Page 267 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

Finn steps forward slightly, offering a polite smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. I remember how he’d reacted when we saw her on TV that evening; the way he’d commented about not wanting to get on her bad side. There was something in his tone then—a wariness that went beyond mere business caution. “Veyra,” he says smoothly. “I wasn’t in pack Ironwood at the time, but we’ve met before.”

The alpha’s dark eyes travel over Finn with a slow, assessing gaze that makes my skin crawl.

“Of course,” she purrs. “The charity gala for disadvantaged omegas, wasn’t it? How could I forget an omega like you?” The way she says it—like she’s savoring each word—sends a chill down my spine. “You made quite an impression.”

Finn’s smile remains fixed, and at my back, I suddenly feel Ren closer. I must be imagining it, but I swear I hear a low growl in his throat.

“And this,” Jax continues, gesturing toward me, “is Hailey.”

The sound of my name pulls me back to the present, and I realize too late that Jax and Stone have stepped aside, revealing me, and that all eyes are focused my way.

I step forward instinctively, my hand outstretched in a gesture of respect. “It’s an honor to meet you, Alpha Veyra,” I say, but my voice has gone almost inaudible, thin and shaky under the weight of the moment.

Her gaze flicks down to my hand, and for a moment, she doesn’t move. The silence stretches, thick and suffocating, before she finally speaks.

“You haven’t taught your omega not to touch strange alphas?” she asks, her tone light but laced with condescension. “Surely you know scent transfer is…unseemly.”

Her words hit like a slap, and I feel my cheeks burn with humiliation. I pull my hand back quickly, my heart pounding, but I force myself to keep my expression neutral.

“I’m sorry,” I say, my voice trembling slightly. “I didn’t mean to offend.”

Her smile tightens, the curve of her lips polite but firm, the kind of smile meant to dismiss rather than welcome. Her gaze lingers on me for a moment longer than it should, her dark eyes sharp and searching, before she finally looks past me, her attention shifting back to Stone and Jax as if I’m no longer worth acknowledging.

But I can’t move.

Because now I’m certain.

It’s her.

It’s subtle, but it’s there. The faintest flicker of recognition in her expression, the way her gaze swept over me just a little too long, like she was cataloging every detail. Her smile had faltered—barely—but enough for me to notice.

And the way she dismissed me, the coldness in her voice, the sharp edge of condescension… It wasn’t just because I’m an omega.

It was calculated.

I watch her as Jax and Stone continue to speak, but I can’t hear anything. My pulse hammering in my ears as I try to piece it together. Her perfectly calm demeanor, her poised and polished exterior—it’s a mask, and I know it.

Because I remember her voice.

I remember the Academy.

And now, as I stand here, I see it in the way her fingers tighten ever so slightly around the stem of her champagne flute, the faint tension in her shoulders as she glances toward me out of the corner of her eye. She’s hiding it, but she knows exactly who I am.

The realization sends another wave of nausea rolling through me. She remembers.

She remembers me.

I…I can’t move.

Because that voice—her voice—has triggered something deep inside me.

It’s like a switch has been flipped, and suddenly I’m not standing in a grand ballroom surrounded by my pack. I’m back at the Academy, my heart racing, my stomach twisting, the sharp scent of antiseptic and fear filling my lungs.

I can’t breathe.

I can’t think.

No. No, it can’t be her. Itcan’tbe.

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