Page 121 of Knot Her Beta

“I was removed from the Lavender Sky Pack over a year ago.” I slide the Petition for Expulsion through the tray. “I paid both the removal and the filing fees. It was part of a formal separation settlement. Everything’s there.”

The clerk takes the petition and scans it with a handheld device. It beeps once, and she sets it aside to type a new inquiry into her system.

It takes longer this time, crossing the fifteen-minute mark, and the happy mood dims behind me.

She compares the screen to the paper, and I start to sweat as the silence stretches, the butterflies dissolving into a sour ball of nausea.

Dominic steps up beside me, studying the clerk’s screen, and his face shifts from pleasant professionalism to steely determination.

Leif comes up on my other side, his hand on the small of my back. The heat of his hand seeps through the blouse I had put on to celebrate today, offering silent support.

Finally, the clerk’s head lifts, her lips still pressed into that thin, careful line. “There’s no record of this petition being submitted to the county.”

“That’s not possible,” I say through numb lips.

“According to the registry, Lavender Sky Pack remains active. Emily Wilson remains a listed member.” She checks the screen again. “And the registered Omega, Auren Dovelle, is still the pack head on record.”

I grip the counter. “Check again.”

The clerk checks again, her fingers moving across the keyboard. The screen refreshes, and the red error box returns.

“I’m sorry.” She passes back my paperwork unstamped, along with my Petition for Expulsion. “I can’t process your sponsorship until you are removed from the Lavender Sky Pack.”

“That fucking asshole,” Jared curses from behind me, followed by Grady’s quiet shushing.

Dominic straightens to his full height. “Can’t we submit the Petition of Separation now? It has all the signatures. I’ll pay the fee today.”

“I’m afraid not. It’s dated over a year ago. The paperwork becomes invalid after three months.”

Jared storms forward. “What if the head of the Lavender Sky Pack refuses to sign new paperwork?”

She edges back from the counter, as though she’s afraid he’ll somehow come through the glass partition to fix the problem himself. “Without a signed transfer authorization from the Lavender Sky Pack head, or a court-ordered expulsion, the registry cannot add Emily Wilson to the Wright Pack.”

She bends to rifle through a drawer, then slides a pamphlet through the metal tray. “This outlines the process for contested pack transfers. You’ll need to file with the county circuit court, and the pack head will have thirty days to respond.”

I stare down at it, the title swimming in my vision. Understanding Contested Pack Dissolutions.

I lick my lips. “Can you tell me who else is in the Lavender Sky Pack?”

When Auren added the other Alphas, he had offered to do it on his own, since I was so busy with work. I had thought he was being considerate and had given him the sponsorship fees for both Mark and Jacob.

When they had removed me from the pack, I had trusted Auren once again to file the proper paperwork. He wanted me out, so why would I ever doubt him?

The clerk purses her lips, but she leaves the current screen and opens a new one. After a couple of clicks, she says, “It’s just you and Auren Dovelle registered.”

The counter creaks under my fingers. “Has there ever been anyone else registered?”

A few more clicks. “No. The Lavender Sky Pack has never had more than two registered members.”

“I’m going to kill him,” Jared hisses, his angry pheromones flooding the air with hot salt. “He doesn’t get to keep messing with Em.”

“Just stay calm.” Leif grips his arm. “We’ll figure this out.”

I think about the day I handed Auren the fees for Mark and Jacob. How I had been the one to thank him for bringing other Alphas into my pack without my consent. A year of believing I was free, of building anew, of telling myself the worst was behind me… And the whole time, he’d still been holding my strings, waiting for the moment he needed to pull them again.

I peel my fingers open and pick up the pamphlet, then gather my paperwork.

“Thank you for your assistance,” I hear myself say.