Page 7 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

“Fuuuck!” the beta up ahead shouts.

The vehicle tilts. Then tilts more. My pulse thunders in my skull as the entire truck tips to one side. I brace for the inevitable.

Impact.

The world flips.

The impact throws me sideways off the bench. With my hands bound, I can’t catch myself as I slam shoulder-first into what feels like metal grating. Bodies tumble around me, limbs and elbows connecting with my ribs, my back. The truck tilts at a sickening angle. My feet scramble uselessly for purchase on the smooth floor as gravity drags me down. A metallic groan fills the cargo hold, followed by the sharp crack of something giving way. My temple connects with a hard edge—stars explode behind the blindfold. The coppery taste of blood fills my mouth where I’ve bitten my tongue. Another violent lurch sends me airborne for a heart-stopping moment before I crash back down, my hip taking the brunt of the landing. Someone’s scream cuts off in a choked gasp as the truck finally rolls to a stop.

For a moment, there’s only silence. A silence so complete it makes my ears ring, like the world is holding its breath. Then a soft groan shatters the stillness, followed by the shuffling of bodies and the rhythmic clang of something heavy dangling—a piece of the truck that was torn off, maybe.

I blink hard, trying to orient myself. My blindfold is still in place, but it’s slipping, the fabric askew from the chaos. A ribbon of faint light filters through the small gap near my nose, just enough to let me see flashes of movement: trembling hands, bloody skin, an omega with purple hair hunched beside me.

“V-Vi?” My voice is a strained whisper, barely audible over the groans and coughs. She doesn’t answer at first, just exhales shakily as she struggles to sit upright.

“You—okay?” she wheezes. Her blindfold, half-torn, rests around her neck. Her wide, ice-blue eyes meet mine, and for the first time, I see her clearly. She’s younger than I thought, probably no older than eighteen. Too young for this nightmare.

The air tastes like burned rubber and I struggle to pick myself off the crumpled floor. I think it’s the roof of the truck, because the benches welded onto the floor are now suspended above us.Around us, the soft whimpers of other omegas fill the space, some still tangled in what’s left of their restraints.

“That’s fucked,” Vi rasps, her voice trembling as she takes in our surroundings. “Maybe I should be careful what I wish for.”

And then I hear it: the unmistakable groaning of one of the betas.

“Shit!” he curses. “Fuck, you couldn’t even pay attention to the road!” His voice is muffled but furious.

“Is he dead?” another beta asks.

“Better him than us,” the first one replies.

They sound distressed.

Omega instincts flood my system with a different kind of panic—not just fear, but a need to submit, to go still. My body wants to curl inward, make itself smaller, less of a target. Even with the adrenaline screaming through my veins, the presence of so many fresh scents now in the air makes my muscles want to lock up; freeze in place. The sliver of vision through the shifted blindfold shows me other omegas doing exactly that—some whimpering softly, others deathly quiet, all of them instinctively trying to appear as unthreatening as possible. And some…some are not moving at all. There’s blood. Blood everywhere.

I need to get out of there, but those instincts war against the urge to run—everything in my biology screaming that movement means attention, attention means danger.

But this…this might be my only chance at…at what? Atsomethingelse.Anythingelse.

Sunlight streams through what must be a crack in the side panel of the truck, illuminating the dirt and dust floating through the air. My gaze darts toward it, and that small opening feels like salvation. Freedom.

This is my chance.

But then I glance at Vi, who’s watching the same crack with calculated intensity. Her body is still, but not from fear—she’s coiled tight, like a spring waiting to release.

Shuffling forward, I bear the pain in silence, the Reform Academy’s training coming in clutch when I least expect it.

I bump Vi’s arm with my head. “We…we have to go,” I whisper. It comes out more fearful than urgent. “We have to run. We?—”

The muffled sound of one of the beta’s groaning outside the vehicle cuts me off. Adrenaline surges through me, overriding the pain and fear rising in my chest.

Vi focuses on me before she suddenly gives me a sharp nod. The slight mischievous smile that suddenly lights up her features makes something like bravery swell within me.

“Sure you’re up for this?”

I nod. It hadn’t been the plan before, but now it is.

I can see the light. I can see the sun. And the thought of being confined to another cell as a strange alpha uses me till I can’t be used anymore just doesn’t compare.

I give her a jerk of my chin.

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