Page 8 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

Before I can think, she’s moving. This is obviously the sort of thing she’s done before. Clear in the way she suddenly transforms from a meek omega into something far more dangerous. Was she really at the same Reform Academy I was? How on earth did she fool them into thinking she was submissive enough to pass their tests?

I don’t care.

I’m at her back as we move toward the light, fighting through the trembling in my limbs as I crawl toward the sunlight streaming through the opening. My dress catches on the jagged edge of the torn wall, and I rip it free with a desperate tug. The gap in the truck is just wide enough for us to squeeze through—if we’re quick.

Vi is careful, her breathing shallow as she glances nervously back toward the heart of the wreckage. The other omegas aren’t moving, most of them still too dazed or too frightened to act.

One of them catches my eye through the gap in my blindfold—a tiny blonde thing, probably no more than seventeen. She’s crying silently, shaking her head when she sees us moving. Another hascurled into herself, rocking slightly, her lips moving in what might be a prayer. The sight makes my chest ache. They’ve been broken so thoroughly they can’t even imagine escape. My gut twists. I want to help them all, but there’s no time. If we don’t go now, we’ll lose our chance.

“Go,” I urge Vi, motioning toward the opening. “I’ll follow.”

She hesitates for a fraction of a second before crawling through, and I watch as her thin frame disappears into the blinding light.

Shuffling sounds reach my ears—someone climbing out of the cab. I hear him groan in pain. My pulse spikes. The betas are coming.

We have to go now!

I push through the gap, the sharp edges scraping against my skin as I wriggle free. The moment I emerge, the sunlight coming just through that narrow gap in my blindfold almost blinds me, and I stumble forward into a patch of soft earth.

I’m momentarily disoriented. Not sure where is up or where is down.

But then it all slowly comes into focus. The brief sliver of sky. The bright sunshine. The scent of fresh air. And green. So much green.

There’s…there’s a forest.

Trees stretch endlessly before me, their dense canopies swaying gently in the breeze. The rich scent of pine sap and damp earth fills my lungs—real air, wild air, so different from the sterile emptiness of the Academy. Soft moss cushions my bare feet, and somewhere nearby, branches creak in the wind. It’s overwhelming after so long in metal cells, like stepping into another world entirely. Birds cry out overhead, and the pine…God, the pine. Sharp and sweet and somehow both soothing and wild at once, it burns into my memory like a promise of freedom.

Vi is crouched a few feet away, chest heaving, but before I can say anything, I hear them—the unmistakable crunch of boots staggering on gravel, followed by a strangled curse. The betas.

My panicked gaze shoots back to Vi, and I rise to my feet, starting toward her when something tugs me back. A jolt of panic shoots through my being.

I expect the beta to strike me now, but when I spin, I notice it's the blasted dress that’s gotten caught again. I tug, but whatever it’s snagged on won’t release it easily. Fear shoots down my spine as I hear the gravel crunch some more, tears swelling in my eyes as I tug.

I can’t get free.

Spinning, I face the direction where I know Vi is, only to see her heading back my way.

More gravel crunches and I shake my head, stopping her in her tracks. She can’t come back for me. There’s no use in us both getting caught. No use in us both losing this chance at freedom.

I watch as she swallows hard before glancing back at the forest. When she looks at me again, her lips form a silent “I’ll find you” before she suddenly turns and runs into the thick green.

Shit.

My body trembles with conflicting impulses. The Reform Academy’s training screams at me to stop, to submit, to accept whatever punishment comes. Good omegas don’t run. Good omegas don’t fight. But beneath those conditioned responses, something older and fiercer burns in my chest. The same instinct that kept me alive in my parents’ house, that taught me to endure but never truly break. Vi’s courage fans that ember into a flame.

I think of the alpha waiting for us—forme. Of spending my life being exactly what they’ve trained me to be: silent, submissive, grateful for whatever scraps of kindness might fall from my master’s table. The thought makes me shudder more intensely than any physical pain ever could.

I should give up now. My training says that I should. That I’m nothing more than a pathetic omega. That I should be thankful this mystery alpha is even interested in me.

Only…I don’t…I don’t want any of this.

And maybe that’s why I tug.Hard. Without use of my hands, it’s like pulling on a train with a single lead, but I tug anyway, and when I hear the first rip is the moment I realize tears have clouded my eyes.

“Hey!”

For just a split second, I freeze, my body locking up as terror takes hold. My fight-or-flight instincts scream at me to run, to put these men as far behind me as possible.

And so I do.

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