Page 149 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

Something in his words breaks a dam inside me. The tears I’ve been holding back spill over, and suddenly I’m sobbing. My knees buckle, but I don’t fall—Stone and Finn catch me between them, lowering me gently to sit on the edge of the tub.

“Let it out,” Finn murmurs, stroking my hair. “Scream if you need to.”

Stone kneels in front of me, his large hands covering mine where they’re clenched in my lap. “You’re pack,” he says firmly. “I know we haven’t done anything official to honor that yet, but the moment you found your way into my cabin, you found your way home. You’re one of us. Ironwood. Whatever happens, whatever you need—you’re pack. Do you understand?”

I nod through my tears, unable to speak. Pack. The word echoes in my chest, filling empty spaces I didn’t know I had.

“Come on,” Finn says after my sobs have quieted. “We should spend the rest of the day in the nest.”

Stone shifts, uncertain. His hands still cover mine, but I feel the slight tension in them. “I’ll go make that tea and?—”

“You should stay,” Finn interrupts, cheeks warming before he glances at me. “I mean, if that’s okay with you, Hailey? The nest…it helps. With everything.”

Stone’s expression has gone carefully neutral, but somethingflickers in his eyes that he can’t hide quickly enough. “I don’t want to intrude…especially if Hailey doesn’t?—”

“It’s okay,” I whisper, surprising myself with how much I mean it. His pine scent has become…comforting. Safe.

“Well,” Stone clears his throat. “Tea first. And maybe…pizza? Been a while since we’ve had a proper nest day.”

Finn’s face lights up. “With?—”

“Extra mushrooms, light on the sauce, double cheese?” Stone’s lips quirk. “I do pay attention, you know.” He turns to me. “What about you, sweetheart? Any preferences?”

Sweetheart.

I duck my head, heat creeping into my cheeks. “Um…”

“Hey.” Stone’s thumb strokes across my knuckles. “Whatever you want. No wrong answers.”

“Pineapple?” The word comes out like a question.

Stone recoils in mock horror, pressing a hand to his chest. “No. Tell me you’re joking. Finn, she’s joking, right?”

A startled laugh escapes me at his dramatics. Finn grins, squeezing my waist.

“The betrayal,” Stone continues, shaking his head solemnly. “In my own pack. Under my own roof.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Finn stage-whispers. “He’s just mad because Jax likes pineapple, too.”

“Traitors, the lot of you.” But Stone’s eyes are dancing as he stands. “Fine. One abomination pizza coming up. The things I do for pack.”

The word sends a warm flutter through my chest once more. Pack. Home.

The nest feels different in daylight. Softer somehow, with sunlight filtering through gauzy curtains and catching dust motes in its beam. Finn arranges pillows while I hover uncertainly at the edge.

“Here,” he pats the space beside him. “Get comfy while we wait for our resident pizza critic to return.”

I sink into the nest, immediately enveloped by the mingled scents of pack. Finn fiddles with the remote, pulling up some reality show about omega matchmaking that has me hiding smiles within minutes.

“Oh no,” Finn groans as one contestant makes a particularly bad decision. “Girl, he literally just told you his pack lives in his mother’s basement and that they collect taxidermied squirrels! What are you doing?”

A giggle escapes before I can stop it. Finn looks delighted.

“Just wait,” he says. “It gets worse. Last week, one alpha showed up to a date wearing?—”

Heavy footsteps in the hallway make us both look up. Stone appears in the doorway, laden with pizza boxes and what looks like a tray filled with tea.

“Delivery for my nest dwellers.”

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