Page 135 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

“—should press charges, that alpha clearly?—”

But it’s all distant, underwater. I press my face into Stone’s shirt and try to remember how to breathe.

The last thing I see before the store’s doors close behind us is the news screen in electronics. A grainy security image flashes across it—purple hair, defiant stance. The ticker reads: “MYSTERY OMEGA THIEF: WHO IS SHE?”

My heart rate picks up again and Stone hums a tone in his throat, probably thinking it’s because I’m distressed. But even blurred and distorted, I’d know that purple hair anywhere. That defiant tilt of the chin. That fierce, desperate energy.

“Hailey?” Finn follows my gaze.

“Vi,” I whisper.

Finn turns sharply. “You know her?”

The image changes before I can answer, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve already seen her. Vi. Alive. Free.

Fighting back.

Chapter 35

Hailey

The blankets smell like Finn—soothing sage and safety. I burrow deeper into them, trying to block out the voices rising from downstairs. But even through layers of fabric and floors between us, their anger finds me.

“—could have been killed!” Jax’s voice, sharper than I’ve ever heard it. Something crashes—a door, maybe, or a fist against a wall.

I pull the weighted blanket tighter around my shoulders, focusing on its pressure. The one the older omega recommended. The one Finn insisted on getting, just before everything went wrong.

“We had it under control.” Stone’s voice is quieter but no less intense.

“Under control? Four alphas, Stone. Four. And you left themalone?—”

“I was gone fortwominutes.Twominutes to grab?—”

“Two minutes is all it takes!” Another crash. “You of all people should know how things can change in an instant!”

I flinch, curling tighter into myself. The argument fades for a moment, replaced by murmuring I can’t make out. Then:

“And Finn?” Jax again, his voice deepening on the name. “Did you see his hand? Did you see what he had to do?”

I haven’t seen Finn since we got back. Since Stone carried me upstairs and tucked me into the nest while Finn’s voice drifted up behind us: “I should clean up first…”

His knuckles had been swollen, streaked with the alpha’s blood.

“He protected her.” Stone’s voice has gone dangerously quiet. “He did what he had to do.”

“That’s exactly my point! He shouldn’t have had to do anything! You were supposed to keep them both safe!”

Silence stretches, heavy with unspoken things. Then Jax’s voice again, lower now but somehow worse:

“Maybe Ren isn’t completely wrong about?—”

“Choose your next words very carefully.” Stone’s tone makes me shiver despite the blankets.

“I’m just saying, if Hailey?—”

“This isn’t about her and you know it.”

More murmuring I can’t catch. I strain to hear Finn’s voice among them, to know if he’s okay, if he’s down there defending me or if he regrets what he did. If he hates me now for making him violent.

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