Page 127 of Knot Her Beta

Auren turns to the sheriff before swinging back to me. “You can’t do this to me! I’m the head of our pack. It’s up to me how our finances are run!”

“No, it’s not.” The sheriff steps forward, taking Auren gently but firmly by the arm. “Mr. Dovelle, you’re coming with me.”

Auren tries to jerk free, but he can’t escape. “Get your hands off me.”

“You can either walk with me,” the sheriff says, “or I’ll remove you by force.”

“You don’t understand.” Auren searches the room, desperation creeping in. His attention catches on Mr. Holt before returning to me. “Em, tell them this is all a misunderstanding.”

For years, that pleading, helpless look unraveled my resolve, and I’d give in to his demands. But never again.

Auren searches me for hesitation, for guilt, for the instinct to smooth everything over for him as I’ve always done. When he finds nothing, the last of his composure breaks loose.

“You ungrateful bitch!” He strains to break free of the sheriff’s grip. “Everything I did was for you! I made you who you are!”

The sheriff twists him toward the door. “That’s enough.”

Auren digs his heels into the carpet. “You’ll regret this, Emily!”

The sheriff doesn’t so much as glance back as he forces Auren through the doorway.

“I’ll be in touch,” Mr. Pryce tells Reese before gathering his briefcase and following them into the hallway.

The door closes behind them.

Silence crashes over the room.

Jared’s hand covers mine beneath the table, and only after he stills the tremble do I realize I’m shaking. “Alpha?”

I turn toward Jared.

His green eyes search my face, all traces of anger replaced by worry. “Are you okay?”

The question catches me off guard. For so many years, no one had asked. Not after Auren lost his temper. Not after another argument. Not after another compromise that somehow always seemed to be mine.

I let out a shaky laugh that catches on the start of tears before I swallow them down. “I...” I swallow around the lump in my throat. “I think so.”

Jared’s shoulders loosen, and he leans over to nuzzle me. “Good.”

Leif’s hand settles between my shoulder blades. “You did well, Alpha.”

Grady slides the tissue box across the table. “We’re here.”

Mr. Holt clears his throat. “If everyone is finished...”

Every head turns back toward him.

The registrar straightens the file in front of him before turning to me. “Based on the documentation provided today, including the signed Petition for Expulsion, proof of payment, bank records, and evidence that the agreed filing was never submitted, I find that Ms. Wilson fulfilled her obligations under the separation agreement.”

He reaches for his keyboard. “The dispute is resolved in Ms. Wilson’s favor.”

The quiet tapping of keys fills the room. For two weeks, those keystrokes had haunted me, but now they sound like freedom.

Mr. Holt feeds a sheet of paper into the printer beneath the table, and the machine hums, then whines as it prints.

He pulls it still hot from the printer and stamps the bottom with his county seal, brings the embosser down on the corner with a solid clunk, and signs his name.

With a sympathetic smile, he slides the paperwork across the table toward me. “Effective immediately, Emily Wilson is no longer a registered member of Lavender Sky Pack.”