Page 21 of Knot Unwanted: Part Two

For the first time, something like respect flickers in the alpha’s eyes. He murmurs a name.

Ren pales. “Not him,” he whispers. “He was at the gala.”

Jax grabs his arm. “Ren?—”

But Ren’s already turning toward the door, the file clutched in his bloodstained hands. “Let’s go.”

Ashgrave calls after us, “You’re gonna get them all killed, Ironwood.”

Ren doesn’t look back.

Chapter 6

Ren

Ashgrave’s words cling to my spine like a blade I can’t dislodge.

You’re gonna get them all killed, Ironwood.

The file burns in my grip as I push through the club’s back exit into the alley. I should feel something—dread, fury, anything—but all that’s left is a hollowed-out numbness as the name Ashgrave whispered circles my skull like a vulture.

Him.

Of course, it’s him.

The cool night air hits my face, but does nothing to clear the fog in my head. My lungs feel too small, my skin too tight. The world tilts slightly, and I brace a hand against the alley wall, my fingers automatically finding the ridge of scar tissue beneath my shirt where my ribs were once shattered.

“Ren.”

Jax’s voice cuts through the static. I don’t turn. Can’t. If I look at him—at either of them—I’ll shatter completely.

Stone isn’t so patient. His hand lands heavy on my shoulder, spinning me around until my back hits brick.

“What the fuck was that?” he demands, face inches from mine. “Since when do you make deals with packs like Ashgrave in strip clubs?”

His scent—alpha rage, burnt pine—suffocates me, pressing in from all sides. I bare my teeth, shoving him back hard enough to make him stumble.

“You wanted to know my world?” The laugh that escapes me sounds unhinged even to my own ears. “This is my world. Backroom deals and blood debts. Welcome to it.”

“And what exactly did you promise them?” Stone snarls, recovering his balance. “Yourfather?What does that even mean?”

“When I found that basement, I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could handle it alone,” I say, meeting his gaze steadily. “On that list of omegas my parents were keeping, there was an Ashgrave. Missing for years. One of the Ashgrave pack alpha’s cousins. So I reached out.”

I shift my weight, watching his reaction. “The Ashgraves don’t care about politics or taking sides. They only care about their own. I offered them what they wanted most, and in exchange, they helped me get everyone out. They’re still helping me.” A bitter smile touches my lips. “Some debts can’t be explained. Some sins can’t be confessed. But the Ashgraves understand transactional relationships better than anyone.”

The silence that follows feels like a physical weight. Stone’s expression shifts from anger to something worse—realization. Jax doesn’t move, doesn’t speak, just stares at me like he’s seeing a stranger wearing my face. I told them everything on the drive over, but it’s still shocking them. Every moment, something else is revealed.

All these years, all those nights I’d disappeared with vague excuses, all the times I’d shown up with unexplained injuries. The puzzle pieces are finally falling into place for them.

In that heavy quiet, I can almost hear the foundations of our friendship cracking. And I deserve it.

But I’m not hiding anymore.

Jax steps between us, his gaze flicking to where my fingers dig into my chest. To the scars he’s only glimpsed when we all fuck.

“We need to move,” he breathes, his calm a counterpoint to Stone’s rage. “Before someone sees us here.”

Stone’s nostrils flare, but he backs off, his eyes never leaving mine. “This isn’t over.”

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