Page 9 of Knot Unwanted: Part Two

“Alpha,” she says carefully, hands raised, “we can’t help him if you don’t let go.”

Jax’s hand lands on my shoulder like an anchor. “Ren.” His voice cracks like a whip. “They’ll keep him alive.”

Fuck. Let go. I have to let go.

Slowly—so fucking slowly—my fingers uncurl. The paramedics lift Finn from my lap, and it feels like tearing out a rib. My hands stay suspended in the air, heart threatening to seize right there.

They strap him down, barking medical jargon.

“H-he was in an accident two years ago.” The words tumble from my lips. “He ended up in a coma. He?—”

The paramedic’s gaze slides to me, and he nods. “We’ll take care of him.”

The heart monitor’s steady beep is the only thing stopping me from snatching him back.

Jax squeezes my shoulder. “Breathe.”

I can’t. Not until they load Finn into the ambulance and slam the doors. Not until those taillights disappear down the drive.

Not until Stone’s snarl cuts through the night: “Found her scent.”

But that’s fairytale thinking. My reality has never been so easy.

The world narrows to the paramedic’s hands on Finn and nothing else. Like in a trance, I follow them down to the ambulance, Jax at my side.

And then, just as they’re preparing to move him to the ambulance, Finn stirs.

His eyes flutter open, unfocused at first, then widening with panic as he takes in the strangers hovering over him. His scent spikes with fear, and I’m at his side in an instant, ignoring the paramedic’s attempt to keep me back.

“Finn,” I say, voice rough with relief. “I’m here. You’re okay. You’re going to be okay, baby.”

His gaze finds mine, recognition dawning through the haze of pain. “Ren?” His voice is barely a whisper, but it’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.

“I’m here.” I take his hand, careful of the IV they’ve inserted. “You’re going to be okay.”

But he’s already shaking his head, wincing at the movement. His grip on my hand tightens with surprising strength as he tries to pull himself up.

“Hailey,” he gasps, struggling against the restraints they’ve placed to immobilize his neck. “They took her. Ren,they took her.”

The words twist like a knife in my gut. It’s not onlymypain. It’shis, too. Finn sounds like they just tore out his heart.

“Who?” I press, leaning closer. “Who took her, Finn?”

“Didn’t see—” Pain cuts through his words, making him wince. “Mask. Big. Hit us both.” His breath catches on what might be a sob and then his voice drops. “Veyra. It’s her, Ren. Hailey said Veyra is Widow.”

Widow. The alpha from the Academy that Hailey had mentioned. The one who had broken her over and over again.

And Veyra Heath—powerful, connected, untouchable Veyra Heath—is Widow.

It fits. It all fits. The way she looked at Hailey. The timing of the attack. The precision of it all.

“Sir, we need to move him,” a paramedic insists, stepping between us. “He needs medical attention now.”

I nod, mind still reeling from the confirmation, but Finn’s grip on my hand tightens, his gray eyes locking onto mine with desperate intensity.

“Find her,” he whispers. “Bring her back.”

“I will.”

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