Page 38 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

“Hello?” Stone asks from behind the curtain. “Finn? That you?”

But I’m already out the door and down the corridor back to the nest before he exits the shower. Even though a large part of me knows he won’t leave until he washes away the evidence before morning.

But I know now. Can’t un-know it.

Three days ago, I’d felt hope when the first container disappeared. Thought maybe Stone was finally reaching out, accepting what I offered. Maybe things were getting better.

I was wrong.

I’d wanted so badly to believe he was just busy with work. Or that he just needed space in the woods. That the distance was temporary.

But that scent…

I sink into my empty nest, wrapping my arms around myself. The nest never felt bigger or more lonely. The house, too, feels too big suddenly, too empty despite the sleeping alphas in rooms not far away. My pack. My family. My everything.

Or at least, they were.

Time passes steadily as silent tears soak the bedding. Another omega. One who smells like summer and sweetness. One who probably doesn’t carry the shadows I do. The scars. The damage.

I should have known this would happen, eventually. Should have prepared myself for the possibility that they’d find someoneelse. Someone they could all bond with properly. Without the same problems that have come with them bonding with me. Someone they all wanted.

Someone better.

A door opens down the hall—probably Jax checking on everyone like he does every night. His footsteps pause at the nest room, door opening slightly, and I pretend I’m asleep.

For one distressing moment, I want to call out to him. To beg him to come in, to hold me like he used to. To make me feel safe when everything is crumbling. The words rise in my throat, almost escaping before I swallow them back down. Pride is all I have left now.

He won’t come in. He’s only checking the perimeter. Protecting his pack.

But he can’t protect me from this.

I force myself to push away the pain. Tomorrow, I’ll make breakfast like always. I’ll wrap portions carefully, label them with names. I’ll pretend I don’t notice when Stone takes extra food. I’ll smile and nod and act like everything’s fine.

Because what else can I do?

I love them. More than anything. I…I love them with my very soul.

Fresh tears soak the pillows, but the truth sits heavy in my stomach: I’m losing them. Maybe I already have. Maybe I lost them that night two years ago when everything changed.

I close my eyes, but sleep doesn’t come. Instead, I remember the way Stone used to look at me—like I was precious, perfect, worth protecting. The way Jax would curl around me on bad nights, his steady heartbeat drowning out the memories. The way Ren would paint for hours, channeling his darkness into beauty instead of rage.

Now Stone looks through me, Jax keeps his distance, and Ren’s paintbrushes gather dust. The art supplies I’d gotten Ren for his birthday still sit wrapped in his studio. Expensive brushes,pigments in the exact shades he loves. He’d kissed my breath away when he’d opened them—a real kiss. And a real smile on his lips. Not the hollow ones we exchange now. But now the gift remains untouched. Like everything else between us.

And somewhere out there is an omega who smells like everything an alpha should want. An omega who smells so good, even I…

EvenIlike her scent.

FUCK.

I feel vomit and disgust rise in my stomach at just that thought.

My alphas have found another omega. One who isn’t broken. One who smells like everything an omega should be.

And I’m still here, in the dark, falling apart.

Chapter 13

Finn

---