Page 158 of Knot Unwanted: Part Two

“Hailey?” Finn’s voice seems to come from very far away. “Hailey, what’s wrong?”

I can’t speak, can’t look away from the screen where Caldwell’s mouth moves in disconnected phrases I can barely process. Finn shifts closer, concern radiating from him in waves that break against the sudden wall of shock surrounding me.

“Hailey!” His voice sharpens with alarm as he follows my gaze to the phone. His sharp intake of breath registers distantly as recognition hits. “Oh god. That’s?—”

“What’s happening?” Jax is suddenly there, crouching beside us. “Hailey, talk to me.”

My fingers fumble with the volume control, turning it up just as Caldwell’s slurred voice becomes coherent.

“—All I wanted was to be loved. Is that so much to ask?” His face looms large in the frame, too close to the camera, revealing skin mottled with bruises and several days’ growth of beard. The background is dim, some kind of room with bare walls. “I never bonded with a pack, and that was fine. Who needs a pack, right? Omegas don’t need a pack. They only need to be knotted, and I could do that. I was good at that.”

In an instant, the others are crowded around my phone—Ren abandoning his relaxed pose, Stone setting down the plates, all of them radiating protective concern that I register despite my focus on the screen.

“What the hell is this?” Ren asks, his voice tight with controlled fury as he recognizes Caldwell. “Where is he broadcasting from?”

Before anyone can answer, another voice cuts through the video—female, sharp with irritation and something that might be fear. “What are you talking about, you idiot? Turn that off right now!”

The camera pans, jerky, revealing a woman tied to a chair across what appears to be a small motel room. At first, I don’t recognize her—the disheveled hair, the lack of makeup, thegaunt face aged by stress and fear. Then she speaks again, and there’s no mistaking that voice.

Veyra Heath.

The shock ripples through our group like an electric current. Jax swears under his breath. Ren is already reaching for his phone, fingers flying across the screen as he types what I assume is a message to the Ashgraves.

“It’s all her fault,” Caldwell continues, waving something in his hand as he addresses Heath. The camera angle shifts, revealing a gun gripped unsteadily in his fingers. “Got too greedy. Made this all blow up in our faces. And now I’ve lost everything. EVERYTHING.”

Heath scoffs, somehow maintaining her imperious tone despite her bound position. “Oh, for Pete’s sake, Robert. I’ve been your supplier for years. You knew exactly what you were doing.”

“Shut up, youbitch!” Caldwell screams, spittle flying from his lips. “You ruined everything for me. I had a good system. Discreet. Under the radar. A new omega every few years, treated well, no one got hurt.”

“Treated well?” The words escape me in a horrified whisper, memories flashing through my mind—the cold clinical examinations, the drugging, the preparation for “placement” with this man who now claims benevolence.

Finn’s hand finds mine, squeezing tight. “He’s delusional,” he murmurs, his voice thick with anger. “Completely divorced from reality.”

On screen, Heath rolls her eyes, seemingly unconcerned by the gun or Caldwell’s escalating rage. “You’re pathetic, Robert. Always have been. Couldn’t form proper bonds, couldn’t maintain relationships with equals, so you had to buy omegas trained to tolerate your mediocrity.”

“Law enforcement is already on it,” Jax says suddenly, phone still pressed to his ear. “The police are tracking the broadcast but need time to pinpoint the location.”

Caldwell stalks toward Heath, the camera’s angle shifting wildly as he moves. “You don’t know anything about me. About what I need. About what I’ve lost.” He presses the gun to her temple. “Because of you. Because you got sloppy. Because that omega escaped and started talking.”

My breath catches. He’s talking about me. About what my testimony set in motion.

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this,but that little pig,” Heath says, the nickname pulling up a dark feeling I thought I’d long buried, “had more courage and intelligence than you’ve demonstrated in your entire pathetic life, Robert. She escaped because your security was as inadequate as everything else about you.”

Stone’s hand settles on my shoulder, a warm anchor to reality as I watch this surreal confrontation unfold. “She’s trying to provoke him,” he observes quietly. “Why? She doesn’t know this is live, does she?”

“She’s just being Heath,” Ren murmurs, still typing rapidly on his phone. “Incapable of hiding her contempt even with a gun to her head.”

Caldwell jerks the gun away from Heath’s temple, pacing in agitation. “You know what the worst part is? I had her. That sweet little bitch.” He stops, closing his eyes as he licks his lips. “The taste of her slick still haunts me.” He growls. “FUCK. I had her, and she was taken from me before I could even claim her.”

The world tilts slightly, my vision narrowing at the edges. He’s talking about me again, describing me like a possession, a prize he was cheated of. Bile rises in my throat.

“Breathe, Hailey,” Finn whispers, his arm sliding around my waist. “Stay with us. You’re safe.”

On screen, Heath laughs—a harsh, brittle sound utterly devoid of humor. “Oh, Robert. If you had let me do things my way, given her more drugs so she was unresponsive, maybe you’d have had a chance at handling her.”

Caldwell freezes, his expression contorting with rage. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m good at this. I know how to handle omegas. How to make them grateful. How to make them need me.”

“Is that why you pay for the broken ones?” Heath taunts.

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