Knotted By The Devilish Alpha Brothers

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Meet the crew

Amelia sat in the lecture hall, eyes fixed on the board without seeing a single word. Her mind kept looping through the broken door handle, the security footage. None of it made sense. The equations on the board blurred into meaningless symbols.

A sharp elbow nudged her side. ”Amelia,” Kate whispered urgently. ”The lecturer’s asking you a question.”

Amelia stood up on autopilot. The entire hall turned to look at her. She opened her mouth, but no answer came. She hadn’t even heard the question.

From the back row, Jane’s voice rang out, sweet and poisonous. ”Maybe she’s still tired from servicing her three devil masters all night. Hard to focus on equations when you’ve been on your knees, right?”

Laughter rippled through the room, sharp and cruel.

The lecturer’s expression tightened. ”Miss Kroff, pay attention or leave my class. Sit down.”

Amelia dropped back into her seat, face burning. Embarrassment sat heavy in her chest, a weight she couldn’t shake.

Kate leaned closer. ”What’s going on with you? You’ve been completely out of it. Is it about what happened yesterday?”

Amelia shook her head, forcing the words out. ”I’m just stressed about studying. Midterms are getting closer.”

Kate didn’t look fully convinced, but she let it go. ”Yeah... okay.”

When the lecture finally ended, Kate slung her bag over her shoulder. ”It’s lunch break. We can go meet the guys I told you about.”

Amelia nodded and stood. They walked out of the hall together—only to find Jane’s group of minions waiting near the doors, clearly ready.

”Look, the Ellington brothers’ little pet is out for a walk.”

”I heard they keep her on a short leash. Literally.”

”Must be nice being the official bed-warmer for three psychos. Bet she gets paid in bruises.”

”Once a wolfless slave, always a wolfless slave. Some things never change.”

Laughter followed each remark. Amelia kept walking, jaw tight, eyes fixed straight ahead. Her hands clenched at her sides.

Kate, however, slowed just enough to smile coldly at the group. ”Funny how loud you four are when your own secrets are so messy. Tell me, Lisa—does your boyfriend know you’re still sleeping with his older brother every Thursday? And Mia, how’s that fake ID working out for the pills you sell behind the library? Oh, and Sarah... does the whole campus know you got caught cheating on the last two midterms, or is that still a private family shame? And Rachel, sweetheart, maybe stop pretending your dad’s ’business trips’ aren’t just him hiding from the debt collectors you keep bragging about.”

The four girls went dead silent. A few nearby classmates who had overheard began murmuring among themselves, glancing at the minions with new interest.

Kate linked her arm through Amelia’s and pulled her forward. ”Come on. We have people to meet.”

They left the lecture building and crossed the open courtyard toward the lunch hall. The midday sun felt almost normal again after yesterday’s chaos, but the air still carried a faint tension.

Amelia glanced sideways. ”Thanks for that.”

Kate shrugged, her expression casual. ”It’s nothing to thank me for. Those girls are just loud hypocrites. They tear into everyone else for being different or powerless, but the second their own mess gets dragged into the light they act like the real victims. Classic.” She shook her head. ”They only feel strong when they’re standing on someone else’s neck.”

Amelia didn’t reply, but the words settled in her chest. A quiet warmth that she hadn’t felt in a long time.

Inside the lunch building they grabbed trays, filled them quickly, and kept moving. Kate led the way past the main tables toward a quieter corner near the far windows. Five people were already seated there: three young men and a pair of twin girls who looked nearly identical except for the way they styled their hair. One had her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail; the other wore hers loose, cascading over her shoulders.

The oldest-looking of the guys glanced up as they approached. His eyes moved from Kate to Amelia with mild curiosity, assessing her without hostility.

”This the person?” he asked.

Kate nodded. ”Yeah.”

Amelia set her tray down and met their collective gaze without flinching.

”I’m Amelia Kroff. I’d like to join your crew.”

The older guy gave a small, easy shrug, his shoulders lifting with casual indifference. ”No need for formalities. We already know who you are.”

One of the twins leaned forward, eyes bright with recognition, a sly smile tugging at her lips. ”Isn’t she the one who was so love-struck by Dylan she actually thought she was going to marry him?”

The other twin immediately pinched her sister’s arm hard enough to make her wince, a clear warning to keep those thoughts to herself. The first twin rubbed the sore spot, shooting her sister a glare.

Amelia didn’t refute it. She couldn’t. It was true. Before, she had never cared how people saw her. Now the old image clung to her like a brand she couldn’t scrub off—naive, devoted, left behind.

She could feel the weight of their stares, each one measuring her against that old version of herself.

The older guy gestured to the empty seats. ”Sit.”

Amelia took the chair across from him. Kate settled beside her without a word, her posture protective.

Another of the guys, leaning back with his arms crossed, studied her with narrowed eyes. ”So why do you really want to join the crew now? You’ve never been the social type. Convenient timing, though—right after you got dumped.”

Kate’s expression hardened. ”That’s not funny at all.”

Amelia met the guy’s eyes steadily. ”It’s part of the reasons. You’re not far from the truth. But I realized there are a lot of things I was never aware of. I just want to be able to do things without anything holding me back anymore.”

Silence settled over the table for a few seconds. The older guy picked up his fork and started eating. One by one, the others followed, the tension slowly easing.

The talkative twin tilted her head, still watching Amelia closely. ”We heard you’re a slave to the devilish brothers. Is it true?”