Page 211 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

Finn barks a surprised laugh, eyes shifting up to meet mine. “Maybe I need to get beat up some more to hear you make jokes like that.”

My face falls. Horror immediately fills me. “I didn’t mean?—”

Finn leans into me. “I know what you meant. It’s just nice to hear you joke, that’s all. I think it’s the first time you’ve said anything even mildly scandalous.”

Heat creeps into my cheeks. The beer feels clumsy in my hands, but it seems to help—the swelling looks less angry already. It’s strange, this role reversal—me caring for them after they’ve spent so many days caring for me. There’s an odd satisfaction in it, in being useful, in having skills that matter.

I stand there icing Finn’s eye until the cold starts to seep into my fingers.

“Here, sunshine, let me hold it.” Finn takes the cold beer from my fingers with one hand and forces me to sit between him and Stone with the other.

I exhale, limbs heavier than usual as the adrenaline that’s kept me upright starts to ebb. The room falls quiet, save for the faint creak of floorboards below us and the steady hum of voices. The police are taking their notes. It’s strange, hearing them so close yet feeling so removed from it all.

Stone leans back against the headboard, his injured arm resting carefully on his thigh. Finn flops back, cradling the beer against his bruised eye, his expression now unreadable.

“Jax and Ren are handling it,” Stone says after a moment.

I nod faintly, my gaze drifting toward the door. The low murmur of voices outside blends with the occasional shuffle of footsteps, the sound oddly soothing in its monotony.

The blanket wrapped around me feels heavier now, warm and comforting against the chill creeping into my skin. My body aches in ways I hadn’t fully registered before, the adrenaline crash hitting me like a freight train.

“You should rest,” Stone says, his gaze steady on mine.

“I don’t know if I can,” I admit softly. The memory of hands grabbing me, of splintering glass and gunfire, feels too raw, too fresh to let go of.

“You can,” he murmurs, tugging me gently until I’m lying between them.

But as the minutes turn into hours, my body has other ideas. The crash hits me hard, my limbs growing heavier by the second. Stone’s good arm wraps around my waist, pulling me against his chest while Finn presses close behind me, both of them forming a protective barrier against the world.

The last thing I register before exhaustion claims me is Stone’s steady heartbeat under my ear, his fingers trailing soothingly through my hair, and Finn’s quiet breathing at my back. As sleep pulls me under, I feel safer than I should after everything that’s happened—surrounded by an alpha who has proven, with blood and bruises, that he will fight for me. And an omega who has been convinced I’m worth fighting for.

Stone

Sleep won’t come. Not with the throbbing in my arm, not with the lingering scent of gunpowder and blood, and definitely not with Hailey curled against my chest, trembling even in her exhausted sleep.

Every time she whimpers, my muscles coil tighter. Her dreams are clearly anything but peaceful. On her other side, Finn shifts closer. Seeing the dark patch across his eye makes me want to rage. I’d watched him take on two alphas with nothing but a baseball bat, and the memory fills me with equal parts terror and fierce pride. My gentle omega, who spends his days tending plants and making tea, had fought like a demon to protect what was his.

The memories keep replaying—the sound of gunfire, the splintering of glass from the nest room, the sickening knowledge that I wasn’t close enough to reach her. If Jax hadn’t gotten there in time…

Footsteps in the hallway have me tensing before I recognize Jax’s familiar tread. He appears in the doorway, looking as exhausted as I feel.

“Police are gone,” he says quietly, eyes tracking over Hailey’s sleeping form. “Ren’s gone too.”

Of course, he is. The muscle in my jaw ticks. “Did he say anything else?”

“Just that we need to move. Soon.” Jax runs a hand over his face. “He left me an address. Says it’s secure.”

I stare at Jax. “Left you an address? Like some sort of safe house?”

When Jax releases a heavy sigh and simply shrugs, I don’t know what to think.

“What the fuck does Ren know about safe houses, Jax?” I shake my head, brows furrowing. “Why does he even have one?”

“Fuck if I know.” Jax runs a hand through his hair and releases another breath. His gaze flicks over our omegas once more. “Came pretty close to disaster tonight,” he says after a few moments.

“Yea.” I sigh, too. Silence descends between us. “You call Dr. Greene?”

Jax nods. “Yeah.”

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