Page 1 of Knot Unwanted: Part Two

Chapter 1

Ren

Two and a half years ago, I killed my omega.

Not with my hands, though those were stained with his blood by the end of it. Not with a weapon, though the twisted metal of the car became one.

I killed him…with a choice.

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Rain lashes the windshield, the wipers barely keeping up as they sweep back and forth in a steady rhythm that doesn’t match my thundering heart. Beside me, Finn dozes, his head resting against the window, face peaceful despite the storm raging outside. Despite the storm raging inside me.

Dinner with my parents had gone exactly as I’d expected. Polite conversation layered with meanings only I could hear, smiles that never reached their eyes, questions about Finn that probed deeper than mere curiosity. They’d been assessing him,cataloging him, the way they did all omegas who crossed their path.

“Such unusual coloring,” Father had remarked, reaching out to touch Finn’s hair without permission. “And those eyes—quite striking. You must have been very…fortunate to secure him, Ren.”

Fortunate. As if I’d acquired a rare painting or an antique watch. As if Finn were just a possession, not a person. Not mymate.

Finn had smiled politely, used to the way alphas sometimes treated male omegas like curiosities. He had no idea what lurked beneath Father’s words. No idea that his uniqueness—those storm-gray eyes I could stare into all day, that honey-gold hair, the fact he wasmale—made him particularly valuable in certain circles. Circles my family moved in. Profited from. Controlled.

“He’s very special,” I’d agreed, my arm sliding around Finn’s waist, pulling him closer to my side. “Our pack is very happy.”

Father’s smile had been thin, sharp as a blade. “I’m sure you are,” he’d said, his gaze sliding over Finn in a way that made my skin crawl. “Such a shame you’ve been keeping him all to yourself. Your mother and I have friends who would have loved to meet him.”

Friends. Business associates.Buyers.

Beautiful, innocent Finn had beamed at what he thought was acceptance. “I’d love to meet your friends,” he’d said, turning those trusting gray eyes to me. “Wouldn’t that be nice, Ren?”

I’d forced a smile, feeling sick. “We’ll see,” I’d hedged. “Our schedule is pretty packed these days.”

I couldn’t wait for the dinner to be over. I couldn’t wait to leave.

Now, driving through the storm, I replay every moment of the evening, searching for signs that they suspected the truth—that I hadn’t brought Finn home to introduce him to my family,but to assess the threat they posed. To gauge whether they’d recognized him as the omega they’d been watching at that gala, the one masquerading as a charity benefit. Just like all those others I’d attended when I was younger, blind to what those events were really for.

Too naive to see the rot beneath the surface.

Too trusting to question why black vans would leave our property in the dead of night after those events.

The pack I grew up in wasn’t just a lie. It was something far worse. A pretty facade draped over something monstrous, and I’d been too close to see it until it was almost too late.

A phone call buzzes on my phone mounted on the dashboard. Amaya. My beautiful omega sister. The one I’d thought I could trust with everything once I discovered the truth. The one who had looked at me with those wide ice-blue eyes—so much like my own—and told me she’d already known.

“They’re only helping omegas get matched with suitors they’d never have a chance with anyway, Ren,” she’d said, her voice so calm it had made me sick. “These omegas aren’t like us.They’re not from the stock. And the high-profile clients they’re matched with? Bottom-of-the-barrel omegas would never even dream of getting the chance to bond with such alphas otherwise. It’s a win-win.”

I couldn’t understand. She was an omega, too. How could she be complicit? How could she justify it?

“Family sticks together,” she’d told me, as if that explained everything.

I don’t answer her call. Instead, I focus on the road before me. That’s when the phone buzzes with a text instead.

I check the message, dread pooling in my stomach.

Amaya

We need to talk. The buyer who wanted Finn isn’t happy.

But there’s nothing to talk about. I’d heard everything I needed at that dinner tonight.

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