Page 53 of The Omega Switch: Part 2

But here in the park, I could walk through the quiet paths and forget everything. There was even a small lake where I could watch the ducks swim, and people would relax on benches nearby.

Hunter waved at me, jogging over still dressed in his work suit. Even from far away, he looked stunning. He looked exactly like the tall, dark, and handsome alpha that I’d seen when I first met him - only this time, instead of intimidation, I just felt an invisible wall of mistrust. No matter how hard he tried to make it up to me, something was missing.

He reached me, stepping beside me as we walked. “So, what’s so important?” I asked, looking out at the lake. I took smaller steps than him, and he intentionally slowed his pace to match mine.

"A few things. First, I looked into Clara’s background." I glanced over at him, my eyebrows raising.

"Clara? Why her? She has nothing to do with the patent issue." I said with a frown.

"I know. But she’s overly involved in everything, and I wanted to leave no stone unturned.” He said, looking at me with those intense blue eyes. I looked away.

“And?” I asked, glancing back out at the lake.

“I wanted to know why her previous bond had been severed," he said. I slowed. I knew that she’d once been bonded with another pack before she met my fathers. But beyond that, I never knew much. Clara rarely spoke about her past. Neither she nor Arabella spoke to me about that time. And I knew asking questions would not get me any answers.

"What happened?" I asked quietly.

Hunter looked at me for a second before answering. "She was originally bonded to a four-alpha pack. They'd been together for many years, and Arabella was a product of that union." He said. I bit my lip. Arabella’s fathers were in that pack, then. She never spoke of them in the entire time I’d lived with her.

"So... what happened?"

Hunter looked away. "They met another omega." He said. I stopped walking, my jaw open in shock. "A younger omega. They wanted to expand the pack, and Clara was adamantly against it. She said it was her or the new omega. Clara was certain that they would never choose anyone over the mother of their child.” I felt sick to my stomach. “Apparently, they told her the new omega was joining the pack whether she accepted it or not."

I sucked in a breath.

"And when Clara refused to accept her, they severed the bond." He said, his voice low. For a second I couldn't breathe.

"They just cast her out?" I asked, my body feeling the pain of the entire thing though I hadn’t lived it.

"Yes. Along with Arabella.” My chest physically ached.

"They cast out their own child?" I repeated, and Hunter nodded.

"They severed the bond and dissolved Clara's legal rights within the household. She left with Arabella shortly afterward."

I looked toward the lake, but I wasn't seeing it anymore. Instead, I imagined a frightened girl clutching her mother's hand as she walked away from everything she'd known. I wrapped my arms around myself.

"That's horrible. No wonder..." I whispered. Hunter looked at me.

"No wonder what?" He asked. I swallowed.

"No wonder Clara always treated every omega like competition." The realization settled over me slowly, painfully. "She never stopped living in that moment. She knew there was only ever room for one," I continued. "Arabella always had to be number one. She always raised Arabella to never be replaced.”

I thought back over years of memories I'd never understood. Arabella would lose her mind if another omega won in a competition. Clara would tell her that if she wasn’t first place, she might as well be last. Then there were the endless comparisons - the obsession with appearance, clothes, status. Arabella had to always be prettier, better, more desirable. Always better than the omega standing beside her.

Because even within our own family, there could only be one. Even for daughters, she made sure that my fathers favored Arabella. Clara was terrified another omega would take away everything she loved.

"It makes sense, in a strange way,” I said, finally walking again. “Clara knew that life was a competition,” I said softly. “And now, Arabella is the same way. But it doesn't excuse what they did," I said, wondering how horrible their lives had to be to constantly be worried about being replaceable.

Hunter shook his head. “No, it doesn’t. And it doesn’t excuse your fathers for playing into it.” He added.

"I know." There was a difference between understanding someone and forgiving them. Nothing about Clara's past justified what she'd done to me. But for the first time, I understood where the poison had begun.

"I just..." I sighed. "I always thought she hated me."

"I think she feared you," Hunter said. “I think she still does. And so does Arabella.” Another silence fell before he reached into the leather portfolio he'd been carrying. "I also found something else." He handed me several copies of old legal documents. I looked through them, my eyes scanning the words.

“What is this?” I asked. Hunter motioned to a nearby bench.