Page 66 of Knot Unwanted: Part Two

The hangar is a chaos of gunfire, smoke, and shouted commands. Jax and the Ashgraves have taken different positions, trying to get clear shots, but the smoke makes it nearly impossible.

“Cover me!” Riordan shouts, making a break for the hangar doors.

He doesn’t make it far before a hail of bullets forces him back. By the time the smoke begins to clear, Heath and her remaining security have reached the aircraft’s stairs.

“No!” I scream, watching as she’s helped onto the plane, still clutching her wounded belly.

Ellis’s rifle cracks from his position outside, taking down one more security guard, but it’s too late. The aircraft’s door closes, and the engines whine louder as it begins to taxi.

“We can’t let her get away!” I yell to anyone who’ll listen.

Riordan and the other Ashgraves are already running for the hangar exit, heading toward their vehicle. “We’re on it,” Connor calls back. “Stay with your alphas!”

The plane is moving faster now, picking up speed on the runway as we emerge from the hangar. I watch helplessly as it lifts off, disappearing into the night sky with our best lead to finding Hailey. At finding Ren.

“Fuck!” Jax slams his fist into the side of a tool chest, denting the metal.

The Ashgraves are already in their vehicle, the engine roaring to life. The SUV peels out, tires squealing as they race down the access road.

“What now?” I ask, voice hollow. “She was our only lead.”

Stone and Jax exchange a look that I can’t quite interpret.

“Not our only lead,” Stone says finally. “Ren gave us coordinates. We can find the facility Hailey was at before Caldwell took her.”

A spark of hope ignites within me. “You think there might be information there? Records?”

“It’s worth a shot,” Jax says, already moving toward our vehicle.

I follow. As Stone steps over the body of a fallen guard, he and I both stop.

A phone. Slipping from the pocket of a dead guard, the screen cracked but still lit.

Stone picks it up.

“Unlocked?” I ask, an idea forming.

Stone nods. “Yep. Why?”

I holster my gun, eyes on the night sky above, and a prayer in my heart.

“Because I have a plan.”

Chapter 14

Hailey

The van jostles over another bump in the road, sending a fresh wave of nausea through me. It mingles with the heat—God, the heat—creating a toxic cocktail of sensations I can’t escape. I’m slumped in the corner, naked except for a thin blanket Caldwell tossed over me as an afterthought. Not for modesty. Just to keep me from soiling the leather seats with my slick.

My hands tremble uncontrollably, one pressed between my thighs in a desperate attempt to stem the ache. It doesn’t help. Nothing helps. The drugs they pumped into me have turned my heat from something natural into this—this monstrous, consuming thing.

It’s dark in the back of the van, but I can feel Caldwell watching me from the opposite seat. His alpha pheromones fill the enclosed space, making it hard to breathe. Wrong. All wrong. My body responds anyway, another gush of slick soaking through the blanket.

“Christ,” the beta driver mutters from the front, inhaling deeply. “Can’t you control her scent, boss? I can barely focus on the road.”

Caldwell chuckles, the sound grating on my already raw nerves. “Why would I want to? Enjoy it, Marks. This is what three million dollars smells like.”

Three million. The number echoes in my mind. That’s what I’m worth to him. That’s the price he paid to destroy everything.

---