Page 95 of Hard Knot

Before Carter can stop me, I push the door open fully.

The scene freezes like a tableau: Phillips behind his massive desk, Felix standing with his arms crossed while Holmes leans against the wall, his blindfold catching the fluorescent light. They all turn toward the sound of the door, and I see the moment Phillips realizes I've heard everything.

His face goes pale, then red, and settles into a sickly grey color that would be amusing under different circumstances.

"Ms. Abercrombie," he starts, but I cut him off with a laugh that sounds foreign even to my own ears. “We were just?—”

"Please," I say, letting five years of buried rage and bitterness color my voice, "don't let me interrupt your discussion about my future. Or lack thereof.”

Carter moves behind me like an approaching storm, his presence electric and dangerous. I can feel the rage radiating off him in waves as he forces himself to take a seat rather than act on whatever violent impulses are making his fists clench at his sides.

His entire body trembles with barely contained fury, and for a moment, I'm grateful he's choosing restraint.

Even if part of me wants to see Phillips suffer.

"When did you arrive?" Holmes asks, his head tilted slightly in our direction.

"Does it matter?" I keep my voice deliberately light, though each word feels like ground glass in my throat. "I was just focused on signing the usual documents. You know, the ones that remind me of my place in this hierarchy you're all so fond of."

I turn to Phillips, channeling five years of practiced indifference into my expression.

"I assume I'm not needed for the remainder of this conversation, since I'm clearly noteligibleto be their pack's Omega, right?"

Felix looks over his shoulder, his tech-enhanced glasses catching the fluorescent light.

"Elizabeth, wait. We're working things out. This can be fixed?—"

"Fixed?"

The word tastes bitter on my tongue.

"I'm not something that needs fixing, Felix. I'm not going to suddenly start playing by their rules just because you three showed up." I shake my head, feeling something crack inside my chest. "If Victoria is your chosen Omega, so be it. Knot Academy was never ready to accept someone like me anyway."

The truth of those words hits harder than I expected.

Five years of being the outsider, the rebel, theforgotten one—and for what?

To end up here, listening to my fate being discussed like a business transaction?

I glance at Holmes, half expecting him to say something —anything— but he remains silent, his blindfold an impenetrable barrier between us.

"I have a class to attend," I announce, already turning toward the door.

"Elizabeth, wait—" Carter starts, but his words die as a familiar figure appears in the doorway.

Victoria stands there in all her manufactured glory, but something's different.

You got to be fucking kidding me.

My laugh comes out sharp and surprised as I realize what's changed.

"Wow," I say, taking in her newly platinum blonde hair. "Didn't think you'd stoop so low in jealousy that you'd actually try to become me." I step closer, letting my own natural blonde locks brush past her as I lean in to whisper, "A shame. I still rock it better."

She stiffens, her perfectly manicured hands clenching.

"Holmes will be pleased with the change."

Another laugh escapes me, this one edged with genuine amusement despite the situation.

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