Page 89 of Knot Your Fated M.U.S.E.

I am Nyx Blackwood.

A survivor and warrior.

An Omega worthy of freedom.

A woman deserving of love…

The glass creaks ominously, promising imminent surrender to my assault. But it's not just glass I'm fighting anymore - it's everything they've tried to make me, everything they've tried to take away:

My identity, humanity, and future beyond their control.

Oxygen deprivation makes my vision blur, but I force my arm back for one final strike.I won't let them win.Can’t dare allow this to be the end.

Won't let their carefully constructed cage hold me anymore.

The final punch connects with devastating force, and the glass finally surrenders.

The sharp crack of shattering echoes through the water moments before the suction hits. I grab the edge of the opening instinctively as the current tries to pull me through, glass shards biting deep into my palm.

The pain is negligible compared to what awaits if I lose my grip – the dark tunnel above promises either escape or death, with no guarantee which we'll find.

Water rushes past me into the ventilation shaft, carrying Azurite and Luna with it.

Their gasps for air echo off metal walls as they're swept away. I twist to look over my shoulder, catching a glimpse of them as the current takes them – Azurite's arm locked around Luna's waist, keeping them together as they disappear into the darkness.

"NYX!" Azurite's voice bounces back to me, tinged with both relief and fear. "FOLLOW US!"

Their screams fade as they drop deeper into the tunnel system, leaving me torn between following their path to freedom and looking back for the one person still missing.

My heart nearly stops when I spot Riot.

She floats face-down in the remaining water, crimson clouds blooming around her still form. The sight hits me like a knife to the heart – this proud, fierce woman who refused to break, who chose sacrifice over surrender, now drifting like discarded debris.

"RIOT!" My voice cracks with desperation. "RIOT, PLEASE!"

My eyes already sting with tears while my heart is filled with the heaviness of dread.

I’m the culprit of her end…

The reason why she didn’t get the ending she whole heartedly deserved.

To prove her mother wrong…to find a pack to love…to fulfill the path destiny had for her.

This couldn’t be her end.

The water level continues to drop, but there might still be time.

If I can reach her, if I can get her breathing again...

The rational part of my mind screams that it's foolish — she tried to kill me, tried to make herself my enemy. But something deeper, away from that desperate burn of fight or flight, the more mundane thought process, refuses to accept letting her die.

I grip the ledge with my other hand, glass cutting deeper as I try to pull myself back through the opening. The current fights me, but I've survived worse.

Endured more.

I can save her.

I have to save her.

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