Page 11 of Unbreak Me

"May I help you with something?"

Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me and nervously turned around, only to see a short, older omega—a Fate’s Choice employee—looking at me with slightly narrowed eyes.

I was aware that one employee usually oversaw several booths, so me staring so persistently at the information board must have caught his attention.

"Um… just reading some information," I muttered, sounding stupid. After all, it wasn’t Wikipedia, so one couldn’t get caught reading about polar bears and be glued to the screen for minutes on end.

The employee observed me attentively. I noticed his nostrils twitching; he was probably trying to gauge if I was a beta, but soon his expression subtly changed.

"Do you want to purchase the right to have a few minutes’ conversation with Day?" he asked kindly, a wide smile spreading across his face as he took an even deeper inhale.

Yep, the story of my life, everyone had to confirm my alpha status with their… sense of smell.

"We have a discount today."

I knew that everybody interested in contractees had to first buy the opportunity for a conversation, usually costing at least $250. It was a preventative measure to stop onlookers from engaging in discussions without serious intentions.

"No, I’ll just go," I muttered, still feeling foolish.

And there it was again—my insecurities, the ones I had gained throughout the years of constant rejection. They surfaced and made me… not even try.

Uncle Frank was so right about me. Dammit, I just defaulted to giving up. Permanently.

Ashamed of myself and avoiding looking at both omegas, I turned away and headed toward the end of the aisle, my stomach hurting and my throat constricted.

But why such a reaction? Was I even interested in this omega?

Let’s face it—I was. Something about him struck a nerve in a strange way. He intrigued me. Should I turn around and try after all? But now I would look even more ridiculous, or just unstable.

Suddenly, I saw an extremely tall alpha with strange dark burgundy-slash-dark-purple hair hurrying toward me. The guy was practically running!

Borderline intimidated, because of how crazy tall he was and, uh, overwhelmingly handsome, I stopped in my tracks. But he approached me with a big smile and said,

"Hello, I’m Storm Nolan."

"Um… right. Jan Wilson."

"Pleasure to meet you! I’m a client assistant and Day’s case guardian, and I noticed you were reading his information board. Did something catch your attention? Perhaps you’d like to have a short conversation with Day. I can offer a significant discount on behalf of the company!"

Should I? I hesitated. Why did Day make such an impression on me? It wasn’t even about his looks but something about him—arrogantly smoking cigarettes and his… disdainful expression. These were truly twisted and incomprehensible reasons to be interested in any person.

But Nolan had such a wide smile, and his hands, gestures, his whole body language… they all guided me back toward the glass booth! Involuntarily, I followed, almost afraid to oppose him, sensing his slightly creepy, crazily determined energy.

However, when we stood back next to the booth, Day unexpectedly leaned toward the intercom button. Only then did I realize that all omegas had a small microphone located near their elbow, allowing them to talk to people outside.

"No! No betas!" came a gruff voice from inside.

Yep. There it was. I felt like I had been slapped in the face. Silly me. Of course, he thought I was just a beta!

I shouldn’t have been surprised, yet it happened again in my life, and it was… disappointing. Once more, I was excluded from the pool of candidates simply because of my appearance. The odd one out, for the thousandth time.

A hint of embarrassment appeared on Storm Nolan’s face. He must have felt awkward because he was standing right next to me and knew I was an alpha, but before he could say anything, perhaps explain it to Day, I quickly stepped back.

"Sorry, I’m leaving!"

Turning around in a hurry, I was glad to have found an excuse for my retreat. I was just so used to losing that it was almost a relief. Everything was going as I expected—a sick way of thinking, and yet this self-fulfilling prophecy seemed to be my daily routine.

Shifting my feet rapidly, I began to sprint away, but… I soon heard Storm Nolan’s relentless footsteps behind me.

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