From anyone else's perspective, Vivian had as close to an idyllic life as one could get. A town house in the suburbs, a high paying job as a senior accountant for a law firm, sleek black car that cost more than an annual salary, and a mate who promised to love and cherish her.

However, like all things, there was a flaw. And if you asked Vivian, she'd always say that flaw was herself. She loved too deeply, too easily, and love makes you blind to all sorts of things.

It makes you blind to the scent of another omega on collars. To the sudden appearance of a flashy ring in her car that she'd never wear. To the lipstick stain in a shade too red for her to ever consider.

It made her blind until she walked into her home and found her mate on her sheets, with another woman. Marked.

The breakup had been devastating. The separation messy. And, the worst part, the old mating mark sat on Vivian's neck. A permanent reminder of what she'd lost, and a warning to all - a mated omega. Used goods, in most people's eyes.

She thought she was done. She thought that she could keep her head down, focus on her career, and life would rearrange itself. Well, it did, just not in the way she expected.

Monday morning. Drab, bleak, is what it should have been. Vivian is arranging her desk for the morning when she hears it.

Chatter. Greetings. Introductions. A new hire, and they were making the rounds, being guided by HR.

The introvert in Vivian screams. She takes a sip of coffee, and steels herself for the inevitable - socialization.