Page 39 of The Omega Switch: Part 1
Arabella's hand immediately lifted to her face. "Oh. It's nothing." Her voice was weak, and I felt something surge inside of me.
"What happened?" I repeated the question, my voice dangerously low.
Arabella glanced down at her menu. "I really don't want to make a big deal out of it."
My entire pack exchanged looks. “You can tell us, Arabella,” Elias said. He’d told us that Arabella and Ivy were at odds, with Ivy potentially self-harming to get attention. We’d been planning to monitor her at this dinner to see for ourselves. Arabella let out a small sigh and lowered her eyes.
"It was Ivy - she attacked me." The words hit the table like a bomb.
"What?!" Elias said, his hands hitting the table as he stood. I felt my pack’s horror and anger shoot through our bond.
Arabella twisted her napkin between her fingers. "She got upset." A wave of anger immediately surged through me. Upsetwasn’t a sufficient explanation. An upset omega didn't leave scratches on someone's face.
I felt a growl practically erupt from my chest. Arabella was our mate. Seeing evidence that someone had hurt her made my alpha side demand action before logic had a chance to intervene.
"What exactly happened?" I asked, my knuckles turning white under the table as I watched Arabella’s every move.
Arabella hesitated before speaking. "She - she was upset that you were courting me. She feels that I’m not worthy of a pack like yours." Her voice was frail, so different from the confident omega I’d heard before.
Her words were so bizarre that I had trouble even imagining it. Ivy was extremely submissive to others, almost scared at times. But this connected several pieces of information that hadn't made sense before - Ivy’s recent distance, and the way she'd been avoiding us.
Arabella looked genuinely uncomfortable discussing it. "I tried to explain to her that some things are inevitable. Like our biology, for example, or the matching process." She said softly. "But she just snapped."
Ronan frowned. "She attacked you?" His voice was almost incredulous. Arabella sighed.
"She gets irrational sometimes.”
I sat back in my chair, trying to contain the anger building beneath my skin. All I could picture was Arabella frightened, the look on her face as a feral omega scratched her. This was my mate. The fact that someone had hurt her made every protective instinct in me demand justice.
The situation only became worse when Clara and the rest of the family joined us midway through dinner. The moment Clara noticed our rigid posture and barely concealed anger, she let out a sigh.
"Oh, dear. Arabella told you." Clara’s weary tone made me think this might not be an isolated incident.
"Ivy did this?” Elias asked carefully, gesturing to Arabella’s face.
Clara nodded. “Ivy gets extremely jealous, and also emotionally attached very easily," Clara continued. "She always has."
Ronan looked at her like she was crazy.
“Really?” He asked, eyeing the family. “We never saw any sign of that before. Why didn’t anyone mention it to us?” He asked. I could feel his disbelief through the bond. If anyone could have predicted this, it would be Ronan. Clara shook her head.
"We've spent years trying to help her navigate it." She said.
"Navigate what?" I asked.
Clara looked at me. "Well, I didn’t want to bring up her personal issues, but… Ivy’s always struggled with boundaries." She said, and I saw Elias tense next to me. “She gets these ideas in her head… they aren’t based in reality. It comes and goes.” Her voice was forlorn as she looked down.
"There have been other situations over the years, too. Ivy has some unhealthy attachments to various people. She gets ideas in her head about people and sometimes struggles when reality doesn't match what she hoped for." Clara’s words were concerning.
"What kind of situations?" I asked carefully.
Clara hesitated. "Oh, I don’t know. She starts to get delusional, believes that she should be with public figures, or successful alphas, that she would read about online. Researchers she admired. She'd talk about them constantly for a few weeks and then move on to the next thing." She said. I sat back, my concern growing. This omega was clearly going through something, but that was no excuse for attacking anyone - especially Arabella.
“And what consequences did Ivy face?” I asked, looking toward the alphas of pack Carrington. Ivy’s fathers looked fatigued.
“She was taken care of. As you can see, she will not be joining us tonight, or any time in the near future. She’s on restriction until she can control herself.” Phillip said, and I felt the pressure in my chest subside slightly.
“Good. I think it’s best for everyone involved that we don’t see her any time soon. And she should not work on any collaborations with Pack Vale from here on out.” I said, my words clear and final. I saw Elias turn toward me, his mouth open. But he would never go against me in public.
