Page 122 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

“Please. And tea for Hailey when she comes down. The chamomile, I think. She liked it last night.” Finn hops onto the counter, swinging his legs like a child. Like he used to. “Which reminds me—I was thinking about the garden.”

My cup stills halfway to my mouth. The garden? He hasn’t set foot in that garden this early in the day and so eagerly in a long, long time. The only time I’ve seen him there lately was when we’d stay late at the job and come back to find him tending his plants in the quiet stillness.

“What about it?” Stone asks, voice as careful as Jax’s as he flips another pancake that is definitely shaped like a dinosaur.

“Well, it needs tending, obviously. All those weeds! And I was planning on adding some roses along the perimeter to brighten up the place—” He cuts himself off, nose wrinkling. “You don’t think that’s too much, do you?”

“No!” We all answer at the same time, creating a sort of booming effect in the kitchen.

“Good!” Finn continues as if nothing’s wrong. He reaches over, stealing another blueberry. “Anyway, since you three will be at work, I thought Hailey and I could start clearing it out. Maybe plant some new things. She seems like she’d enjoy that.”

The casual way he says it—like this is the most normal thing in the world—makes something in my chest crack.

A soft sound from the doorway draws all our attention. Hailey stands there in what looks like one of Finn’s old shirts and one of his sweatpants. Her hair is sleep-mussed, cheeks still flushed from whatever happened upstairs that I’m still determinedly not thinking about.

She looks at each of us in turn, her gaze dropping quickly whenever it meets an alpha’s eyes. Marginally better than when she first faced us all. But when she looks at Finn—God, the change isinstant. Like he’s ethereal and she can’t help but be awed by his beauty. Like she can’t quite believe he’s real.

I know that look. I’ve worn it myself.

“Morning, sunshine!” Finn beams at her. “I was just telling these guys about our plans for the garden. That is—” His voice softens, gentles. “If you’d like to help me?”

The hope that blooms across her face is almost painful to watch. “I…I’d like that.”

Then something shifts in her expression. A shadow of fear crosses her features and her shoulders hunch slightly as her gaze darts to me.

“A-Alpha…if…if that’s okay?” Her voice drops to barely a whisper. “I promise I won’t try to run again. I know better now. I’ll stay where you can see me and?—”

I canfeelthe moment Jax and Stone’s gazes snap to me. Red bleeds into the edges of my vision. The teacup creaks in my grip as fury rises in my throat—not at her, but at those bastards that trained her like this. At whoever taught her to make herself small, to qualify every want with promises of good behavior.

I’m not aware I’m snarling until Jax’s hand lands on my shoulder, squeezing in warning.

Hailey has gone very still, eyes wide but pointed at the floor, and I realize I’m probably confirming every fear she has about alphas. About me.

I’m not a monster. I’m not a monster. I’m not?—

“Of course, it’s okay,” I manage, forcing my voice level. “The garden is…the garden is Finn’s. Whatever he wants to do there is fine.”

The tension in her shoulders eases slightly, but there’s still wariness in her scent. Still fear.

“More than fine,” Stone adds, his voice deliberately light as he slides a plate of pancakes onto the table. “Maybe you can stop him from creating another man-eating Venus flytrap.”

“That was one time,” Finn protests, hopping down from the counter. “And it wasn’t man-eating. It just…had ambitious dreams.”

“Finn, those things aren’t meant to grow as large as yours did. I swear you had it on a diet of steroids,” Jax points out dryly.

“It was organic fertilizer! And hey, the woman at the exotic plant expo didn’t mention she’d smuggled the seeds from Borneo. How was I supposed to know it was some rare highland variety that gets big enough to catch rats?”

Stone places another plate of pancakes on the table. “Thank god you’re only planting herbs and vegetables now. I swear, one time I was out there trying to weed around the roots and that thing had been salivating.”

Hailey’s quiet giggle makes something in my chest loosen, even as Finn launches into an elaborate defense of his gardening.

I watch as he guides her to the table, pulling out a chair and piling her plate with pancakes. Watch as she slowly relaxes under his endless chatter, her eyes following his animated gestures with growing wonder.

It’s fascinating. The way she responds to him. The way we all do. Even now, even after everything, he has this effect on people. This ability to make the world brighter just by existing in it.

But there’s something else, too. I catch the way Finn’s scent spikes with relief every time Hailey’s shoulders relax even slightly, the way his gestures get more animated when she seems tense. He’s trying so hard to make this normal for her, for all of us. It’s been so long since our kitchen felt like this—warm, safe, full of easy laughter.

“—and the irrigation system was perfectly reasonable,” Finn is saying, gesturing with his fork. “Yeah…it kind of got out of hand at one point, but?—”

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