Page 152 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

“That’s it,” Finn murmurs. “Come back to us.”

I become aware of my breathing first—too fast, too shallow. Then the tremors wracking my body. I’m half-sitting up, though I don’t remember moving. Finn’s arms are around me, and Stone…

Stone is kneeling in front of me. His pine scent is strong but not overwhelming, grounding me in the present.

“Can you tell me five things you can see?” he asks.

The question is unexpected enough to cut through the lingering panic. “I…the TV. The pink blanket. Your shirt. Finn’s hands. The window.”

“Good. Four things you can touch?”

My fingers curl into the material beneath them. “The nest. The pillow. Finn’s sweater. The…” I falter as tears threaten.

“You’re doing so well,” Stone whispers. “So well, sweetheart.”

The endearment, spoken so tenderly, breaks something loose in my chest, but it’s not enough to push away the panic. A sob escapes before I can stop it.

The panic builds rather than subsides. Finn’s sage, usually so soothing, isn’t enough to cut through the remembered fear. Mybreath comes in sharp gasps, hands clutching desperately at nothing.

The tremors worsen, my chest constricting until each breath feels like it’s ripping through the muscles in my throat. Suddenly, Finn’s arms don’t feel like comfort anymore. They feel like bands being used to restrain me. My lungs feel like they’re at once too large and too small. I can’t breathe.

“She needs more than this, Stone,” Finn’s whisper is harsh. Strained.

My chest feels like it’s caving in, the panic a living, writhing thing inside me. My instincts scream for something I can’t name, something Finn’s touch can’t give me. He’s an omega, steady and safe, but right now, safe isn’t what I need. I need…I need…

“Stone.” Finn’s voice sharpens. “Can’t you smell her distress? She’s anomega, terrified and alone. She needs an alpha. She needsyou.”

Stone eases back, conflict etched in every line of his face. “After what happened with Ren? I’m the last thing she needs right now.”

His gaze flickers to mine, and for a moment, I see the struggle in them—the war between his instincts and his fear of hurting me. His scent shifts, the pine deepening, becoming richer, more potent. It wraps around me, and for the first time since I woke, I feel the faintest flicker of calm. But it’s not enough. Not yet.

“The only thing good I have to offer an omega is my fucking knot, Finn.” Stone’s jaw clenches. “She needs comfort, not…that.”

“For fuck’s sake.” Finn’s arms tighten as another violent shiver wracks my body. “Whatever happened two years ago broke all of us, I know. Buthoware you even resisting her right now? She’ssuffering.”

My sobs intensify, my body shaking uncontrollably. The nightmare’s grip doesn’t want to loosen, threatening to pull me back into the horror of the Academy.

“The same way I’ve been resistingyou.” Stone’s words are solow, I would have thought I imagined them if Finn didn’t suddenly stiffen. A breath shudders through him, becoming lost in the tremors wracking my frame.

“Then stop, Stone. Maybe it’s time you stop resisting.”

My vision blurs, tears streaming down my face as I gasp for air. I hear the snap of Widow’s whip cracking the air, feel the brush of the leather as?—

“Fuck it.” Stone’s voice is rough, his resignation laced with a sudden intensity. “I’ve got you, sweetheart. I’ve got you.”

His pine scent envelops me as he presses my face into his neck. One arm bands around my waist while the other cradles the back of my head, holding me close.

“Breathe with me,” he murmurs, chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. “Feel that? Match it.”

I try to focus on his heartbeat under my palm. On his warmth seeping into my bones as he rocks us slightly. He’s not like them. He’s not like them at the Academy. Not like that alpha at the mall.

Stone is good.

Stone is safe.

“That’s it,” he soothes, fingers threading through my hair. “Let go. I won’t let anything hurt you.”

The pure alpha protection in his voice breaks something loose. Another sob tears from my throat. The room feels like it’s spinning, the edges of my vision blurring as the panic claws at my chest. Finn’s arms come up around me from behind, caging me in between them. Distantly, I hear him saying I need deep pressure. That I need the warmth and safety. But his voice sounds so very far away.

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