Page 68 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

Hailey whimpers, pressing closer to me, still half-asleep but instinctively seeking protection. Our mingled scents spike with distress.

“Don’t you fucking come in here,” I call out, my voice rough with all the fucking emotions piling up in me. I curl around Hailey, my body responding to her distress even as my mind races with panic.

There’s a pause, then: “Finn, I…there’s something…”

“Just go, Jax!”

I hear him hesitate at the door, and for a terrifying moment, I think he might come in any way. But then his footsteps retreat, and I let out a shaky breath.

Beside me, Hailey has gone very still. She’s awake now, her scent sharp with anxiety. I realize I’m still pressed against her, still obviously aroused, and shame floods through me.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, finally managing to put some space between us. “I didn’t mean…the towel came loose, and I…”

She rolls over to face me, and the words die in my throat. Her eyes are wide, pupils dilated, and her cheeks are flushed. Our scents are still intertwined, but there’s something new there now—something warm and sweet that makes my head spin. And she’s…she’s shuddering so hard the blankets surrounding us are vibrating.

“Please,” she whispers, reaching for me. “Please don’t go.”

Her head dips, brows furrowing, and she curls into herself as if ashamed of what just spilled past her lips.

The vulnerability in her voice undoes me. I let her pull me close again, let her tuck her face against my neck. Her hands fist against my chest, but the trembling doesn’t stop.

Something protective and fierce swells within me—a feeling I thought had withered after months of being unable to heal the fractures in my own pack. I want to shelter her, to stand between her and whatever demons chase her. The intensity of it is almost frightening,this sudden certainty that I would fight for her, would tear apart anyone who tried to hurt her again. It’s an omega’s protective instinct, yes, but it feels deeper, more primal—something written in my very bones.

“I’m s-sorry,” Hailey whispers again, even as her fingers tighten on my chest, reminding me I forgot to put a shirt on. Her scent is a mess of contradictions—need and fear, comfort, and shame all tangled together. “I shouldn’t…I don’t know why I…” She starts to pull back, but her body betrays her, swaying toward mine like she can’t help herself.

“Hey,” I murmur, keeping my voice soft, gentle. All thoughts of embarrassment forgotten in the face of her need. “It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. I’ve got you.”

She shakes her head against my chest, a small, distressed sound escaping her. “But I do. I…I slept in your nest and…” Her words fragment as she struggles, her whole body still trembling. “Your m-master. That was your master, wasn’t it?”

“Mywhat?” Fucking hell, what did they do to her at that place? I grunt out a strange laugh. “I don’t have a master.” I don’t add that maybe, if Jax decided to treat me like his slave, that I wouldn’t mind. That if he tied me up and demanded I fuck him every night, I’d be more than willing. That anything would be better than sleeping in the nest alone night after night.

I feel her stiffen then try to withdraw again, but it’s half-hearted at best. Her instincts are clearly screaming for comfort, for connection, while her mind seems to be fighting it every step of the way. I know that battle all too well.

“Please,” she whispers, and I’m not sure if she’s asking me to let her go or begging me to hold on. Maybe she doesn’t know either. Her breath hitches. “I don’t want trouble.” She tries to pull away again, but the shuddering worsens. “W-what’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing’s wrong with you,” I tell her, but she’s already shaking her head again.

Her scent spikes with distress, and my own instincts surge in response. I want to wrap her in my arms, to soothe away whatever’s causing this internal war. But I hold back, letting her set the pace, letting her work through whatever this is.

“S-sorry,” she stammers, her fingers alternately clutching and releasing me like she can’t decide whether to hold on or let go. “I keep saying that, but I…I mean it and I…I don’t know how to stop. I don’t know how to…” A thin keen leaves her throat, so raw and so distressed that I react automatically. A whimper leaves my throat too as I pull her to me and we fall back into the cushions.

My heart thunders, the spike of distress in her pushing adrenaline in me. I’ve never reacted so strongly to another omega’s pheromones in my life, but it feels like Hailey’s raw fear is coursing through me, too. Tears spring into my eyes that I have no clue the source of, not until I feel her shoulders shaking as her body releases her sorrow.

“Oh hon…” I grip her closer, one hand rising to soften her hair.

“I…I took too much,” she says. “I was greedy. A good omega is never greedy. I’ve gotten you in trouble.”

Even with tears running down my jaw, I’m sane enough to listen to her words and realize they’re bullshit. Some propaganda spread by whichever assholes kept her prisoner.

I grip her tighter. “Shhh.” I press my lips into her hair. “Hailey, I’m not in trouble.” Though I can’t tell her I have no idea what will happen in the next few hours when I reveal her presence to the others. “I’d never get in trouble with Stone or Ren or Jax.”

Puffy eyes look up at me. I can see the worry there, pure and innocent. She really is terrified that because she fell asleep here in my nest, that my alphas will be livid. And if they are, well that’s their problem. It’s not like they’ve been sleeping in here with me.

I meet her gaze, squeezing the tears from mine. “Listen to me.”

She sniffles, but focuses on me.

“I’m an omega, right?”

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