Page 71 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

“I’mfine.” The words taste like battery acid. Like the lies I’ve been choking on for years.

“Clearly,” he drawls, and something in me snaps.

I whirl on him, fists clenched. “You got something to say? Fucking say it.”

Stone doesn’t back down—he never does, the stubborn bastard—but his hands come up, placating. “Just worried about you, man.”

“Don’t be.” I shoulder past him, needing to move, to run, to fight. Something. Anything to drown out the screaming in my head.

Memories threatening to surface that I’d buried a long fucking time ago.

My fist connects with the side of the SUV before I realize I’ve moved. The pain is sharp, immediate. Real. Not like the ghosts that won’t leave me alone.

“Jesus, Ren!” Stone’s there again, reaching for me, and I bare my teeth.

“Back. Off.”

He does, but his scent spikes with frustration and concern. Makes my instincts roar to life, wanting to challenge, to dominate, to…

No. I’m not like them. Never like them.

I turn to the car. Fuck, I just need to get in, take it around to the front, and help my brothers find this fucking omega. Then we’ll deal with the shitshow that will definitely come after.

But as I hunch my shoulders and face the vehicle, it’s like my senses go dark, honing on to a single memory.

The crunch of metal. The screech of tires. The way blood looks black in the moonlight.

“Ren.” Stone’s voice breaks through the memory, closer now. His hand hovers near my shoulder, not quite touching. “You head to the shed. I’ll take the car around.”

“No.” The word comes out strangled. “I need to do this. I need to?—”

“Ren!”

Jax’s voice cuts through the air like a gunshot.

Footsteps on gravel. He heads toward us, but something’s wrong. His scent hits me—sharp surprise and something else—and every predatory instinct I’ve spent years trying to bury comes roaring to the surface.

“We need to talk.” His voice is tight. Controlled. “Both of you.Now.”

Alpha fucking command.

Stone tenses. “What happened? Is Finn?—”

“She’s here.”

The world goes sideways, then snaps back into focus with brutal clarity. Blood roars in my ears as understanding hits.

“The omega,” I rasp, and suddenly I can’t breathe. Can’t think past the memories flooding back.

Dark rooms. Muffled screams. The bitter scent of omega terror as they begged…

And then the memory of that night two and a half years ago. The night I killed Finn. The night I destroyed my pack.

“What?”

“She’s here,” Jax repeats, his voice dropping to barely more than a whisper. “In the house.” He pauses as if he can’t even believe the next words he’s about to say. “She’s in his nest.”

“No.” The word tears out of me like it’s being ripped from somewhere vital. “No… No…”

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