Page 212 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

There’s a heavy unspoken thing between us. Something that’s gnawing at my insides now that we have a moment to breathe.

“They could have taken her, Jax. They could have harmed Finn, too.”

“Yeah,” he says again. But I know it’s not dismissive. He’s deep in thought.

“We have to mark her.”

Jax’s throat moves and he releases another breath. “She’s not ready.”

“We scent marked her. She didn’t shut down during that and?—”

Jax’s dark gaze bores into mine. “You and I both know scent marking is child’s play compared to an actual bonding mark. I can’t initiate that, Stone. Not until she’s in heat. It will be better for her that way. Less painful.”

I swallow down the remainder of my words. He’s right, of course. But I can’t push away the thought that if we claimed Hailey, bonded with her officially, this might stop those assholes after her from coming back.

I ease up on my good elbow with a wince. “I’ll help you with the clean up?—”

Jax shakes his head. “No need. Before the deputy could even check the damage upstairs, Ren moved the bodies and got rid of most of the blood.”

I stop short. “Hewhat?”

“Moved the bodies.” Jax’s voice is flat, which only makes the words more unsettling. “By the time I walked the deputy up here, the two goons were gone. Most of the obvious blood splatter wiped away.”

The revelation sits heavy in my gut. Ren, who used to spend hours debating philosophy with me over cheap beer in college, who cried when his childhood dog died before we became a pack, who brings soup when any of us are sick—that Ren somehow knows how to disappear bodies and evidence like a professional cleaner.

“How—” I start then stop. “Fuck that.Why? Why would he do that? If the feds ID these pricks then maybe we could get a lead on this fucking Academy.”

The fact Ren is trying to hide the extent of this house invasion only makes my skin prickle.

“There’s more,” Jax continues, his voice dropping even lower as Hailey shifts in her sleep. “The address he left…it’s for a place in the mountains. Fully stocked, fortified, off-grid. Said we’d find everything we need there.”

“Everything we need,” I repeat, tasting the strangeness of those words. “Just how long has he had this place ready?”

Jax’s silence speaks volumes. When he finally meets my eyes, there’s something troubled in his expression that mirrors my own unease. “I’m starting to think we never really knew him at all.”

“Or he never wanted us to.” The thought hurts more than I expect it to. Ren’s been like a brother to me since our university days, when we were just three alphas trying to figure out our place in the world. At least, that’s what I thought we were.

A soft whimper from Hailey draws both our attention. Her fingers clutch at my sheets, face creased with whatever nightmare has hold of her. Instinctively, I curl my good arm around her again, rumbling softly until she settles.

“I need to shower,” Jax says after a moment, running a hand over his face. The unspoken request hangs between us—he doesn’t want to go back to his room, not tonight. Not after everything.

“Use mine,” I say quietly, nodding toward my en-suite. We both know it’s not just about getting clean. After tonight, the thought of us being too far apart sets my teeth on edge.

Jax disappears into the bathroom, and soon the sound of running water fills the silence. I focus on Hailey’s breathing, on Finn’s steady presence beside her. My gentle botanist took down two trained alphas tonight. My precious, precious Finn.

The memory of earlier floods back—all of us in the nest, finally letting down our walls, our scents mingling into something whole and perfect. My body remembers before my mind fully catches up, a deep ache unfurling in my gut, hot and undeniable.

We’d been naked, tangled together, limbs intertwined as we marked one another in the most primal way possible. I can still feel the slick heat of Hailey’s lips against mine, the way Finn had pressed against her back, his breath heavy, his fingers gripping her hips as he buried his face into her neck. It had felt so fucking right. Like he was claiming her for all of us. I’d never wanted him more.Wanted him in a way that shattered something inside me and put it back together in the same breath.

And then there had been the moment—one I hadn’t expected to burn itself so deeply into my mind. Finn and Jax, their bodies pressed together, a tangle of grasping hands and parted lips. Finn’s fingers wrapped around Jax’s cock as Jax did the same to him, their strokes slow, teasing, drawn out with a kind of intimacy that made my breath hitch even now. The way Jax had watched Finn, his gaze dark, possessive, as if memorizing every flicker of pleasure across his face. The way Finn had gasped, his head falling back against Hailey’s shoulder, his body shuddering as Jax stroked him to the edge.

It had been raw, beautiful—so fucking hot I could barely breathe. And now, lying here, my fingers curling into Hailey’s hair, I realize just how much I missed that. More than I had let myself acknowledge.

I swallow hard, my throat suddenly dry. Jax is still in the bathroom, the sound of running water masking my uneven breaths. Finn is curled around Hailey, his arm now draped over her protectively, his chest rising and falling in steady rhythm. But my body hums with the phantom sensation of our scent marking, of the way we had melted into one another, surrendering to something bigger than all of us.

And fuck, I want it again.

When Jax emerges, dressed in clothes he must have grabbed from the stash we all keep in each other’s rooms, his hair is damp and his expression marginally less haunted. “Your turn,” he says, settling into the armchair near the bed. “I’ve got them.”

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