When My Mate Chose Her Over Me

I frantically pushed Lucia aside, my Omega instincts making me shrink back slightly under her Gamma aura, but the urgency propelled me forward. I rushed into the kitchen, tearing open the lid of the pot. Inside, the boiling spiced honey cakes bobbed, and next to it, a small bowl still held a few half-eaten ones. My heart raced as I opened the bottom shelf of the fridge and counted them. Only a few remained.

I collapsed onto the floor, trembling with rage, my fingers clenched tightly, nails digging into my palms. Dean, the Beta of our pack, noticed something was off and instinctively moved to shield Lucia, his posture protective yet dismissive of me, an Omega. His broad frame loomed over me, and for a moment, I felt the weight of his rank pressing down on me.

"Jessica Martin, you can't be serious," Dean said, his voice tinged with the authority of a Beta. "We waited so long for you that we ate a couple of your spiced honey cakes. Is it really that big of a deal?"

My eyes burned with anger as I shouted at him, my voice rising, "Dean Simmons! These are the spiced honey cakes my mom made for me. She made them right before she passed away!"

My mom died in an accident. Barely an hour before the crash, she had made these cakes and left them in the fridge. They are the last piece of her I have left. I've always been hesitant to eat them, only allowing myself a few when I'm overwhelmed with missing her. But now, Lucia and Dean had managed to ruin almost half of them.

Dean appeared shaken, but he continued to stubbornly defend Lucia, his loyalty to her rank evident in his tone. "Lucia didn't mean any harm. She thought she was doing something nice for your birthday. How were we supposed to know you'd cherish those cakes so much..."

"Get out," I growled, my voice low and trembling. My wolf stirred within me, a rare flicker of defiance.

"Get out!" I repeated, louder this time, my voice echoing in the small kitchen.

"I don't want your fake efforts to celebrate my birthday. Just leave, all of you!"

In my fury, I grabbed whatever was nearby and hurled it at them with all my strength. Dean shielded Lucia, but a streak of red appeared on his forehead. He froze, gingerly touching the spot, his face pale with shock.

After a long silence, his expression dark, he bitterly spat out, "Jessica Martin, you're out of your mind."

With a slam of the door, he was gone.

I sat amidst the wreckage, clutching the few precious spiced honey cakes my mom had left me, sobbing uncontrollably. My wolf whimpered softly in the back of my mind, a rare moment of shared pain. The bond between Dean and me, once so strong, now felt like a frayed thread, barely holding together. I could feel it, the pull of his rank, his authority, but I refused to let it dictate my emotions any longer.

The kitchen was silent now, save for my quiet sobs. I stared at the mess, the remnants of my mother's last gift to me scattered across the floor. The pack hierarchy, the ranks, the expectations—it all felt like a suffocating weight. But in that moment, as I held the few remaining cakes close, I felt a strange sense of resolve. I was an Omega, yes, but I was also Jessica Martin, and I wouldn’t let anyone—not even a Beta—take away what little I had left.