Page 36 of The Omega Switch: Part 1
I dropped the papers, blinking hard as I realized what I’d just read. Arabella’s scores were so poor that, according to her paperwork, she shouldn’t have been able to even join the database - she was denied based on her file. I swore I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. If this was who Arabella was, then how on Earth could she match with Pack Vale? She shouldn’t have been able to match with anyone!
My eyes drifted over to Pack Vale’s paperwork. I eyed their files, wondering how bad they could possibly be for her to match with them. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach as I reached for their papers.
My hands shook as I took the file, opening it up to read about their pack. Each of them had their own personal profile, but I flipped to the end, where I could see their pack match needs. I felt my mouth drop open as I read it.
Ideal Omega Profile Requirements
High Emotional Stabilization Behaviors
High Collaborative Instincts
Elevated Empathy Integration
High Intellectual Curiosity
Preference For Cooperative Relationship Structures
Every line felt familiar, and my eyes darted back to my own report. Then back to theirs again. No. No. Every single page felt as if someone had taken my report and turned it into a wish list for their pack. My breath came faster, and suddenly a horrible realization settled over me. My mind went back to that day when our results came in.
I remembered the way Arabella had suddenly become interested in whether I planned to submit my results. The way she’d gone quiet when she read, and took my file away before I could even read it. How she’d run up and disappeared, not mentioning she was going to submit her results.
And the way my ID said it was already registered - but not by me. The sinking feeling was overtaken by a growing rage as I realized what had happened.
My missing profile was already registered because someone else was using it. Someone with horrific results, who stole mine. My profile, which showed top-tier results, and was a near-perfect match to the needs of Pack Vale.
The match Pack Vale had wasn’t with Arabella. No, my manipulative, conniving, narcissistic stepsister hadn’t matched with Pack Vale.
I had.
Chapter 23
Ivy
For a moment, I just stared down at the words. Like my body was in such shock that I couldn’t actually process what was happening.
The compatibility profile Pack Vale had received wasn't Arabella's. The personality markers weren't hers. The trauma indicators weren't hers. The loyalty scores, the collaborative instincts, the creativity markers, the emotional compatibility ratings - those weremine.
Arabella hadn’t just stolen the pack that was best suited for me; she’d stolen my entire damn identity. All because her own scores were so abysmally poor that she wasn’t even eligible to submit to the matchmaking database. So she took what was mine.
Mine.
A horrible sound escaped my throat. For weeks, I'd been grieving something that I was told wasn’t real. I’d believed the lie that I wasn’t enough, that I wasn’t good enough, pretty enough, my entire existence just wasn’tenough.
And Arabella fucking fed me the lie.
My stomach twisted. Every single thing in my life had been taken from me, little by little, under the assumption that I just didn’t deserve it. It was all a bullshit lie. One that my family had created, and maintained, for years now. But now, their lies loosened their hold on me. Something in me finally broke. I felt myself change, the shrinking self doubt replaced by righteous rage.
This was the one thing that truly, without a doubt, belonged to me. She stole the one thing that was mine. My entire genetic and personality file, all me, she stole.
I was breathing heavy, my rage boiling up as I felt my omega instincts breaking through. The suppressants could only hold me back for so long. Everything deep inside me had always known that Pack Vale were my mates, even from the beginning. I’d just let myself be gaslit into believing I wasn’t good enough. Now, I had confirmation that I was always good enough. And I was beyond angry - I was full of ballistic rage.
The sound of a car door slamming outside jolted me upright. Voices followed as I heard my family come through the door, Arabella laughing about something.
My vision blurred red. For years, I'd swallowed every insult, let my own light dull so that Arabella could systematically take over my family, my house, my work, my friends, everything. Now she went beyond that, taking over my entire identity and stealing my pack.Mine.
The deep, feral possessive voice inside me was coming from the long-suppressed side of me that they’d tried so hard to get me to hide. It had been years of having to barely have a heat, rushing through it, and overusing suppressants to not cause Arabella any issues. Years of having my ideas renamed as Arabella’s, my mom’s company slowly becoming Arabella’s. My fathers practically ignoring my existence to make their new omega and her daughter happy. Ignoring that my mom was ever here - ignoring that I wasstillhere.
Every single stolen achievement flashed through my mind as I raced down the stairs, my teeth bared as I ran. Every moment I'd been told to be smaller, quieter, to let things go. To be quieter. But this was beyond pale. This was my future, my pack. My mates.
