Page 41 of Knot Unwanted: Part Two

Pat…

No.

Pack…

My breath stops dead in my chest.

Caldwell doesn’t notice, too busy groaning against her collarbone. “I’ll have you begging for my knot by sundown, omega. I’ll fill you with my?—”

A bead of sweat rolls down her temple as she strains to form the next word. Her cracked lips are nearly blue with effort.

“Hhh…ome…”

Then, with a final surge of will, her mouth shapes the last word perfectly. A silent cry against Caldwell’s jaw:

“Mine.”

The pieces snap together.

I understand.

Pack. Home. Mine.

Caldwell eases back, wonder in his eyes, even as his pupils remain blown. “Yessss, pretty little thing. I am your pack. You are mine. I ached for you at that gala, seeing you for the first time. It was so very hard to maintain appearances when all I wanted to do was take you away from prying eyes and sheathe myself in you right there.”

Pack. Home. Mine.

My heart cracks. Hailey. Our Hailey…

But as Caldwell releases her and begins talking to Heath, making plans and agreements, Hailey’s head sags, and her gaze meets mine.

Pack. Home. Mine.

Pack. Home. Mine.

She…she wasn’t speaking to the fucker named Caldwell. She was speaking toherself. Speaking about us—the pack that found her, didn’t deserve her, but so desperately want to.

I pour everything I have into my gaze, willing her to feel it, to know it:You are pack. You are home. You are mine. We are yours.

“Fine,” Heath’s voice reaches my ears. “I’ll get a beta to come down with something to help her wake up faster.”

In the next minute or so, the door opens and a beta enters, barely meeting the alphas’ gazes. There’s a needle in his hands.Without a word, he approaches Hailey, jerking in shock when I slam into the glass again.

“Never mind him,” Heath commands. “Do it.”

The plunger depresses. Blue liquid disappears into Hailey’s neck. Her pupils dilate almost instantly, her breath catching.

For a moment, nothing else happens. She continues to stare at me, continues to mouth those same three words.

Then her eyes roll back, her body convulsing violently. The beta releases her, stepping back as she collapses to the floor, limbs thrashing uncontrollably.

“Is this supposed to happen?” Caldwell demands, alarm evident in his voice.

Heath’s brow furrows. “A seizure wasn’t anticipated, but given the dose…”

Hailey’s convulsions intensify, her body arching off the floor at an unnatural angle. Foam appears at the corners of her mouth, tinged pink with blood.

I roar behind the binds, blood welling from fresh wounds as I fight to release myself.

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