I figured that I might as well have the girl’s night out that I’d lied to Jax about. I took my phone out of my bag and text Harper.

Hey girl,

How do you fancy hitting the bars tonight? I need a girlie night out with my best friend.

xxx

Before I even had a chance to look away from my phone, she replied.

Yeah, sounds good. I’ll start getting ready now. Want me to send a craft over to bring you here? We can have a drink before we leave.

I wasted no time in texting her back.

Yeah, that would be great. Jax has taken our craft to his dad’s farm.

xxx

She messaged back and said the craft would be with me in around twenty minutes, so I threw my phone onto the bed and hurried over to my floor-length mirror. I hoped that the dress I had on was good enough to wear for a night out, but it wasn’t. It was my last night of being a wild child. As of tomorrow, I would be a girlfriend, soon to be wife and mate. I wanted to enjoy tonight without any restrictions or pressures. After one last blow out, I would focus on settling down and having a family.

My mom was only eighteen when she had me. I was already twenty-five, and although most Beta's settled down later on in life, I’d had a prominent and niggling compulsion to find a mate and have a family ever since I was young. Omega's and Alpha's usually found their mates and settled down as teenagers, and that was another reason why I felt like I shouldn’t have been born a Beta. Why else do I feel so compelled to find a mate?

I shook the thoughts out of my head and pulled off my short black dress, revealing a body that most men would kill for. I had golden, sun-kissed skin and legs that went on for days. My curves were in all the right places, and my larger than average bust made my body the envy of most. I knew I was an attractive woman, and definitely the type that didn’t need to wear the heavy makeup that I’d applied earlier. But I regularly wore it as a mask to hide the pain and loneliness that screamed from within me.

I kept my long black hair untied, letting it float down my back in beautiful waves. The unique bright amber eyes that stared back at me, were a trait that I got from my father. Funnily enough, it wasn’t enough to convince him that I was his child. He even went as far as accusing his Beta cousin of fathering me because he had the same color eyes. My eye color mesmerized most people, and that was fine by me, it helped distract them from the emptiness that laid beneath them.

With the Rathsima unity festival this week, the capital was buzzing, and tonight I would definitely live up to my nickname of Algar-Din's resident ‘rich bitch'. I was going to let loose and get wild tonight. Then I'd probably rock up at Jaxon's house, completely wasted, and try to show him the best time of his life. That was my usual routine when I got drunk. I slipped on another dress and stood in front of the mirror checking myself out. It looked good, but that wasn’t enough. I wanted to drop jaws, turn heads and excite dicks. Ultimately, I wanted to infuriate my mother before I left.

My relationship with her was complicated. I loved her, but I had a lot of deep-seated hatred and contempt for her too. Being the kind and loving Omega that she was, made her overlook most of my antics and bad attitude, which ultimately provoked me even more. I headed back over to my closet and pushed outfit after outfit aside. None of which were fitting enough for the occasion, but I finally settled on one that was just right.

“Perfect.”

I slipped the skin-tight, red dress over my head and rolled it over my shapely figure, until it rested just below my plump ass. I matched the dress with some designer stilettos, then combed my fingers through my hair before blowing a kiss at my reflection. After touching up my makeup and adding some perfume, I grabbed my phone off the bed and placed it into my black purse, then strolled out my bedroom door and headed downstairs.

“Hold up, young lady. Where do you think you’re going dressed like that?” my mother called out as I made my way to the front door.

Got ya. I knew the outfit would work. My mom was pissed. With a smirk on my face, I turned to face her.

“There is nothing wrong with my clothes, and besides, I’m a grown-ass woman who can wear what the hell she wants to.”

“Don’t you sass me, girl. While you still carry the Mountford name, you have a reputation to uphold. How are you going to find a Beta from a decent family, when you dress like a cheap hooker?” my mother snapped, getting angrier with every word.

I rolled my eyes, letting her rant go in one ear and out the other. It was nothing that I hadn’t heard a million times before. With an aggravated sigh, I replied,

“For one, this dress is far from cheap, mother. And two, we both know that I’m not interested in marrying a Beta. I need an Alpha, you know this.”

