Ranier lifts his chin, cool blue eyes flicking to Bastion, then back to me. “So what’s your plan, Emery? You want to be our omega? Even after all that?”
“Yes,” I say. I amnotgiving up.
Bastion’s laugh is slow. “You’re out of your depth, princess.”
I step closer until I can smell the burn of their adrenaline under the expensive aftershave. “You want a show? I’ll give you one.”
Wyatt folds his arms, an eyebrow up. “She’s serious.”
Ranier finally moves, hands on the table. “You don’t know what you’re asking for. You want to live with us? Work for us? You’ll be in the tabloids every day.”
I hold in a laugh. “I’m already in them now thanks to you three.”
Wyatt lets out a short bark of laughter, and even Bastion looks briefly impressed.
Ranier sighs, tension sliding off his shoulders in a visible wave. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
As if.Not after everything. “No. You want me gone, you’ll have to physically remove me from this room yourself.”
Wyatt snickers and I can see why. All three of these alphas are at least a foot taller than me. It wouldn’t take much at all for them to remove me. Wyatt looks at Ranier. “You’re the legacy expert. How do you want to play it?”
Ranier’s gaze sweeps over me, slow and deliberate. He’s thinking, but I can’t tell if it’s about me or himself. “Do you know what happens if we say yes? You’re tied to us. No backing out. The Council will send a rose, and after that you’re part of the line.”
“I know.” I don’tactuallyknow what life would be like withthispack. The years I spent preparing focused on the typical nobility or royal pack assignment, not one you have to claw your way into. “I also know you’re out of options.”
His smile is laced with venom and honey. “A fair assessment.”
“A correct one,” I fire back.Ranier will be the hardest to convince.
Bastion stares at the ceiling for a full ten seconds, then rubs his face with both hands. “Fine,” he says, like the word is poison. “You want in? You’re in. But don’t expect a welcome parade.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” My voice is thin with relief and rage in equal parts. Iamgetting my fairytale ending even if I’ve got to force myself into these alphas’ lives and show them exactly how great an omega I can be.
Bastion stands, dusts off his jacket, and offers a slow, sarcastic clap. “Congratulations. You’re Everhart’s newest mistake.”
Wyatt gives me a little salute with his phone, then starts tapping out some sort of message.
Ranier walks to the door and pauses beside me. “You’re stubborn as hell,” he mutters.
“It’s genetic,” I reply, though my parents would probably disagree.
Ranier disappears into the corridor, leaving the door open behind him. The room is suddenly a vacuum, the three of us orbiting a center that doesn’t exist.
Bastion looks at me, and for the first time, I see a flash of actual curiosity. “You ever get what you wanted, Grey?”
I shake my head. “Not once.”
He nods, as if that’s the right answer.
“Maybe this is your shot,” Wyatt says, half-mocking and half-not.
I square my shoulders, refusing to let them see the tremor in my hands. “Maybe it is.”
The silence between us is different now—charged, uncertain, the calm before something catastrophic.
I turn to go, but Bastion’s voice stops me.
“You really think you can survive us?”
