Page 54 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

I’d be very ungrateful to not accept his assistance.

I reach out tentatively, running my fingers over a pale pink sweater. The material is impossibly soft. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” His smile is bright, genuine. “Oh! And these too.” He pulls open a drawer, then immediately closes it again, cheeks flushing. I barely catch a glimpse of strange colorful shapes in silicone before the drawer slams shut. His embarrassment fills the air with a spicy tang. “Wrong drawer.” He slowly pulls on another, peeking at the contents before he pulls the drawer fully open. There, he stops. “Right. These are boxers. You probably won’t want to wear them. We’ll need to get you some…undergarments. I didn’t think…”

Despite everything, a small laugh escapes me. His embarrassment is oddly endearing.

“The sweater?” he suggests quickly, clearly wanting to move past the moment. “It would look pretty with these.” He holds up a pair of gray sweats that look softer than anything I’ve ever worn.

I nod, gathering the clothes carefully. “Thank you,” I whisper. “For everything.”

“Don’t mention it.” He waves off my thanks. “Get dressed and I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”

I duck back into the bathroom to change. The clothes feel amazing against my skin—soft and warm and nothing like the stiff uniforms from the Academy. When I emerge, Finn’s waiting by the door.

“This way,” he says, leading me back into the hallway. We pass three doors, and I can’t help noticing how his scent changes slightly as we walk by each one. These must be the alphas’ rooms—their personal spaces when they’re not in the pack bedroom.

Finally, we reach the last door. “This is technically my room,” Finn says, pushing it open. “Though I usually sleep in the nest. It’s yours now, for as long as you want it.”

The room is beautiful—all soft creams and pale woods, with a large window overlooking the forest. The bed looks incrediblyinviting, piled high with pillows and what appears to be a handmade quilt.

“I’ll let you rest,” Finn says softly. “But if you need anything, I’ll be downstairs. Okay?”

I nod, still overwhelmed by his kindness. As he turns to leave, a thought strikes me. “Finn?”

He pauses in the doorway. “Yeah?”

“Why are you helping me?”

He’s quiet for a moment. “I don’t know,” he finally says. I nod, looking away. But then he continues. “Something about you feels right and my instincts aren’t usually wrong. I’ve learned to trust those feelings.”

My lungs seize momentarily as my focus snaps back to him.

He holds my gaze for a long moment, something in his expression that I can’t quite read. Then he ducks his head.

“I’ll let you get settled,” he says softly, and slips out, the door clicking shut behind him. I stand there for a long moment, his words echoing in my mind.

‘Something about you feels right’. Coming from a stranger, those words should make me wary, defensive. Instead, they settle in my chest like a warm weight, dangerous and comforting all at once.

I sink onto the edge of the bed, fingers tracing the pattern of the quilt. His words echo in my mind, triggering a longing so intense it’s almost painful. To belong somewhere. To feel right. To have someone look at me and see more than just an omega to be trained or claimed. The possibility feels too fragile to trust, too precious to dismiss. I wrap my arms around myself, breathing in the clean scent of new clothes and safety, wondering how long it can possibly last.

Chapter 18

Finn

The house is too quiet as I move through it, gathering cleaning supplies. I thought I’d gotten used to these moments of solitude—the peace of having the space to myself, of being able to work without interruption. But today, the silence feels heavy, charged with all the things I don’t understand.

My hands shake slightly as I measure out cleaning solution. Stone kept her hidden. For days. In that tiny cabin, alone and afraid. The more I think about it, the more my blood boils with a mix of anger and hurt.

Why didn’t he tell us? Tellme?

Things have been strained between all of us, yes. The pack bond feels stretched thin, communication breaking down. But this? This feels like a betrayal on a whole different level.

I scrub at an already-clean counter, trying to organize my thoughts. I’m systematically erasing her scent from every surface, and I don’t even know why. To protect her? To buy time? My instincts are pulling me in too many directions at once. When they get home tonight, Stone will go straight to the cabin. He’ll find it empty and panic.Good, a vindictive part of me thinks. Let him feelwhat it’s like to be scared and confused. To have the rug pulled out from under him.

But even as I think it, guilt gnaws at me. I love him. Love all of them. Even now, with everything so messy between us, that hasn’t changed. I just want things to go back to the way they were—when we talked, really talked, instead of dancing around each other with careful politeness.

Maybe I should wait. Let Stone come to me when he discovers Hailey’s gone. But no—that feels wrong, too. Like I’m playing games instead of addressing the real issue.

---