Page 34 of Beautifully Scarred Omega

It comes out of nowhere. My pulse is pounding in my ears and my palms are slick against the tablet I’m clutching to my chest like a shield. Every instinct in my body is screaming to put as much distance as possible between myself and the three alphas I just left behind.

What the actual fuck?

I immediately catch myself, slowing my breathing, counting each inhale and exhale. I can feel my pulse return to normal, a skill I’ve perfected over years of high-stakes missions.

There’s no fucking way I’m letting a bunch of alphas get in my head.

Focus, Sophie. Find the mole, then get out.

“Sophie?”

Lucy’s voice cuts through the fog. I blink, and suddenly she’s right there beside me, her brow slightly furrowed. She’s been talking for at least thirty seconds, I realize, pointing at something on the wall, and I haven’t heard a single word.

“Sorry, Lucy.” The tremor in my voice is real this time, at least there’s that. “First day jitters.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it.” She gives me a warm, understanding smile. “Everyone’s nervous on their first day. You’ll settle in before you know it.”

I return her smile, and I can feel my skin stretching over my face unnaturally.

My first day in this job and it’s already a complete shitshow.

I’m going to be working with Pack Cavill, every single day, for God knows how long.

Max with his cold green eyes that seem to look straight into my soul. Ethan with his quiet curiosity that makes me feel like a specimen under glass. And Finn⁠—

Finn, who wouldn’t even look at me.

Something twists in my chest before I can stop it.

Why did he have to be so weird about it? So we kissed, big fucking deal. Griffin told me they were playboys. Which is totally fine and none of my business, but his reaction still doesn’t add up. A man like that shouldn’t care that I walked out on him.

Unless this is about his ego. Jesus, it must be about his ego. I bet he can’t handle the rejection. And he’s probably not used to it, since it’s got to be really fucking hard for any omega to reject him.

Because I know what it’s like to feel that pull. Just like when I met him in that hotel. I know part of the reason I went to his room was Cindy, wanting to get justice for her... but part of me knows there was another reason, one I couldn’t even dare admit to myself.

But then I remember Finn’s coldness again⁠—

Why does that bother you? It shouldn’t bother you.

He’s a stranger. That’s all he is. That night at the gala was a mistake, a case of wrong identity, a kiss that meant nothing.

Nothing at all.

Lucy leads me back through the Atrium and out onto a glass bridge, suspended in midair like something out of a science fiction movie. Through the transparent walls, I can see the grounds below, and nestled near a small river, a house.

I look at it curiously. Stone and timber from what I can tell, with a steeply pitched roof and a wraparound porch. Smoke curls lazily from the chimney. A house you’d expect to find tucked into the mountains somewhere, not sitting on a billionaire’s corporate estate.

“What’s that?” I ask, nodding toward it.

Lucy follows my gaze. “Oh, that’s the pack residence. Where Mr. Cavill, Mr. Brooks, and Mr. Preston live.”

I stare at her. “That’s their house?”

She laughs. “I know, right? Everyone expects some massive mansion when they first get here.” She shrugs. “I’ve never been inside, but I hear it’s nice. Although not what you’d expect from three billionaires.”

Yeah, it definitely isn’t what I expected, that’s for sure.

“This bridge connects to the Residential Wing,” Lucy continues as we walk. “That’s where the staff quarters are, along with the canteen and some of the common spaces.”