Page 44 of Knot the Last Chapter

I take a breath, but it shudders.

“I did believe in you,” I whisper. “I was just… terrible at showing it. I was awkward, and I liked you. But I didn’t know how to talk to you. I said something dumb because I didn’t know how else to say, 'You make me nervous.'“

She stares at me.

“You liked me?”

“Yeah,” I say, quiet. “And I never forgot you.”

For a second—just one—I see something soften in her. Her expression shifts. Like maybe, maybe, there’s a piece of her that wants to forgive me.

Then it fades. She straightens her spine. Composes herself.

“I believe you. I appreciate the apology. We all did stupid things when we were younger. And I’m glad I said it. Because that younger version of me needed to finally let it out.”

I nod, heart thudding. I want to say more. I want to tell her I’m Pine. That the man she’s been confiding in, laughing with, flirting with—that was me.

But she’s already pulling away.

“I should go. It’s been a long day.”

“Lila—”

She places her hand gently on mine. Not cold, not angry. Just final.

“It’s okay. Let’s leave it here.”

She turns, Misty gliding after her like smoke, and walks down the hall, backlit by golden firelight.

She doesn’t look back.

And I don’t follow. Her scent lingers, clinging to my skin like a dream I can’t wake from.

I want to fix it. Fix the pain I caused her. But I’ve already done enough damage.

And, even though I’m all my alpha sense want me to chase her down, I don’t think the next move is mine to make.

Not unless she lets me.

Chapter twenty-four

Lila

I’m not sure how I got back to my room.

One minute I was standing in the hallway with Tyler—his eyes full of regret and something else I can’t name, his scent like wild pine and saltwater and apologies I don’t know how to accept—and the next, I was staring at my reflection in the mirror over the dresser, chest heaving, heart pounding.

I close my eyes.

I need to leave.

Everything in me is buzzing, sharp and too full. I’m not used to this—being surrounded by alphas. Not like this. Not ones who are attentive, who see me. And it’s not just one of them. It’s all three. Corwyn with his slow-burn smiles and clever mind. Rhys with his solid presence, quiet strength, the way he looked at me like I was the only thing in the room that mattered. And now Tyler, wrapped in regret and mystery, staring at me like I mattered to him, like I always had.

And my body—

My body is reacting.

Despite the suppressants I’ve always taken without fail, despite the emotional chaos, despite my logical brain screaming at me to focus on getting back to the mainland and my family, the heat is beginning to spark low in my belly.