Page 90 of Knot Unwanted: Part One

“Hailey,” Finn suddenly says, voice soft. “Do your parents know you went to that Academy?”

It’s a loaded question. If her parents don’t know, it means someone else arranged it. Someone with connections, with money, with the power to make an omega disappear. But if they do know…

“Yes,” she whispers. “Ma was…quiet about it. But Pa arranged everything.”

“Your parents sent you there?” Finn’s voice is carefully neutral again.

There’s no audible answer, and I assume she nods.

A bar stool scrapes against the floor—Finn sitting down, maybe. “Hailey, listen to me. You are not flawed. You’re not difficult or wrong or any of the things they told you. You’re…”

“But I am.” The words are whispered, but they burst out of her like they’ve been trapped too long. “I have no one and nothing and not even my own parents wanted me! Pa said—he said I was lucky anyone would take me at all. That I should be grateful someone was willing to pay money for me.” Her voice cracks on a sob. “At the Academy, I tried so hard to be good. To be small and quiet and everything an omega should be, but I kept failing and failing and—” She draws in a shuddering breath. “That master was the only one Widow said would want me. She said no one else would ever want an omega like me. That he’d give me purpose. That’s where I’d been going before?—”

Finn’s voice is deadly calm. “Is that where you were going? Before you ended up here?”

There’s a sniffle and I assume she nods again.

The sound that comes from Finn’s throat is pure pain. “Come here,” he says roughly.

Movement, then soft crying—muffled, like she’s pressed against him.

“Listen to me,” Finn says, voice fierce. “Everything they toldyou about what an omega should be? It’s lies. All of it. You’re perfect exactly as you are. You deserve to eat when you’re hungry and laugh when you’re happy and ask every question that comes into your head. You deserve to take up space in this world.”

“But alphas don’t want?—”

“The right alphas will want you exactly as you are. Trust me on this.”

Her crying grows harder, though she seems to be trying to muffle it. “I’m getting your shirt wet. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I?—”

“Shh. Let it out. You’re safe here. You can cry as much as you need to.”

She sniffles again. “I’m not crying to manipulate you, I promise. I’m not trying to control your alphas’ protective instincts.”

A sound escapes me before I can stop it—something between a growl and a whine. Because God, who told her these things? Who twisted every natural impulse into something wrong?

“Stone.” Jax’s voice is barely a breath, warning and understanding all at once.

But I can’t. I can’t just stand here anymore. Can’t listen to this without…without…

From our hiding spot, we hear movement in the kitchen. Footsteps. Finn’s voice, gentle: “Come on, I know exactly what you need right now. The sound system downstairs is much better than the one in the nest anyway.”

We scatter like startled prey, pressing ourselves into doorways and around corners. So much for alpha dignity. Through the gap, I see them emerge—Hailey still tucked against Finn’s side, her face buried in his shirt. He’s got one arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders, guiding her steps.

As they pass my hiding spot, Finn’s eyes meet mine for just a moment. The look he gives me is pure warning, though his voice remains soft as he speaks to Hailey about some movie he wants to show her.

They disappear down the hall toward the TV room. After amoment, we hear the soft whoosh of the couch cushions as they settle. Unable to help myself, I edge forward until I can see through the doorway.

Finn has situated himself in the corner of the sectional, and Hailey is curled against him like she belongs there, her head resting on his chest as he pulls a throw blanket over them both. Something in me tightens at the sight. It looks so natural, so right—our omega providing comfort and safety to this broken little thing who’s somehow worked her way under all our skins.

I have to step back; have to look away. My reaction to seeing them like that is…inappropriate to say the least. Given how fragile this situation is. Given how much trust we still need to rebuild. The hardness rising in my pants feels wrong.

“Stone.” Jax’s voice is barely a whisper. When I meet his eyes, I see my own struggle reflected there.

What are we supposed to do now?

Chapter 27

Finn

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