Page 126 of Knot Her Beta

He stares at me with that particular warmth he uses when he wants me to feel seen. Special. The center of a room he’s gracious enough to share.

I set my jaw and refuse to be swayed.

Reese places a second document beside the petition. Then a third.

The removal fee. The carbon copy of my check with the memo line typed in clear block letters, stating what it was intended for.

“Mr. Dovelle,” Reese says. “Can you confirm that you received both of these payments?”

Auren’s hands twitch on the table. “I received payments as part of our trial separation, yes. But those payments covered a number of things. I’d need to review the full accounting before I could confirm what each one was for.”

Reese pulls a fourth document from his portfolio and places it on the table. The cottage settlement agreement, opened to the relevant clause, the text highlighted in yellow.

Auren leans forward to read the highlighted section. The language is unambiguous, stating that the removal fee and filing fee were paid as part of the separation agreement in exchange for Auren Dovelle completing the expulsion filing with the county registry by the specified deadline.

“To jog your memory, this is a record of the payments and their subsequent deposits into your personal account, Mr. Dovelle.” Reese slides another piece of paper onto the table and passes Mr. Holt a copy of everything.

Auren doesn’t touch the paper as the muscle along his cheekbone jumps.

Mr. Pryce leans toward him, his mouth close to Auren’s ear, words too quiet to catch, and his hand rests on Auren’s forearm.

Auren ignores him, his attention fixed on the documents spread across the table as calculations flicker across his face.

He adjusts his sleeves, the plum knit sliding over his wrists, and when he speaks again, the softness remains, but the warmth has drained away, replaced by hurt.

“Em, we talked about this,” he says, and tears well up. “When you changed your mind, you told me to keep the money to pay for my new place to live while we worked out our issues. I can’t believe you would be so underhanded as to drag other people into our personal matter.”

He turns those tears on Mr. Holt. “If Emily had simply reached out instead of going around me, we could have resolved this between ourselves. The way we used to resolve things.”

Reese places more documents on the table.

The approval for my removal from the Lavender Pack. The receipt from the registrar’s office to confirm it, with the number from my check noted beneath the official embossed seal. All forged.

The paperwork from the bank when I removed Auren from the cottage, which also states the reason for it being an expulsion from the Lavender Sky Pack, with Auren’s signature that matches his signature on everything else.

Mr. Holt leans forward to snatch up the paperwork and pulls a scanner from his pack pocket. He reads the barcode at the top of the form and frowns. “These aren’t ours.”

The blood drains from Auren’s cheeks, leaving the lavender of his hair stark beside the sudden pallor of his skin. “I think we should pause and allow me to consult with my lawyer before continuing.”

“That’s your right.” Reese motions toward the door. “As soon as you leave the room, the county sheriff will be taking you in for questioning. What you have committed is extortion and fraud, Mr. Dovelle. This is a very serious matter.”

He turns to Mr. Holt. “They would appreciate your cooperation in their investigation to find out who has been abusing the registrar’s seal of office.”

“Every seal is unique to the employee it’s assigned to.” Mr. Holt gives Auren a hard stare. “It won’t take long to uncover the culprit. I’m sure they’ll cooperate with the investigation in exchange for a lighter sentence.”

Mr. Pryce leans closer to Auren again, but he shoves his lawyer away, lunging to his feet.

He leans across the table toward me. “After everything I did for you, this is how you treat me? After I gave you everything? Took you in when no one else wanted you?”

“There’s also the matter of defrauding Ms. Wilson of sponsorship fees for additional pack members that you never registered,” Reese cuts in, drawing Auren’s ire. “We will be reaching out to them.”

“Did you get them to pay their fees, as well?” Grady asks. “And forge the paperwork adding them to the pack? How much did you embezzle from them in the name of more fake expulsions?”

With a screech, Auren lunges toward him, his fingers hooked into claws.

Reese catches the Omega before he reaches me, and the county sheriff comes rushing into the room. He’s older and gray at the temples, with the alert bearing of a man who misses very little.

After speaking with Reese that first day, when I hadn’t been able to join the Wright Pack, Dominic had hand-delivered all our evidence to the sheriff’s office. They’ve been building their case for the last two weeks while we waited for Auren to agree to the meeting date.