Mabeline considers this for a long moment, those hazel eyes thoughtful and piercing in that way I am learning is uniquely hers.
"Maybe you just need an Omega," she says. "One who is going to stick you guys back together. Glue the cracks and force you to confront all the baggage you have been avoiding."
I look at her.
Really look.
At the conviction in her eyes. The strength that lives behind the vulnerability. The woman who has been broken by the world a hundred times and still gets up every single morning ready to fight.
I extend my hand toward her, palm up.
She looks at it. Looks up at me. Back down at my open hand, those hazel eyes flickering between curiosity and caution.
"Maybe," I say, holding her gaze. "But that requires getting them jealous first. So they realize what they are missing."
She laughs, the sound filling my car like a melody I want to hear on repeat for the rest of my life.
"Remind me never to get you mad," she says, still grinning as she places her hand in mine. Her fingers thread through my own like they were designed for exactly this purpose. Warm. Certain. A connection that feels less like a beginning and more like a homecoming. "You probably hold grudges."
I squeeze her hand, smiling in a way I have not smiled in longer than I can remember.
"To the grave and beyond."
CHAPTER 12
Bag Of Bones
~MABELINE~
The school bell rings, and for the first time in years, the sound does not fill me with dread.
It fills me with relief.
Because I survived. An entire first day at Valenridge Academy, and I am still standing. Still breathing. Still in possession of all my limbs and most of my dignity, which is more than I expected when this morning started with a coffee crisis and Rafe calling my living situation a communal dump.
Small victories, Mae. Celebrate the small victories.
I start gathering my things from the desk, stacking textbooks and sliding loose papers into a folder with the careful precision of someone whose bag is held together by safety pins and sheer determination. The classroom is buzzing with end-of-day energy, students shoving notebooks into expensive backpacks and making plans for the evening in voices loud enough to carry across the entire room.
The scent of the space is overwhelming. A full day of Alphas and Omegas crammed into classrooms has created a perfumed fog that clings to every surface. Cedar and leather and bergamot from the Alphas, mixed with florals and citrus and honey from the handful of Omegas scattered throughout the student body.My nose has been working overtime all day, sorting through the cacophony of pheromones, trying to categorize each one and file it away.
Most of them are unremarkable.
A few are actively unpleasant.
And three of them have become annoyingly familiar in the span of twelve hours.
Vanessa rushes past me in a cloud of jasmine perfume so thick it makes my eyes water, heading straight for Rafe's desk like a heat-seeking missile locked onto its target. Her blonde hair swings behind her in a perfect ponytail, her uniform somehow looking designer despite being the same standard issue we all received.
"Rafe!" She slides into the desk beside his, tilting her head with a practiced sweetness that makes my stomach turn. "Are you going to be on the rink today? I was hoping to watch you guys practice."
Rafe huffs, not even looking up from shoving his single notebook into his bag with the carelessness of someone who has never had to worry about replacing damaged belongings.
"No. We are not training until tomorrow. They are resurfacing the ice today."
Vanessa's pout could win awards for theatrical disappointment.
"Well, do you want to come hang out with us and some of the team then? We are going for milkshakes and burgers at that new joint on Fifth. Kyle said it is really good."
