Page 114 of Hard Knot

The way she'd knelt between my legs, those full lips wrapped around me like she was born to be there.

The flash of victory in her eyes when she'd made me lose control.

Control.

What a fucking joke.

I'd never had control —not really.Every moment of cold indifference, every dismissive gesture, every calculated silence... it had all been a desperate attempt to maintain the illusion of power.

To pretend I was still the leader this pack needed me to be.

But Carter had seen through it all.

"You want to know what real power looks like?" he'd continued, his voice dropping to that dangerous register that reminded me why the Giovanni name carried so much weight. "It looks like walking into an office and making administrators pissthemselves with just your presence. It looks like having enough influence to buy an entire fucking academy without breaking a sweat."

The words had hit their mark with surgical precision.

Each one was a reminder of everything I'd failed to be…everything I'd lost.

"It’s being able to protect what's yours with utmost confidence that forces the world to obey…no questions asked." Carter had finished quietly, and we'd both known he wasn't just talking about territory or influence anymore.

The memory fades once more, leaving me grasping whom he was referring to.

Elizabeth…

The same Elizabeth who'd challenged me, defied me, made me want things I had no right to want.

The woman who’s just behind that door…

The Omega I could never hope to deserve.

My mind won’t let me off the hook, Carter’s words of resolution haunting my consciousness.

"Face it," Carter had said, his voice softer now but no less cutting. "We're not just losing ground anymore. We're about to become fucking irrelevant. And you know what happens to irrelevant Alphas in our world?"

I did know.

We all did.

They disappeared. Quietly, cleanly, written off as "unfortunate accidents" or "tragic misunderstandings." Their territories were absorbed by stronger powers, their legacies erased as if they'd never existed.

Just like my father.

The thought brings with it a fresh wave of bitterness.

How many times had I sworn I wouldn't end up like him? How many promises had I made to myself that I would rebuild what he'd lost, restore the Holmes name to its former glory?

And look at me now.

At my not-so-humorous end…

Standing in a hallway outside another Alpha's suite, listening to the sound of the Omega I want but can't have, wearing a blindfold that serves as both protection and punishment.

The silk against my eyes feels heavier than usual, weighted with memories I can never escape and debts I can never repay. Each breath brings with it Elizabeth's scent, twisted in a way that’s driving me insane while my hands shake with the effort it takes not to break down the door.

Not your place.

I have to remind myself harshly.

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