the guys muttered. “No way.”

“Way,” Sherpa said, sounding almost thrilled. “It explains so much.”

Isaac didn’t join in. He just stared at the ground, Annie’s words mixing with his own anger.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and

It was from Peach.

Peach: Hey. Can we talk? Tonight. By the oak tree?

He stared at the screen. A bitter laugh escaped him. Everyone went quiet, looking at him.

“What?” Leo asked.

“Nothing.” Isaac grunted, not looking at any of them. He pushed off from the tree. “I’m out of here.”

He was so angry, after ignoring him for days. After playing with him in front of everyone. Now she wants to talk? On her schedule.

His thumb hovered over the keyboard. He wanted to type something long and angry, to ask her who she thought she was.

But he didn’t write a single word. He just found the simple thumbs-up emoji and stabbed the screen to send it.

My heart sank when I saw his reply. Just a thumbs-up. Cold. But I deserved it. I had to show up anyway.

Walking across campus, I tried to stay calm. People were still out. I heard music from a dorm window, someone laughing loudly with their friends. The world was normal, but I felt completely separate from it. Every step felt heavy.

When I reached the path to the oak tree, the normal sounds faded away. It was darker here. The big tree was just a black shape against the night sky.

The bench was empty.

"Isaac?" I called out. My voice was swallowed by the quiet.

Maybe he was late. Maybe he was hiding, waiting to see if I'd really come. I hugged myself, feeling stupid and exposed.

I waited, shifting my weight from foot to foot. The cold from the bench seeped through my jeans.

"Isaac, if this is a joke, it's not funny," I said to the empty air, trying to sound annoyed instead of scared.

A low sound rumbled through the stillness. It wasn't the wind. It was a growl, deep and close, vibrating in my chest.

I spun around.

There, where the shadows were thickest under the tree, something moved. It was huge, a shape of pure darkness. And in the middle of that darkness, two points of light burned.

It was Red. Dark, glowing red.

An Alpha. The air around it felt thick and heavy, pushing against me. My own Omega instincts went silent, completely overwhelmed.

I took a step back, my heel catching on a root. "Who...?"

The red eyes just watched, unblinking. A low, warning growl rolled out from the shadows again, telling me to stay put. I was frozen, not by my own fear this time, but by the sheer command rolling off of it. This was an Alpha, and it had me exactly where it wanted me.