It was so hard to keep the grin from growing on my face. I knew I’d decided against going to the auction, and I would give me and Jaxon’s relationship a proper go, but I couldn’t help myself from winding her up.

“Dahlia quit joking around. It’s not funny anymore. You need to get that idiotic idea out of your head. Have you forgotten what kind of life we had with your father? Because I never will,” she cried out while lifting up her blouse to reveal a large burn scar that covered most of her stomach. I lowered my gaze, not wanting to be reminded of how my mother got that scar. “No Dahlia, you look at it,” she yelled, making my eyes shoot up to hers. “Look at it. Is this what you want?” Her tone soft, before getting louder when I didn’t reply. “Well, is it!?”

Unable to control myself, I barked back,

“No, of course not, but not all Alpha's are the same, momma. Just because your Alpha ended up being an abusive asshole, it doesn’t mean they all are.”

I didn’t even know why I was defending them. I knew that tomorrow I’d be telling her that me and Jaxon were official, but I couldn’t help it. I guess it was still a sore spot. I hated people trying to control me and tell me what I could and couldn’t do.

“Dahlia, you know you can’t have an Alpha. You’re a Beta, he would rip you apart, you silly girl. Stop this foolishness and grow the hell up.”

I growled at her, making my frustration known, before storming out and slamming the door behind me. Taking in a deep breath, I ranted in my head while I waited for Harper’s transport craft to arrive. She just doesn’t understand how I feel, how could she? She’s an Omega! She'll never understand.

When my mom was born, they knew straight away that she was an Omega. My parents assumed I would be an Alpha like my dad, or an Omega like my mom, but when I was born, I was neither. That set me up for a whole life of rejection, confusion and self-hatred. She didn’t understand how that felt. She was accepted and loved for who she was. Sure, she had an awful life with my father, but that wasn’t because she was an Omega, it was because she picked a crappy Alpha. I was fed up with her trying to push her pain and worry onto me. I had more than enough of my own, I didn’t need hers too.

The excitement for my night out had all but vanished by the time Harper’s craft arrived. I didn’t even bother to greet the driver, I just got into the back and slumped into my seat. The craft pulled away, and as we travelled to Harper’s house, I stared blankly out of the window. With clouds floating past the craft, I didn’t even bother to take in all the visiting aliens that filled the streets below. It was the same every year, and at first seeing so many different species, was shocking and unsettling. Now, I was used to it, and looked forward to the festival. After a short trip, we arrived at Harper’s house. The driver pulled up and parked the craft. He got out and came around to open the door for me. I stepped out and pulled my dress down, letting the delicate fabric cling to my thighs once again.

“Thank you,” I mumbled to the driver before walking up the gravel path towards the house.

I reached the front door and pressed the doorbell. It wasn’t long before Harper’s brother Varic answered the door. I expected him to invite me in like he normally would, but he didn’t. Instead, he peered around me, before looking behind himself, towards the stairs. I knitted my brow at him, then glanced behind me. I tilted my head when I saw our craft parked to the side of the house. As I gradually turned my head back to look at Varic, I asked in a quiet tone,

“Is, Jaxon here?”

My eyes landed on Varic's nervous expression, and that was all the answer I needed. Shoving him out the way, I stormed into the house, and as I made my way toward the stairs, Varic called out,

“Harper. Dahlia's here. She’s coming up the stairs right now!”

He didn’t need to shout it out that loud. It was obvious to me that he was trying to warn her of my arrival, the question was, why? I sprinted up the stairs, then raced down the hall towards her bedroom. Without even knocking I burst through the door, before freezing at the sight that beheld me. I wanted to scream and shout, but no words could make it past the lump in my throat. Tears built up in my eyes, and no matter how hard I tried to keep them at bay, they began to roll down my cheeks.

Jaxon was saying some shit, but it all just sounded like muffled nonsense to me. He jumped out of Harper’s bed, as naked as the day God made him. My tear-filled eyes followed the now blurry figure of Jaxon, as he scrambled around the floor trying to retrieve his clothes as quickly as he could. Feeling completely numb, I gradually turned around, softly shutting the door behind me. I then strolled along the hall and back down the stairs. The situation made no sense to me. I knew he was sleeping with other women, but I never thought it could have been my best friend.

