Chapter 33

Allison's POV

I stand before the mirror, running a hand down the long sleeve of my white shirt, trying not to think about Xander.

But not thinking about him is proving to be pretty difficult, since I'm currently wearing clothes he bought. That's right, it's the day of the Tech Wizard competition, yet all I can think about is Xander Black.

I can't stop seeing his eyes, dark with desire as he fixed them on mine. Can't stop hearing his voice, thick with longing for me. I had been so sure that he was going to kiss me, right there beside the fountain, in full view of everyone. Which is why I had to step away, even though I wanted it so badly I could have screamed.

I want him so badly I could scream.

I understand if he hadn't been thinking about it at the time, but all I had seen as my whole body longed to lean closer to him was everything that was at stake.

His reputation and mine. My safety, both from upper class werewolves that would feel insulted that an Omega dared to get together with the Alpha, and from my fellow Omegas who might feel that I've betrayed them by getting together with someone they consider one of our oppressors.

I sigh, smoothing down black trousers that were already perfectly smooth. Sometimes I wish my life wasn't so complex. I wish I could have the luxury of going for the person I love and getting into a relationship with him without having to worry about what other people would say or do about it. But then, if I lived like that, then the man I love wouldn't be Xander.

I don't think I can love anyone else. I don't even want to imagine loving anyone else.

I don't know how I managed it before.

Elsa knocks twice on the door before poking her head in.

"Girl," she says, "aren't you ready yet?"

I turn away from the mirror to look at her, standing there in her sparkly sequinned dress. I finished dressing up half an hour ago, and I had spent the whole night reviewing my presentation, but I still feel very far from ready.

"I don't know," I reply, with the sort of honestly I can't display with someone else.

Elsa walks over to me and sets about running her fingers through my hair in a soothing motion.

"I get it," she says, and I know she does.

"Don't worry, Allison. I was by your side the whole time you were preparing, wasn't I?

I know you've put in your best effort, and I know it's going to be enough."

I nod, gulping nervously. I'm the best software developer in the leading tech company in the city. But this is bigger than just Xander's company. Every tech company in the city is going to be there, and there are going to be software developers who know things I don't, have skills I don't possess. I'll just have to do my best and hope Elsa's right and it's enough.

I will do my very best.

"Now," she says, taking my hand to pull me out of the room, "let's get going so we don't ruin our luck from the start by being late."

……

I might have fainted with nerves if we were required to go to the venue of the competition directly. However, luckily for me, the participants from each company get to arrive in a convoy alongside their company's executives. The competition doesn't affect those who are not attending it, so they're supposed to face their work, but nobody is working. Everyone is too busy staring at and gossipping about and fawning over the competitors to get anything done.

I get looks of astonishment from pretty much everyone. It must be surprising for them to see me dressed in corporate clothes for the first time, with my hair in a tidy low ponytail.

Looks of astonishment aren't all I receive from my coworkers, though. Now that I'm a candidate for the Tech Wizard competition and, according to Elsa, the popular favourite to win, I've suddenly been elevated in their eyes. I get appreciate glances, offers to help me carry the same bag I've been carrying for months, bottles of water. They're treating me like I've won the competition already, and while it's nice that they have such faith in me, it feels like so much pressure, more pressure than I would prefer to deal with even on a regular day.

I'm sitting at my desk, doing some last minute revisions because the competitors are going to be summoned in roughly thirty minutes, when I reach for my bottle of water only to find it empty. I gape at it, shaking it just to make sure. When, exactly did it run out? How come I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn't notice myself draining the bottle?

Dismayed, I look from the bottle to my system. I'm parched, so I have to go out and get more water. But if I do, I might not have enough time to review my performance to the end. I'm still wondering what to do when a bottle of water appears right beside me. I look from it to the hand holding it, and up to the face of…

"Dave?" I say.

Dave is an intern who joined the company at the end of last year. He is also known to have a schoolgirl's crush on Amy. I would have expected him to be fawning over her instead.

"I noticed that you were out of water, and um…" he pushes nervously at his glasses, extending the bottle further.

There's no harm in accepting his bashful kindness, so I take the bottle from him.

"Thank you, Dave," I say with a smile.

He watches with relief as I open the bottle and take two large gulps from it. I'm about to take a third gulp when a wave of dizziness stabs the back of my eyes.

I stare at the bottle, then at him.

"Where did you get this?" I ask.

Dave looks confused.

"From Miss Becker," he stammers. "I offered to get her one and she said to give you this…"

He's going on and on about how she wanted to show her good sportsmanship, but wasn't sure I would take anything from her, so she told him to do her a favour and so on, but I'm no longer listening. I can barely hear him. My head is swimming, and my hands are shaking, and I know I have to throw up whatever was in that water or I'm doomed.

I rush past Amy's smug smile and out of the office, hurrying to the bathroom. I run into a stall, lock the door, and am leaning over the toilet bowl, trying to make myself throw up, when I hear a knock on the door.

"Allison," Amy says in a singsong voice, "that's you in there, isn't it?"

This brings back memories of the day Emily found out about my pregnancy, and I want to laugh at my misfortune.

"I'm sure you're wondering what was in the water," Amy continues. "It's this lovely thing called goddess' tears. Feels awful, doesn't it? Now you're never going to make it to the Tech Wizard competition."

A sinking feeling blooms in my chest. I dash forward immediately, grabbing the doorknob at the same time Amy locks the door from the outside.

"Amy!" I scream, banging on the door. "Let me out of here. Amy!"

Her only answer is mocking laughter, then she walks away. I struggle with the doorknob, hoping that the door will just open somehow.

No such luck.

I've shouted myself hoarse, and my hands are aching from all that banging, when someone unlocks the door and swings it open. My vision is wavering, and I have to squint before my eyes register Dave's face. In that moment, I could have married him.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I didn't know what she was planning—"

"Thank you," I say, running past him.

I'm stumbling, and my eyes are getting heavier, but…

I can still make it to the competition, I tell myself. If I can just make it there, I'll figure out the rest.

My heart sinks when I get out of the building only to realize that the convoy is gone. But of course it is. If Xander had been going, I have no doubt that he would have noticed my absence and made sure I was found before leaving. But Rachel is the one in charge, and I'm sure she was only too happy to leave quickly, to make sure I can't come along.

There isn't any other choice, then. I have to drive. I hurry to my car, blinking away drowsiness, and ease it out of the company premises. Since I didn't take much, the effects of the drug isn't too strong for me to fight. At first, at least.

I've only driven for some minutes when my hands start to go numb on the wheel.

My body joins my eyes in getting heavy, and I slap at my cheek with one hand, struggling to stay awake.

I'll pull over to the side of the road, I think. I'll call Elsa. Or Ian.

As I struggle to get my weak hands to steer the car, I don't notice the vehicle speeding towards me from behind until it's too late. The sound of a crash rips my hearing to shreds, and the impact throws me forward, banging my forehead on a hard surface. The last thing I remember is the pain.

Then darkness claims me.