Page 147 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

A choked gasp. Small hands clutching at my wrist. The sound isdistant, unreal, like I’m underwater. In my mind, I’m still in that marble foyer, still facing those cold eyes that look like mine…

Pain explodes across my jaw. My head snaps back and I taste blood. The impact sends me sprawling, and suddenly the world crashes back into focus. Stone stands over me, chest heaving, his fist still raised. Behind him, Hailey collapses forward, coughing, one hand at her throat.

Horror floods me as reality sets in. Oh god. What have I done?

“Hailey?” Finn’s voice, sharp with worry. He appears in the doorway, takes in the scene. His eyes move from Stone’s protective stance to Hailey’s huddled form, to me on the floor. Understanding dawns in his expression, followed by something worse than anger—disappointment.

“I’ve got her,” he says quietly, moving to help Hailey up. She’s still coughing, but she lets him guide her. As they pass, I catch a glimpse of angry red marks blooming on her pale throat. Marks from my hands.

I try to stand, to explain, but Stone’s growl freezes me in place.

“Don’t. Move.”

The command in his voice hits my alpha hindbrain like the punch he just delivered to my jaw. I stay where I am, tasting copper where my lip split against my teeth.

Finn pauses at the door, Hailey tucked protectively against his side. The look he gives me…I’ve seen that look before. In Mother’s eyes after Amaya…after Amaya died.

“Finn,” I choke out. “I didn’t mean?—”

“Not now.” His voice is soft but final. Then they’re gone, footsteps retreating upstairs, leaving me with Stone and the weight of what I’ve done.

The silence stretches, broken only by the sound of my ragged breathing. Stone stays between me and the door, his scent sharp with barely contained rage.

“Explain.” The word falls like a stone into still water. “Now.”

I press my palms against my eyes, trying to block out the imageof those marks on Hailey’s throat. “I was dreaming. Remembering. I thought…” The words stick in my throat. “I thought she was someone else.”

“Someone else.” Stone’s voice is deadly quiet. “You were drunk enough to mistake our traumatized omega for someone else and wrap your hands around her throat?”

“I went to see my family.” The confession tastes like charcoal in my throat. “I thought…I thought I could get answers about the Academy. About all of it. But they just…”

“So you got drunk and came home to assault one of our omegas?” His control slips, anger bleeding into his voice. “The omega we rescued from people who hurt her? Who’s finally starting to trust us?”

Each word is a knife, but I deserve worse. “I never meant?—”

“Towhat?” Stone cuts me off. “To prove to her that alphas really are the monsters she fears? To destroy all our progress in seconds?”

“I’m sorry.” The words are inadequate, meaningless. “Stone, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to.” He runs a hand through his hair, visibly trying to rein in his temper. “For fuck’s sake, Ren. What the hell happened at your parents’?”

I shake my head, unable to explain the years of suspicion, the weight of secrets, the desperate need to protect what’s mine. “They wouldn’t tell me anything. About any of it. They just…” I swallow hard. “They said I destroyed everything. That night after the gala, when I met Finn. Said I burned their legacy to the ground.”

“And did you?”

“I thought…” The room spins slightly. “I thought I was stopping something. Saving people. But now I don’t know if…” I break off, nausea rising. “What if I was wrong? What if I destroyed the wrong things? What if I made it worse?”

Stone is quiet for a long moment. When he speaks, his voice is careful. “Whatever happened that night, whatever you did or didn’tdo…that’s not what matters right now. What matters is that you came home drunk, lost control, and hurt someone who trusted us to protect her.”

The truth of it hits me like another punch. “I know.”

“Do you?” He crouches down, forcing me to meet his eyes. “Because right now, I’m wondering if I can trust you around our omegas at all.”

The words cut deeper than the knife I can already feel in my gut. “Stone?—”

“No.” He turns away, and suddenly he looks tired. “I need you to leave. Get yourself together. When you’re sober, when you can control yourself, then we’ll talk about what happens next.”

“Where am I supposed to go?”

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