He had literally just left my bed and rolled right into hers. Am I not enough for him? What the hell would possess him to sleep with me, then within half an hour, go and fuck my best friend? I couldn’t comprehend why Harper would allow this to happen, she knew I was on my way over. Unless she wanted me to catch them. But why? Surely keeping it a secret would be more beneficial for the pair of them. Maybe she wanted to be found out? I’d then dump Jax and she could have him all to herself. That had to be it.

“Lia... Crap. I’m so sorry you had to find out like that…” Varic's voice trailed off when I completely ignored him and silently walked out of the front door.

My foot stomped onto the gravel path, crushing the tiny stones into the dirt, then was repeated by the other foot. Anything more than one foot in front of the other, would have taking too much brainpower. So, mindless walking was about all I could manage. Where I was going exactly, I didn’t know, but to be honest, I really didn’t care either. I could hear Jaxon calling out to me, but I just quickened my pace.

“Lia... Lia. Please slowdown will ya? Just let me explain,” he shouted while sprinting behind me. “Lia, stop, please,” he begged in a softer voice as he grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him.

He had his hands holding on to both of my arms, and I didn’t have the strength or energy to fight him off. He tried to gaze into my eyes, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. I just stared blankly into the distance. He took in a deep breath. “Say something, please,” he begged me.

Like really? Why should I have to go first? Why should I help him out at all at this point?

“Crap. Um... Look, I’m sorry. I mean we aren’t exclusive yet...”

I turned my head and dragged my eyes up to his, shooting him the nastiest glare I could muster. With a snarl I replied,

“Are you fucking kidding me?” His eyes quickly avoided mine. “No! You don’t get to look away,” I barked while clasping his face with one hand, then twisted it toward me. “I understand that we weren’t exclusive, but after today's conversation, I assumed that would have changed. Oh, and besides, I didn’t know that you were fucking my best friend. Like, even if we weren’t about to be exclusive and spend the rest of our lives together, how the hell did you think I’d take finding that out?”

He shrugged in reply. Did he just fucking shrug his shoulders at me? Seriously! Does he not give a damn?

“I guess I didn’t expect you to find out...”

“Oh, great, so you were just gonna keep on sleeping with her?” He went to interrupt me, but I squeezed both of his lips together, making sure that not even one stupid word would slip past them.

His eyes grew wide as I continued, “no, don’t give me no bullshit. You can nod or shake your head to answer, okay?” I watched with raised eyebrows as his gaze dotted around and then settled back on mine. He nodded his head, and that was my cue to continue.

“Good boy. So, were you going to keep sleeping with her?” He shook his head. “Were you ever going to tell me that you'd fucked her?” He shook his head again.

Oh, you snaky son of a bitch. At least you’re being honest, you lousy bastard.

“Do you love her?” That one I barely choked out.

I knew that I’d taken a long time to work out what I wanted from a relationship standpoint. Hell, even earlier on today, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but the thought of him being in love with my best friend, absolutely crushed me. My stiffened posture slumped, and my hand fell away from his lips, while my head dropped down. I stared at the gravel on the ground trying to keep my tears at bay. He reached his hand up and clutched my chin with his thumb and finger, then lifted my head slightly. Staring into those incredible blue eyes of his had my heart crying out for him. But I knew couldn’t give in to it, my heart was broken and not thinking clearly.

“No, Lia. I love you. I always have.”

I almost bought it... Almost. The vision of his naked ass thrusting into Harper flooded my mind, and with it, a new emotion. Anger. I lifted my leg, pulled it back, then shot it forward, kicking him right in the crotch. A girly whimper escaped Jaxon's lips as he dropped to the ground with a thud.

“Oh my God, Jax!” Harper called out while running towards us, and as soon as she reached us, she placed her hands on her hips and screamed, “why in the hell did you do that, Lia?”

My reply was simple. I punched the bitch square in the face. The loud crack of her nose breaking echoed through the air while I shook my hand out. An empowered smirk grew on my face as I watched her hit the floor like the sack of crap she was. Gradually I turned around, but before walking away, I snarled,

“Because I’m, Lia Mountford, Bitch!”