Chapter 30

Allison's POV

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaim, staring at my phone.

Elsa chokes on her lemonade out of surprise and drops the glass quickly, coughing.

"What the hell, Allison?" she asks.

I pat her back, smiling sheepishly. I look around the company cafeteria to see if anyone saw what happened. Sure enough, there are a lot of people staring at me like I've gone crazy. I quickly return my gaze to Elsa, rubbing her back gently till she stops coughing.

"I'm so sorry, Elsa," I say.

"It's okay," she replies, straightening up and picking up her glass from the table. "But seriously, what was that for?"

I stare back down at the screen of my phone.

"It's five days to next month," I say.

"Okay…" she says, raising her eyebrow. "And?"

"You're hopeless," I say with a sigh. "It's less than two weeks to the Tech Wizard competition, remember?"

"Oh!" she exclaims, "I totally forgot. How are your preparations coming along? Are you ready yet?"

I have to sigh again.

"I actually haven't made as much progress as I thought I would have made by now," I say, staring at the table.

I started out strong, but I've just kept getting sidetracked lately, what with the search for Peterson and my progressing pregnancy. 

And those thoughts you can't stop having about Xander, my mind whispers.

Shut up! I scold myself.

The last thing I want is for Xander to think that I'm trying to take advantage of our arrangement to tie him to myself. It's no secret that nine out of every ten women in the pack are throwing themselves at him for a great number of reasons. Not that I blame them. I mean, look at him.

"Why haven't you made progress?" Elsa asks, looking worried. "I thought you were on a roll."

"Yeah, well…" I sigh. "I've been getting really distracted lately. And the security personnel are being silent about the Peterson matter these days. It bothers me."

Elsa gets this guilty look on her face, which she immediately tries to cover up. But it's no use. I mean, this is Elsa.

I can read her like a book.

Before I can ask her anything, though, Amy walks past our table.

"Hey there, Allison," she says with a bright smile. "How is it going?"

Elsa looks at her, then turns to me with raised eyebrows. I shrug.

"I'm fine, Amy," I reply. "And you?"

Amy wraps her arms around the back of a chair, leaning forward.

"I'm doing very well," she replies, still smiling. "I bet you're all set for the Tech Wizard competition."

"Um… yeah?" I say.

Her smile grows.

"Good," she says. "I better go and get ready too, then. May the smarter one of us win."

With that, she walks away.

"Well, that was creepy," Elsa says. "Since when was that a thing?"

"She's been doing that lately," I reply with a shrug. "Talking to me out of nowhere, and it's always about the Tech Wizard competition. And she keeps wearing this mysterious smile, as if she knows something I don't."

"Weird," Elsa says. "Anyway, enough about her. Let's talk about how I can help you get ready for the competition. Tell me what you need."

……

Amy's POV

Perhaps that was reckless. Maybe I'm going to give the whole plot away by goading Allison like that. But I really can't help it. Whenever I see that stupid face of hers, I just want to laugh. I want to stand on top of a roof and laugh and laugh, and announce how I've outsmarted her for the whole pack to hear.

It would serve her right for looking down on me, for looking down on all of us. She thinks she's all that, just because she somehow ended up being better at software development than the rest of us.

Well, I'm about to show her that she's nothing but a filthy, useless Omega.

I have the support of Rachel Fisher herself. Allison stands no chance against us.

Speaking of Miss Fisher, I'm sitting in her office right now, watching her mix the colorless liquid contained in several vials together. Eventually, she mixed them all into one vial and stoppered it.

"Amy Becker," she says. "Do you have any idea what this is?"

"No I don't, Miss Fisher," I respond.

She grins, giving the vial to me.

"Why don't you find out?" she says.

I collect the vial and examine the colorless liquid through the transparent glass. I tilt it this way and that. Then I open it and take a sniff before closing it again.

It looks like water, moves like water, and has no scent, like water. But I get the feeling that it would be foolish to try to find out if it tastes like water as well.

"Well?" she asks, still grinning. "What do you think?"

"It's… not water, is it?" I say hesitantly.

The grin turns into a chuckle that sends chills down my spine.

"Of course it's not water," she says. "This, Amy Becker, is what is going to take Allison Carter down."

I gulp, feeling suddenly uncomfortable.

"We're… not going to poison her, are we?" I ask.

When Miss Fisher looks at me with her eyebrows raised, I speak quickly to cover up for my moment of weakness.

"I mean, it would be too messy, wouldn't it?" I say with a forced laugh.

I'm starting to think that Miss Fisher will rip me apart when she smiles, as if I've said something funny.

"You're right," she says. "Poisoning her would be way too messy."

I heave a sigh of relief. I don't like Allison Carter. I want her to suffer. I want her gone from the company and from this city entirely. But I don't have what it takes to kill anyone. Not even Allison Carter.

"Um, so what is that for?" I ask, gesturing to the vial. "What does it do?"

"This substance is known as goddess tears. They say it grants blissful dreams," she replies. "I don't know about that, though. I'm not stupid enough to try taking it. But I do know that it can knock a werewolf out cold for hours, depending on the dosage they're given."

She lifts her gaze to meet my eyes.

You're going to win the Tech Wizard competition with Allison Carter's idea, and she won't be there to compete at all."