Page 73 of Knot in Their Wildest Dreams: Part 1

Sweat was beading on my forehead. I wiped my mouth, washing up briefly before heading back to the computer. There was a mountain of evidence that my company - my family’s legacy - was doing tremendous damage to people and hiding it. The problem was, who was doing this in my name? And how had this been hidden from me? I had access to every file in Harringday’s servers. Every decision we made was something I was aware of, save for Arnault’s indiscretion in Tedena. The board didn’t even have the access I did.

I forced myself to sit back down and look for more. A message popped up on the laptop, and I realized that the pack text messages were forwarded to this computer. From what I could tell, this laptop belonged to Dante.

Then, I had a thought. I pulled up the messaging window and searched through it, quickly confirming that this laptop and the connected number was in fact Dante’s. I searched my name, and found dozens of texts where he was complaining about me. That didn't surprise me. If this was accurate, he believed that I was behind a massive coverup of abuse and murder, most likely of people that he knew. I went back further, trying to find out when and how they had found these documents. It seemed to be very recent - he’d only called for his pack to meet him at the clubhouse earlier today.

I read through them, searching my name further and further until I saw something peculiar. It was a chain of messages between Dante and Elijah. These were old - over a year ago. Around the time of the Darlington Ball. The texts were sparse, but they were enough that I recognized exactly what I was looking for.

Dante: It’s the only way we can stop her

Elijah: Trust me, she won’t make it to the vote. She won’t even make it to breakfast the next morning.

Dante: It has to look real

Elijah: Don't worry, it will look like she’s on another bender. They’ll keep her for around twenty four hours, maybe two days tops. She will miss it, and once she is voted out Reginald will set things right.

Dante: I owe you

Elijah: You don’t owe me anything, brother. Just keep the other guys out of it. The less they know, the better. Just in case anything goes bad. You never know with these packs. Accidents happen all the time.

Dante: Even if it did go bad, the world will be better off.

I sat back, my world rocked to the core.

Dante and Elijah were messaging about hiring a pack to kidnap me. They planned to keep me from the vote.

Dante knew.

Dante knew I would be kidnapped, and he didn’t care what happened to me. Even floated the possibility of me having anaccident. Dead, just like my parents.

I stood too quickly, stumbling as I fought to catch my breath. I reached for the table as I fell to my knees, my hands clutching at the printed papers as I curled up on the floor, rocking back and forth. My pack… mymatesthought I was a monster.

This whole time, they thought I was responsible for sabotage- even murder. And Dante had lied to me. I could have been hurt or worse in the kidnapping attempt, and he practically gave the green light. Tears spilled out of my eyes as I gasped, not able to get enough air. I was having a panic attack.

No wonder they were having that conversation about me. They were talking about removing me from the public eye for my own good! Having me lose everything, and rely on them for the rest of my life! And Dante - I knew he cared about me, even if it was only a tiny fraction of what I felt for him. But I was also sickened. He knew I was his mate, and still thought I’d made the order that led to the deaths of countless people from his birthplace.

I was also angry. Angry that he let himself touch me when he thought I’d been behind something so monstrous. Angry that he couldn’t see that I’d never, ever do the things he thought I was capable of. And angry that he lied.Hewas behind the kidnapping, and wanted me to clear his name, all the while knowing he was guilty.

And now, he wanted to take me down, ruin everything I’d spent my life working for, take away the only thing I had left of my family. Just like a typical, power hungry alpha. Always thinking they know best. Never bothering to ask me first.

I let out a loud, blood curdling howl of despair.

This whole time, I thought I was in charge. I was so stupid. My entire company was a sham. I was being set up, and I had no idea how many people were involved. My mates believed I was a monster, and one of them had planned for my potential demise.

After everything we’d been through, knowing me inside and out, they still didn’tseeme. They thought I was a danger, and wanted to take away everything I’d ever cared about. I sobbed, mourning the loss of everything I knew to be true. Everyone was lying to me.

I sat there, trying my hardest to focus on just breathing. I had to calm down and make a plan. What could I do? None of this was true, but how could I explain that? Who could I even trust?

I took a long, deep breath. My hands were still clutching some of the evidence that they had been gathering on me. Something about it caught my eye - Sterling’s signature. This document was recent. I read over it, and looked at my signature next to his. The date was only a few weeks prior. Something about it picked at my brain. Then I remembered.

On that day, I was supposed to go to my estate for my hair appointment. I remember that I missed that appointment - I’d spent the entire day in Liam’s bed, exhausted from our date the prior evening. I’d cancelled the appointment but never told anyone. As far as everyone at my organization knew, my calendar said I was on the premises, just in my private wing.

The signature, which I’d have supposedly done onsite with Sterling as a witness, was impossible. I was never around Sterling, or my house -not on that date. And Liam would know - he’d been in the bed with me most of that day. I would never have had time to leave and sign the document all the way across town.

I stood up holding on to the barest scrap of hope. Someone was playing me, and I needed to figure out who. But not before I got my own evidence.

One thing I could use was the thumb drive that fit inside my bracelet. I’d never had reason to use it until now. But I quickly unclasped the gold around my wrist, revealing the small storage device, and plugged it into the laptop. I was sure that Dante would have some type of trigger to know that an unknown device was installed, but I knew enough to get around it. I grabbed some of the copies around me, and risked turning my phone on to take additional photos of the ones I left behind.

As soon as I powered my phone on, a barrage of texts came through. The pack was looking for me, their frantic messages becoming ever more desperate as they tried to reach out to me to locate my car and the lake. I knew I had limited time to get out of here before they figured out where I was

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