Page 29 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

“We should do something,” I say, the words tumbling out of my mouth. A desperate attempt at…what? Making this right? “This weekend. All of us. It’s been…”

It’s been too long since we’ve done anything as a pack that wasn’t just existing in the same space. Too long since movie nights or dinner together felt…normal.

“Something simple,” I continue, but the words taste dry. Because we’ve tried. Game nights that ended with Finn retreating to the nest. Pack runs where the bond felt stretched tissue-paper thin. “Maybe get something to eat and?—”

“Pack dinner?” Ren’s laugh holds no humor. “Sure, because sitting around pretending we’re not all walking on eggshells is exactly what we need.” He runs a hand through his dark hair again before crossing his arms over his chest. I catch the scars through the rearview mirror. How they stretch across his fingers. It’s been years and they haven’t faded. Like everything else that marks him—visible or not.

“You can’t fix everything with family meals, Jax,” he adds,softer now. “Some things stay broken.” The words carry weight, and I wonder if he’s talking about the pack or himself.

Stone shifts in the back seat, a subtle movement that draws both our attention. His jaw is tight, eyes fixed on something far beyond the passing buildings.

“Stone?” I prompt.

He lets out a long breath. “Don’t you think we’ve had enough chances at ‘pack dinner’?” He doesn’t even look my way. “Anyway, I can’t this weekend,” he says. “Got something I need to handle.”

The lie hits my nose, sharp and acrid. I meet Ren’s gaze, only to see the coldness grow in his. Stone doesn’t just skip pack time. Doesn’t justlieabout it. Stone’s my second. He’s always been the one trying to mend the fact we’re breaking apart even when I couldn’t.

I pull into the parking garage beneath Iron Fitness’s main office, sliding the SUV into its usual spot. None of us move to get out immediately. The weight of Stone’s lie sits between us like a leaden weight.

“Everything okay?” I finally ask, turning in my seat to look at him directly. “And don’t tell me it’s nothing.”

Stone’s expression shutters closed so fast it’s almost painful to watch. “Just busy with the new trainer certification program.” Another lie. “Need to review the curriculum this weekend.”

Ren’s scent spikes with frustration, that familiar bitter edge creeping in—the one that appears whenever our pack's fragile balance tilts. “Since when do you work on certification stuff alone?” he asks, voice deceptively casual but fingers drumming against his thigh in that rhythm that usually precedes his outbursts. “That’s literally why we have a team.”

“Since now,” Stone snaps, and there’s enough bite in his tone that both Ren and I go still. Stone doesn’t snap. Not at us.

The hollow feeling in my chest deepens. First Finn, now Stone.My pack is fracturing. The bad thing is, I know exactly when the first crack threaded between us. Two and a half years ago. A night none of us seem to be able to forget. A night none of us can move past.

“Stone—” I begin, but he’s already opening the door, cutting me off. Fuck. An alpha command rises in my throat, but I cut it off. Gentleness isn’t my thing. I’m trying really fucking hard.

“We’re going to be late for the investor meeting,” he says, voice carefully neutral again. But his scent…his scent is all wrong. Anxious. Guilty. Protective?

I catch Ren’s eye again as Stone walks toward the elevator. Rage usually looks like fire in the eyes. In Ren’s, it looks like pure, cold ice.

The walk to the elevator and then down the corridor to our office floor is silent.

“The meeting starts in ten,” I say, my voice carrying that natural alpha resonance that makes the betas in the office straighten unconsciously the moment we enter. It’s not a command—I’m really fucking trying not to use those—but it reminds them who’s in charge. Who’s responsible for their safety and success.

Lately, that responsibility feels heavier. The pack bond pulses with tension, and I catch myself scanning the office, cataloging potential threats, even though this is our fucking domain.

The investor meeting goes about as well as can be expected. Stone sits through it, perfectly professional, saying all the right things about expansion projections and market demographics. But he keeps tapping the table with his fingers as if he’s got something else to do. Something urgent. Important.

By the time we break for lunch, the tension in the conference room has most of our beta employees making excuses to eat elsewhere. Can’t blame them. Three agitated alphas in one space tends to set everyone’s teeth on edge.

I retreat to my office after, trying to focus on the stack of contracts requiring my signature. But my attention keeps drifting through the glass wall to Stone’s office across from mine.Something’s definitely off. Thank god for glass walls. I can see he’s been on his phone more times in the last hour than I’ve seen in the past month. Each time someone enters to hand him something, the screen disappears so fast you’d think he was hiding classified intel.

“He’s doing it again,” Ren mutters from the doorway of my office, nodding toward Stone’s desk. His energy is deceptively calmer, but I can see the tension in how he holds himself—too still, too controlled. I watch him for a moment, unsure I should even ask how he managed to temporarily leash the rage this time.

Whatever method he’s using, it never lasts long.

My gaze shifts to where he’s looking.

Sure enough, Stone’s looking at his phone, but this time there’s something else in his expression. Something downright…frightening. When an unsuspecting employee from accounting stops by his door, the poor beta gets a growl that makes her wither as if she was an omega.

“Has he said anything to you?” I ask Ren, though I already know the answer.

“No.” Ren leans against the doorframe, arms crossed. “But he skipped the trainer meeting. Stone never skips trainer meetings.”

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