Page 50 of Omega's Refuge

“You’re paying for the pleasure.” Her smile was polite.

I grimaced. “True. I… I just mean, thank you for fitting me in.”

“We had a lull in our schedule. It worked for all concerned.” She lowered her hands and leaned forward. “Mr. Smyth, may I speak frankly?”

I stiffened because I was pretty sure she wasn’t about to shower me with compliments. “Of course.”

“Would you say you’re a flibbertigibbet?”

“Excuse me?” I frowned.

She cleared her throat. “What I mean is, do you jump from alpha to alpha? Are you a… um… free spirit? A lot of city folk are.”

Heat touched my face. “No. Definitely not.”

“No?” She wrinkled her brow. “I suppose what I find unusual is you literally just broke upwith your alpha, but now you’re … er… involved with Rex.”

I should have told her to mind her own damn business, but her questions had taken me by surprise. I felt the need to defend myself. “If you’ll remember, my alpha ran off with one of your ranch hands. I didn’t break up with him to be with Rex. Steve abandoned me.”

She winced ever so slightly. “Yes. That was unfortunate and unforeseen.” She tapped her finger against the desktop. “Still, you seem to have recovered very quickly. Regardless of the circumstances, you seem to have moved on without a care in the world.”

I bristled. “With all due respect, I don’t think you know me well enough to know what’s going on inside of me.”

“True, but you don’t seem very upset.”

I let out a shaky breath, trying to keep my irritation under control. “Just because I don’t wear my emotions on my sleeve doesn’t mean this hasn’t been very traumatic for me. I… I was extremely upset when Steve left me here. But, this wasn’t the first time he’s cheated on me.”

She raised her brows. “Oh, that’s unfortunate.”

“Yeah, it is. His behavior has forced me to accept that Steve is not the alpha for me. I guess that makes letting go a little easier.”

Her gaze moved to the bite on my neck. “But he claimed you.”

“Yes, but then he betrayed me. Many times. I can’t stay with him simply because I have his bite. I have to have some pride.”

“It’s unfortunate he gave you his bite before you figured that out,” she murmured. “That mark on your neck will be a problem for a lot of alphas.”

It was impossible not to feel judged by the way she stared at me. But her attitude wasn’t surprising. Most older members of our alpha-omega society shared her views. Frankly, even some of the younger did. Once an alpha claimed an omega, the omega was expected to stay with their alpha through thick and thin. An omega who rejected their alpha after receiving their bite was seen as weak and disloyal.

It didn’t matter if the omega had a good reason to leave—our society wasn’t generous toward those who went against the norm. She was right. Few alphas would want to be with me permanently with another alpha’s bite on my throat. Some wouldn’t even want to date me.Most wouldn’t care that Steve had rejected me. I was expected to forsake all other alphas, just in case he decided to return to me.

I lifted my chin. “I plan on having Steve’s bite removed.”

“Really?” She looked shocked. “Just like that?”

My anger got the best of me, and I snapped, “Why would I want the bite of my cheating alpha on my neck? He betrayed me. Why would Iwanthis bite?”

She blinked at me, her expression confused. “Because he’s your alpha.”

“No. He lost that privilege when he ran off with Tony.” I narrowed my eyes. “Unless you’re blaming me for the fact my alpha cheated on me.”

“No. Of course not.” She had the decency to look embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to imply that his weakness was your fault.”

“But you think I should forgive and forget, yet again? Because he’s my alpha?”

Her face twitched. “I didn’t say that.”

“You definitely implied that because I won’t tolerate my alpha cheating on me, I must be shallow for getting involved with Rex. You don’t know anything about me, yet you assume the worst. Is that because you’re an alpha and incapable of seeing things from an omega’s point of view?”

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