He waits. Gives me space.
"Tell me about the day Marie arrived. Not the facts. The first feeling."
The first feeling wasn't jealousy.
It was hope.
Hope she'd like me.
Hope I could do this right.
Hope I could be enough that they’d all still want me around.
My throat tightens.
"She took up space," I say finally.
"And that felt like...?"
"Like I had to shrink. Like there wasn't room for both of us."
He watches my face. "Did anyone tell you there wasn't room?"
I let out a humorless breath. "Not at first."
"But later."
"Marie did," I whisper.
Arden's eyes sharpen slightly. "What did she say?"
I hesitate.
Saying it makes it real again.
"She called me second-hand."
Arden's jaw tightens, controlled. "And what did that mean to you?"
"Used. Like a placeholder. A spare omega. Something they kept around until they found what they actually wanted."
"And when she said it, what did your alphas do?"
My chest tightens painfully.
Nothing.
They didn't correct her. They didn't shut it down.
"They didn't stop her," I say quietly.
"And how did that land in you?"
"Like confirmation. Like she was saying what they were thinking and no one wanted to admit."
Arden leans forward slightly, voice warm and firm. "A scent match is biological. Chemistry. Pull. It does not determine worth."
I give a small shrug.
