Page 93 of Knot Unwanted: Part Two

I take a breath, trying to organize my thoughts. “During that accident, when I died…” I shake my head. “The bond broke, andyou didn’t tell me.”

“We were wrong,” Jax says.

“Fucking right, you were wrong.” My voice rises slightly. “I had a right to know.”

“Yes,” Stone agrees. “You did.”

“And then when Hailey was taken, when Ren went missing…” I reach forward, fingers digging into Jax’s hips. “You considered leaving me behind. Again.”

Guilt flashes across their faces.

“I thought it was because I wasn’t enough of an omega,” I continue. “But it wasn’t that, was it? It was because you still see me as the guy who nearly died. The one who spent six months in a coma. The one who?—”

“The one who nearly died because of me,” Ren interrupts, his voice raw.

We all turn to him. He stands there, bandaged and bruised, but it’s the pain in his eyes that makes my chest ache.

“That’s what this has always been about, hasn’t it? All of this,” he continues. “I almost killed you, Finn. I made the wrong choice that night, and it nearly destroyed all of us.”

“The truck was coming straight at us,” I say, the words automatic after so many times reliving the moments before it all went black. “You had to swerve.”

“I could’ve—.” He stares forward, eyes seeing nothing, and I know it’s because he’s reliving that moment. “I could’ve done something else. Could have made any choice but the one I made.”

The kitchen is silent. We’ve all carried the weight of that night. But Ren has carried it heaviest of all.

“Is that why you pulled away?” I ask quietly. “Because you couldn’t forgive yourself?”

His laugh is more of a strangled sound. “How could I? You almost died, Finn. Youdiddie. Because ofme.”

“I forgave you,” I tell him. “A long time ago.”

He looks away. “I couldn’t accept that. Didn’t deserve it.”

Releasing Jax, I move around the counter, approaching Ren slowly. “You think punishing yourself somehow makes it better? Makes my injury mean something?”

He doesn’t answer.

“It doesn’t,” I say firmly. “It just means we all lost you, too.”

I reach out, tentative, and touch his arm. He stiffens but doesn’t pull away.

“And then when Hailey showed up…” I swallow hard. “I thought maybe she would fix things. Bring us all back together.”

“She has,” Jax observes.

I shake my head. “It’s not that simple. She was the catalyst, but we still have to do the work.” I look at each of them in turn. “All of us.”

Stone nods slowly. “You’re right.”

A long silence follows, not uncomfortable this time, but thoughtful. The morning light strengthens, casting the kitchen in warm gold, illuminating dust motes that dance in the air between us.

“I’m not fragile,” I finally say. “I haven’t been for a long time. Maybe I never was.”

“No,” Jax agrees. “You’re not.”

“So stop treating me like I am,” I tell them. “Stop hiding things from me. Stop making decisions ‘for my own good.’ I deserve better than that.”

“You do,” Stone says immediately.

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