Page 7 of Knot Your Kismet

Calista steps away from her and spins toward me.

I expect her to come back to my side. To believe me.

Neither of those things happen.

She yanks a coat from the hook by the door and rushes out. She flees.

5

Ruined

Calista

What am I doing? What am I fucking doing? Running away is pointless, but I needed to escape. I’m suffocating despite breathing. I’m angry. Confused. I never expected my life to collapse in a matter of seconds.

I kick off my heels and scoop them up, so I can keep running. Every stair hurts my bare feet, the concrete as cold and hard as I need to be to survive this.

My dreams and aspirations for my future dissolve with my rage. How can they be dead? What happened? All of the answers lie back in my apartment with men who are part of the pack that claimed me, but I never really got to know. My mom belonged to Pack Kismet, and I was given the title by default. Calista Kismet, second omega and sponsored to remain in a pack I should never have belonged to. It’s why I like to go by Cali. It separates me from my truth. But now I’m the only omega they have left. It is the law that I obey the heirs of Henry.

Fuck the law.

The United Alpha Democracy claims to want to protect me, but it is their laws that have left me in this mess. I won’t stand for it. I guess now is the time to truly figure things out.

I still have the phone Ivy gave me. Maybe Joseph Carter will want to invest in his future, which is now at risk, all things considered. I do have over a thousand dollars in cash. It might buy me a couple days in some shitty hotel. Anyone can be bought off. I just need to find the right beta community to help me.

My chest loosens with a thought. It’s the start of a plan that I need. First, I need to find a place to stay. Second, I need to find a job that doesn’t ask questions. I don’t need Ivy. I know I can do this on my own. There are a lot of desperate alphas who need a fake omega. Joseph Carter was enough proof. But where do I find them?

That’s something I’ll figure out later.

I reach the final landing in the stairwell, the exit into the lobby just feet away. I have to make this quick. If I can run through to the entrance, I’ll be able to hide on the streets. I can find shelter. I can…

Tears burn in my eyes, and I gasp a breath, my emotions catching up with me now that I’ve slowed down. This is too much. My confidence drifts away with each thundering beat of my anxious heart.

“Mom, I hope you know I hate you. I hate you for this! How could you abandon me again?” I speak to the emptiness as if somehow someone will listen. I should be used to this—to being alone and having to constantly rely on the generosity of others, but fuck.

Fuck!

“Pull yourself together, Cali,” I mutter, my voice echoing against the smooth concrete walls. “You need to think. You need to forget her.” There’s nothing more obvious than an upset omega, and if I don’t suppress my feelings, I’ll be noticed straight away.

If only guilt didn’t rise in place of my anger. I’m so damn selfish for considering how this affects my life over everything else. How I care more about what happens to me and not the grief trying to grab hold of me. Maybe it’s because Mom made her decision to turn Henry into her world after she left Dad. I’m here because of her. She claimed Henry needed her more. She had a duty to help heal his broken heart, and I wouldn’t understand until I bonded with a pack. It’s one of the reasons they agreed to sponsor me. It was a way to let me do my own thing. To keep me out of the way as they built something together while also respecting the laws.

I just…I never imagined it would end so suddenly.

So…tragically.

I shake the thoughts away. If I keep thinking about it, I might feel past my guilt. There’s nothing I can do to fix this or bring them back. I inhale and exhale slowly, forcing my lungs to breathe deeply. I wish I could lock myself in my apartment, but everyone ruined it. They chose to gather in my safe space, turning it into the last place I want to be.

Soft footsteps sound from the stairwell, and I force myself to move. I need to walk fast, but I also need to blend in. I don’t know why I feel as if my existence breaks the law. What am I scared of? The guard who manages the lobby isn’t even allowed to talk to me. If there is anybody else down there this time of night, they’re probably busy themselves.

Just go.

I push my hands against the door, but it doesn’t budge. What the actual fuck? It shouldn’t be locked. It’s a safety hazard for it to be locked. What if there was a fire? You can’t rely on an elevator in an emergency.

“Please stop trying to run away, butterfly. Ivy locked the building down. She fears you might do something without thinking.” It’s Jensen. He barely said a single word back in my apartment, yet here he is now trying to talk to me and calling me nicknames I don’t understand.

I spin and face him, shifting my anger from my thoughts, from my mom, and to him.

“This is fucking bullshit. You need to leave me alone. I don’t want you near me. I’m not your responsibility. Just turn around and go back to your pack.” I growl with my words, summoning an alpha façade, not knowing if it will actually affect Jensen.