Page 16 of Knot Unwanted: Part Two

Something snaps in him then. The careful control he’s maintained shatters, and his eyes blaze with a mixture of rage and raw pain.

“Told you what, Jax?” he snarls. “Told you that my family is a bunch of fucking devils wearing suits? Told you that I killed Finn—our omega, our heart—because I was trying to get away from them?” His voice rises with each question, years of pent-up anguish pouring out. “Tell you thatmyfamily was the one after our omega? Tell you and put you in danger too? Because let’s face it, Jax, you and Stone wouldn’t let it slip. And if my parents and their associates were okay with potentially putting me, theironlyson, underneath the wheels of a truck, they sure as hell wouldn’t have blinked twice before coming after you, too. So tell me again how I should have told you! How I should have exposed you all to thisclusterfuckthat is my life andlose you too!”

The outburst leaves him breathing hard, his mask of control completely gone. In its place is something vulnerable and wounded and terrifyingly raw.

The rage under my skin wars with the truth lodged in my throat. What kind of leader demands trust while being blind to the burdens his pack carries alone? What kind of alpha thinks bonds can be mended with dominance instead of listening?

Ren is looking at me—really looking at me—for the first time since this began. His eyes aren’t defensive anymore, justexhausted. The kind of tired that comes from holding up the sky by yourself for too long.

I exhale, and with it goes the last of my anger. My fingers uncurl from fists I’d apparently made. Before I even know what I’m doing, I slide toward him and pull him into my chest. He stiffens, pushes back against me, but his fight lasts only a few seconds. When he realizes I’m not letting go, his entire body shakes with a sob before he crumples against me.

“Ren,” I say, softer now, “you don’t have to be the strong one all the time. That’s not what we need from you.”

A muscle jumps in his jaw. “Then what the hell do you need?” The question cracks open something between us.

What comes out of my mouth surprises even me: “Just you. However broken you think you are.” The words taste like truth. “Not your protection. Not your fucking suffering in silence.You.”

Stone makes a wounded noise from the front. When I glance over, he has the same look I’m sure is reflected in my eyes. We’re fucking broken. But we’re still pack. He places a hand on Ren’s shoulder without a word.

And just like that, I understand—we don’t need to be alphas right now. We just need to remember how to be a pack.

When Ren finally stops shuddering, I let him go. He swallows hard and gives me a little nod.

“Does Finn know?” I ask quietly.

Ren shakes his head. “No. Not about my parents. He knows I was running from something that night, but not what. Or who.”

“And now they have Hailey,” Stone says, turning the SUV onto the main road that leads downtown. “Your parents. Fuck. No wonder you came back so crazed when you visited them last time. That night when you?—”

“When I scared Hailey to death. I swear I didn’t mean to?—”

“We know,” I assure him. “She knows, too. She’s forgiven you.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t understand why. From what I saw when I found those omegas in that basement, she…she shouldn’t have even let me touch her again. She should’ve been too afraid.”

“Yeah…we don’t deserve her. But she’s our scent match. So we better try damn hard to. First thing on the list, finding where the fuck Veyra Heath has taken her.”

“Think you know where they’ve taken her, Ren?” Stone asks from the front.

Ren sighs then straightens, eyes hard. “No, but I have a plan. We’re getting her back.”

I stare at him, this man I thought I knew. My packmate. My brother. A stranger with secrets darker than I could have imagined. An omega trafficking ring ran by the very people at the upper echelons of our society. Looking at it, at the sheer scale of what we’re facing, a cold dread settles in my stomach. But beneath the dread, something else burns. Determination. Rage. The primal drive to protect what’s ours.

“And then?” Stone asks, his eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror before shifting to Ren.

Ren’s expression transforms, something terribly calm settling over his features. The mask of civilization slipping to reveal the darkness beneath.

“And then,” he says softly, “I finish what I started. I burn it all down. The Academy. The network. My family’s connections. All of it.”

Stone nods once, acceptance and agreement in that simple gesture.

As Ren gives Stone directions, the moment we enter downtown, I can’t help the knot of determination hardening in my gut. The SUV comes to a stop in a back alley in one of theseediest parts of the city. I don’t know what the fuck we’re doing here, but I trust Ren.

“Ready?” he asks, his hand already on the door handle.

I take a deep breath, centering myself. Preparing for whatever comes next. “Ready.”

And as we exit the SUV, moving like shadows toward the delivery entrance of some establishment I don’t know, I realize something that should terrify me but instead fills me with a grim satisfaction.

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