My phone rings.
Unknown number.
Against every instinct screaming at me not to answer, I pick up.
"Hello?"
"Jessica." The voice is cultured, cold, and instantly recognizable. "This is Eleanor."
Eleanor. Callum's mother. The woman who picked out my wedding dress and my table settings and probably would have picked out my firstborn's name if I'd let her.
My omega goes very still. Prey recognizing a predator.
"Mrs. Whitmore." I keep my voice neutral even though my heart is racing.
"How did you get this number?"
My stomach drops. Of course.
"Callum gave it to you." "Before you blocked him."
"He's very distressed, you know. You've put him through a terrible ordeal."
“How?” I ask.
"Running away on your wedding day. Embarrassing him in front of two hundred guests. Stealing your maid of honor's vehicle." She clicks her tongue. "It's all very dramatic, Jessica. Very... common."
Common. The worst insult in Eleanor Whitmore's vocabulary.
Does she suspect? Can she somehow tell through the phone that I'm omega now? The paranoia makes me feel insane, but my newly awakened instincts are screaming warnings.
"Is there a point to this call, Mrs. Whitmore?"
"I'm calling to offer you a solution." Her voice shifts. Becomes almost pleasant. "We can fix this mess. All of it. The social media speculation, the gossip, the damage to Callum's reputation."
"And how would we do that?"
"A public apology. Nothing elaborate. Just a brief statement explaining that you experienced a mental health crisis and made a regrettable decision. We'll say you've sought treatment and you're deeply sorry for any pain you caused. Callum will graciously accept your apology, and we'll announce that the wedding has been postponed, not cancelled. In a few months, when everything has calmed down, you can quietly separate and no one will be the wiser."
I pull the phone away from my ear and stare at it, convinced I must have misheard.
"You want me to apologize. Publicly. And pretend I had a mental breakdown."
"It's the cleanest solution."
"For who? For Callum? For you?"
"For everyone." A hint of steel enters her voice. "Think about it, Jessica. Right now you're the villain. The unstable omega who abandoned her devoted fiancé at the altar. One statement,and you become a sympathetic figure instead. A woman who struggled and sought help. Much better for your future prospects, don't you think?"
She said omega. She said it so casually, like it was common knowledge, and my blood runs cold.
"What did you just say?"
"I said you're the unstable omega who—"
"I never told anyone I was omega."
Silence on the other end. Long enough that I know she realizes her mistake.
