Page 223 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

Stone shakes his head. “It’s more than that. It’s…” He struggles to find the words, which is unusual for him. Stone has always been the most articulate of us, the one who can dissect a situation with surgical precision. “When I saw him with that bat, looking like he was ready to take on an army…that was the old Finn. The one from before.”

Before the accident. Before everything changed.

I know exactly what he means. For a moment, we’d both glimpsed the omega we first fell for—fierce, protective, unafraid to stand his ground. The one who challenged us as much as he cared for us, who never let us get away with our alpha bullshit.

“And then there’s Hailey,” he adds quietly. “The way he is with her…”

“They’re mates,” I mutter. Stone’s scent sharpens with something complex.

We’d both felt it even before Dr. Greene confirmed it. While we marked Hailey with our scents, there was the unmistakable shift in Finn’s scent when Hailey had trembled against him. The way their pheromones had blended into something new and undeniable. A mating bond, fragile and new, but already forming.

I release a breath. Straighten my shoulders. “It doesn’t change how he feels about us.”

I want to believe it, but…I don’t.

Stone gives me a sidelong look. “Doesn’t it? You heard what she said. About him wanting to leave, to protect her from our mess.”

The memory sends a cold pang through me. The words had been like a knife to the gut, all the more painful for being completely understandable.

“He wouldn’t leave us.” Even to my ears, I sound unsure.

Stone stops abruptly, turning to face me. His amber eyes are intense, his scent a storm of emotions. “Wouldn’t he? If he thought it was the only way to keep her safe? If he thought we were lying to him, keeping secrets?” He turns in a slow circle, eyes darting to the surrounding forest, leaves crunching beneath his boots. “Fuck, Jax. Wearekeeping secrets. Big ones.”

I can’t argue with that. The whole truth about the accident. The real reason we’ve been so protective, so withdrawn while still so afraid of losing him. We’ve kept so much from him, believing it was for his own good.

“He deserves to know,” he continues. “About everything. About the bond.”

I release a heavy breath, shoulders slumping now. “Yes, I know we need to tell him. But the time couldn’t be worse right now.” I release a heavy breath. “It could hurt him, Stone. Make him pull away even more.”

“Then that’s his choice.” Stone’s voice is firm, and pain flashes in his eyes. “He deserves to have all the information to make that choice. We can’t keep…We can’t keep doing this.”

For a few moments, I say nothing. What can I say.

He’s right.

Fuck.

“After things settle down,” I finally manage. “After we’re sure it’s safe, that those mercenaries aren’t going to find us here. Then we’ll tell him.”

“Soon, Jax. We can’t wait another two years.”

My throat tightens, gaze shifting from his.

We continue our patrol in silence, each lost in our own thoughts. The forest around us is peaceful, showing no signs of disturbance. No broken branches, no footprints, no unfamiliar scents. Just wilderness, stretching in every direction.

When we complete the circuit back to the cabin, I pause, facing Stone. “One more thing.” I pitch my voice low. “About Hailey.”

He tenses, not sure what’s coming. “What about her?”

“She’s pack now.” My gaze locks with his. “Whether she ends up staying with us or going with Finn…she’s pack. We protect her like our own.”

“Of course,” he nods. “She’s one of us.”

I nod, too. Satisfied, we turn toward the cabin. When we open the door, we spot Finn moving around the kitchen, a slight figure in borrowed clothes, setting things in order. Something in my chest aches at the sight—at how natural he looks here, adapting to yet another upheaval with that quiet resilience that has always been his hallmark.

“Come on,” Stone says. “Let’s get in there before he decides to rearrange the entire kitchen.”

Chapter 52

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