Page 29 of Omega Scarred

Fallon looks like he's dying as we sit down in the mess hall together, a big bottle of booze in his hand. He takes a swig of it and hisses out a breath as he rolls his shoulder, shaking his head.

"You good, man?" I ask, frowning.

"Why?" he sulks from under his blond hair.

"Because you look like shit," I tell him.

He does--not only is he clearly depressed, but he's sporting a nasty black eye and bruising all up and down the arm Rafe hurt. I don't think he ever made it to the med bay; in fact, I think he's been fucking Jade ever since I left him in the watchtower two days ago.

"I feel like shit, too," he mutters. "But thanks for pointing it out.

I take a sip of my own drink, trying to find the right words. Fallon and Rafe have been my closest friends for years, and seeing them torn apart like this is like a knife in my gut. I want to fix it, but I don't know how.

"I don't get what the big deal is," I say finally, hoping to start a conversation. "I mean, sure, Jade is hot and all, but she's not worth all this drama."

Fallon snorts, taking another swig of booze. "You don't understand, man. She's...different. There's something about her that just...draws you in."

I roll my eyes. "Pheromones, dude. That's all it is. You're not thinking straight."

Fallon glares at me, his normally bright green eyes dark with anger and hurt. "I'm a beta, Hawk. This isn't supposed to happen to people like me. Her scent...it isn't like anything I've ever experienced."

His voice drops and he hangs his head.

"Plus...she's cool. Like, really fucking cool."

I nod, understanding the effect that Jade's pheromones can have. As an alpha, I've been under an omega's spell before too--never like this, of course, but I get it. But seeing the way it's tearing apart my friends, I'm starting to think that maybe there really is something special about Jade.

And if there is...there's no way Rafe will share.

He's going to keep her, and it could fuck up everything the three of us have worked so hard to build.

"Look, man," I say, trying to comfort him. "I know it's hard, but you have to try to move on. There are other women out there that you could be happy with."

Fallon scoffs, taking another swig of his drink. "It's not that easy, Hawk. You don't understand what I'm feeling."

"I get that it's intense," I reply. "But you can't keep hurting yourself like this."

Fallon laughs. "Last I checked, Rafe was the one who hurt me. I didn't give myself a black eye."

"Yeah, jackass, I get it," I mutter. "But...fuck this, enough moping. You still need to go to the med bay."

"Fuck that," he says. "You're not my alpha. Last I checked, he was inmy apartmentfuckingmy mate."

"Your mate?" I say, stopping dead. "Wait a second--did you mark her?"

Fallon closes his eyes, taking another big sip of his booze. "She asked me to. I do whatever she wants."

A knot grows in my gut. If he's marked her, all bets are off. He'll never let her go.

He and Rafe will kill each other over this eventually, unless we can come to terms with this and pack up.

They need me...but I don't know if I want anything to do with Jade Winslow after watching the havoc she's wreaked on my friends.

"I'm sorry, man," I reply. "This is fucked up."

He looks up at me, his eyes filled with pain. "This is all my fault," he whispers. "I got cocky and I let my cock, my stupid beta, knotless cock, do the thinking for me. I thought that just because she wanted me, I could satisfy her in her heat..but Rafe was right. She needed an alpha. And now she's got one."

"You make it sound like you haven't had women knocking down your door for a chance at a night with you," I mutter. "We just...we need to figure this out."

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