AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Prologue: Cammie
The car line doesn’t move. The person behind me honks again, and Emmaline starts making theI’m-gonna-melt-down songin the backseat.
“Not much longer, Em. Then we can go home.”
Ten minutes later, the line inches forward.
Ben waves to me before hopping in the car. “Denny asked me to join his baseball team—the traveling one with the state record. He talked to his coach, and tryouts are this weekend.”
“Yes! I told you throwing it in a bucket was a cheap way to practice. We can do this.”
I high five Ben across the seat. Emmaline squeals for her brother until he caves. He gives her a smacking kiss before buckling in. I merge back into the traffic lane and wait in another freaking line of cars at the intersection.
“So I can tell Denny we can make tryouts this weekend?” Ben asks, bouncing in the backseat. He’s a ball of energy, pumped to be invited to try out for a spot on this team.
His dad was supposed to help him practice at home, but Trent has been working too much lately. It’s been the two of us practicing in the yard, my old softball glove getting put to use.
“Yeah, bud. I’m really proud of you, and I hope you are too. I’ll make sure to get the info.”
A text from Trent, my alpha and their dad, pops up on my screen. My eyes skim the notification and my mind trips. Everything stops, and the world goes from right side up to topsy-turvy. The Dr. Pepper I’ve been sipping feels like acid in my gut.
I reread the text, thinking it can’t possibly say what I think it does. Bile rises in my throat.
No. This isn’t—but it is. My worst nightmare is there in black and white.
Trent: I met my scent match.
A picture comes through.
It’s my alpha. Beefy and tall, his long hair pulled back into a bun and a smile on his face. I think errantly that he looks happier than I’ve ever seen, but then the thought is obliterated by the brunette in the picture. She looks like the classy version of me, the girl next door refined into a Hollywood star, all the country twang buffed out. She’s posing for the camera, sitting in my alpha’s lap, and leaning into the frame to show off her neck.
Her newly bitten neck. The skin is still red and puffy, unmistakable as an alpha’s bite.
I read the text again and my brain finally catches up to what is happening. My alpha has met his scent match, his omega.
What the fuck does that mean?
But I know what that bite on the omega’s neck means. Every beta who has dared go to bed with an alpha knows what it means. My time with Trent as my alpha is over.
I’m a beta. A reject. Second best.
Another text comes in, and I don’t want to know, but I see it anyway.
Trent: You understand, Cam. What we had was good, but this is magic. Veronica and I want to start our life together. We don’t see a reason to wait.
A car slams on the horn behind me, and I blink. The light is green. I could pull over, break down here, call him, and demand answers. We have two kids together. A home. More than eight years.
“Mom?” Ben laughs from the back, shaking his head. “You zoned out. Go already.”
Emmaline whines that her dragon is hungry, which is code for she’s hungry.
I take a breath and swallow around the lump in my throat, making a right at the light. My eyes burn, but I can’t break here, not in front of my babies, who deserve so much better.
I call over my shoulder. “It’s just us tonight. Your dad’s not planning to be home. How about pizza?”
I drive on autopilot, my mind racing and my stomach a swirling sea. He threw me away. Like all those years together don’t matter. Like I’m a placeholder. Like I’m trash.
The break comes anyway, silent and world-ending, right there in my old Neon as I pull into the parking lot of Papa’s Pizza. Everything has changed, but the world keeps on turning. Dinner. Homework. Bath. Story time. I do all of it while breaking.
