Page 7 of Knot Unwanted: Part Two

A small crowd has gathered, their elegant evening wear at odds with the chaos at their center. And there, on the ground, surrounded by concerned onlookers, lies my heart.

Finn—my Finn—is sprawled on the ground, motionless, a trickle of blood running from his temple down the side of his face. His gray suit—the one I’d helped select because it brought out the silver in his eyes—is rumpled and stained, one sleeve torn. The water slips from my hands, crashing and splintering across concrete.

“Someone call an ambulance!” an omega says, her voice seeming to come from miles away.

But I can’t move. Can’t breathe. Can’t think past the roaring in my ears and the sick sense of déjà vu crashing over me.

It’s happening again.

Rain lashing the windshield. Metal crushing inward. Finn’s blood black in the moonlight. His heart stopping beneath my hands.

“—an ambulance is on its way?—”

“—just found him like this?—”

The fragments of conversation break through my paralysis, and suddenly I’m moving, shoving people aside with enough force to send them staggering.

“Get the fuck away from him,” I snarl, dropping to my knees beside Finn’s still form. My hands hover over him, afraid to touch, afraid to make it worse. “Finn.Finn, can you hear me?”

He doesn’t respond. Doesn’t move. Only the shallow rise and fall of his chest tells me he’s alive.

My vision blurs, rage and fear overwhelming rational thought. “What happened?” My head snaps up to glare at the gathered guests. “Who did this to him?”

They shrink back, the violence in my tone making them instinctively recoil.

“We don’t know,” someone finally says. “We heard a commotion?—”

“And no one saw anything?” I cut in, voice cracking with the strain of controlling myself. “No one saw who attacked my omega?”

More nervous glances, more useless murmurs. These people—these wealthy, privileged alphas and omegas—they’d stood by while Finn was assaulted, and now they couldn’t even provide a fucking description.

I turn back to Finn, carefully checking him for injuries beyond the head wound. His pulse is steady beneath my fingers, but he remains unresponsive. The relief that he’s alive wars with the rage that someone dared touch him, hurt him, leave him bleeding on the ground.

And then, a new, terrible thought strikes me.

“Where’s Hailey?” I look up again, scanning the faces of the onlookers. “The omega who was with him.Where is she?”

The blank stares tell me everything I need to know.

“Hailey!” I shout, rising to my feet, panic clawing at my chest. “HAILEY!”

Nothing. No response. Just the uncomfortable shifting of the gathered crowd.

The truth slams into me with crushing force: someone attacked Finn and took Hailey. Someone connected to Veyra Heath. Someone connected to the Academy. I’m sure of it.

The growl that tears from my throat is barely human—a sound of pure alpha rage that makes everyone within earshot take an instinctive step back. My hands clench into fists so tight I feel my nails break skin. Crouching, I pull Finn into my arms, trembling fingers brushing over his jaw. I need to get him out of here. I need?—

“REN!”

The voice cuts through my haze like a blade. I turn to see Jax pushing through the crowd, Stone right behind him. Their expressions shift from concern to shock as they take in the scene.

“What the fuck happened?” Jax drops to his knees, immediately reaching for Finn.

“Someone attacked him,” I manage, my voice raw. “And they took Hailey.”

“What?” Stone’s head snaps up, his golden eyes scanning the area as if he might find her hiding nearby. The alpha growl that builds in his chest matches the one still rumbling in mine. “When? How?”

“I don’t know,” I grit out. “I went to get water, and?—”

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